Best Basin
The Ubsunur Hollow Steppe is a geographically distinct basin located on the border between Mongolia and the Russian republic of Tuva. It is part of the Uvs Nuur Basin, a UNESCO World Heritage Site inscribed in 2003 based on its biological and ecological diversity. The region features a range of ecos...
Death Valley is the hottest, driest, and lowest national park in the United States. This surreal landscape features towering sand dunes, colorful canyons, salt flats, and active geothermal areas. Its a unique destination for stargazers due to its exceptionally dark skies and offers opportunities for...
The Chihuahuan Desert is the largest warm desert in North America, covering an area of approximately 362,000 square kilometers. It spans across northern Mexico and extends into the southwestern United States, encompassing regions of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. The desert is characterized by its...
The Malheur National Wildlife Refuge is a large wetland complex located in the Harney Basin of eastern Oregon, United States. Encompassing Malheur Lake and the Blitzen River valley, the refuge serves as a crucial resting and breeding ground for migratory birds along the Pacific Flyway. The area's di...
The Great Basin Desert is a cold winter desert spanning approximately 492,000 square kilometers, making it the largest desert in the United States. It covers the majority of Nevada and extends into parts of Utah, California, Oregon, and Idaho. Unlike the hot deserts of the Southwest, the Great Basin...
The Junggar, or Dzungarian, steppe occupies parts of the Junggar Basin in northern Xinjiang, China, between the Altai and Tian Shan mountain systems. Its temperate, semi-arid grasslands and shrublands form part of a broader Eurasian ecological transition between Central Asian steppe and desert envir...
The Khakass Steppe is a semi-arid grassland region located in the Republic of Khakassia in southern Siberia, Russia. This intermountain basin contains thousands of archaeological sites dating from the Bronze Age through the Scythian period (approximately 3000 BCE to 200 CE). Particularly notable are...
The Great Lakes Basin desert steppe is a Palearctic ecoregion designated by the World Wildlife Fund that spans the basin of the Great Lakes in western Mongolia and parts of southern Russia. Characterized by an arid climate and expansive saline basins, the region features a mix of semi-desert and des...
The Junggar Basin Semi-Desert is an ecoregion occupying an enclosed basin in Xinjiang, China, situated between the Altai and Tian Shan mountain ranges. The landscape includes fixed and semi-fixed sand dunes interspersed with saxaul scrub and drought-resistant vegetation. It serves as a habitat for c...
The Dzungarian Basin Semi-Desert is an arid ecoregion located in northwestern China, situated between the Altai Mountains to the north and the Tian Shan range to the south. The basin occupies a large intermontane depression in the Xinjiang region, characterized by a continental climate with cold win...
The San Juan Basin Badlands is an area of highly eroded, rugged terrain located within the San Juan Basin of northwestern New Mexico. The landscape is geologically underlain by sedimentary rock layers from the Cretaceous and Paleogene periods. Because of the rapid erosion rates and exposed strata, t...
The Barguzin Steppe is a distinct intermountain grassland basin located within the Barguzin Valley in the Republic of Buryatia, Russia. Situated to the northeast of Lake Baikal, it represents an isolated island of steppe vegetation surrounded by Siberian taiga and mountain ranges. The region is ecol...
The Dzungarian Basin is a large, arid steppe and semi-desert region situated in northern Xinjiang, China, enclosed by the Altai Mountains to the north and the Tian Shan to the south. Covering an area of roughly 777,000 square kilometers, it forms a crucial part of the Central Asian desert belt and f...
The Zaysan Steppe is a semi-arid grassland in eastern Kazakhstan, notable for bordering Lake Zaysan, a massive freshwater lake historically serving as a vital resource for regional fisheries.
The Uvs Nuur Basin Steppe encompasses the geographical region surrounding Lake Uvs Nuur, a shallow saline lake shared by northwestern Mongolia and the Tuva Republic of Russia. Designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003, the broader basin contains a wide range of ecosystems, including deserts...
The Kalahari Basin is a vast, sand-filled structural depression covering over 2.5 million square kilometers across Southern Africa. It spans much of Botswana, as well as parts of Namibia and South Africa, serving as the region's dominant topographical feature. The basin is characterized by extensive...
The Bolsón de Mapimí is a large endorheic basin in northern Mexico, principally spanning parts of Chihuahua, Coahuila, and Durango within the Chihuahuan Desert. Because its drainage has no outlet to the sea, water collects in internal depressions and evaporates, contributing to saline flats and arid...
A desert area in Inner Mongolia, China, near the lower Heihe River terminus, encompassing the ancient Juyan Lake basin and notable for archaeological finds from the Han Dynasty period.
An endorheic depression in southeastern Iran, it is one of the country's largest closed basins, accumulating seasonal runoff in extensive salt and mud flats.
An inland drainage basin spanning southern Angola and northern Namibia, seasonally flooded and home to the ecologically significant Etosha salt pan.
The Cuvelai Basin spans southern Angola and northern Namibia, notable for its unique seasonal wetlands known locally as oshanas.
