The physiographic division of Thar Desert also referred as the Great Indian Desert ranks as the seventh largest desert of the world. Thar Desert lies in the western part of the country, covering an area of 238,700 km². Thar Desert covers 61% area of Rajasthan and extends up to Cholistan Desert in Pakistan.
The regions of Thar Desert mainly covers the area in the form of craggy rock forms, compacted salt-lake bottoms, and the areas of fixed dune and inter sand dunal spaces covering 90% of the space and 10% is marked by sand dunes.
Winters are chilling with temperature as low as 0°C or beyond that and summers are scorching with temperature as high as 50°C as or even more than that. Rainfall is precarious and erratic, ranging from below 120 mm (4.72 inches) in the extreme west to 375 mm (14.75 inches) eastward.
This Arid region shows scarcity of water with the presence of ground water at the depths of 30 to 120 m below the ground level. Soil of this Eco region is also not suitable for vegetation and is of sandy to sandy-loam in texture. The consistency and depth vary as per the topographical features. Loamy soils presents at the lower side are heavier and may contain a hard pan of clay, calcium carbonate or gypsum.
Other Physiographic Regions of India.Explore more on geography of India.