Kizil-Kum (meaning 'Red Sands'), a sandy desert in Russian Turkestan, lying between the lower courses of the Amu-Daria and Syr-Daria. They stretch south-east from the Sea of Aral, and rise from an elevation of 150 feet at the sea to 2000 towards Bokhara. They are partly of shifting nature and partly stationary, and are diversified by numerous undulations or ridges of sand, between which extensive patches of clay occur. North-east of the Caspian stretches the Kara-Kum ('Black Sands') desert, a former bed of the sea.
Kizil-Kum
Chambers's Encyclopaedia, Volume 6: Humber to Malta, p. 441
Source scan(s): p. 0456