Gobi Desert it is also located on a plateau roughly above sea level, which contributes to its low temperatures. An average of approximately of rain falls annually in the Gobi. Additional moisture reaches parts of the Gobi in winter as snow is blown by the wind from the Siberian Steppes. These winds may cause the Gobi to reach in winter to in summer. However, the climate of the Gobi is one of great extremes, combined with rapid changes of temperature of as much as . These can occur not only seasonally but within 24 hours. In southern Mongolia, the temperature has been
Gobi Desert as a buffer against further desertification. The Gobi, broadly defined, can be divided into five distinct dry ecoregions, based on variations in climate and topography: The surface is extremely diversified, although there are no great differences in vertical elevation. Between Ulaanbaatar () and the small lake of Iren-dubasu-nor (), the surface is greatly eroded. Broad flat depressions and basins are separated by groups of flat-topped mountains of relatively low elevation ), through which archaic rocks crop out as crags and isolated rugged masses. The floors of the depressions lie mostly between above sea-level. Farther south, between Iren-dutiasu-nor and the Yellow