塔里木盆地

　　塔里木盆地位于天山、昆仑山、阿尔金山与帕米尔高原之间，面积约53万平方千米，是中国也是世界上最大的内陆盆地。盆地四周被高山环绕，封闭得严严实实，气候极端干旱，干燥的风蚀和风积地貌发育十分典型。

　　塔里木盆地从边缘到内部形成了典型的环状结构，由外向内依次为砾石戈壁带——绿洲带——沙漠。

　　盆地的外围是由碎石组成的戈壁滩。戈壁滩的透水性极强，夏季，高山冰雪的融水流到这里就渗到了地下，所以戈壁滩的地表总是干涸的。

　　在戈壁滩内侧，绿洲断断续续，组成一条环状的绿洲带。绿洲内水草丰茂，渠道纵横，林木成网，农田成片，经济发达，盆地内的人们主要居住在这里。

　　塔克拉玛干沙漠

　　塔克拉玛干沙漠位于塔里木盆地内部，东西长约1,000千米，南北宽约400千米，面积约33万平方千米，是中国面积最大的沙漠。

　　在塔克拉玛干沙漠上可以看到各种各样的沙丘，有的像新月，有的像波涛，高度一般超过100米，有的可达二三百米。

　　沙漠地区非常干旱，甚至终年无雨，生存条件极为恶劣。

　　The Tarim Basin

　　The Tarim Basin, encircled by the Tianshan Mountains, Kunlun Mountains, Altyn Tagh Mountains and the Pamirs, and with a total area of about 530,000 km2, is the largest inland basin in the world. Because of the mountain barriers, the weather there is extremely dry. It has a typical geomorphology of dry wind erosion and wind deposit.

　　A typical loop structure has formed from the edge to the interior of the Tarim Basin, moving in turn from the Gravel and Gobi Belt to the Oasis Belt and then desert.

　　The periphery of the Basin is Gobi land made up of stone fragments. The Gobi land is very permeable. In summer, the melted ice and snow from the high mountains flows down and permeates the ground so that the surface of the Gobi is always dry.

　　Within the Gobi land, there are intermittent oases forming a strip-like belt. Each oasis is rich in grass and water flowing through a network of channels and farmland, with many trees to provide shelter. This has helped the local economy to develop and the people of the basin mostly live here.

　　The Taklamakan Desert

　　The Taklamakan Desert, located in the Tarim Basin, is about 1,000 km long from east to west and about 400 km wide from south to north. It has an area of about 330,000 km2 and is the largest desert in China.

　　Various dunes can be found in the Taklamakan Desert, some are like new moon, some like waves. The average height is more than 100 m and some can be 200 or 300 m high.

　　The desert area is very dry, with no rain at all throughout a year, making conditions for life extremely difficult.