Thar Desert

The Thar Desert, also known as the Great Indian Desert, is a desert located in western India and southeastern Pakistan. It lies mostly in the Indian state of Rajasthan, and extends into the southern portion of Haryana and Punjab states and into northern Gujarat state. In Pakistan, the desert covers eastern Sind province and the southeastern portion of Pakistan's Punjab province. In Pakistan's Punjab province it is known as the Cholistan Desert. The Thar Desert is bounded on the northwest by the Sutlej River, on the east by the Aravalli Range, on the south by the salt marsh known as the Rann of Kutch, and on the west by the Indus River.

Climate

The climate of the desert region is characterized by extremes of temperatures ranging from even below freezing point in winters to as high as 52 °C in summers. Rainfall is precarious and erratic, ranging from below 120 mm in the extreme west to 375 mm eastward. These rains are of the monsoon type (July to September) and are generally of thundershowers. Mean wind velocity varies from about 3 km per hour during December and January to about 32 km per hour during May and June. Dust storms are also a normal feature during summers. The velocity of dust storms may reach as high as 130 km per hour, and may deposit as much as 7cm of dust on the floor of residential buildings. Frosts are severe during winters in the sandy areas and tree saplings up to 2 m height some times succumb to such frosts.

Related Topics:
Monsoon - Thundershower - Dust storm - Frost

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