Badain Jaran Desert

Badain Jaran Desert
Photo in the Public Domain.

Badain Jaran Desert is located in the Alashan Plateau in the hyper-arid and temperate desert region of northwestern China and contains a concentrated distribution of mega-dunes with a relative height of more than 200 metres, and the inter-dunal lake basins.

It is an ideal place for the study of the ongoing evolutionary processes of desert geomorphology in the temperate extreme arid desert region.

Community Perspective: This site has been unreviewed so far.

1 Locations 0 Reviews 1 Ratings 12 Connections 4 Visitors

Map of Badain Jaran Desert

Load map

Community Rating

 

1 Votes 3.05 Score

Your Rating
Rate

Site Info

Full Name
Badain Jaran Desert - Towers of Sand and Lakes
Unesco ID
1638
Country
China
Inscribed
2024
Type
Natural
Criteria
7 8
Categories
Natural landscape - Desert
Link
By ID

Site History

2024 Inscribed

2021 Postponed

Due to Covid reasons

Site Links

Unesco Website
Badain Jaran Desert - Towers of Sand and Lakes

Locations

The site has 1 locations

Badain Jaran Desert

Connections

The site has

Ecology
Dunes: mega-dune systems
Critically endangered fauna species: Wild Camel (Camelus ferus) (AB ev)
Tectonic processes: Criterion (viii): "The property appears to be a very rare example at global scale that reflects the evolutionary landforms as a combined result of regional tectonism and hydrogeological changes associated with climatic evolution." - AB Evaluation
Hyper-arid: Crit vii: "desert landscapes and landforms subject to a temperate, hyper-arid climate." (OUV)
Endorheic Lakes: "The144 inter-dunal lakes are exceptional (AB ev) , "The sources of lake water are also debated, but there are four main hypotheses: atmospheric precipitation, groundwater from nearby areas, precipitation and snowmelt in remote areas such as the Qilian Mountains and the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau, or paleowater that formed during past periods of wet climate"
Yardangs: Yardangs are present in a small section of Badain Jaran (see link), however the AB ev states that smaller components with yardangs were excluded from the final nomination.
Religion and Belief
Tibetan Buddhism: Badain Jaran Temple (1868) (wiki)
WHS Names
Epic Subtitles: "Towers of Sand and Lakes"
Untranslated Toponyms: "mysterious lakes" in Mongolian
WHS on Other Lists
Global Geoparks: Part of Alxa Desert UNESCO Global Geopark
World Heritage Process
Reduced from broader TWHS: Original had 4 locations, the three other nominated component parts (Haisenchulu; Eribugai Gorge; Mandela Mt.) were removed during discussions with IUCN during the nomination process (too small and not globally significant).
Natural sites filling gaps cited by IUCN: "The 2021 IUCN thematic study on the application of criterion (viii) noted that the nominated property belongs to one of the evident geographical gaps (Central and East Asia) in current listings. The nominated property also represents desert lakes and playas (i.e. flat and dry desert basins), which are recognised as lacking appropriate recognition on the World Heritage List. In addition, the nominated property is seen as holding potential of filling a gap for evidencing historic climatic change." (AB ev)

Visitors

Community Members have visited.