The Dry Savanna of Northwest India

A comparative analysis of soils and vegetation in the Thar desert of India and the Kara Kum of Soviet Central Asia. Loams and clays found widely in the Kara Kum are absent in the Thar, which contains a distinctive calcareous layer known as kankar. In terms of vegetation, the mes-quite savanna of northwest India represents a transition zone from desert to true savanna similar to the sahel between the Sahara and the Sudan in Africa. Detailed data are given on air and soil temperatures and humidity and the development of the biomass in the Thar, based on 1963 field work.