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The highest desert in the world: up to 4706 meters above sea level

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The highest desert in the world: up to 4706 meters above sea level

Home Introducing the highest desert in the world, the Kumkuri Desert in Xinjiang, China, which is located at an altitude of 4,706 meters Dec 10, 2024

The highest desert in the world

The area of Xinjiang is very vast, especially the desert area is extremely huge, not only has the largest desert in China-Taklamakan Desert, but also the highest altitude desert in the world is born in the Aljinshan area, it is Kumkuli Desert, lying between Qimantag Mountain and Kuluk Pitilak Tag Mountain-Qulak Tag Mountain in Ruoqiang County, although the area is only 1600 square kilometers, but its altitude is between 3900-4700 meters, and it consists of a combination of tall pyramidal dunes, compound crescent-shaped dunes and crescent-shaped dune chains. It is also considered one of the most beautiful deserts in the world with the highest desert elevation, the crescent dunes.

In fact, in addition to the extremely high altitude of Kumkuri Desert, it also has the largest number of desert wildlife in China, such as wild yaks, Tibetan antelopes, etc. And although the place is full of yellow sand, it actually has very many oases, and you can often see the scene of sand and water coexistence, especially the sand spring is the most classic one, the largest sand spring can reach 200 meters in diameter, and many of them converge to the north to call a stream, which forms the Ayakkumu Lake.

The Kumkuri Desert has typical alpine desert features, crossing near Qimantag Mountain, not only has the arid features that other deserts have, but also people who come here may be troubled by altitude sickness, and the most characteristic features here are the pyramidal dunes and crescent-shaped dunes, and it is said that the crescent-shaped dunes are the highest dunes in the world.

Although this is the highest altitude desert in the world, it actually has a higher water content compared to other deserts, so there is often the sight of sand not covering the spring, and the sand dunes will be depressed, thus constantly gathering into a clear spring, and most of this water comes from the melting of icebergs and snow water, and sometimes there is also some rock crevice water, which can form the unique crescent-shaped water pool.

 

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