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(Image credit: NASA/Landsat 9)
FAST FACTS
Where is it? Taklamakan Desert, China [38.459991514, 80.87050739]
What’s in the image? A river and a range of mountains forming a huge Y shape
Which satellite took the picture? Landsat 9
When was it taken? Sept. 11, 2025
This striking satellite breeze reveals an enormous letter Y hiding in the heart of a just recently changed Chinese desert. The uncommon shape is comprised of a rocky ridge and a winding, gemstone-filled river and is likewise home to an essential eighth-century fort.The desert was formerly thought about a “biological void” — implying it was practically entirely without life– due to its heats and aridity. An environmental engineering task understood as the Great Green Wall has planted more than 66 billion trees along the desert’s northern edge considering that 1974, which has changed it into a carbon sink that takes in big quantities of co2, current research study exposed.
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The Y shape consists of 2 parts: the Hotan River, which extends about 180 miles (290 kilometers) throughout the desert from south to north; and Marzatagh, a “wall-like” mountain ridge that loafs 600 feet (180 meters) above the surrounding sands and extends as much as 90 miles (145 km) to the northwest, according to NASA’s Earth Observatory
The Hotan River if fed by glacial meltwater from the Kunlun Mountains, situated simply south of the Taklamakan Desert. (Image credit: Qi Zhenlin/VCG through Getty Images )The Hotan River(in some cases called the Khotan River)is fed by glacial meltwater from the Kunlun Mountains south of Taklamakan and appears green due to plants that grows in between its braided streams. Its waters are abundant in both white and green nephrite, which are treasured kinds of jade.
Marztagh is divided into joints of reddish iron-rich rocks and paler sandstone, making it the name Hongbaishan, indicating “red-white mountain” in Chinese. It likewise serves as a natural barrier for sand that gets blown versus the rocky wall, developing a sea of rippling, crescent-shaped “barchan” dunes along its northern edge.
The confluence of drinking water, important gems and shelter from the components made this place an essential stop on the Silk Road– a huge network of trade paths ranging from east to west throughout Asia from the 2nd century to the fifteenth century.
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The point where the 2 functions fulfill is home to the fallen apart remains of a military fort, which likely dates to the 8th century.
Falling apart fortThe stronghold, called Mazar Taghwas constructed on a hill at the crossway of the Y shape by the Tibetan Empire, which existed in between A.D. 618 and 842 and covered the majority of the Tibetan Plateau, consisting of parts of modern-day China, India and Afghanistan.
The website was very first excavated in 1907 by Hungarian-British archaeologist Aurel Stein, who revealed more than 1,500 file pieces, transcribed on both wood and paper, according to the The International Dunhuang ProgrammeThese texts were composed in numerous languages– consisting of Khotanese, Uyghur and Sogdian– and record the soldiers’ experiences.
The collapsing remains of Mazar Tagh lie on a hill at the crossway of the Hotan River and Marztagh mountain ridge, which likely gets its name from the fort. (Image credit: John Falconer/ International Dunhuang Project through Wikimedia)Other artifacts– consisting of arrows, sheathes, shoes, dice, a comb and a pen– were likewise discovered at the website and are presently kept at the British Museum. The most excellent discover was probably a picture of a “begging monk” painted on a wood board, most likely by a soldier. The monk was most likely on an expedition to an ancient Buddhist shrine that was developed on the very same hill.
Today, the hill is likewise home to an Islamic shrine.
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Harry is a U.K.-based senior personnel author at Live Science. He studied marine biology at the University of Exeter before training to end up being a reporter. He covers a wide variety of subjects consisting of area expedition, planetary science, area weather condition, environment modification, animal habits and paleontology. His current deal with the solar optimum won “best space submission” at the 2024 Aerospace Media Awards and was shortlisted in the “top scoop” classification at the NCTJ Awards for Excellence in 2023. He likewise composes Live Science’s weekly Earth from area series.
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