[1] In Autumn 1914, English explorer Jamie Bunchuk completed an expedition to cross the Betpak-Dala to its fullest longitudinal extent, from Lake Balkash in the east to the Sarysu River in the west.

[2] An epizootic of pasteurellosis occurred in Betpak-Dala in May 2015, in which more than 120,000 saiga antelope — representing more than a third of the global population — were confirmed dead.

In the north, near the 46°30’ parallel, Betpak-Dala borders on the Kazakh Uplands, an area of low, rounded, isolated hills.

The eastern hilly region has a plicate structure and is composed of Lower Paleozoic sedimentary-metamorphic rock series and granite.

The western region of Betpak-Dala is an argillaceous sagebrush desert; Anabasis salsa grows in the salt-marsh depressions, while Pamirian winterfat (Krascheninnikovia ceratoides)[verification needed] and Siberian pea shrub (Caragana arborescens) grow on the sand dunes.