Thar desert Flashcards
Where is it?
- It is one of the major hot deserts of the world
- stretches across NW India and into Pakistan
- covers an area of some 200000km2 mostly in the Indian state of Rajasthan
- most densely populated desert in the world
Characteristics of the Thar desert
- soils are sandy and not very fertile, with little organic matter to enrich them. They drain very quickly so there is little surface water
- The landscape is mainly sandy hills with extensive mobile sand dunes and clumps of thorn forest vegetation-a mixture of small trees, shrubs and grasses
- Rainfall is low, between 100 and 240 mm per year, and summer temperatures in July can reach 53 degrees Celsius.
Opportunities for development-mineral extraction
-the desert region has valuable reserves of minerals used all over India and exported across the world
-The most important minerals are:
.gypsum (used in making plaster for the construction industry and making cement)
.feldspar (used to make ceramics)
.phospherite (used for making fertiliser)
.kaolin (used as a whitener in paper)
There are also valuable reserves of stone in the region.At Jaisalmer the Sanu limestone is the main source of limestone for India’s steel industry. Valuable reserves of marble are quarried near Jodhpur, to be used in the construction industry.
Opportinities for development-tourism
- In recent years, the Thar Desert has become a popular tourist destination.
- Between July and September 2013 alone, 2385 tourist vehicles were recorded entering the Thar Desert region
- Desert safaris on camels, based at Jaisalmer, have become particularly popular with foreigners and wealthy Indians from elsewhere in the country.
- There is an annual Desert Festival held every winter which focuses on celebrating the local culture of the Rajasthani desert communities, including camel races, turban tying competitions and best moustache competition. Local people benefit by providing food and accommodation and by acting as a guide or rearing and looking after the camels.
- Local shopkeepers also see an increase in sales-one salesman estimated that tourism increases his sales by 400% in a single year.
- There is starting to be a greater focus on ecotourism n the desert region eg: ‘Helping Hands’- work with the community in a desert village close to Jaisalmer. The project involves tourists in developing educational and medical facilities for the village community.
Energy-oil
A large oilfield has been discovered in the Barmer district which could transform the local economy. Oil reserves were first discovered in Rajasthan in 2004, and this led to a surge of land and property prices in the region. The discovery of oil and fossil fuels help India to become more energy self-sufficient.
Energy-coal
-The Thar Desert is a rich energy source
coal-There are extensive lignite coal deposits in parts of the Thar Desert and a thermal energy plant has been constructed at Giral. There is a coalfield which boasts some 175 billion tonnes of coal which has the potential to power the country for centuries.It has one of the world’s largest remaining coal reserves.
Energy-wind
Recently there has been a focus on developing wind power, a renewable form of energy. The Jaisalmer Wind Park was constructed in 2001. This is India’s largest wind farm. It has a total capacity of 1600 MW.
Energy-solar
- With its sunny, cloudless skies, the Thar Desert offers ideal conditions for solar power generation. At Bhaleri, solar power is used in water treatment. It involves installing 750 water purification projects in villages across the desert region. 250 installed in 2015. Danish technology pumps underground water. Impurities from water are then removed using American membrane technology- Reverse Osmosis. Each RO plant runs on zero electricity cost.
- Biggest of these water plants stands on a hill near Mithi- has the capacity of purifying 2 million gallons of water daily. At full capacity, it benefits 300,000 people.
Farming
- Subsistence: Most of the people living in the desert are involved in subsistence farming. They survive in the hot and dry conditions by grazing animals on the grassy areas and cultivating vegetables and fruit trees. Between Feb and June, farmers often have to cover huge areas of land for their livestock-if it wasn’t for livestock, subsistence agriculture would not take place as the conditions for crops are not reliable.
- Commercial farming: It has grown in recent decades, made possible by irrigation and access to fertilisers and pesticides
- In Rajasthan, India, there has been a construction of a 650 km Indira Ghandi Canal (1958). Crops like wheat and cotton now thrive in an area that used to have poor soil quality. Other crops grown under irrigation include pulses, sesame, maize and mustard.
Challenges for development -temperatures
- The Thar Desert suffers from extremely high temperatures, sometimes exceeding 50 degrees Celsius in the summer. This presents challenges for people, animals and plants living in this environment.
- Working outside in the heat of the day can be very hard, especially for farmers
- High rates of evaporation lead to water shortages which can affect people as well as plants and animals
- Plants and animals have adapted to survive in extreme heat. Some animals are nocturnal, hibernating in the cooler ground during the daytime. Livestock, such as cattle and goats, need shade to protect them from the intense sun.
Water supply- challenges for development
-has become a serious issue due to population growth and development of farming- scarce resource as the desert has low annual rainfall, high temperatures and strong winds. This causes high rates of evaporation
-Sources of rainfall:
.traditionally, drinking water for people and animals is stored in ponds (tobas) and others are man-made (johads)
-There are a few rivers and streams that flow through the desert, such as the River Luni which feeds a marshy area called the Rann, but these are intermittent and only flow after rainfall. Most of these settlements are found alongside these rivers.
-Some water can be obtained from underground sources (aquifers) using wells but this water is salty and not very good quality.
Indira Ghandi Canal
- The main form of irrigation in the desert is the Indira Gandi Canal (Rajasthan) Canal. This source of fresh water has transformed an extensive area of the desert and has revolutionised farming.
- Commercial farming,growing crops such as wheat and cotton, now flourishes in an area that used to be scrub desert.
- Two of the main areas to benefit from the canal are centered on the cities of Jodhpur and Jaisalmer where over 3500 km2 of land is under irrigation
- constructed in 1958 the canal has a total length of 650km
- The canal provides drinking water to many people in the desert
Inaccessibility
- due to the very extreme weather and presence of vast barren areas there is a very limited road network across the Thar Desert.
- the high temperatures can cause the tarmac to melt and the strong winds often blow sand over the roads
- many places are accessible only by camel, which is a traditional form of transport in the region
- Public transport often involves seriously overladen buses.
What is desertification?
It is where land is gradually turned into a desert
- it occurs mostly on the ecologically fragile borders of existing deserts
- it can occur when land is overgrazed by livestock or stripped of vegetation by people collecting firewood
Desertification is:
- a result of both natural and human events (eg: droughts and management)
- affects both poor and rich countries
- threatens one billion people in areas at risk
