Editing Turan Depression

{{Short description|Low-lying desert basin in Central Asia}}
{{Distinguish|Turpan Depression}}
{{about||the historical region|Turan}}
{{Expand Swedish|topic=geo|date=March 2022}}
[[File:Iran Turan map 1843.jpg|thumb|Turan Depression (area enclosed by orange line)]]
The '''Turan Depression''', '''Turan Lowland''' or '''Turanian Basin''' is a [[lowland|low-lying]] [[desert]] [[Depression (geology)|basin]] region stretching from southern [[Turkmenistan]] through [[Uzbekistan]] to [[Kazakhstan]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ti53BwAAQBAJ&dq=D%C3%A9pression+de+Touran+Kazakhstan&pg=PT2365 |title=Dictionnaire de biogéographie végétale |date=5 March 2015 |trans-title=Dictionary of plant biogeography |editor-first1=Georges |editor-last1=Métailie |editor-first2=Antoine |editor-last2=Da Lage |edition=Nouvelle |publisher=CNRS EDITIONS |language=fr |isbn=978-2271083289}}</ref>

==Geography==
The [[lowland]] region lies to the east of the [[Caspian Sea]] and southeast of the [[Aral Sea]] in the vast [[Aral–Caspian Depression]] but extends to parts above sea level as well. It is one of the largest expanses of sand in the world,<ref>{{cite book|author-last=Caroe |author-first=Olaf |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/862273470 |title=Soviet Empire: The Turks of Central Asia and Stalinism |date=1953 |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan|Macmillan]] |chapter=The Turanian Basin |oclc=862273470}}</ref> covering an area of around 3 million km<sup>2</sup>.<ref name="bse">{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://bse.sci-lib.com/article112867.html |encyclopedia=[[Great Soviet Encyclopedia]] |title=Туранская низменность |trans-title=Turan lowland |volume=26 |pages=320 |language=ru}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=March 2023}} On average, the region receives less than {{convert|15|in|mm}} of [[rainfall]] per year. The [[Karakum Desert|Karakum]] desert lies at the southern portion of the Turan Lowlands.

The part of the depression adjacent to the Aral Sea is drainless. It includes a network of temporary streams usually ending in ''[[Sor (geomorphology)|sor]]'' [[Salt pan (geology)|salt flat]]s, which seasonally become [[salt lake]]s.<ref>Sania Beisenbaeva, ''Description of the forecast of spring flood volume of the Ilek River'',</ref>

Three of the largest cities in the Turan Depression are [[Daşoguz]] in [[Turkmenistan]], [[Nukus]] in [[Uzbekistan]], and [[Urganch]], also in Uzbekistan. [[Vpadina Akchanaya]] in Turkmenistan is {{convert|267|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} below [[sea level]]. The [[Amu Darya]] River runs in a southeast–north-westerly direction through the lowlands.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Turán|volume=19 |encyclopedia=Gran Enciclopedia Ilustrada |language=es |publisher=Ediciones Danae, S.A. |isbn=84-7505-292-4}}</ref>

In the [[Pliocene]] and [[Pleistocene]], the territory of the modern Turan depression was the bottom of the vast Turan Sea, which was divided into the modern [[Caspian Sea|Caspian]] and [[Aral Sea|Aral seas]] about ten thousand years ago.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.poteplenie.ru/doc/karn-golfst5.htm |author-first1=A. V. |author-last1=Karnaukhov |author-first2=V. N. |author-last2=Karnaukhov |title=Новая модель оледенений в Северном полушарии |trans-title=A new model of glaciation in the Northern Hemisphere |language=ru |url-status=dead |access-date=13 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101121135137/http://poteplenie.ru/doc/karn-golfst5.htm |archive-date=21 November 2010}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Kazakh semi-desert]]
*[[Turgay Depression]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

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{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Depressions of Kazakhstan]]
[[Category:Depressions of Turkmenistan]]
[[Category:Depressions of Uzbekistan]]
[[Category:Depressions (geology)]]
[[Category:Endorheic basins of Asia]]