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62-682: Overall, from 1953 to 1967, 34th Squadron flew 838 missions, 148 Black Bat crew members went down with 15 aircraft. A few were captured after being shot down and later released in Hong Kong. The squadron's last operational mission was flown in May 1969. This was the epic operation Heavy Tea . After the failure of the Black Cat Squadron to plant operating sensor pods near the Lop Nur Nuclear Weapons Test Base,

124-502: 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

186-948: A boat-shaped coffin wrapped in ox hide, containing the mummified body of a young woman. In 1979, some of the earliest of the Tarim mummies were discovered in burial sites at Qäwrighul (Gumugou), which is located to the west of Lop Nur, on the Könchi (Kongque) river. Forty-two graves, most of which dated from 2100 to 1500 BC, were found. There were two types of tomb at the site, belonging to two different time periods. The first type of burial featured shaft pit graves, some of which had poles at either end to mark east and west. Bodies were found extended, usually facing east, and sometimes were wrapped in wool weavings and wearing felt hats. Artifacts found included basketry, wheat grains, cattle and sheep/goat horns, bird bone necklaces and bracelets, nephrite beads, and fragments of copper (or bronze), although no pottery

248-474: A few thousand years old, were opened the bodies were often found to be mummified and grave goods well preserved. The earliest sites are associated with an ancient people of Indo European origin. Loulan or Kroran was an ancient kingdom based around an important oasis city already known in the 2nd century BCE on the north-eastern edge of the Lop Desert. It was renamed Shanshan after Chinese took control of

310-546: A formal moratorium on nuclear testing the following day, although further subcritical tests were suspected. In 2012, China announced plans to spend US$ 1 million to clean up the Malan nuclear base in Lop Nor to create a red tourism site. In December 2023, a report emerged indicating that China was making preparations to resume nuclear tests in a remote desert. Satellite imagery provided evidence of these preparations, revealing

372-438: 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

434-456: 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,

496-448: A support area with multiple buildings. What was once a modest site with only a few buildings had transformed into a modern and sophisticated complex, complete with security fences. One of the new structures was a bunker that was fortified with earthen berms and lightning arresters, indicating its suitability for handling high explosives. Tests on miniaturization of missiles and warheads can also be possibly carried out at this site. However,

558-708: Is a toponym of unknown origin ) is a now largely dried-up salt lake formerly located in the eastern fringe of the Tarim Basin in the southeastern portion of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region , northwestern China , between the Taklamakan and Kumtag deserts. Administratively, the lake is in Lop Nur town ( Chinese : 罗布泊镇 ; pinyin : Luóbùpō zhèn ), also known as Luozhong ( 罗中 ; Luózhōng ) of Ruoqiang County , which in its turn

620-608: Is also served by the Hotan–Ruoqiang railway , which loops around the south and west side of the Tarim Basin , part of the Taklimakan Desert railway loop, joined together with sections of the Golmud–Korla railway , Kashgar–Hotan railway , and Southern Xinjiang railway . Given the extreme dryness and resulting thin population, remains of some buildings survived for a significant period of time. When ancient graves, some

682-431: Is covered with a salt crust ranging from 30 to 100 cm (12 to 39 in) in thickness. An area to the northwest of Lop Nur has been used as a nuclear testing site . Since the discovery of potash at the site in the mid-1990s, it is also the location of a large-scale mining operation. There are some restricted areas under military management and cultural relics protection points in the region, which are not open to

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744-598: 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

806-611: Is part of the Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture . The lake system, into which the Tarim River and Shule River drain from the west and east respectively, is the last remnant of the historical post-glacial Tarim Lake, which once covered more than 10,000 km (3,900 sq mi) in the Tarim Basin but had progressively shrunk throughout the Holocene due to rain shadowing by

868-409: 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

930-613: 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),

992-630: The Lop Nur Wild Camel National Nature Reserve . A highway from Hami to Lop Nur (Xinjiang Provincial Highway 235) was completed in 2006. The Hami–Lop Nur Railway , which runs 374.83 kilometres (232.91 mi) north to Hami, along the same route, opened to freight operations in November 2012. The railway is used to transport potassium-rich salt mined at the lake to the Lanzhou–Xinjiang railway . It

1054-650: 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

1116-718: 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,

1178-752: The Tengri Tagh or Tengir-Too , meaning the "Mountains of God/Heaven", 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

1240-815: 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

1302-528: The Tibetan Plateau . Lop Nur is hydrologically endorheic , it is landbound and has no outlet, and has relied largely on meltwater runoffs from the Tianshan , Kunlun and the western Qilian Mountains . The lake measured 3,100 km (1,200 sq mi) in 1928, but has dried up due to construction of reservoirs which dammed the flow of water feeding into the lake, and only small seasonal lakes and salt marshes may form. The dried-up Lop Nur Basin

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1364-678: 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

1426-670: The "Wandering Lake" in the early 20th century due to the Tarim River changing its course, causing its terminal lake to alter its location between the Lop Nur dried basin, the Kara-Koshun dried basin and the Taitema Lake basin. This shift of the terminal lake caused some confusion amongst the early explorers as to the exact location of Lop Nur. Imperial maps from the Qing dynasty showed Lop Nur to be located in similar position to

1488-780: The 134th Squadron under 6th T/EWW (439th CW) in Taiwan, and is operating the S-2Ts that used to be under the ROCN. This is not to be confused with another top-secret squadron of the ROCAF—The Black Cat Squadron. This 35th Squadron flew U-2 high altitude reconnaissance plane provided by the CIA, losing five aircraft and three ROCAF pilots to PRC air defenses. Their flight provided valuable intelligence deep inside mainland China, specifically China's atomic bomb development. The Black Cat Squadron

1550-670: 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

1612-483: The 20th century. A mummy called the Beauty of Loulan was found at a cemetery site on the bank of Töwän River. The Xiaohe Cemetery is located to the west of Lop Nur. This Bronze Age burial site is an oblong sand dune, from which more than thirty well preserved mummies have been excavated. The entire Xiaohe Cemetery contains about 330 tombs, about 160 of which have been violated by grave robbers. A local hunter guided

1674-516: The CIA developed a plan to deploy two battery-powered sensor pallets near the base. To deploy the pallets, a Black Bat crew was trained in the US to fly the C-130 Hercules. The crew of 12, led by Col Sun Pei Zhen, took off from Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base in an unmarked US Air Force C-130E on 17 May. Flying for six and a half hours at low altitude in the dark, they arrived over the target and

1736-656: The Chinese Foreign Ministry has dismissed the report and its "utterly irresponsible" claims. China has denied any nuclear testing plans on the site. Lop Nur is home to the wild Bactrian camel , which is a separate species from the Bactrian camel . The camels have continued to breed naturally despite the nuclear testing. China signed the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty in 1996 but did not ratify it. Subsequently,

1798-672: The Spirits". At the 2013 Conference on World Heritage , 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

1860-591: The Swedish explorer and archeologist Folke Bergman to the site in 1934. An excavation project by the Xinjiang Cultural Relics and Archaeology Institute began in October 2003. A total of 167 tombs have been dug up since the end of 2002 and excavations have revealed hundreds of smaller tombs built in layers, as well as other precious artifacts. In 2006, a valuable archeological finding was uncovered:

1922-736: 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

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1984-424: 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

2046-466: The area. It is also likely that Swedish soldier Johan Gustaf Renat had visited the area when he was helping the Zunghars to produce maps over the area in the eighteenth century. The lake was given various names in ancient Chinese texts. In Shiji it was called Yan Ze (鹽澤, literally Salt Marsh), indicating its saline nature, near which was located the ancient Loulan Kingdom . In Hanshu it

2108-578: The arid Xinjiang region of China's far west, serves as an extensive military base. This location was selected for nuclear testing due to its desolate and isolated nature, devoid of any permanent inhabitants, though the broader Xinjiang region is home to the Uyghurs , a predominantly Muslim ethnic group that has historically faced widespread detentions and stringent security measures in Xinjiang conflict . The Uyghurs have persistently voiced concerns regarding

2170-542: The atmosphere. In 2009, Jun Takada, a Japanese scientist, published the results of his computer simulation which suggests – based on deaths from Soviet tests – that 190,000 people could have died in China from nuclear-related illnesses. Enver Tohti, an exiled pro-Uyghur independence activist, claimed that cancer rates in the province of Xinjiang were 30 to 35% higher than the national average. On 29 July 1996, China conducted its 45th and final nuclear test at Lop Nor, and issued

2232-483: The camels were classified as an endangered species on the IUCN Red List . Since the cessation of nuclear testing at Lop Nur, human incursions into the area have caused a decline in the camel population. Wild Bactrian camels have been classified as critically endangered since 2002 and approximately half of the 1400 remaining wild Bactrian camels live on the former Lop Nur test base, which has been designated

2294-462: The ecosystem, water was diverted from Lake Bosten in an attempt to fill the Taitema Lake. The Taitema Lake however had shifted 30 to 40 kilometres (19 to 25 mi) westwards during the past 40 years due in part to the spread of the desert. Another cause of the destabilization of the desert has been the cutting of poplars and willows for firewood; in response, a restoration project to reclaim

2356-459: 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

2418-763: The health risks posed by the towering mushroom clouds and the release of radioactive fallout . China established the Lop Nur Nuclear Test Base on 16 October 1959 with Soviet assistance in selection of the site, with its headquarters at Malan ( 马兰 , Mǎlán ), about 125 kilometres (78 mi) northwest of Qinggir . The first Chinese nuclear bomb test , codenamed " Project 596 ", occurred at Lop Nur on 16 October 1964. China detonated its first hydrogen bomb on 17 June 1967. Until 1996, 45 nuclear tests were conducted. These nuclear tests were conducted by dropping bombs from aircraft, mounted on towers, launching missiles, detonating weapons underground and in

2480-459: The kingdom in 1st century BCE. It was abandoned some time in the seventh century. Its location was discovered by Sven Hedin in 1899, who excavated some houses and found a wooden Kharosthi tablet and many Chinese manuscripts from the Jin dynasty (266–420). Aurel Stein also excavated at the site in the beginning of the 20th century, while Chinese archaeologists explored the area in the latter part of

2542-734: 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 ,

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2604-602: The lake-filled basin. Loulan became a client state of the Chinese empire in 55 BC, renamed Shanshan . Faxian went by the Lop Desert on his way to the Indus valley (395–414), followed by later Chinese pilgrims. Marco Polo in his travels passed through the Lop Desert . In the 19th century and early 20th century, the explorers Ferdinand von Richthofen , Nikolai Przhevalsky , Sven Hedin and Aurel Stein visited and studied

2666-553: 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

2728-460: The most part then dried out, with only small seasonal lakes forming in local depressions in Taitema. The loss of water to the lower Tarim River Valley also led to the deterioration and loss of poplar forests and tamarix shrubs that used to be extensively distributed along the lower Tarim River Valley forming the so-called "Green Corridor". In 2000, in an effort to prevent further deterioration of

2790-587: 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

2852-403: 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

2914-504: The poplar forests was initiated. The Kara-Koshun dried basin may be considered part of the greater Lop Nur. On 17 June 1980, Chinese scientist Peng Jiamu disappeared while walking into Lop Nur in search of water. His body was never found, and his disappearance remains a mystery. On 3 June 1996, the Chinese explorer Yu Chunshun died while trying to walk across Lop Nur. 40°10′N 90°35′E  /  40.167°N 90.583°E  / 40.167; 90.583 Lop Nur, situated in

2976-411: The presence of a drilling rig that had created a deep vertical shaft. This shaft was believed to be designed to contain the destructive power of radiation resulting from large nuclear explosions . Further analysis of the satellite images since 2017 also uncovered the development of new infrastructure at the site. This included the construction of new roads, power lines, an electrical substation, and

3038-443: The present Lop Nur dried basin, but the Russian geographer Nikolay Przhevalsky instead found the terminal lake at Kara-Koshun in 1867. Sven Hedin visited the area in 1900–1901 and suggested that the Tarim river periodically changed its course to and from between its southbound and northbound direction, resulting in a shift in the position of the terminal lake. The change in the course of the river, which resulted in Lop Nur drying up,

3100-424: The public. From around 1800 BC until the 9th century the lake supported a thriving Tocharian culture. Archaeologists have discovered the buried remains of settlements, as well as several of the Tarim mummies , along its ancient shoreline. Former water resources of the Tarim River and Lop Nur nurtured the kingdom of Loulan since the second century BC, an ancient civilisation along the Silk Road , which skirted

3162-399: The sensor pallets were dropped by parachute near Anxi in Gansu province. After another six and a half hours of low altitude flight, they arrived back at Takhli. The sensors worked and uploaded data to a US intelligence satellite for six months, before their batteries wore out. The Chinese conducted two nuclear tests, on 22 September 1969 and 29 September 1969, during the operating life of

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3224-444: The sensor pallets. Another mission to the area was planned as operation Golden Whip , but was called off in 1970. After the 34th Squadron stopped flying over and near Mainland China, they moved to special operations over Vietnam, until 1972. 12 members of 34th SQ also involved in CIA's Project Main Street in 1971 to 1972, involving tapping North Vietnam's communication link. As of 2013, The "Black Bat" squadron has been reactivated as

3286-420: 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

3348-401: 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

3410-450: 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

3472-470: 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

3534-400: Was also suggested by Hedin as the reason why ancient settlements such as Loulan had perished. In 1921, due to human intervention, the terminal lake shifted its position back to Lop Nur. The lake measured 2400 km in area in 1930–1931. In 1934, Sven Hedin went down the new Kuruk Darya ("Dry River") in a canoe. He found the delta to be a maze of channels and the new lake so shallow that it

3596-414: Was called Puchang Hai (蒲昌海, literally Sea of Abundant Reed) and was given a dimension of 300 to 400 li (roughly 120–160 km) in length and breadth, indicating it was once a lake of great size. These early texts also mentioned the belief, mistaken as it turns out, that the lake joins the Yellow River at Jishi through an underground channel as the source of the river. The lake was referred to as

3658-404: Was difficult to navigate even in a canoe. He had previously walked the dry Kuruk Darya in a caravan in 1900. In 1952 the terminal lake then shifted to Taitema Lake when the Tarim River and Konque River were separated through human intervention, and Lop Nur dried out again by 1964. In 1972, the Daxihaizi Reservoir was built at Tikanlik, water supply to the lake was cut off, and all the lakes for

3720-404: Was disbanded in 1973, and 2 remaining U-2R were returned to US by 1974. Director Ting Wen-chin (Dīng Wénjìng 丁雯靜) made a documentary about them entitled The Secret Hidden in the Sky of Taiwan (Táiwān tiānkōng de mìmi 臺灣天空的祕密). Lop Nur Lop Nur or Lop Nor ( Oirat : ᠯᠣ᠊ᠫ ᠨᡇᡇᠷ , romanized:  Lob nuur , from an Oirat Mongolic name meaning "Lop Lake", where "Lop"

3782-610: Was discovered. The second type of burial, from a later period, also consisted of shaft pit graves, surrounded by seven concentric circles of poles. Six male graves were found, in which the bodies were extended on their backs, and facing towards the east. Few artifacts were found, except for some traces of copper, or bronze. Miran is located to the south-west of Lop Nur. Buddhist monasteries were excavated here, and murals and sculptures showed artistic influences from India and Central Asia , with some showing influences from as far as Rome . Tianshan The Tian Shan , also known as

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3844-434: 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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