Unguz

Unguz

 

an elongated sublatitudinal depression along the northern edge of the Central (Lowland) Karakum Desert. The Unguz is 470 km long. On the north it is bordered by a scarp (up to 60–80 m high) of the elevated Transunguz Karakum; on the south it is bordered by a sand ridge. The Unguz consists of a chain of hollows up to 15 km long and 1–4 km wide, with flat bottoms of solonchak or takyr. The hollows are separated from one another by natural barriers of sandstone bedrock and of sand brought by the wind. The Unguz is thought to be the remains of an ancient riverbed that was deformed by tectonic movements and subjected to denudation.