A large sandy, arid region in north-western India and eastern Pakistan, lying mostly in western Rajasthan, bounded by the Aravalli hills to the east and the Indus plains to the west, with low and highly variable rainfall, shifting sand dunes and one of the most densely populated deserts in the world.
The Thar lies in a zone where several factors combine to keep rainfall low. The south-west monsoon winds arriving from the Arabian Sea run parallel to the Aravalli range instead of being forced upwards against it, so they shed little moisture. The Bay of Bengal branch of the monsoon has lost most of its water by the time it reaches western Rajasthan. Subsiding dry air associated with the subtropical high-pressure belt adds to the aridity, and high summer temperatures increase evaporation.
Geologically the region was once under the sea, and fossils of marine life and of ancient forests have been found near Jaisalmer, for example at the Akal Wood Fossil Park. Over time, sand blown from the Indus plains and coastal areas built up dunes on a rocky base. Many scholars link the drying of the Ghaggar–Hakra river system, sometimes identified with the Saraswati, to changes in climate and river courses that affected Harappan settlements on the desert's edge.
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