Tajikistan, 10 km north of the Afghanistan border near Shaartuz, southwestern Tadzhikistan, USSR.
Mean annual precipitation is 100-120 mm, as rain or snow. Thorn shrub-dominated site with white saxaul and sherkesh. Some Poa bulbosa in the interspaces. The major interspace cover was cryotogamic. Soil: Surface 4.5 cm is silt- dominated, below this layer is very deep dune sand.