Lycaonian Plain

(or Konya Plateau), the southern and most arid and desert-like-part of the Anatolian Plateau in Turkey. The elevation is 900–1,000 m, but individual ranges have altitudes of 2,000–3,000 m. It is composed chiefly of gypsum lake deposits. There are many solonchaks and salt lakes (Lake Tuz, for example). The plain consists of arid steppes and semideserts on gray and brown soils. There are thickets of thorny cushionshaped shrubs. The most important city is Konya.