Taklimakan Desert (China) has existed for 5.3 million years

Taklimakan, the second largest desert in northwestern Xinjiang Autonomous Region (China), may have existed for more than 1.8 million years compared to what it was supposed to be.

Chinese scientists discovered this after testing samples of yellow clay (loess) found in a Cenozoic soil layer in the far end of Taklimakan desert near the Kunlun Mountains. This test revealed that the Taklilmatan desert, one of the harshest places in the world, has been available for 5.3 million years.

According to researcher Sun Jimin at the Institute of Geology and Geophysics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, experts claim that yellow clay from the wind in the Taklimakan desert brings this region.

Chinese scientists have studied the formation of the Taklimakan desert, one of those from decades but have not yet determined when the desert formed.

In 2002, researchers from Tongi University, Shanghai and the Chinese Academy of Sciences concluded that the Taklimakan desert was formed 3.5 million years ago, based on studies of sediments. and yellow clay in the desert.

The study of the formation of the Taklimakan Desert also helps to understand why Central Asia has become arid.

VN