The Moiynkum Desert (, ''Moiynqūm''), is a
desert
A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...
in the
Turkistan and
Zhambyl regions of southern
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...
.
Common plant types in the desert include
saksaul,
milkvetch,
mugwort and
sedge. The
Andasay State Nature Reserve is a
protected area
Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...
that was established in 1966.
Geography
The Moiynkum Desert is limited by the
Chu River to the north and east and the
Karatau and
Kyrgyz Ala-Too mountain ranges to the south and southeast. Its elevation ranges from in the northern sector to in the southeast. River
Chu flows at the northern edge of the desert, with lakes
Kokuydynkol and
Zhalanash close to the left side of its channel. In wet years the Chu may reach the
endorheic
An endorheic basin ( ; also endoreic basin and endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water (e.g. rivers and oceans); instead, the water drainage flows into permanent ...
salt lake
Akzhaykyn in the
Ashchykol Depression, at the western end of the desert. The
Akzhar lake group is located in the southern area.
[Муюнкум](_blank)
''Great Soviet Encyclopedia
The ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (GSE; , ''BSE'') is one of the largest Russian-language encyclopedias, published in the Soviet Union from 1926 to 1990. After 2002, the encyclopedia's data was partially included into the later ''Great Russian Enc ...
'' in 30 vols. — Ch. ed. A.M. Prokhorov. - 3rd ed. - M. Soviet Encyclopedia, 1969-1978. (in Russian)
Climate
The climate of the desert is continental. Temperatures drop as low as in January and rise to around in July.
Mining
The desert is known to harbor deposits of
uranium
Uranium is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Ura ...
, with the
South Inkai mine of
Uranium One, the tenth largest uranium producing mine in the world, and the
Inkai Uranium Project of
Cameco. The uranium mines at
Tortkuduk and
Moiynkum are operated by the
Franco-
Kazakh firm
KATCO.
See also
*
Geography of Kazakhstan
*
Moiynkum District
References
External links
*
Андасайский заказникChu-Talas, Kazakhstan
{{Authority control
Deserts of Central Asia
Deserts of Kazakhstan
Deserts of Kyrgyzstan
Jambyl Region