The Tarim Basin covers an area of about 530,000 hectares, right?
Yes. The Tarim Basin is oval-shaped, with a longest length of about 1,500 kilometers from east to west and a maximum width of about 600 kilometers from north to south, with a total area of about 530,000 square kilometers.
The Tarim Basin is surrounded by the Tianshan Mountains, the Pamir Plateau, the Kunlun Mountains and the Altun Mountains in a counter-clockwise direction. The Tarim Basin is oval in shape, with a longest length of about 1,500 kilometers from east to west and a maximum width of about 600 kilometers from north to south, with a total area of about 530,000 square kilometers. The Tarim Basin has an altitude of between 800 and 1,300 meters. The terrain is higher in the west and lower in the east. Lop Nur in the east is the lowest point of the basin and the center of salt accumulation, with an altitude of about 780 meters.
Climate Characteristics
The Tarim Basin has a warm temperate climate, with the total annual solar radiation reaching 575 to 627 kilojoules/cm2. The annual sunshine hours are about 3,000 hours in the north and less than 3,000 hours in the south, with windy sand and dusty weather. The annual average temperature is 9-11℃, slightly higher in the south than in the north.
The continental nature strengthens from west to east, and the east is colder than the west in winter. The average temperature in January is 3.2°C lower than that of Hotan and 2.4°C lower than that of Kashgar. In winter, there are only 1 to 2 freezing days when the average temperature is lower than -20°C. The average temperature in July is 25-27℃. The active accumulated temperature above 10℃ exceeds 4000℃, higher in the south than in the north; its duration is 200 days in the south and more than 190 days in the north; the accumulated temperature varies greatly between years.
The frost-free period lasts more than 200 days, ranging from 200 to 210 days in the north and up to 220 days in the south. The annual average daily temperature range is 14-16°C, and the maximum daily range is 25°C.
The main natural disasters are sandstorms and hot and dry winds:
① Sandstorm hazards. Only Ruoqiang, Kashgar and Korla have strong winds above level 8 (wind speed greater than 17 meters/second) for more than 20 days a year. However, the vegetation coverage at the edge of the basin is only 10%, and there is basically no vegetation in the center of the desert. Wind speeds of 5 meters per second cause sand to rise, so sandstorms in the south last for 30 to 40 days a year. Northeasterly and northwesterly winds dominate, and the sand dunes at the edge of the basin move southward seriously.
②Dry hot air. The most severely damaged area is the eastern part of the basin, which occurs 10 to 20 days a year; it occurs less frequently in other areas of the basin.