Misplaced Pages

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46-587: Some imprecise sources seem to use the term for the whole southern curve of the Tian Shan corresponding to the southern border of Kyrgyzstan, to up north until the perpendicular extension known as Fergana Range , but strictly speaking the Alay Mountains are strictly north of Alay Valley , while confusingly, Trans-Alay Range of Pamir Mountains lies to the south of that valley, as well as Turkestan Range and Zarafshan Range at far southwest. Pamir-Alay

92-515: A Uyghur borrowing of the Persian tark , "to leave alone/out/behind, relinquish, abandon" + makan . “Taklā” also means “bald” in Hindi/Urdu , so it translates to “bald land” meaning land with no vegetation. Another plausible explanation suggests it is derived from Turki taqlar makan , describing "the place of ruins". Chinese scholars Wang Guowei and Huang Wenbi linked the name to

138-502: A plateau glacier during glacial times. The only remaining interglacial remnant of this glaciation is the 61 km long South Inylschek glacier. The outlet glacier tongues of the plateau glacier flowed northward down to Lake Issyk Kul , calving in this 160 km long lake. Similarly, strong glaciation was present in the high mountain area of the Kungey Alatau , which stretches for 230 km north of Issyk Kul and connects to

184-438: A problem. The turnover of individual trees is likewise conducive to the rapid evolution of a tree species, as is the fact that sweet apples are now, at least for all practical purposes, self-incompatible—that is, they cannot pollinate themselves. Therefore each apple tree within the forest and even each pip, usually five, within each individual fruit will be different. There are many apples on a mature tree, so natural selection has

230-489: A result of desertification . "When I woke up one morning, I found I couldn't open the door because of the weight of sand that had accumulated overnight. My crops were buried too, so I had no choice but to move" -Memet Simay, Qira County resident The Golmud-Korla Railway crosses the Taklamakan as well. Named areas in the desert include Ha-la-ma, A-lang-ha and Mai-k'o-tsa-k'o. The Mazartag mountains are located in

276-456: A rich and diverse population upon which to work. Birds, of course, eat all manner of fruit. But most birds eat seeds—a dietary feature not conducive either to the selection or spread of a fruit tree. Sweet apples are often eviscerated by birds, but the seeds are frequently left in the empty shell of the pome. The reason is that apple (and pear and quince) seeds are rich in cyanoglycosides, which are highly repellent, particularly to birds... Moreover,

322-449: A specific class of mineral found in the dust, known as K-feldspar , triggers ice formation particularly well. K-feldspar is particularly susceptible to corrosion by acidic atmospheric pollution, such as nitrates and phosphates; exposure to these constituents reduces the ability of the dust to trigger water droplet formation. In May 2023, China announced that it would drill a hole to around 11 kilometres (36,000 ft) depth to investigate

368-776: Is a desert in northwest China 's Xinjiang region . Located inside the Tarim Basin in Southern Xinjiang , it is bounded by the Kunlun Mountains to the south, the Pamir Mountains to the west, the Tian Shan range to the north, and the Gobi Desert to the east. While most researchers agree on makan being the Persian word for "place", etymology of Takla is less clear. The word may be

414-731: Is a large system of mountain ranges in Central Asia . The highest peak is at the Jengish Chokusu at 7,439 metres (24,406 ft) high. Its lowest point is at the Turpan Depression , which is 154 m (505 ft) below sea level . The Tian Shan is sacred in Tengrism . Its second-highest peak is known as Khan Tengri , which can be translated as "Lord of the Spirits". At the 2013 Conference on World Heritage ,

460-512: Is collective term for many systems above, but not including any of the Pamirs. This Tajikistan location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Kyrgyzstan location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Tian Shan The Tian Shan , also known as the Tengri Tagh or Tengir-Too , meaning the "Mountains of God/Heaven",

506-649: Is located on the northern margin of the Tarim basin between the Kokshaal-Tau mountain chain to the south and the Terskey Alatau mountain chain to the north. The Kokshaal-Tau extends for 570 km from Pik Dankowa in the west to Pik Pobeda in the east-northeast. This mountain chain, along with the parallel Terskey Alatau and the Tian Shan plateau in between, were covered by connected ice-stream-networks and

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552-402: Is said to mean "Place of No Return" or "get in and you'll never get out". The Taklamakan Desert has an area of 337,000 km (130,000 sq mi), making it slightly smaller than Germany. The desert is part of the Tarim Basin , which is 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) long and 400 kilometres (250 mi) wide. It is crossed at its northern and at its southern edge by two branches of

598-409: Is the highest point of Kazakhstan . Mountaineers class these as the two northernmost peaks surpassing 7,000 metres (23,000 ft) in the world. The Torugart Pass , at 3,752 metres (12,310 ft), marks the border between Kyrgyzstan and Xinjiang . The lower-altitude, forested Alatau ranges in the northern Tian Shan is home to Turkic -speaking pastoral tribes. The Tian Shan is separated from

644-613: The Bogda Shan in the east, as defined by both Western and Chinese cartography. The Tian Shan's highest peak is Jengish Chokusu (also known as Victory Peak) , shared by Kyrgyzstan and China. At 7,439 metres (24,406 ft) high, it is the highest point in Kyrgyzstan . The Tian Shan's second highest peak, Khan Tengri (King Heaven), straddles the Kazakhstan - Kyrgyzstan - China tripoint and at 7,010 metres (23,000 ft),

690-650: The Qarlik Tagh and the Barkol Mountains . Then the Bogda Shan (god mountains) run from 350 to 40 kilometres (217 to 25 mi) east of Ürümqi. Then there is a low area between Ürümqi and the Turfan Depression . The Borohoro Mountains start just south of Ürümqi and run west-northwest 450 kilometres (280 mi) separating Dzungaria from the Ili River basin. Their north end abuts on

736-698: The Silk Road would stop for relief at the thriving oasis towns. It was in close proximity to many of the ancient civilizations—to the Northwest is the Amu Darya basin, to the southwest the Afghanistan mountain passes lead to Iran and India, to the east is China, and even to the north ancient towns such as Almaty can be found. The key oasis towns, watered by rainfall from the mountains, were Kashgar , Miran , Niya , Yarkand , and Khotan (Hetian) to

782-413: The Silk Road , by which travellers sought to avoid the arid wasteland. It is the world's second-largest shifting sand desert, with about 85% made up of shifting sand dunes, ranking 16th in size in a ranking of the world's largest deserts . Dunes range in height from 60 feet (18 m) up to as much as 300 feet (91 m). The few breaks in this sea of sand are small patches of alluvial clay. Generally,

828-718: The Tarim Basin from the Fergana Valley . The Fergana Range runs northeast towards the Talas Ala-Too and separates the upper Naryn basin from Fergana proper. The southern side of these mountains merge into the Pamirs in Tajikistan ( Alay Mountains and Trans-Alay Range ). West of this is the Turkestan Range , which continues almost to Samarkand. The Tian Shan plateau, stretching 100 to 120 km wide,

874-815: The Tibetan Plateau by the Taklimakan Desert and the Tarim Basin to the south. The Syr Darya , Ili River and Tarim River that originate in the Tian Shan. The Aksu Canyon is a prominent feature in the mountain range's northwestern section. Continuous permafrost typically forms in the Tian Shan at elevations above 3,500-3,700 meters. Discontinuous permafrost can be found as low as 2,000 meters in specific locations influenced by unique topographical and climatic conditions, though it generally occurs between 2,700-3,300 meters altitude. The Tian Shan's glaciers are rapidly receding, losing 27% or 5.4 billion tons of ice annually since 1961— nearly four times

920-612: The Tocharians , a historical people of the Tarim Basin, making the meaning of "Taklamakan" similar to "Tocharistan". According to Uyghur researcher Turdi Mettursun Kara, the name Taklamakan comes from the expression Terk-i Mekan. The name is first mentioned as Terk-i Makan (ترك مكان / trk mkan) in the book called Tevarih-i Muskiyun, which was written in 1867 in the Hotan Prefecture of Xinjiang. In folk etymology , it

966-678: The Xiongnu word Qilian ( traditional Chinese : 祁連 ; simplified Chinese : 祁连 ; pinyin : Qílián ), which, according to Tang commentator Yan Shigu , is the Xiongnu word for "sky" or "heaven". Sima Qian , in the Records of the Grand Historian , mentioned Qilian in relation to the homeland of the Yuezhi , and the term is believed to refer to the Tian Shan rather than

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1012-670: The 200 kilometres (120 mi) Dzungarian Alatau which runs east northeast along Sino-Kazakh border. They start 50 kilometres (31 mi) east of Taldykorgan in Kazakhstan and end at the Dzungarian Gate . The Dzungarian Alatau in the north, the Borohoro Mountains in the middle and the Ketmen Ridge in the south make a reversed Z or S, the northeast enclosing part of Dzungaria and the southwest enclosing

1058-522: The Taklamakan was reported to be covered, for the first time in its recorded history, entirely with a thin layer of snow reaching 4 centimetres (1.6 in), with a temperature of −26.1 °C (−15 °F) in some observatories. Its extreme inland position, virtually in the very heartland of Asia and thousands of kilometres from any open body of water, accounts for the somewhat wide diurnal temperature variation . The Taklamakan Desert has very little water making it hazardous to cross. Merchant caravans on

1104-680: The Tian Shan Mountains. The plant then made its way to Turkey via the Silk Road and became a symbol of the Ottoman Empire . Ancestors of important crop vegetation were established and thrived in the area, among them: apricots ( Prunus armeniaca ), pears ( Pyrus spp.), pomegranates ( Punica granatum ), figs ( Ficus ), cherries ( Prunus avium ) and mulberries ( Morus ). The Tian Shan region also included important animals like bears, deer, and wild boar, which helped to spread seeds and expand ecological diversity. Among

1150-424: The Tian Shan, spreading along the Silk Road and killing half of Europe's population in the mid 1300s. Tian Shan has an alpine climate ( Köppen climate classification ETH ). In Tengrism , Khan Tengri , is the lord of all spirits and the religion's supreme deity, and it is the name given to the second highest peak of Tian Shan. One of the earliest historical references to these mountains may be related to

1196-607: The Tomb is mostly spent in this desert as they are searching for the ancient city of Jinjue (see Niya (Tarim Basin) ). The issue No. 39 'Soft Places' of Neil Gaiman's The Sandman takes place in the desert, when Marco Polo gets lost in the desert. A portion of the Korean quasi-historical TV drama series Queen Seondeok takes place in the Taklamakan Desert. Sohwa escapes from Silla with baby Deokman and raises her in

1242-465: The desert. As a teenager, Deokman returns to Silla and uses the knowledge and experience gained from life among international traders in the Taklamakan trading centers to gain the throne of Silla. The desert is showcased in the Japanese animation Mobile Suit Gundam 00 , set in the year 2307. On the series, the Taklamakan Desert is the setting of a large-scale military joint operation performed by all

1288-558: The eastern portion of Tian Shan in western China's Xinjiang Region was listed as a World Heritage Site . The western portion in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan was then listed in 2016. The Tian Shan range is located north and west of the Taklamakan Desert and directly north of the Tarim Basin . It straddles the border regions of Kazakhstan , Kyrgyzstan , Uzbekistan and Xinjiang in Northwest China . To

1334-459: The global average of 7%. By 2050, half of the remaining ice is projected to disappear. Russian explorer Peter Semenov was one of the first European to extensively document the Tian Shan in the 1850s. The Tian Shan have a number of named ranges which are often mentioned separately (all distances are approximate). In China the Tian Shan starts from about 600 to 400 kilometres (370 to 250 mi) east of Ürümqi , north of Kumul City (Hami) with

1380-734: The lake is the Terskey Alatau and the north side the Kyungey Ala-Too (shady and sunny Ala-Too). North of the Kyungey Ala-Too and parallel to it is the Trans-Ili Alatau in Kazakhstan just south of Almaty . West of the eye, the range continues 400 kilometres (250 mi) as the Kyrgyz Ala-Too , separating Chüy Region from Naryn Region and then Kazakhstan from the upper valley of the river Talas ,

1426-553: The last ice age than it is today. This would result in a depression of the average annual temperature of 7.2 to 8.4 °C for the Last Glacial Maximum compared with today, assuming a comparable precipitation ratio. The Tian Shan holds important forests of Schrenk's spruce ( Picea schrenkiana ) at altitudes of over 2,000 metres (6,600 ft); the lower slopes have unique natural forests of wild walnuts and apples . The Tian Shan in its immediate geological past

Alay Range - Misplaced Pages Continue

1472-612: The layers of crust in that area. It will not be as deep as the Kola Superdeep Borehole (12,262 metres (40,230 ft). The Taklamakan Desert is surrounded by the Taklimakan Desert railway loop. The Southern Xinjiang Railway branches from the Lanxin Railway near Turpan, follows the north side of the basin to Kashgar, and curves southeast to Khotan, while Hotan–Ruoqiang railway loops around

1518-587: The mountain foreland near Alma Ata. The glacial glaciers from the Kungey Alatau also calved into Lake Issyk Kul, with the Ak-Sai valley glacier developing a mountain foreland glacier. The Chon-Kemin valley was glaciated up to its inflow into the Chu valley. Altogether, the glacial Tian Shan glaciation occupied an area of approximately 118,000 square kilometers. The glacier snowline was about 1200m lower during

1564-462: The placenta of the apple fruit, the womb, contains inhibitory substances that prevent the germination of the apple seed in situ. This is a commonly observed phenomenon in fruits as Michael Evenari showed in 1949. So what then does, or did, distribute the original apple seed? The bear... The strain of Y. pestis which caused the bubonic plague now know as the Black Death may have originated in

1610-582: The range 1,500 kilometres (930 mi) further east now known as the Qilian Mountains . The name of the Tannu-Ola mountains in Tuva has the same meaning. The Chinese name Tian Shan is most likely a direct translation of the traditional Kyrgyz name for the mountains, Teñir Too. Taklimakan Desert The Taklamakan Desert ( / ˌ t æ k l ə m ə ˈ k æ n / TAK-lə-mə-KAN )

1656-566: The region. Later, the Taklamakan was inhabited by Turkic peoples . Starting with the Han dynasty , the Chinese sporadically extended their control to the oasis cities of the Taklamakan Desert to control the important silk route trade across Central Asia. Periods of Chinese rule were interspersed with rule by Turkic, Mongol and Tibetan peoples. The present population consists largely of Turkic Uyghur people and ethnic Han people . This desert

1702-568: The south and west side of the Traim. In total, the Taklimakan Desert railway loop contains four different railway lines, including the sections of the Golmud–Korla railway , Hotan–Ruoqiang railway , Kashgar–Hotan railway , and Southern Xinjiang railway . Roads and highways are also available in the desert. The desert is the main setting for Chinese film series Painted Skin and Painted Skin: The Resurrection . The Chinese TV series Candle in

1748-605: The south side of which is the 200 kilometres (120 mi) Talas Ala-Too Range ('Ala-too' is a Kyrgyz spelling of Alatau). At the east end of the Talas Alatau the Suusamyr Too range runs southeast enclosing the Suusamyr Valley or plateau. As for the area south of the Fergana Valley there is an 800 kilometres (500 mi) group of mountains that curves west-southwest from south of Issyk Kul Lake separating

1794-699: The south, Kuqa and Turpan in the north, and Loulan and Dunhuang in the east. Now, many, such as Miran and Gaochang , are ruined cities in sparsely inhabited areas in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China . The archaeological treasures found in its sand-buried ruins point to Tocharian , early Hellenistic , Indian , and Buddhist influences. Its treasures and dangers have been vividly described by Aurel Stein , Sven Hedin , Albert von Le Coq , and Paul Pelliot . Mummies , some 4000 years old, have been found in

1840-628: The south, it connects with the Pamir Mountains , while to north and east, it meets the Altai Mountains of Mongolia . The Tian Shan range extends eastwards for approximately 2,900 kilometers from Tashkent , Uzbekistan. It forms part of the Himalayan orogenic belt , resulting from the collision of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates during the Cenozoic era. The range encompasses

1886-486: The steeper sides of the dunes face away from the prevailing winds. The People's Republic of China has constructed two cross-desert highways. The Tarim Desert Highway links the cities of Hotan (on the southern edge) and Luntai (on the northern edge) and the Bayingol to Ruoqiang road crosses the desert to the east. In recent years, the desert has expanded in some areas, its sands enveloping farms and villages as

Alay Range - Misplaced Pages Continue

1932-574: The upper Ili valley. In Kyrgyzstan the mainline of the Tian Shan continues as Narat Range from the base of the Borohoros west 570 kilometres (350 mi) to the point where China, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan meet. Here is the highest part of the range – the Central Tian Shan, with Peak Pobeda ( Kakshaal Too range) and Khan Tengri . West of this, the Tian Shan split into an 'eye', with Issyk Kul Lake in its center. The south side of

1978-526: The vegetation colonizing the Tian Shan came, likely via birds from the east, the ancestors of what we know as the "sweet" apple. The fruit probably then looked like a tiny, long-stalked, bitter apple something like Malus baccata , the Siberian crab. The pips may have been carried in a bird's crop or clotted onto feet or feathers. What natural features of the unique Tian Shan might have contributed to this rigorous selection program? Time is, as we have seen, not

2024-526: The western part of the desert. Because it lies in the rain shadow of the Himalayas, Taklamakan has a cold desert climate . Given its relative proximity with the cold to frigid air masses in Siberia , extreme temperatures are recorded in wintertime, sometimes well below −20 °C (−4 °F), while in summer they can rise up to 40 °C (104 °F). During the 2008 Chinese winter storms episode,

2070-575: Was explored by several scholars, including Xuanzang , a 7th-century Buddhist monk, and, in the 20th century, the archaeologist Aurel Stein . Atmospheric studies have shown that dust originating from the Taklamakan is blown over the Pacific, where it contributes to cloud formation over the Western United States. Further, the traveling dust redistributes minerals from the Taklamakan to the western U.S. via rainfall. Studies have shown that

2116-494: Was kept from glaciation due to the "protecting" warm influence of the Indian Ocean monsoon climate. This defined its ecological features which could sustain its distinctive ecosphere. The mountains were subjected to constant geological changes with constantly evolving drainage systems which affected the patterns of vegetation, as well as exposing fertile soil for newly emerging seedlings to thrive in. Tulips originated in

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