An Idea On The Thar Desert

The Thar Desert, often referred to as the great Indian desert, is a 77,000-square-mile expanse of shifting sand dunes across Eastern Pakistan & India (Rajasthan). Little swaths of the desert also run through the Indian provinces of Punjab, Haryana, and Gujarat.

The Thar Desert derives its name from the Arabic word thul, which means sand. The South-Eastern part of the Thar desert is bordered by the Aravalli Mountain range and the Northeastern part by the Punjab plain. The Indus plain is towards the West of the Thar desert, and the Rann Of Kutch is to the South.

Origin

The origins of the Thar desert of Rajasthan have remained a contentious topic. Some analysts claim that it is between 4,000 and 10,000 years old, whereas others believe aridity began considerably sooner in this area.

A further idea claims that the desertification of the area occurred very recently, about 2,000-1,500 years BC. The Ghaggar River stopped being an essential river around this period, and it now comes to an end inside this desert.

Remote sensing technology has revealed that Late Quaternary climate shifts and neotectonics substantially influenced changing draining channels, and a considerable amount of paleochannels have now been discovered.

The body of research agrees that the river Sarasvati’s palaeo channels match the existing Ghaggar river bank and that the rivers Yamuna and Sutlej historically flowed towards the current Ghaggar riverbed. The Sutlej is also said to be the Ghaggar’s major tributary, and that geological changes may have moved the Sutlej to the West and the Yamuna to the East, leading the Ghaggar to dry up.

Natural features of the desert of Rajasthan 

The Thar Plains, primarily coated in sand, have peaks in the centre, particularly the dune-free rural hills.

The Thar desert of Rajasthan is known for its undulating dunes, which differ in size throughout the desert. Dunes are found within deserts all over the planet; Thar’s dunes are notable for their constant movement.

The sandy desert area is constantly in motion, in stark contradiction to the mountain peaks surrounding the desert. Although the constant mobility of the desert adds to the charm of the landscape, it also makes sustained habitation difficult because sands can quickly blow over constructions.

The region’s harsh winds wash the sands across good soil. So, agricultural development within the area is hampered by a bed of sand covering most of the accessible farming land. While still not entirely passive, some of the Thar’s dunes have now become semi-stabilised through time. Thus these older dunes typically move in small increments.

Old dunes can grow to an elevation of 500 feet. On the other hand, the quantity of seawater helps to illustrate the Thar Desert’s severe scarcity of drinking water. This region’s mean annual precipitation is around 4-20 inches, with the majority of the precipitation falling during the monsoon period. However, the great Indian desert’s yearly precipitation is tough to predict.

Vegetarians of the desert of Rajasthan 

The Thar desert is also known as the great Indian desert’s inhospitable environment, and high-temperature changes have substantially stifled vegetation development. Most native crops develop in small clusters, with no framework of order governing where they grow. The flora that has thrived in this challenging habitat has evolved to the desert’s extreme conditions. It is critical for crops to have established water retention mechanisms to deliver much-needed water throughout the arid periods. Gum, Arabica, euphorbia, and acacia are all important desert plants.

Wildlife

This dry environment of the desert of Rajasthan has a diverse range of fauna and flora. There are about 23 lizard varieties plus 25 snake species present here, several indigenous to the area.

The Sandy National Park in Jaisalmer, an exceptional sample of the region’s natural species, is the most well-known example of a conserved environment. Animals like Wild Ass, The Great Indian Bustards, Indian Gazelle, Blackbucks, Indian Chinkaras, and Desert Foxes are also commonly found in this park. These are species rapidly becoming extinct in many other regions of India. With the seeming hardship of existence in the desert of Rajasthan, many animals of the desert national park have adapted themselves to thrive in this environment.

Conservation

Loss of land caused by wind erosion poses a significant ecological danger to the great Indian desert. Its fierce storms blow sand across plains and create several dune structures. On the other hand, Winds degrade precious farmlands and pose a hazard to cattle grazing zones.

Species of shrubs and trees have been established in numerous regions to assist sand fixation and prevent wind erosion. The additional windbreaks also provide much-needed shelter.

Windbreaks should develop rapidly to be truly effective, and native plants are known for their sluggish development habits. So, it has become essential to grow exotic plants in this desert area in an attempt to develop the requisite windbreaks. 

The Acacia tortilis has shown to be the greatest tolerant of the Thar desert of Rajasthan. Although the addition of foreign plants aids in reducing wind erosion, these exotic species pose a risk of upsetting the well defined ecological equilibrium.

Conclusion

The great Indian Desert’s geographical seclusion due to its sandy mountainous regions and plains influences the climate patterns that define its unique, hot, dry atmosphere. Before the monsoon clouds reach the desert of Rajasthan, the ecosystem from around Thar successfully collects all the rain transported in the clouds. The ensuing monsoon breeze in the desert is dry and hot, and indeed the desert doesn’t quite experience the same wet season that other terrains do. Overall, Thar’s economic standards are poor, as conventional exports struggle to find a market in today’s market. The expansion of agroforestry is one new trend that has arisen here on the scene to supersede conventional approaches.