Takir (takyr) (Russian: такыр, originally from Kazakh or another Turkic language) meaning "smooth, even, or bare", is a type of relief occurring in the deserts of Central Asia, similar to a salt flat in the southwestern United States. A takyr is usually formed in a shallow depressed area with a heavy clay soil, which is submerged by water after seasonal rains. After the water evaporates, a dried crust with fissures forms on the surface. The crust is often colonized by filamentous cyanobacteria.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e1/Drought.jpg/220px-Drought.jpg)
In the southwestern U.S. "takyrs" are known as "playas" or "salt flats", in Arab countries as "sabkha".
See also
editReferences
edit- Jayne Belnap, Otto Ludwig Lange. "Biological Soil Crusts: Structure, Function, and Management". Springer, 2001, ISBN 3-540-43757-6. Page 90, Chapter 7.5, "Central Asia Takyr".
- Gerasimov I.P. On “takhirs” and the process of takyr formation: (Materials for the knowledge of the desert-steppe soil-forming process) in Soil Science. 1931. No. 4. S. 5-13.
- Gerasimov I.P. On "takhirs", their genetic essence and the process of takyproerazovaniya // Soil Science. 1933. No. 5. P. 401-403.
- Uspanov, U. U., Genesis and Reclamation of takyr. M .; L .: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1940. 116 p. (Works of the Soil Institute; T. 19. Issue 1).
- Gvozdetsky N. A., Mikhailov N. I. Takyry: Deserts of the Turan Lowland and Balkhash in Physical Geography of the USSR. Asian part. Third edition, revised and updated. Moscow. Thought. 1978
- "Kyrgyzstan" National Encyclopedia , Volume: 6. Asanov, chief editor of Y. A. K 97. K .: State and the Center, 2014. 816 pages, Fig. ISBN 978 9967-14-117-9