Peaks of the Tien Shan. Exploration of the Tien Shan
Tien Shan - "Celestial Mountains" - spread over a vast area. More than 2,500 km of its ridges stretched through the central part of Asia, more than 1,200 km are within the former USSR.
The central part of the mountain system is the highest, where the almost parallel latitudinal ranges of the eastern Tien Shan, which lies within China, merge. The entire central and western parts of the Tien Shan are located on the territories of the former Soviet republics. Here, in a complex interweaving of ridges, the greatest peaks of the Tien Shan rise: Pobeda Peak (7439m) and Khan Tengri (7010m).
From here, the ridges diverge again in a westerly direction.
The northern ridges of the former Soviet part of the Tien Shan - Zailiysky and Kungei Alatau go around the large high-altitude lake Issyk-Kul from the north. Further to the west stretch the ranges of the Kyrgyz Alatau, Talas, Ugam, Pskem and Chatkal, not counting the less significant ones. This series of almost parallel ranges borders the Ferghana Valley from the north.
From the east, the Central Tien Shan is fenced by a relatively short chain of mountains directed from north to south - the Meridional ridge. To the west, latitudinal ranges depart from it: Sarydzhassky and Terskey-Alatau, Stalin, Kaindy and the huge Kokshaal-tau, covering the central part of the Tien Shan from the south. In the west, this part of the mountain system ends with the Ferghana Range, which stretches from the southeast to the northwest.
Within these boundaries are many mountains. They are crowned either by snow cones or by pointed peaks. But not the entire Central Tien Shan is an area of high snowy mountains. They are concentrated mainly between the Meridional ridge and another Akshiryak ridge, almost parallel to it. Further, a significant part of the space is occupied by rounded, mostly snowless mountains, interspersed with vast hilly plateaus - syrts.
From the southwestern corner of the Central Tien Shan, another series of ridges extends to the west, which have the common name Pamir-Altai. Many scientists consider them also to belong to the Tien Shan system. This is, first of all, the rocky Alai Range, bordering the Ferghana Valley from the south. At its western end, the Alai Range forms a powerful knot and branches into the Zeravshan and Gissar Ranges. From the first of them, the Turkestan Range further branches off.
Central and inner Tien Shan
According to the orographic structure, the Tien Shan is usually divided into Northern, Western, Central, Inner and Eastern (the latter in China). Tourists and climbers usually, in their classification of the Central and Inner Tien Shan, consider the region of the Kaindy, Inylchek-Too, Sary-Jaz, Tengri-Tag ridges to be the eastern part of the central Tien Shan, and the Kuilshu, Akshiyrak, Dzhetymbel, Naryn-Too, Borkoldoy ridges , At-Byshi and the rest of the Terskey Ala-Tau ridge just to the Central Tien Shan.
HISTORY OF RESEARCH OF THE CENTRAL TIEN SHAN
Foothills of the Tien Shan, as well as other areas Central Asia have been inhabited since prehistoric times. Traces of the stay of an ancient man were found in many valleys of the Tien Shan, including in its high-mountainous part; some finds date back more than a millennium BC. Even at the bottom of the high mountain lake Issyk-Kul there are remains of ancient buildings. However, information about the mountains of the Tien Shan, especially about its high central part, seeped into geographical science very slowly. Knowledge about the Tien Shan was accumulated in the same ways as about other mountainous regions of Asia. From this point of view, the high-mountainous Tien Shan was, perhaps, in even more unfavorable conditions than the Pamirs. The Mongolian peoples from the eastern part of Asia moved west to the north of the main chains of the Central Tien Shan, through the Dzungarian gates. Trade routes linking East and West also bypassed these ranges, but from the north or south.
South, in the river basin. Tarim, there was the legendary land of the Issedons "Serika", through which Chinese silks went to the western countries. The Greek geographer and historian Herodotus mentions the journey to these countries of Aristas Proconesus (7th century BC), and, according to him, to the north of the places inhabited by the Issedons and their western neighbors the Agrippas, there is a little-known high and inaccessible mountainous country . Somewhere in these same places passed the route of the journey described by Maeom Titianus.
Earlier it was said that the first reliable information and ideas about the geography of Central Asia were obtained by Chinese travelers. In particular, Zhang Zang, during his "journey to the Fergana Valley (126 BC), apparently crossed part of the Tien Shan and visited Lake Issyk-Kul. Chinese geography of the Han Dynasty (114 BC). BC) already definitely mentions the Muzart mountains (now the Muzart pass is known in the western part of the Halyktau ridge, in the eastern Tien Shan - Richthofen believes that Zhang Tsang passed through it) and Lake Issyk-Kul. the northern route through the Tsun-lin (Onion Mountains, which included the Pamirs and the western part of the Tien Shan), leading west to Kokand and northwest to the Aral Sea region.
The first Chinese Buddhist travelers undoubtedly made their way to India along the southern foothills of the Tien Shan. The famous Xuan Jiang (7th century) began his journey from China along the northern road to Hami, then turned west, passing along the southern foot of the Tien Shan to the city of Aksu. From here he again moved north and crossed the ridges of the Central Tien Shan, and subsequently the first to describe these snowy mountains. It is difficult to establish exactly which pass he used. Since it is believed that he went to the eastern shore of the lake. Issyk-Kul, it is believed that the traveler used the Muzart pass. This conclusion is also supported by the name Shin-Shan given in the description, which means an ice (or snow) mountain.
As you know, in the Turkic language, this corresponds to Muz-tau, and, accordingly, the ice pass - Muzart. But from Aksu, he could just as well move to the Bedel pass. This very difficult transition left a lasting impression on Xuan Jiang. The pass was especially dangerous. Many of Xuan Jiang's companions died in the mountains. The traveler describes the peaks of the Tien Shan in this way: "From the beginning of the world, the snow accumulated here turned into ice blocks that do not melt either in spring or in summer. Smooth fields of solid and shiny ice stretch into infinity and merge with the clouds. The path often passes between icy peaks hanging on both sides and through high ice masses.
Xuan Jiang warns that in these places you can’t wear red clothes, you can’t talk loudly, otherwise the traveler will face incalculable troubles, snow and stone landslides, etc.
Over the next millennium, almost no new information about the high Tien Shan comes to science. Starting from the 8th century, when the dominion of the Arab conquerors was established in Central Asia, and until the invasion of Genghis Khan in the 12th-13th centuries. Tien Shan lies away from trade routes and is not visited by scientists and travelers. The meager information about this country in the Arabic geography of that time is essentially no higher than the level of knowledge given in Chinese sources of the 7th-8th centuries.
Only in the XVIII century. ideas about the Tien Shan were somewhat replenished. In 1708, Jesuit missionaries began, on behalf of Ikhun Lung, the emperor of China, to draw up a map of his possessions and neighboring countries. For ten years, Gallerstein, Felix Aroga and Espinius, with the help of very knowledgeable Chinese surveyors, studied the country. The map compiled as a result of this work was published in 1821. However, Western part China was mapped a little later, in the middle of the 18th century. To collect material on this area, the researchers got to the lake. Issyk-Kul and visited the valley of the river. Or. The map had a remarkable feature: its compilers relatively accurately determined the geographical position of many places they visited by the stars, a method that had long been known in China. Therefore, their work served as the basis for many other later maps for many years.
Some information about the Tien Shan was also known to the Russians. So, for example, in the well-known "Book of the Big Drawing" (end of the 16th century), the compilation of which was begun at the behest of Ivan the Terrible, the upper part of the river. The Syr Darya is depicted more faithfully than even by the English traveler Wood (1838). This is not surprising: it is known that trade relations between the Muscovite state and the countries of Asia have existed since very ancient times. Not only merchants, but also embassies, who had a special order to describe the visited countries, penetrated from Moscow to the East. So, for example, O. I. Baikov, the ambassador of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, passed through Dzungaria on his way to Beijing.
With the beginning of the XVIII century. Russians are becoming more and more familiar with Central Asia, in particular with its eastern part, to which the Tien Shan belongs.
Peter the Great seeks to establish relations with India along the river. Amu Darya. Two expeditions went to Asia: Colonel Buchholz to Siberia and Prince Bekovich-Cherkassky to the Transcaspian region. Both expeditions are known to have been unsuccessful. Among the many participants in the defeated Buchholz detachment who were captured by the Kalmyks was the Swede I. Renat. After being in captivity for 17 years (1716-1733), he became well acquainted with Dzungaria. Renat returned to Europe with a map he had compiled of Dzungaria and adjacent parts of Siberia and Central Asia. This map was unknown for a long time, its copy was found only in the late 70s of the XIX century. in one of the Swedish libraries and then published in 1881 by the Russian Geographical Society. Even at the time of publication, the map was in many ways superior to later ones.
The well-known journey of F. Efremov gave a lot for the knowledge of Central Asia. In 1774 he was taken prisoner to Bukhara. There, Efremov became an officer in the Khan's troops and made a number of trips to neighboring countries. Homesickness made him flee. The way to the west was closed, and Efremov moved to the east: through Kokand and Kashgar he made his way to , from there to Kashmir and India, and from India to England. He returned to Russia only in 1782. Efremov was the first European to pass through the Terekdavan Pass.
Since the beginning of the 1930s, the influence of the Russian state among the feudal lords of the nomadic tribes of the so-called "Kirghiz steppe" (Northern Kazakhstan) has increased so much that travel to the eastern part of Central Asia has become more accessible, and therefore relatively frequent. If Captain Unkovsky in 1823 compiled a map of Dzungaria according to interrogated data, then already in 1832 Lieutenant Colonel Ugryumov was able to map this region of Asia based on personal observations.
Both for other regions of Asia and for the Tien Shan, the period of collecting fragmentary information ends with the appearance of major generalizing works by A. Humboldt, K. Ritter and, somewhat later, Richthofen. A. Humboldt was the first to make an attempt not only to generalize all the information about the geography of Asia, but also to build a then still hypothetical system of mainland orography.
An important role in this construction was assigned to the Tien Shan, which Humboldt ranked among the main latitudinal chains of the mountains of Asia. The scientist had a very peculiar idea of these still almost unknown mountains. In his description, this is a chain of real volcanic mountains. The Tien Shan intersects with the legendary Bolor ridge, and further to the west continues with the Asferk ridge, which ends at the meridian of Samarkand. Not far from here in the ridge is the volcanic group Bothm. This volcano was also reported by the Arab geographer Idisi. To the east of Bolor, Humboldt calls the Tien Shan Terek-tag, Kok-Shal, Temurtu-tag, Bai-Shan, Turpan volcanoes, etc. The chain ends at the Khami meridian and disappears in the sands of the Gobi desert. The author is inclined to consider the Tien Shan as a more extensive mountainous country, believing that the Caucasus is the western continuation of this chain of mountains, and to the east, beyond the Gobi, it should include the In-shal mountains, stretching almost to the coast of the Pacific Ocean. The geology of that time had a very pronounced "volcanic direction". Perhaps that is why, and also because of the inaccurate information of ancient authors, but, in any case, Humboldt considered the Tien Shan major center active volcanic activity. The scientist was not stopped by the fact that this violated the basic pattern according to which volcanoes on the Earth's surface are found mainly on islands and near the shores of large sea basins.
Humboldt distinguished several centers of volcanic activity in the Tien Shan. Especially intense, in his opinion, it should be in the east, near Urumqi, near Kulja, Turfan, near Lake. Issyk-Kul. The scientist considered Bogdo-olo and the huge volcano Bai-Shan to be the centers of the volcanic region.
It is curious and characteristic of the geography of that time that Bai Shan, a mountain known from Chinese sources, was considered a volcano on the grounds that some authors called it Ho Shan (Fiery Mountain). Another traveler, Meyer, mistook Mount Urten-tau for a volcano only because of its name, which in translation means Burnt Hill.
Already in 1840, A. Schrenk, during his trip to the Dzungarian Alatau, proved that the Aral-Tube island in the lake. Alakol is not a volcano at all, contrary to the opinion of Humboldt, based on the incorrect testimony of other travelers. Twelve years later, the mining engineer Vlangali, visiting the same places, also found no traces of volcanism and volcanic rocks. There remained a high-altitude and still inaccessible part of the Tien Shan. If there are no volcanoes on the outskirts of a mountainous country, then perhaps they are in its center? But science answered this question relatively quickly.
In the early 50s of the century before last, Russian troops occupied the so-called Trans-Ili region. In 1845, in the foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau, the Verny fortification was founded (now the city of Almaty (Alma-Ata). Russian scientists gained access to the Tien Shan.
Only the first house in Verny was completed, clashes between the warring clans of the Kirghiz continued in the mountain valleys, but the young scientist botanist P.P. ).
P.P. Semenov belongs to a galaxy of remarkable Russian travelers of the 19th century, researchers with a broad and versatile background and interests. Being a botanist by profession, he nevertheless collected and summarized interesting and important materials on the orography and geological structure, the fauna of the visited country, and described its population. “My main attention,” wrote P.P. Semenov to the Geographical Society after the end of the expedition, “was turned to the study of mountain passes, since their height determines the average height of the ridges, and the section determines the geographical profile and structure of mountain ranges, not to mention their importance as means of communication between neighboring countries. Finally, I paid no less attention to the study of the common features of the orographic and geognostic structure of the country and to the vertical and horizontal distribution of vegetation. "
Having left St. Petersburg in the spring of 1856, P.P. Semenov reached the Verny fortification only on September 1. In the evening of the next day, accompanied by a small detachment, he went east along the foothills of the Northern Tien Shan. How wild these places were at that time can be judged at least by the fact that while Semenov made an excursion up the valley of the river. Issyk, his companions hunted a tiger.
Having crossed the Zailiysky and Kungei Alatau ridges, a small detachment reached the eastern shore of the lake. Issyk-Kul and, having stayed here for only a few hours, turned back. Somewhat later, Semenov managed to visit the western shores of the lake. This allowed him to discover important questions hydrography of the Tien Shan.
In 1856, the explorer failed to penetrate the Central Tien Shan. He only watched from a distance its snowy ridges rising behind the lake: “From the south, this entire blue basin of Issyk-Kul was closed by a continuous chain of snow giants. The Tien Shan seemed like a steep wall. and since their snow-white bases, beyond the distance in the south-west, were hidden behind the horizon, the snowy peaks seemed to come straight out of the dark blue waters of the lake.
After spending the winter in Barnaul, Semyonov returned to Verny in the early spring of 1857; this time he explored a much larger part of the Tien Shan, mainly to the east and southeast of the lake. Issyk-Kul. Having reached the southern coast of the lake, he crossed the Terskey-Alatau through the most accessible Zaukinsky pass (Dzhuuka pass) and ended up in the syrt region of the upper reaches of the Naryn. From here the traveler turned back to Issyk-Kul. Then the detachment moved up the river valley. Kokzhar to the pass of the same name.
From the pass before Semenov's eyes, a panorama of extraordinary grandeur opened up: "When we reached about one in the afternoon to the top of the mountain pass, we were blinded by an unexpected sight. Directly to the south of us rose the most majestic mountain range I have ever seen. He all, from top to bottom, consisted of snow giants, of which I could count to my right and left no less than thirty. That entire ridge, together with the gaps between the mountain peaks, was covered with a nowhere, interrupted veil of eternal snow. Just in the middle of these giants rose one snow-white pointed pyramid sharply separating between them in its colossal height, which seemed from the height of the pass to be twice as high as the other peaks...
The sky was completely cloudless on all sides, and only on Khan Tengri was a small cloud visible, a light crown surrounding the dazzling whiteness of the mountain pyramid a little below its top.
The scientist spent three hours at the pass. Descending into the valley Sarydzhaz, Semenov explored its upper reaches and climbed, as he writes, on the northern slopes of Tengri-tag, apparently, the northern slope of the Sarydzhas ridge).
The researcher spent several days in the Saryjaz valley. At the source of the river, he passed part of a huge glacier, which he called the "Ice Sea", which, as it seemed to him, descended from the slopes of Khan Tengri. Subsequently, Ignatiev named this glacier after Semenov.
P.P. Semenov-Tyan-Shansky was the first scientist to penetrate the Central Tien Shan, discover and describe the Khan-Tengri group. He did not have to explore Tengri-tag and other mountainous regions in more detail. It fell to the lot of other scientists. Semenov never managed to visit the Tien Shan again. But what he managed to do went down in the history of geography as a scientific feat.
Semenov, of course, never found volcanoes in the Tien Shan: "The result of all my intensive searches was that I definitely did not find any volcanoes, or even volcanic rocks in the Heavenly Range." On the other hand, the traveler discovered large modern glaciers, especially in the Tengri-tag group, and established the height of the snow line in this mountainous country, which differs significantly from its known values for the Alps, Pyrenees and the Caucasus.
Semenov compiled the first, based on factual material, scheme of the orography of the Tien Shan. Before him, there was an idea of a single mountain range in the eastern part of the mountainous country, which, behind the Muzart Pass, branched to the west into two divergent ridges. Lake Issyk-Kul was drawn to the north of this branching of the mountain ranges. Semenov, on the other hand, had a fairly accurate idea of the ranges of the northern part of the Tien Shan: the Zailiysky Alatau and Kungei Alatau (he called the latter the Southern Range of the Zailiysky Alatau). He pointed out that these ranges are interconnected by the Kemino-Chilik bridge. As for the Central Tien Shan, the researcher imagined it as a mountain range stretched in the general direction from the NE to the SW with numerous spurs. To the south and almost parallel to the first, in his opinion, another chain was stretched - Mustag. In the Tengri-tag region, this chain branched into two to the west, between which lie the sources of the river. Naryn. The Sary-jazz valley is located between the Tien Shan ridge and the Tengri-tag group. Semenov depicted the ridges as almost straight; the researchers established their arched character only later.
Within ten years after the expedition of Semyonov, the studies of the Tien Shan were much more modest. None of the travelers could penetrate deep into the Central Tien Shan and Dzungaria. The maps of that time did not yet take into account the materials collected by Semenov. For example, the famous geographer M.I. Veshokov, after visiting the valley of the river. Chu and lake Issyk-Kul in the same years published a work on the Asian borders of the Russian Empire. But his orographic ideas about the Tien Shan are a step backward even in comparison with Semenov's data.
Among the travels to the Tien Shan during this period, the most remarkable is the route of Shokan Valikhanov (1857-1858). Disguised as a merchant, he crossed the Central Tien Shan with a caravan from Verny, past Issyk-Kul, through the Zaukinsky (Dzhuuka) pass to the lake. Chatyrkul and further to Kashgaria. Going on a journey at the request of P.P. Semenov, Valikhanov sought to obtain information about the fate of the German explorer Schlagintveit, who penetrated into Kashgaria from the south and, according to rumors, was killed by one of the local khans. Unfortunately, Valikhanov died shortly after his return, unable to process the valuable geographical materials he had collected. In 1859, the captain of the General Staff, A.F. Golubev, identified 16 astropoints near the lake. Issyk-Kul and in the valley of the river. Tekes. According to his calculations, Lake Issyk-Kul is located at an altitude of 1616.5 m. Thus, the basis was laid for compiling the first accurate maps of the Tien Shan. Three years later (1862-1863), the captain of the General Staff A.P. Protsenko went to Issyk-Kul to survey the passes in the Terskey-Ala-tau ridge. Based on personal observations, he described the passes of Dzhu-uka, Barskoon and Ulakhol and the valleys of Kochkara, Dzhumgal, Lake. Sonkul and Naryn; according to inquiries - the Top and Konur-Ulen passes.
During these years, the conquest of the eastern part of Central Asia by Russia was completed; in 1865 Tashkent was taken. The military authorities decided to link the line of the Syrdarya fortifications with those of Semirechye. All this greatly facilitated the travel of scientists to the Tien Shan. Moreover, the tsarist administration even provided assistance to researchers: to consolidate the gains in Central Asia, peasants were evicted from Ukraine and the central regions of Russia. It was necessary to identify places suitable for settlement.
Taking advantage of the changed situation, N. A. Severtsov, already a well-known explorer of Central Asia, made a number of trips around the Tien Shan. The first trip in 1864 was dedicated to the Zailiysky Alatau, Lake. Issyk-Kul, the northern foothills of the Kyrgyz Alatau and partly Chatkal. In 1865-1866. he makes a number of routes in the vicinity of Tashkent, in the region of the Kara-tash mountains and the Ugam ridge. However, the most interesting and fruitful was his last journey through the Tien Shan in 1867.
In mid-September, the detachment set out from Verny, almost in the same way as Semenov, he rounded the lake from the east. Issyk-Kul and went to its southern coast. Here, Russian troops had already built several fortified posts (Karakol, Aksu at the mouth of the Turgen-Aksu River, etc.), which could serve as a base for traveling deep into the Central Tien Shan.
Then Severtsov went west along the southern coast of the lake, turned into the valley of the river. Barskoun and through the pass of the same name entered the region of the Central Tien Shan syrts. Having penetrated in this way to the sources of the Naryn, the traveler saw to the east the meridional group of Akshiryak mountains. Going down the river Targay is slightly below the place of its confluence with the river. Kurmesty, he then crossed the river. Naryn, moved to the south-west and through the Ulan pass got into the valley of the same name. Severtsov also managed to inspect the valleys of the Atbashi and Aksay rivers, that is, he almost reached the southern border of the Central Tien Shan. The harsh cold of the winter that was setting in the mountains forced Severtsov and his companions to turn back. The traveler returned to the west, along a different path. He surveyed the middle course of the river. Naryn, moving to the north, passed west of the lake. Issyk-Kul and arrived in Tokmok on October 29.
The map of the Northern and Central Tien Shan, which N.A. Severtsov published after his travels, was compiled taking into account not only the information he collected, but also the data of all travelers up to 1869 inclusive. The map already shows in some detail big number ridges and mountain ranges. Here, with the exception of the easternmost part of the Central Tien Shan, where no one has been since Semyonov, we can find almost all the features of the modern map.
The collected materials allowed Severtsov to draw some general conclusions about the structure of this mountain system and all of Asia as a whole. The scientist came to the conclusion that the famous Chinese traveler Xuan Jiang most correctly described the Tien Shan. Severtsov himself orographically divided the Tien Shan into two main parts: eastern and western, delimited by the Khan Tengri mountain group. The eastern part is one main range, a watershed between the Ili river basins in the north and the Tarim river basin in the south. In the western part there is an intricate system of plateaus-syrts and individual more or less short ridges. Severtsov considered this feature generally characteristic of the orography of Asia. The researcher completely rejected Humboldt's ideas about the volcanic nature of the Tien Shan and put forward the theory
the slow rise of its ridges, which was revolutionary for the geological science of that time.
In 1867, a little earlier than Severtsov left on his last trip to the Tien Shan, the reconnaissance parties of Kraevsky, who had passed the middle part of the river valley, went there. Naryn, and Poltoratsky, which almost completely crossed (for the first time after Valikhanov) the Tien Shan from north to south. Together with Poltoratsky, who explored the Muzart mountain pass, the botanist F.R. Osten-Saken traveled, who collected a rich collection of the flora of the Southern Tien Shan.
The following year, Buyanovsky barometrically determined the heights of a number of points in the Tien Shan, and in 1869 Kaulbars made a long journey through the southern part of this country, investigating possible routes crossing the Tien Shan. This expedition included topographers Petrov and Reingarten. Travelers moved past the eastern edge of the lake. Issyk-Kul to the Naryn valley. They explored it up to the source of the river in the Akshiryak ridge, then moved west along the Kokshaal-tau ridge past the lake. Chatyrkul. From here the expedition turned north and completed its route in the Talas valley. In the Akshiyryak ridge, a number of glaciers were discovered and described: Muz-tour, Petrova, Akshiyryak, Iirtashsky, and others.
Beginning in 1869, the focus of research shifted to more western regions Central Asia, mainly to the Pamirs and the territory of the current Turkmen SSR. Travels in the Tien Shan until the very end of the 19th century. are mostly episodic in nature and are sent to certain areas of this mountainous country.
In the period 1870 -1872. Kaulbars, then A. Shepelev and L. Kostenko survey the area of the Muzart pass, east of the Khan Tengri group. In 1884, professor of botany V. V. Sorokin made a short (18 days) trip to Issyk-Kul, to the gorges of the northern slopes of Terskey-Alatau and further south-west to Lake. Sonkul and, finally, through Dzhumgel and Susamyr to the lower reaches of the Naryn - to the city of Namangan.
The most interesting was the expedition of the Russian Geographical Society undertaken in 1886 on the initiative of P.P. Semenov and I.V. Mushketov, headed by the mining engineer I.V. Tengri-tag, the Terskey-Alatau ridge and the eastern continuation of the Tien Shan - Muzart. In addition, the researchers had to find out a number of geological features of the area, as well as to study the modern and ancient glaciation this part of the Tien Shan. On July 16, the expedition caravan left Przhevalskaya and moved through the Turgen-Aksu valley to the river. Sary Jazz. Having penetrated to the sources of the river, the expedition climbed the glacier, which P.P. Semenov figuratively called the "Ice Sea". Ignatiev proposed to rename it in honor of Semenov. The mighty contours of Khan-Tengri rise above the upper reaches of the glacier. The members of the expedition decided, just as Semenov did earlier, that the glacier flows down from the slopes of this peak. Moving further south, in the upper reaches of the river. Adyrtor, a tributary of the Sarydzhaz, Ignatiev found a large glacier parallel to the Semenov glacier. The expedition named this glacier after Mushketov, a well-known explorer of Russian Turkestan.
Bad weather prevented Ignatiev and his companions from climbing to the upper reaches of the Mushketov Glacier, and they set off further. A few days later, having crossed the Sarydzhaz ridge, the travelers ended up in the valley of the river. Inylchek - the next tributary of the same Sarydzhaz. The Inylchek River flowed out from under the mighty glacier discovered by Ignatiev. Its entire surface is covered for many kilometers by a chaos of heaps of stone fragments. And this glacier, it seemed to Ignatiev, flows down from the same mountains as the Semenov and Mushketov glaciers. Ignatiev's expedition failed to reach Khan-Tengri Peak. The riddle of the mountain knot remained unsolved.
Ignatiev's failure is natural. To successfully move up the vast glaciers, it is not enough to be an energetic explorer. It is necessary to have a good command of the methods of movement on ice, which are usually used by climbers; you also need to have special equipment. From Ignatiev’s report it is clear what difficulties even a small excursion to the Semenov glacier presented for him and his companions: After resting, we had to descend from a steep icy slope, which presented new difficulties: with a steep slope, up to 30 degrees, it is very difficult to hold on to the poles, the iron ends of which slid along hard ice, as well as horseshoes with spikes on our boots; I had to cut down steps, We moved forward generally safely, although we could not do without falling and rolling down steep slopes.
From the Sarydzhaz valley, through the previously unknown pass Narynkol, the travelers got to the valley of the river. Tekes. On August 16, they arrived in the village of Okhotnichiy, from where they made an excursion to the lake. Beardboswig. From here, Khan-Tengri Peak was photographed for the first time. On August 22, Ignatiev moved to Muzart, and the topographers of the expedition, who were in the Bayankol valley, determined the height of the peak - it turned out to be 24,000 feet. (7320 m).
Significant success was achieved by the botanist A. N. Krasnov, a member of the same expedition. In the river valley He discovered an unknown glacier in Kuil (he discovered seven other glaciers in the Mirtash mountain group), Krasnov completed his route by crossing the Bedel to Kashgaria.
As a result of the work of Semenov and Ignatiev, it was believed that Khan-Tengri is a node from which the Tien Shan ranges diverge like rays in all directions. Naturally, therefore, most of subsequent expeditions to the Central Tien Shan sought to penetrate precisely to this peak.
In 1889 Pevtsov's expedition crossed the Tien Shan through the Barskoun and Bedel passes. Ten years later, the French explorer Saint Yves passed through the mountainous country to the west, along the valley of the river. Naryn, and through the Yaasy pass reached Fergana. In the same year, the caravan of the Hungarian expedition of Almasi and Dr. Stummer-Trauenfels approached the Tengri-tag massif. The expedition spent two months in the Saryjaz valley and its environs, hunting and collecting ethnographic and zoological collections. Almasy made no attempts to penetrate up the glaciers.
In the summer of 1900 climbers first arrived in the Saryjaz valley. Prince Borghese and Dr. Broquerel with the famous Swiss guide Zurbriggen decided to gain fame as the winners of the Khan Tengri peak. With difficulty they led their caravan through the Tyuz pass. The expedition reached the Inylchek valley, but the approaches to the glacier and the way along it turned out to be so difficult that the travelers retreated. They made sure that with horses they could not go over the glacier; there were not enough porters. Then Borghese decided to look for approaches to the peak from the south, from Xinjiang. But the climbers were not destined to get there either. First, the caravan was stopped by the turbulent waters of the Kuyukap River. Soon the news of the war that had begun in China forced the travelers to turn back.
Borghese, Broquerel and Zurbriggen made several ascents. Trying to see the Khan-Tengri peak from other peaks, they made mistakes more than once, mistaking one or the other peak for it. Finally, they were happy. They climbed to the saddle between the peaks of Kaindy-tau and Kartysh in the Kaindy ridge separating the Kaindy glacier from the Inylchek glacier. From the saddle - they called it the Akmoynak pass (4560 m) - the climbers saw that the Inylchek glacier had two branches, and decided that the path along it was the only approach to Khan Tengri. Borghese and his companions pursued only sporting goals and did not draw any conclusions about the orography of the area.
In 1902, two expeditions moved almost simultaneously to the heart of the Heavenly Mountains. One of them left the city of Tomsk, headed by professor of botany VV Sapozhnikov; another expedition of the famous German geographer and mountaineer Professor Merzbacher.
Sapozhnikov began his first journey through the Central Tien Shan from Verny on May 23. The explorer crossed Terskey-Alatau. Having visited several valleys on the southern slopes of the ridge, he again returned to Issyk-Kul in the city of Przhevalsk, and from here along the valley of the river. Turgen-Aksu moved deep into the Central Tien Shan. Having passed the Karagyr pass, part of the valley of the river. Ottuk and Terpu pass, Sapozhnikov reached the river. Kuil. Climbing up its valley to the Kuilyu pass, he examined the Arpatektor plateau and the valley of the river. Kurusai, the right tributary of the Kuilyu. Several glaciers met here, and in the upper reaches of the Kuilu and in the ridge of the same name, rising above the valley from the south, a number of snowy peaks over 5000 m high, including. The highest peak at the eastern end of the ridge is Eduard Peak (about 6000 m) (The name was given to Almasi, who saw the peak from the Sary-Jazz valley). Sapozhnikov descended through the Kuilyu pass into the valley of the river. Iirtash and went through its entire upper part to the mouth of the river. Ortotash. Here the researchers turned to the north and crossed the Terekty ridge by the pass of the same name, from which they managed to examine the southern slopes of the Kuilu ridge. Thus, for the first time, a large mountainous region was surveyed between the valleys of the Kuilyu and Iirtash rivers, to the west of the Sarydzhaz valley. Analyzing the direction of the ridges of this part of the mountainous country, Sapozhnikov also decided that "all five folds in the east converge in the Khan-Tengri group ...". This conclusion coincided with the opinion of Semenov and Ignatiev. Sapozhnikov is not limited to this; further he points out: "... in the west they gather into two mountain knots, and the Western Akshiyryak covers the smaller one in the upper reaches of the river Kuilyu and Terekty ...". It "accepts, counting from north to south... Terskey-tau, the Ishigart and Kokshaal ridges; the Terekty knot connects... the Kuilu and Terekty ridges". Both nodes are connected by one of the folds of the Terskey-Alatau ridge. The researcher also analyzes the orography of the area adjacent to the Akshiryak group from the west.
On last step The expedition visited the Sarydzhaz valley, passing it from the Kuilyu valley to the upper reaches, from where the travelers penetrated the Bayankol valley through the Ashuter pass (near Sapozhnikov - Naryn-Kol). Along the way, Sapozhnikov climbed the Semyonov glacier to a height of 3783 m, where the open ice was replaced by a solid snow cover. Khan Tengri could not be seen from here, it was covered by clouds. To determine the height of the peaks, on July 7 Sapozhnikov climbed the right slopes of the Ashutor valley. A panorama of mighty snowy peaks opened before the researcher: "I have never seen such an abundance of snow anywhere before or since"3. The height of Khan-Tengri, determined by Sapozhnikov, turned out to be 6950 m.
During the expedition, Sapozhnikov and his companions, especially M. Friedrichsen, surveyed the area, which served as the basis for compiling a map of the Central Tien Shan. Naturally, the image of the ridges in the area immediately adjacent to the Khan-Tengri peak is very indistinct on it, although on the whole the map has introduced a lot of new things.
Sapozhnikov did not try to penetrate to the peak of Khan-Tengri. Merzbacher, one of the greatest climbers of his time, set himself this goal. His companions also had outstanding mountaineering training.
At first, Merzbacher tried to penetrate to Khan-Tengri from the Bayankol Gorge, but soon became convinced that the valley would not lead him to the goal: another large peak closed the gorge, rising up with a two-kilometer wall. Merzbacher called it the "Marble Wall" - layers of excellent marble were visible in the steep slopes of the peak.
The first failure did not disappoint the researchers. To clarify the position of Khan Tengri, travelers made a series of ascents to peaks up to 5500 m high. But this did not work either: the peaks, as it turned out, were chosen unsuccessfully, the approaches to Khan Tengri could not be unraveled. It was necessary to look for other points for review. Then the expedition went to the Saryjaz valley. Having climbed almost any of the surrounding peaks here, you can see the Khan-Tengri pyramid and the gorges extending from the peak to the east. But which of them to get to the foot of the peak? Merzbacher did not know this.
It seemed to Merzbacher's predecessors that the Semyonov Glacier was flowing down the slopes of Khan Tengri Peak. Merzbacher read about it. To test this conjecture, he climbed to the peak rising above the northern shore of the glacier. the same marble wall.
The next to the south was the Mushketov glacier. But even in its upper reaches there was no mysterious peak. The fight against the harsh nature of the high-mountainous Tien Shan is not an easy task. During one of the ascents, which almost ended tragically, the climbers - members of the expedition had to experience the insidious properties of dry powdery snow, so characteristic of the Tien Shan. They were already close to the summit when, under their weight, the dry snow, which was loosely lying on the slope, began to slide down. There was an avalanche. A powerful stream of snow carried away four climbers and rushed down with ever-increasing speed. People escaped by chance: having flown about two hundred meters with an avalanche, they fell into a crack on the slope. Having got out of the snow, the climbers did not dare to continue the ascent. If they had been more persistent and still reached the summit, they would have seen the Northern Inylchek glacier and the Khan-Tengri peak in its upper reaches. But... they retreated.
After examining the basin of the Mushketov glacier, Merzbacher went to the Inylchek valley, but did not ascend to its upper reaches. The expedition went through the Muzart Pass to China. The search for the elusive peak was abandoned until next year.
The expedition with a large number of porters climbed the Inylchek glacier. The caravan traveled about 18 km, making its way through the piles of stone fragments that hid the ice. The travelers stopped: the valley forked ahead. Another mighty ice stream crept out of the side valley, leaving to the northeast. Above him, leaving in the sky with snowy peaks, a chain of high mountains rose.
It turned out that Almasi was right: Inylchek consists of two branches separated by a high ridge.
Which gorge to move on? Observations said that it was necessary to look for Khan Tengri in the upper reaches of the northern branch. Travelers walked along the left, southern edge of the glacier. To approach the confluence of the northern branch, it was necessary to cross the entire glacier, which spreads over a wide gorge for more than 3 km.
It seemed that the goal was close. But ... the mouth of the Northern Inylchek was blocked in its entire width by a large glacial lake. Beautiful icebergs floated on the greenish water; steep rocky shores broke off to the lake ... The path was securely closed: it was impossible to cross or bypass the lake. The solution already found slipped away. It was possible to climb further along the southern branch, but did that path lead to the peak?
A tried and tested technique helped: one more ascent, and from one of the peaks on the southern shore of the Merzbacher glacier, he managed to discern the contours of the already familiar peak pyramid of Khan Tengri. We had to move forward, and move quickly: food supplies were running out, and it was far from the base camp.
Exhausted, hungry porters of the expedition climbed another fifteen kilometers up the glacier. They didn't go any further. Only Merzbacher moved forward with two Tyroleans (Alpine guides, from the expedition). Soon they came to the firn fields, which lay here already in a continuous cover. It was much easier to walk on dense snow.
Five hours of continuous brisk walking in the snow. Spurs descending from the ridge limit visibility. What is behind them? Perhaps again the travelers will be disappointed and the riddle of the peak will remain unresolved?
Almost suddenly, from behind a ledge of rocks, a peak sparkled with snow appeared. A few more quick steps, and the marble pyramid of the "Lord of the Spirits" rises unhidden in front of the travelers. It is now visible all, from the foot to the top.
It immediately became obvious that Khan-Tengri is not only not a knot of the largest Tien Shan ranges, but does not even belong to any of them and is located in an independent short range that separates both Inylchek glaciers. Merzbacher determined the height of the peak at 7200 m.
Trying to figure out the location of the Tien Shan ranges, he decided that the knot was the Marble Wall he saw in the Bayankol Gorge. And although Merzbacher was wrong, his opinion was shared by all geographers for many years. Merzbacher again visited the Tien Shan in 1907, but was no longer near Khan Tengri.
After 1903, expeditions to the Central Tien Shan are quite rare, in any case, there is not one equal in importance to those undertaken by Merzbacher and Sapozhnikov. In 1906, the Hungarian geologist G.Prinz, having set off from the city of Andijan, traveled along the Central Tien Shan: through the valleys of Naryn, Sarydzhaz, Bayankol and Tekes. On the way back he visited the lake. Issyk-Kul. Turning from here to the south, he crossed the valleys of the upper reaches of the Naryn and went to the Kokshaal-tau ridge. Three years later, the Prince again arrived in the Tien Shan, this time he immediately headed to the northern slopes of the western part of Kokshaal-tau. Here the traveler visited the little-explored Aksai plateau, crossed the ridge and went south to Kashgaria. The prince explored the unexplored valleys of the Uryuk-Sai and Kontavtau rivers and reached the river. Kokshaal. In the same 1909, Greber also visited the southern slopes of Kokshaal-tau, and the mining engineer K.I. Argentov made a number of routes in the area of Lake. Chatyrkul and in the Atbash and Aksai valleys, i.e., on the northern slopes of the same ridge. In 1910, expeditions of the Resettlement Administration begin to work, but they first go to the western part of the mountainous country, and only in 1912 one of them, led by V.V. Sapozhnikov, penetrates the Central Tien Shan. This time the researcher began with a survey of the area of the Ketmen Range (to the northeast of Alma-Ata). He visited the valleys of the Tekes and Bayankol rivers. Having finished work in this area, the expedition moved to the valley of the river. Saryjaz. Unable to climb the Mushketov glacier (it was hidden by clouds), Sapozhnikov moved further south, crossed the Sarydzhassky ridge (Tuz pass) to the Inylchek valley, then through the At-dzhailau pass to the valley of the river. Kaindy. Here the members of the expedition climbed the glacier and walked along it for more than four hours, but they did not reach the end of the surface moraine, the "pure ice". From the Kaindy valley, the travelers moved further south, through the Uchchat and Kara-archa passes and reached the river. Karaarcha. An attempt to penetrate further along the river gorge. Chichar failed: the narrow canyon turned out to be impassable. Thus, Sapozhnikov penetrated into the southern part of the ranges of the Khan-Tengri group as far as Merzbacher and Borghese. The way back of the expedition lay somewhat to the west and led it to the lower reaches of the river. Inylchek. Having passed the Tyuz pass, she again found herself in the Saryjaz valley. Sapozhnikov visited the lower reaches of the Kuilyu valley and examined its northern tributaries. On this route in the Central Tien Shan ended: through the Terpu pass, the Ottuk valley and the Karagyr pass, the travelers arrived in the Turgen-Aksu valley and the city of Przhevalsk.
In the same 1912, the Turkestan military district conducted a topographic survey of most of the Tien Shan. The topographers approached the tongues of the glaciers of the Khan-Tengri group, but their detachment was very small and poorly equipped. "With the presence of 5 workers and 2 Cossacks, it was impossible to make any attempts to at least briefly explore these ice spaces, and shooting, even only a route, is possible if a special expedition is organized, properly arranged." There were no climbers among the topographers.
According to the survey data of 1912, the height of Khan-Tengri was equal to 22940 feet. (6992 m). For a long time this figure was on the maps. However, the topographers were wrong by only a few meters.
Years passed. The mountains stood in stern silence. Avalanches crashed down the steep slopes. Stormy rivers carried their foamy waters. But no one tried to penetrate again to the mysterious heights of Tengri-tag. In conditions tsarist Russia never managed to organize a real study of this interesting area.
In 1914, in the area of \u200b\u200bLake. Geologist N. G. Kassin worked in Issyk-Kul, and the following year V. V. Reznichenko visited Kapkak, Tekes and Karkara with a hydrological party. He collected significant material on the geology and glaciation of the northern part of Tengri-tag.
By the time Soviet travelers and scientists began to explore the Central Tien Shan, there were still many unclear questions in its orography. Most of the gorges and glaciers in the highest, eastern part of the mountainous country, near the Khan-Tengri group, have not yet been passed by travelers. About the groups, Kulyuta and Akshiyryak were only very general ideas. Most of the glaciers and especially the mountain peaks in these areas and in the central part of the Kokshaal-tau ridge have not yet been set foot by a researcher. No one tried to go through the canyons cut in Kokshaal-tau by the rivers Sarydzhaz and Uzengigush. Naturally, just as for deciphering the "white spot" of the Pamirs, the participation of climbers was required here. That is why, obviously, research was resumed primarily in the Khan-Tengri region. In parallel, an in-depth comprehensive study of the nature of the Central Tien Shan was going on. An important role in this matter was played by the Tien Shan Geographical Observatory, built by the Academy of Sciences in the valley of the river. Kumter, 6 km from the Petrov Glacier.
The first groups of Soviet travelers went to the Inylchek glacier in 1929. At first, these were only reconnaissance of climbers and tourists, but since 1931. A number of scientists of various specialties are already working in the Ukrainian expedition. Gradually, the structure of the ridges of the region, the features and details of its exceptionally powerful and peculiar glaciation were revealed.
In 1929, N. N. Palgov made a very interesting journey to the northern slopes of the central part of the Kokshaal-tau ridge. Here, in the upper reaches of the Aksu and Uzengi-gush rivers, he discovered a number of large, undescribed glaciers; before him, in this area, only topographers who surveyed in 1912 noted significant glaciation.
In 1932-1933. in connection with the 2nd International Polar Year (IPY), the number of expeditions to the Central Tien Shan has increased. For two years, expeditions led by S.V. Kalesnik worked in the region between the Terskey-Alatau and Barkolda ridges. Based in the area of the observatory, they studied the glaciation of these places, discovered and described in detail a number of glaciers of the Akshiryak ridge, revealed the structure of the relief and the geology of the area. They also visited the Semyonov glacier in the Sarydzhaz valley. In 1933, it was planned to explore the northern slopes of Kokshaal-tau, but due to the late start of work, the expedition was forced to limit itself to a small section of the Kokshaal-tau ridge between the Pikertyk and Bedel passes. In 1934, the nature of the syrt of the Central Tien Shan in the region of the Arabelsu plateau was examined by a small group of Leningrad University headed by Professor D. N. Kashkarov.
A more detailed survey of the glaciers of the Barkolda Ridge, and then the northern slopes of the Kokshaal-Tau Ridge, fell to the lot of tourists from the Moscow House of Scientists, headed by Professor A. A. Letavet. Having penetrated in 1933, through the Kubergenty pass to the Kagalachay tract, the group visited the Komarov glacier discovered by Palgov and the neighboring, not yet explored Palgov glacier, and then moved east, downstream the river. Uzengigush. Turning south, into the gorge of the river. Jurek, the tourists were exploring another unknown glacier. They named him after S. G. Grigoriev. The following year, A. A. Letavet again came to these places and moved further east. He sought to explore the breakthrough of Kokshaal-tau by the river Uzengi-gush. Visiting the gorge Chonturas, tourists discovered a large glacier there, surrounded by a number of beautiful peaks. The glacier was named after Korzhenevsky. The group soon turned back, having failed to break through to the canyon of the river. Uzengigush, Alpinists visited these places again only in 1938 - it was a sports group of the Wings of the Soviets society, headed by B. Simagin. Climbing the Grigoriev glacier, the climbers went to the top of the peak, which they called "Wings of the Soviets". Bad weather prevented them from reaching the highest point of the mountain.
Research in the area of Khan-Tengri peak continued all these years. Having completed the main survey of the Northern Inylchek glaciers, the climbers headed to the valley of the river. Kuil. Here the faces of the Soviet Constitution and Karpinsky were conquered. The first peak is the highest in the range, apparently the same one that was previously called Edward's Peak. The climbers found that its height was determined incorrectly, it reaches only 5250 m, and not 6000 m, as previously assumed.
During the ascent to the peak of Karpinsky, A. A. Letavet drew attention to a previously unknown peak. "It could be seen far to the east, somewhat south of the Khan-Tengri peak and, it seemed, was not inferior to it in height." The following year, in 1938, an expedition was organized to climb this peak, which was called the peak of the twentieth anniversary of the Komsomol. In 1943, with an accurate topographic survey, it was found that it was the highest in the Tien Shan and the second highest in the country. Then it was renamed Pobeda Peak (7439 m).
Climbers and subsequently visited the Kuilu valley. In 1951, a group of E. A. Kazakova and V. V. Nemytsky visited it, and two years later the climbers of Uzbekistan repeated the ascent to the peak of the Soviet Constitution.
The glaciers of the northern part of Tengri-Tag, flowing into the Bayankol valley, were examined for the first time after Reznichenko by members of the 1935 expedition. Then the group of V.V. Nemytsky opened a pass through the Terskey-Alatau ridge, passing them to the Semenov glacier and into the Sarydzhaz valley. Survey of the area in 1943 and research The sports expedition of A. A. Letavet in 19.46 played a big role in solving one of the last unclear questions of the orography of the Central Tien Shan. It was found that the Marble Wall Peak is not a node from which the Tien Shan ridges diverge radially. And in 1953 and 1954. the expedition of Kazakh climbers, and then the group of V. F. Gusev, accurately established the junction of the Terskey-Alatau and Sarydzhaz ridges.
Since the mid-1930s, researchers of the Central Tien Shan have been increasingly moving from traveling with the tasks of a general geographical description and elucidation of the orography of the country to a systematic and in-depth study of its structure and nature. As before, the Tien Shan Station of the Academy of Sciences plays a leading role in this matter.
RELIEF
The Tien Shan is one of the largest and highest mountain systems in Asia and around the world. Most of the Tien Shan ridges have a typical mountain-glacial "alpine" relief, however, along with sharp ridges and sharp peaks in the central and inner Tien Shan, there are syrts - leveling surfaces, flat, gently dipping wide valleys preserved in the upper belt of mountains, and intermontane spacious depressions located in the middle and lower mountain belts. The syrts and bottoms of the high mountain valleys in the Inner and Central Tien Shan are covered with herbaceous vegetation and are pastures. On the slopes of the ridges, erosion processes are intensively developing, screes, rockfalls, landslides are formed, and mudflows are formed in the gorges.
CLIMATE
Remoteness from the oceans, significant elevation and complex, highly rugged relief determined the continental climate of the region. Characterized by significant temperature fluctuations both by seasons of the year and during the day, reduced or moderate rainfall and relative dryness of the air.
High mountain ranges make it difficult for moisture-bearing air currents to access, and in most of the Central Tien Shan, on average, falls from 200 to 300 mm per year. Precipitation. However, in the middle and especially in the highlands, there is more precipitation. So, at an altitude of 3000m, about 420 mm of precipitation falls, at 3500m - up to 570 mm, at 4000m - more than 750 mm. The bulk of precipitation (about 85%) in the region falls on the warm season - in May-July, the minimum - in December-January.
According to long-term data from the Naryn meteorological station, located in the valley at an altitude of 2049m, the annual air temperature is 2.5°C, the January temperature is 17.4°C, the absolute minimum is -32°C. The sum of active temperatures is 2082°, the duration of the frost-free period is 144 days, the period with temperatures above 10° is 142 days. Relative humidity in the warm season ranges from 40 to 55%, and in winter it reaches 80%.
The snow cover falls in mid-November, its average height by the end of February - the beginning of March reaches 25 cm. Snow melting begins in the first decade of March, and it finally disappears at the end of April. The last spring frosts occur at the end of April, and the first autumn frosts at the end of September. Eastern and western winds prevail, their highest speed (up to 20-25 m/s) is observed during the day in the second half of summer. In winter, as a rule, there is calm calm weather.
In the mountains, the climate is harsher. Humidity increases, the duration of the frost-free period decreases. At altitudes of 3400-4000 m, frosts can be repeated throughout the warm season, and precipitation, as a rule, falls only in the form of snow. In the middle mountains, the air temperature in July is 10-15?. Winter in the mountains is longer and colder. In January, the air temperature in the middle mountains is -15-20° below zero, the absolute minimum here is -45°. On the steppe slopes of the southern exposure, in ordinary winters, there is practically no stable snow cover. On the slopes of the northern exposures, it is quite deep and lasts throughout the winter. Avalanches often come down in early spring, foreshadowing the imminent awakening of nature.
VEGETABLE WORLD
The vegetation cover of mountain-steppe landscapes, common at altitudes from 2200 to 3000 m, is represented mainly by turf and feather-grass mountain steppes. Rocky outcrops and screes are often found here. Mountain steppes, occupying the warmest slopes, remain without permanent snow cover almost all winter, which attracts herbivores here.
In summer, the mountain steppes are characterized by the highest air and soil temperatures in the region. At this time, the growth of wormwood, thyme, ephedra, etc. begins. At the end of July, when the vegetation of the mountain steppes begins to dry out, the slopes acquire a uniform yellowish-gray hue, only shrubs and semi-shrubs turn green.
Mountain-meadow complexes are a fairly common occurrence in the Central Tien Shan, they are very diverse. The composition of mid-mountain meadows on chernozem soils is very rich; there are up to 30 species of grasses on an area of 1 m2.
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Geography
Here we will talk about the high-altitude part of the Tien Shan, which includes a fairly large number of peaks with a height of more than 6000 m. If you take a map, you can see that only an insignificant part of this region lies on the territory of Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, while a large part - on the territory of China. Strictly speaking, the Kyrgyz part of the high-altitude Tien Shan is the Tengritag, Kokshaaltau ridges (its eastern part to the Sarydzhaz river), and the Meridional ridge in a short section from the Marble Wall to Rapasov Peak. But if we take the area as a whole for hiking, it is worth adding here the “adjacent” ridges - the eastern tip of Terskey-Alatau, Adyrtor, Sarydzhaz, Inylchektau, Kaindy-Katta, Aktau.The largest glacier here is the southern Inylchek, in the area of Lake Merzbacher, its northern branch branches off from it - the northern Inylchek. Other large glaciers in the area are Semenova, Mushketova, Bayankolsky, Kaindy, Kuyukap. The southern Inylchek glacier has many tributaries, including large ones that have received their name. The northern tributaries are the Demchenko, Razorvanny, Semenovsky, and Stav glaciers.
Top view of the upper reaches of the Sarydzhaz and Tengritag ridges |
From the west, the region is limited by the level of the lower reaches of the Sarydzhaz River. The dimensions of the Kyrgyz part are 50-70 km in the latitudinal direction, 20-50 km in the meridional direction.
The Chinese part of the high-altitude Tien Shan borders on Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. And in the same way, the highest point of the Chinese Tien Shan is Pobeda Peak, which in China bears the name of Tomur. On the Chinese side, the high-mountain Tien Shan (with an average height of 5500-6000 m and possible passes with a height of 4700-6000 m) stretches for more than 100 km from west to east, having a width in the meridional direction of 50-70 km. This area is about 4-5 times larger than "our" side. And the whole area is practically unexplored. Strictly speaking, we can say that the entire high-altitude part of the Tien Shan is located east of the meridian 79o05 'and stretches east for several hundred kilometers (and further, but already falling below 6000 m), approximately between 43o and 41o parallels. The Kyrgyz part of the high-altitude Tien Shan in the "List of high-mountain passes" is allocated in a separate section - "Eastern part of the central Tien Shan", in the "List of classified peaks" is scattered across the Tien Shan in alphabetical order of the names of the ridges. And in this area there is the northernmost seven-thousander in the world - Pobeda Peak (Tomur), 7439 m. Focusing on the ridges, to the names of which we are accustomed, we can also describe a little the Chinese part of the region. All the ridges along the parallels - these are Sarydzhaz, Tengritag, Kokshaaltau - have their continuation to the east, for another 30-40 kilometers, to the river Muzart. The Sarydzhaz ridge moves further to the east in the area of mark 4910 - this is somewhat south of the Kitaysky pass, Tengritag - between the peaks of the Marble Wall and the Russian Geographical Society, Kokshaaltau - from the village of Rapasov (6814). The Kokshaaltau ridge, together with its continuation, has an extensive network of southern spurs up to 50 km long, which are more like independent ridges. One of them - with the peak of Kashkar - can be safely called the Kashkartau ridge. Starting in the area of the "obelisk" at the village of Pobedy, it stretches to the south, and then with several branches to the west and east for 60-80 km, and the total length of all its spurs exceeds 200 km. The key peak of this ridge is the village of Kashkar - 6435 m, in the immediate vicinity of it one can note several more noticeable six-thousanders - this is Kashkar Yu., about 6250 m, and c. 6050 (although visually it seemed to me that it was higher, closer to 6300). This ridge can be considered the most developed today, because it was here that two expeditions were concentrated. It is in the vicinity of the Kashkartau ridge that the zone of the most grandiose glaciation of the southern part of the high-altitude Tien Shan is probably located. To the west of the ridge flows the huge Temirsu glacier (the length of the main body of the glacier is about 40 km) with an extensive network of tributaries - everything that can be seen from above is amazing. Especially when you consider that none of the athletes who are fond of mountains have yet appeared on this glacier. From the east - the already "developed" Chonteren glacier, and to the south of the village of Kashkar - the Kochkarbashi glacier. And only in the Kashkartau ridge one can note several dozens of logical, but no one passed passes. In the area of the tongue of the Temirsu glacier, another six-thousander rises.The glaciation zone continues further to the east, mirroring all glaciers in the Meridional Ridge. The northern Inylchek glacier is reflected to the east by the Karagul glacier, and the southern Inylchek by the Tugbelchi glacier. Both of these glaciers are 35-40 km long.
Here it is worth noting several interesting objects for future expeditions. First of all, this is a continuation of the Tengritag ridge - between the Karagul and Tugbelchi glaciers, it stretches east for 30 kilometers, before it starts to decline, and along its entire length, regular marble pyramids rise - the twin brothers of the Khantengri settlement. The first of them - 6769, then sequentially - 6550, 6510, 6497, etc. The last of them, already at the level of the tongues of the Karagul and Tugbelchi glaciers - 6025. The main body of the Tugbelchi glacier flows at an altitude of 4000 m and below, and already approaches to these pyramids they break off on the Tugbelchi glacier with grandiose walls - at least in that part of the ridge that we saw in 2002. It is likely that in this continuation there will also be no simple passes, and there are no passed ones. In the eastern continuation of the Kokshaaltau ridge there are also independent very interesting objects - this is peak 6435 (according to other maps - 6342), which rises above the Tugbelchi pass, and somewhat to the east - a node in. 6571 - 3-4 peaks above 6000 m can be noted there.To the west of this node is the Kichikteren glacier, the eastern neighbor of the Chonteren glacier. The spur or ridge separating the Chonteren and Kichikteren glaciers is a direct continuation of the Meridional ridge, which dissolves into the plain 40-50 kilometers to the south.
Even further to the east, already beyond the Muzart River, there is another glaciation zone headed by the Muzart-Baskelmes glaciers (35-40 kilometers long) and a grandiose ridge from the south of the glacier with the main peak 6637 with the beautiful name White Lotus - this is just that peak , which was one successful ascent of the Japanese expedition. This ridge to some extent looks like a continuation of the Tengritag ridge, cut here by the river. Muzart, just like Kokshaaltau, is cut through the river. Sarajaz. And the White Lotus peak is not the only one here - on a section of the ridge of 15-20 km, another 7-8 six-thousanders can be noted, which, again, no one has yet climbed. Heights - 6596, 6555, 6549, etc. We have not even seen this part of the Chinese Tien Shan, and I hope that the next expedition to this area will allow us to at least look into this corner for a start.
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Entrances, approaches, decoration
Unfortunately, it is not yet possible to conduct "through" campaigns - starting in Kyrgyzstan and ending in China, or vice versa. You can only jump a little in one direction or another through a couple of passes. Therefore, for the time being, these parts of the regions should be considered separately.
From Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, there are two highways for entering the region. From Kyrgyzstan - through the city of Karakol (former Przhevalsk) along a decent road to the glaciers of Semenov, Mushketov, Yu. Inylchek (to the outpost of Maidaadyr), Kaindy. From Kazakhstan - through the district center Narynkol to the upper reaches of the river. Bayankol (the road ends at the Zharkulak mine), from where it is 12-15 km on foot to the Bayankol glaciers system. Mountain hikes basically begin and end at these points. But in the absence of special restrictions on funds, you can use a helicopter - for small groups passing (i.e., for replanting), for large groups - you can order and pay for a separate board. Today the situation has developed in such a way that the area is served only by Kyrgyz helicopters in the amount of 2 pieces. (I won’t be surprised if there will be one of them next year, because last season one burned down, but I really hope that the second one will be found). The flight is carried out from two points - Karkara (Kazakhstan, through Kazbek Valiev), Maidaadyr outpost (Inylchek river, Tien Shan Travel, Vladimir Biryukov).
There are several more camps serving clients in South Inylchek, in addition to Valiev and Biryukov, there are three more. The first two plus one more are located at the confluence of Yu. Inylchek with the Zvezdochka glacier, two more are on the opposite side, under the slopes of Gorky settlement. In Northern Inylchek, only the camp of Kazbek Valiev now operates (there used to be two). But according to V. Biryukov, this summer the Kyrgyz camp (Tian-Shan-travel firm) will also start working in Northern Inylchek. Through any of these firms, you can call in the area, choosing more suitable prices. In different years I used the services of Kazbek Valiev, Dostuk-tracking company (Bishkek, Shchetnikov N.). In recent years, I have been using the services of the Tien Shan Travel company of Vladimir Biryukov, also because I have many friends there. Depending on which method of arrival you use - through a company or on your own - transport prices will vary greatly. I don’t see the point of listing them here - you can see their prices through the company on their own websites, and I just don’t know the prices for self-hired transport - I haven’t used it for too long. As for the helicopter, I think these are more stable figures. Today, a helicopter hour in Kyrgyzstan costs $1,800, and a flight from Karkara or Maidaadyr costs $150 per person. When flying, for example, from Maidaadyr, you can scatter drops to 2-3 places in a flight hour and land at the beginning of the route (in 2001, using a helicopter, we brought drops to the South and North Inylchek, landed ourselves at the bottom of the Mushketov glacier , thus excluding traffic along river valleys from the route).If we talk about the most common way of arrival today, this is transport from Bishkek through Karakol to Maidaadyr, then by helicopter to the South or North Inylchek, or on foot (then you can drive a little further by car, or you can hire a horse-drawn transport and use it to get almost to the Yu. Inylchek glacier). The second option is from Alma-Ata to Karkara, from where by helicopter to the same place - that is, to the south or north of Inylchek. Other places to start routes are visited less frequently. And ascents are mainly carried out from the listed camps (a rare exception, repeated more than once in recent years, is climbing the Marble Wall from the Bayankol glaciers).
You should probably know that to visit the area through any state, you need to register (if you enter / exit through different states, then in each of them) and passes to the border zone (so far, the expected complication of issuing passes has resulted in additional payment). All this is issued in different places (registration with the police, passes - with the border guards), so I prefer to use the services of companies.On the Chinese side, things are somewhat different. In order to enter the area, you must obtain a military permit ($650 per group), a permit to visit the Tomur National Park (another $650) and insurance for all participants ($72/person). So far, today I know only one tour operator who undertakes to arrange all this. And of course, the payment for the operator's services will also be added here.
To enter the region for the first time, we used the then-traditional way of entering the Kashgar Mountains - Moscow-Bishkek-Osh (airplane) - Irkeshtam checkpoint (car) - Kashgar city (car) - Aksu city (train) - settlement. Talak (machine). This journey took 6 days. Back were selected in the same way, but kept within 4-5 days. For the second time, we went directly to China, Moscow-Urumqi-Aksu (airplane) - Talak (car). This option took us 2 days, and today is the best route to enter the area. But if we talk about a flight from Moscow, there is no direct flight to Urumqi now, so we have to fly with a transfer. From the nearest cities, planes fly to Urumqi from Novosibirsk, Alma-Ata, Bishkek. Therefore, you can get by plane from any of these cities. Probably, you can still calculate the option of visiting these cities by train, and then by plane. The route by train completely probably does not make sense, although it is theoretically possible. Maybe this option will someday become acceptable - there are persistent talks about the construction of a railway link from Kyrgyzstan to China (Kashgar). Given the speed with which the Chinese are building, I would not be surprised if such a road appears in a year or two after the decision is made. In the meantime, it would be good if the road through Irkeshtam were built - perhaps the drive through Kyrgyzstan, especially to the Kashgar mountains (Kongur - Muztagata) would become quite convenient.
From the village of Talak, where the frontier post is located, you can still drive in jeeps in different directions - probably to the Temirsu glacier. The path known to us, used in all expeditions (both by the Chinese, and the Japanese, and by us), leads towards the Kokyardavan pass n / a (you can almost drive to the pass). Then a caravan of horses is organized (although the start is already possible on foot) and after 30-35 km along the valley of the river. Chontereksu can go to the tongue of the Chonteren glacier, where all the expeditions set up a base camp. The way on horseback can be covered in 1.5-2 days.In the neighboring valley - Kichiktereksu - there is a coal mining plant. The valley itself is more extensive than Chontereksu, there are many small settlements. Having descended along a quite decent path to the plant, you can go further by car. By the way, the trail here is really good, but it is easy to lose it, which we did from time to time. In the upper reaches of the river (in a section of 10 kilometers), it often forks, and the chosen path may simply turn out to be a dead end (for example, to a summer camp). The main trail, at the same time, goes 300-400 meters up or down the slope, which is quite difficult to guess. Sometimes local residents helped us get back on the trail, for whom we seemed to act as a visiting zoo. In the river valley You can also visit Kichiktereks at the start of any hike.
We did not try any other check-in options. One of them is along the Muzart River, along which the road rises quite far, and you can reach approximately the level of the Tugbelchi glacier. Probably, there are other options for arrival, but other expeditions have yet to get acquainted with them. There are a lot of dirt roads in these places, only local residents know them quite well (a simple example - our tour operator knew nothing about the coal mining plant and the road there - otherwise we would have immediately planned one of the places where the hike would end.
On the borders of the five countries of Central Asia, there are beautiful and majestic mountains - the Tien Shan. On the mainland of Eurasia, they are second only to the Himalayas and the Pamirs, and ...
Tien Shan Mountains: photo, description, length, geographical location
By Masterweb
12.04.2018 02:01On the borders of the five countries of Central Asia, there are beautiful and majestic mountains - the Tien Shan. On the mainland of Eurasia, they are second only to the Himalayas and the Pamirs, and are also one of the largest and most extensive Asian mountain systems. The heavenly mountains are rich not only in minerals, but also in interesting geographical facts. The description of any object is built from many points and important nuances, but only a complete coverage of all directions will help to create a full-fledged geographical image. But let's not rush, but dwell on each section in detail.
Figures and Facts: Everything you need to know about the Celestial Mountains
The name Tien Shan has Turkic roots, because the peoples of this particular language group have inhabited this territory since time immemorial and still live in this region. If translated literally, then the toponym will sound like Heavenly Mountains or Divine Mountains. The explanation for this is very simple, the Turks from time immemorial worshiped the sky, and if you look at the mountains, it seems that with their peaks they reach the very clouds, most likely that is why geographical feature received such a name. And now, some more facts about the Tien Shan.
- What usually begins the description of any object? Of course, with numbers. The length of the Tien Shan mountains is more than two and a half thousand kilometers. Believe me, this is a pretty impressive number. By comparison, the territory of Kazakhstan extends for 3,000 kilometers, while Russia stretches for 4,000 kilometers from north to south. Imagine these objects and appreciate the magnitude of these mountains.
- The height of the Tien Shan mountains reaches 7000 meters. There are 30 peaks in the system with a height of more than 6 kilometers, while Africa and Europe cannot boast of any such mountain.
- Separately, I would like to highlight the highest point of the Heavenly Mountains. Geographically, it is located on the border of Kyrgyzstan and the Republic of China. There is a very long debate around this issue, and neither side wants to concede. The highest peak of the Tien Shan Mountains is a ridge with a triumphant name - Pobeda Peak. The height of the object is 7439 meters.
Location of one of the largest mountain systems in Central Asia
If you transfer the mountain system to the political map, then the object will fall on the territory of five states. More than 70% of the mountains are located on the territory of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and China. The rest falls on Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. But the highest points and massive ridges are located in the northern part. If we consider the geographical position of the Tien Shan mountains from the regional side, then this will be central part the continent of Asia.
Geographical zoning and relief
The territory of the mountains can be conditionally divided into five orographic regions. Each is distinguished by a peculiar relief and structure of the ridges. Pay attention to the photo of the Tien Shan mountains, which is located above. Agree, the grandeur and stateliness of these mountains are admirable. And now, let's take a closer look at the zoning of the system:
- Northern Tien Shan. This part is almost completely located on the territory of Kazakhstan. The main ranges are Zailiysky and Kungei Alatau. These mountains are characterized by an average height (no more than 4000 m) and a strong indentation of the relief. There are many small rivers in the region, which originate from glacial peaks. The region also includes the Ketmen Ridge, Kazakhstan shares it with Kyrgyzstan. On the territory of the latter, there is another ridge of the northern part - the Kyrgyz Alatau.
- Eastern Tien Shan. Of the largest parts of the mountain system, one can distinguish: Borohoro, Bogdo-Ula, as well as medium and small ranges: Iren-Khabyrga and Sarmin-Ula. The entire eastern part of the Heavenly Mountains is located on the territory of China, mainly where the places of permanent settlement of the Uighurs are located, it is from this local dialect that the ridges got their names.
- Western Tien Shan. This orographic unit occupies the territories of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The largest is the Karatau ridge, and then comes the Talas Alatau, which got its name from the river of the same name. These parts of the Tien Shan mountains are rather low, the relief drops to 2000 meters. This is because this is a more ancient region, the territory of which was not subjected to repeated mountain building. Thus, the destructive power of exogenous factors has done its job.
- Southwestern Tien Shan. This region is located in Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. In fact, this is the lowest part of the mountains, which consists of the Fregan Range, framing the valley of the same name.
- Central Tien Shan. This is the most high part mountain system. Its ranges occupy the territory of China, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. It is in this part that almost all six-thousanders are located.
"Gloomy Giant" - the highest point of the Heavenly Mountains
As mentioned earlier, the highest point of the Tien Shan mountains is called Victory Peak. It is easy to guess that the toponym got its name in honor of a significant event - the victory of the USSR in the most difficult and bloody war of the 20th century. Officially, the mountain is located in Kyrgyzstan, near the border with China, not far from the autonomy of the Uighurs. However, for a long time, the Chinese side did not want to recognize that the object belonged to the Kyrgyz, and even after documenting the fact, it continues to look for ways to take possession of the desired peak.
This object is very popular with climbers, it is included in the list of five seven-thousanders that must be conquered to receive the title of "Snow Leopard". Near the mountain, only 16 kilometers to the southwest, is the second highest peak of the Divine Mountains. We are talking about Khan Tengri - the highest point of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Its height is only slightly short of seven kilometers and is 6995 meters.
Age-old history of rocks: geology and structure
In the place where the Tien Shan mountains are located, there is an ancient belt of increased endogenous activity, these zones are also called geosynclines. Since the system has a fairly decent height, this suggests that it was subjected to secondary uplift, although it has a rather ancient origin. Studies show that the base of the Heavenly Mountains is composed of Precambrian and Lower Paleozoic rocks. The strata of the mountains were subjected to long-term deformations and the impact of endogenous forces, which is why the minerals are represented by metamorphosed gneisses, sandstones and typical limestone and shale.
Since most of this region was flooded in the Mesozoic, the mountain valleys are covered with lake-type deposits (sandstone and clay). The activity of glaciers also did not pass without a trace, moraine deposits stretch from the highest peaks of the Tien Shan mountains and reach the very border of the snow line.
The repeated uplift of the mountains in the Neogene had a very significant effect on their geological structure; relatively "young" rocks of the volcanic type are found in the parent basement. It is these inclusions that are mineral and metal minerals, which are very rich in the Divine Mountains.
The lowest part of the Tien Shan, which is located in the south, has been exposed to exogenous agents for thousands of years: the sun, winds, glaciers, temperature fluctuations, water during flooding. All this could not but affect the structure of the rocks, nature had severely battered their slopes and "exposed" the mountains to the very parent rock. The complex geological history has influenced the heterogeneity of the Tien Shan relief, which is why high snowy peaks alternate with valleys and dilapidated plateaus.
Gifts of the Heavenly Mountains: Minerals
The description of the Tien Shan mountains cannot do without mentioning minerals, because this system brings a very good income to the states in whose territories it is located. First of all, these are complex conglomerates of polymetallic ores. Large deposits are found on the territory of all five countries. Most of all in the bowels of the mountains of lead and zinc, but you can find something more rare. For example, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have established the extraction of antimony, and there are also separate deposits of molybdenum and tungsten. In the southern part of the mountains, near the Fregan Valley, coal is mined, as well as other fossil fuels: oil and gas. Of the rare elements found: strontium, mercury and uranium. But most of all, the territory is rich in building materials and semi-precious stones. The slopes and foothills of the mountains are strewn with small deposits of cement, sand and various kinds granite.
However, many minerals are not available for development, because infrastructure is very poorly developed in mountainous regions. Mining in hard-to-reach places requires very modern technical means and large financial investments. The states are in no hurry to develop the resources of the Tien Shan and often transfer the initiative to the private hands of foreign investors.
Ancient and modern glaciation of the mountain system
The height of the Tien Shan mountains is several times higher than the snow line, which means that it is no secret that the system is covered great amount glaciers. However, the situation with glaciers is not very stable, because only in the last 50 years, their number has decreased by almost 25% (3 thousand square kilometers). For comparison, this is even more than the area of the city of Moscow. The depletion of the snow and ice cover of the Tien Shan threatens the region with a serious environmental disaster. Firstly, it is a natural source of food for rivers and alpine lakes. Secondly, this is the only source of fresh water for all living things that inhabit the slopes of the mountains, including local peoples and settlements. If changes continue at the same pace, then by the end of the 21st century, the Tien Shan will lose more than half of its glaciers and leave four countries without a valuable water resource.
Ice-free lake and other water bodies
The highest mountain of the Tien Shan is located near the highest lake in Asia - Issyk-Kul. This object belongs to the state of Kyrgyzstan, and is popularly called the Non-Freezing Lake. It's all about the low pressure at high altitude and the temperature of the water, thanks to which the surface of this lake never freezes. This place is the main tourist area of the region, on an area of more than 6 thousand square kilometers, there is a huge number of high-mountain resorts and various recreational areas.
Another picturesque water body of the Tien Shan is located in China, literally a hundred kilometers from the main trading city of Urumqi. We are talking about Lake Tianshi - this is a kind of "Pearl of the Heavenly Mountains". The water there is so clean and transparent that it is difficult to realize the depth due to the fact that it seems that you can literally reach the bottom with your hand.
In addition to lakes, the mountains are cut by a huge number of river valleys. Small rivers originate from the very peaks and are fed by melted glacial waters. Many of them are still lost on the slopes of the mountains, others combine into larger water bodies and carry their waters to the foot.
From picturesque meadows to icy peaks: climate and natural conditions
Where the Tien Shan mountains are located, natural zones replace each other with height. Due to the fact that the orographic units of the system have a heterogeneous relief, in different parts Heavenly mountains at the same level can be located different natural zones:
- Alpine meadows. They can be located both at an altitude of more than 2500 meters, and at 3300 meters. A feature of this landscape is juicy hilly valleys that surround bare rocks.
- Forest zone. It is quite rare in this region, mainly in hard-to-reach high mountain gorges.
- Forest-steppe. The trees of this zone are low, mostly small-leaved or coniferous. To the south, a meadow and steppe landscape is more clearly seen.
- Steppe. This natural area covers foothills and valleys. There is a huge variety of meadow grasses and steppe plants. The further south the region is, the more clearly the semi-desert and sometimes even desert landscape can be traced.
The climate of the Heavenly Mountains is very harsh and unstable. It is influenced by opposing air masses. In summer, the Tien Shan mountains are dominated by the tropics, and in winter, polar streams dominate here. In general, the region can be called rather arid and sharply continental. In the summer, dry winds and unbearable heat are very common. In winter, temperatures can drop to record highs, and frosts often occur during the off-season. Precipitation is very unstable, most of it occurs in April and May. It is the unstable climate that affects the reduction in the area of ice sheets. Also, a sharp change in temperature and constant winds have a very negative effect on the relief of the region. The mountains are slowly but surely being destroyed.
Untouched corner of nature: animals and plants
The Tien Shan mountains have become home to a huge number of living beings. The fauna is extremely diverse and varies considerably depending on the region. For example, the northern part of the mountains is represented by European and Siberian types, while the Western Tien Shan is inhabited by typical representatives of the Mediterranean, Africa and the Himalayan region. You can also easily meet typical representatives of the mountain fauna: snow leopards, snowcocks and mountain goats. Ordinary foxes, wolves and bears live in the forests.
The flora is also very diverse; fir and Mediterranean walnut can easily coexist in the region. In addition, there are a huge number medicinal plants and valuable herbs. This is a real phyto pantry of Central Asia.
It is very important to protect the Tien Shan from human influence; for this, two reserves and one national park have been created in the region. There are so few places left on the planet with untouched nature, so it is important to direct all efforts to preserve this wealth for posterity.
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The Tien Shan mountains excite the imagination of many, many travelers. I really want to come here, look at the snow caps with my own eyes, feel the power and strength of this place!
To be honest, not everyone succeeds. Why? As a rule, there may be several reasons, but among the main ones I would like to highlight the following. Remember where the Tien Shan is located. Agree, this is far from the center of the intersection of the main tourist routes of the planet, which means that getting to this point on the planet is both long and expensive. Only the most desperate can afford it. Secondly, in order to go to conquer the grief of the Tien Shan, considerable physical preparation is necessary. For a beginner, such a journey can actually be dangerous.
However, this article will not only tell about where the Tien Shan is located. In addition, the reader will receive valuable information about many other things. For example, about the characteristic features of this object, about its climate, about legends and myths, flora and fauna.
Section 1. General Information
The Tien Shan mountains, photos of which can be found in almost any atlas that tells about geographical features of our planet are located in Central Asia on the territory of several states at once (Kyrgyzstan, China, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan).
A significant part of the western range is located in Kyrgyzstan, the eastern half goes into China, the northern and western ends are in Kazakhstan, and the southern extreme points- within the borders of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
It should be noted that the Tien Shan ridge lies mainly in latitudinal and sublatitudinal zoning. These are one of the highest mountains in the world, among which there are many peaks over 6.0 thousand meters high.
The highest points include Pobeda Peak (about 7440 meters), rising on the border of Kyrgyzstan and China, and Khan Tengri (almost 7000 meters), located in Kyrgyzstan near Kazakhstan. It is even difficult for the inhabitants of the flat territories to imagine how it is to live at the foot of giant mountain giants, the peaks of which rise far above the level of cloud formation.
In general, the mountain system is divided into several regions: Northern, Western, Southwestern, Eastern, Inner and Central.
Section 2. Blue Mountains, or Tien Shan. Highland climate
The climate of this system belongs mainly to the sharply continental type, characterized by hot and dry summers with little precipitation.
Winter is characterized by harshness and high temperature fluctuations, low cloudiness and excessive dryness of the air. In the mountains, there is a significant duration of sunshine, which is up to 2700 hours per year. Of course, ordinary person such data is unlikely to say anything, so for comparison, we note that, for example, in Moscow, the average annual figure is only 1600 hours. The change in these values is influenced by high-altitude cloudiness and the complexity of the landscape.
The amount of precipitation depends on zonality and increases with elevation. The least precipitation falls on the plains (150-200 mm per year), and in the regions of middle mountains this figure already reaches up to 800 mm per year.
Most of all it is necessary for the period of spring and summer. The high dryness of the air affects the formation of snow cover, which differs in different areas. For example, the Tien Shan mountains in Kazakhstan (northwestern slopes) have a snow line that forms at an altitude of 3600-3800 meters, in the Central part - at an altitude of 4200-4500 meters and 4000-4200 meters in the Eastern regions. That is, the height largely determines the conditions for the formation of the climate of a particular area.
A large accumulation of snow and ice on the slopes of the Tien Shan mountains with the onset of heat can lead to dangerous avalanches. That is why travelers should be extremely careful.
Section 3. Geographic features
The Tien Shan mountains are located in Central and Central Asia and are among the highest mountains of alpine folding on the entire planet. At an altitude of 4000 m, traces of ancient leveled surfaces have been preserved.
It should be noted that the Tien Shan mountains, the photos of which literally amaze with their splendor, are still in tectonic and seismological activity.
It is hard to imagine that more than thirty peaks of the mountain range have a height of more than 6000 meters. Of these, the highest are Pobeda Peak (7439 m) and Khan-Tengri Peak (almost 7000 m). The length of the system from west to east is 2500 km.
Formed from igneous, and intermountain depressions - from sedimentary rocks. The height of the Tien Shan mountains, of course, leaves its imprints on their features. The main part of the slopes has a high-mountainous relief with glaciation forms and scree rocks.
It has been established that at an altitude of over 3000 m, the permafrost zone begins. Between the mountain systems there are intermountain basins (Issyk-Kul, Naryn and Fergana).
To date, deposits of minerals have been discovered in the depths of the Tien Shan: cadmium, zinc, antimony and mercury. And in the depressions - oil reserves. Numerous glaciers and avalanche-prone snowfields. If we imagine where the Tien Shan is located from an economic point of view, it immediately becomes clear how great the role of this mountain system in the welfare of the surrounding states is.
In addition, it should be noted that Chu, Tarim, Ili, etc.) and lakes (Issyk-Kul, Chatyr-Kul and Song-Kel) belong to the water bodies of internal flow, which means that they have a significant impact on the climate of the Tien system -Shan. Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China and Uzbekistan have long since learned to use these features to their advantage for industrial purposes.
In general, the mountain chain consists of the following orographic regions:
- Northern Tien Shan, including the ranges of Kirghiz, Ketmen, Kungei-Alatau and Zailiyskiy Alatau;
- Eastern Tien Shan - Borohoro, Boglo-Ula, Kuruktag, Sarmin-Ula, Iren-Khabyrga, Karlytag Halyktau;
- Western Tien Shan - Talas Alatau, Karatau, Ugam, Pskem and Chatkal ranges;
- Southwestern Tien Shan: the southwestern part of the Fergana Range and the mountains surrounding the Fergana Valley;
- The Inner Tien Shan is located within the Kyrgyz Range, the Fergana Range, the Issyk-Kul Depression, the Kokshaltau Range and the Akshiyrak Mountain Range.
To the west of the Central regions, three mountain ranges are formed, separated by intermountain depressions and connected by the Ferghana Range. The eastern region of the Tien Shan consists of two mountain ranges up to 5000 m high, separated by depressions. Flat elevations up to 4000 m are typical for this area - syrty.
The Tien Shan mountains have a glaciation area of 7300 sq. km. The largest glacier is South Inylchek. A significant area is occupied by mountain steppes and semi-desert. The northern slopes are covered mainly with coniferous forests and meadow-steppe, which pass higher into subalpine and on syrts - a landscape of cold deserts.
Section 4. The height of the Tien Shan mountains: myths, legends and features of the origin of the name
Many inquisitive travelers know that, translated from Chinese this name means "Celestial Mountains". According to Soviet geographer EM. Murzaev, who studied the geographical terminology of the Turkic language, this name is borrowed from the word Tengritag ("Tengri" - "divine, sky, God" and "tag" - "mountain").
Tien Shan, photos of which in periodicals are quite common, famous for many legends associated with the description of certain places, representing, most likely, local attractions. Both the first and second stories in this section are about the Alatoo mountain range, located in the northern region of the Tien Shan.
Manchzhypy-Ata
One of the world-famous sights of Alatoo is the beautiful valley of the sacred springs of Manchzhypy-Ata, which is a popular place of pilgrimage. Here is the mazar of the great teacher of Sufism and the holy propagator of the Islamic faith among the nomadic Kyrgyz. Manchzhypy-Ata is not a person's name. So in various Turkic languages they called a respectable person, the patron of the area and wanderers, the righteous or the owner of fertile pastures. The valley consists of many gorges, from the ground of which miraculous springs gush. Each of them is considered healing, and their unusual properties have been proven by several leading experts on the planet at once.
Of course, in ancient times, these springs could also serve as a watering place for animals. But over time, the preacher of Islam was endowed with the miraculous powers of the owner of the springs.
Those who happened to visit the Tien Shan mountains in Kyrgyzstan, whose photos are especially breathtaking, must have heard the statements of local experts that springs endow those in need with the gift of family well-being, bestow knowledge and insight, and relieve infertility.
Tale of Alatoo
This tale refers beautiful place, located in the seasonal channel of rain mudflows flowing from the foothills of Terskey-Alatoo to Lake Issyk-Kul. Despite the fact that the clay cliffs of the gorge, overgrown with shrubs, at first look dull, looking closely, you can be surprised how much they change their appearance and appear in all their splendor.
Thanks to this, the name of the canyon "Fairy Tale" appeared. A fantastic world opens up here: multi-colored rocks of bright shades are frozen in unusual shapes, and natural statues of limestone and sandy rocks grow out of the ground, similar to prehistoric inhabitants or the ruins of castles.
The legend about this miracle of nature appeared recently. It says that the beauty of the gorge is unique, and if you come back here again, each time the gorge will look different. That is why excursions here are arranged with enviable constancy, and the flow of travelers has not dried up for many years now.
By the way, not everyone knows that in addition to Alatoo, the name of the ridge has several more options - Atatau, Altai and Alai, which means "Motley Mountains" in Turkic. Most likely, this is a description of the entire territory of the Northern Tien Shan, which is famous for its inconstancy and diversity. Here, green meadows intertwine with rivers, snow-white peaks coexist with multi-colored rocks covered with coniferous forests and bright foothill steppes.
Section 5 Inland Waters
The Tien Shan mountains in Kyrgyzstan, as, indeed, in all other countries, are the territory of the formation of runoff, where many rivers originate from glaciers and snowfields of the glacial-nival zone and end in endorheic and inland lakes or form "dry deltas" , when the waters are absorbed into the sediments of the plains and go to irrigation.
All the main rivers that have their sources in the Tien Shan mountains belong to the basins of the Syrdarya, Talas, Ili, Chu, Manas, etc. The rivers are fed by snow or glaciers. The runoff peak is observed in the spring-summer period. The waters are used to irrigate not only the interior valleys and depressions, but also the neighboring plains.
Large lakes of the mountain system are located at the bottom of intermountain basins and belong to the tectonic period. Such reservoirs are the salt lake Issyk-Kul and the alpine lakes Chatyr-Kol and Son-Kul, almost always covered with ice. There are also cirque and near-glacial lakes (Merzbacher). The largest body of water in the Eastern region of the Tien Shan is Bagrashkel, connected with the Kanchedarya River.
There are many small reservoirs, most of which are deep with steep banks and have a dam-dam origin (Lake Sary-Chelek).
Section 6. Area of glaciation
The number of glaciers in the mountain system is more than 7700. Among them there are valley, hanging and cirque types.
The total area of glaciation is quite impressive - over 900 square meters. km. The Terskey-Alatau ridge is characterized by glaciers of flattened peaks, consisting of underdeveloped moraine formations.
The Tien Shan mountains form glaciers at a continuous pace. This means that the slowly retreating part is being replaced at the same speed by others.
During the global ice age, this entire surface was covered with a thick layer of ice. Until now, in different mountainous regions of the world, one can find the remains of general glaciation - ramparts, moraines, cirques, troughs and high-mountain glacial lakes.
It should be noted that without exception, all the river systems of Central Asia have their sources from the well-known Tien Shan glaciers. One of them is major river Naryn (Kyrgyzstan). The Tien Shan mountains are the highest here, which means that they may well contribute to the formation of such powerful water arteries.
Smaller glaciers feed mountain rivers - tributaries of the Naryn. Descending from the peaks, they overcome a huge path and gain gigantic strength. A whole cascade of large and medium-sized hydropower plants has been built on Naryn.
The pearl of the Tien Shan Mountains is the picturesque lake Issyk-Kul, which occupies the 7th place in the list of the largest and deepest reservoirs. It is located in a giant tectonic basin between mountain ranges. Both locals and numerous tourists like to relax here, coming with whole families or noisy friendly companies.
The area of the lake is 6332 sq. m, and its depth reaches more than 700 m. Other large lakes of the Inner Tien Shan - Song-Kel and Chatyr-Kel can be added here.
In the highlands there are many small reservoirs of glacial and periglacial type, which practically do not affect the climate of the area, but are considered favorite places for recreation.
It is unlikely that anyone will dispute the fact that, say, the Tien Shan mountains in Kyrgyzstan, pictures of which are quite common, are a place worth visiting at least once in a lifetime. The same trend is observed in other countries. Every year more and more travelers from all over the world come here to rest.
Section 7. Features of the local fauna
If you think about where the Tien Shan is located, we can assume that its animal world certainly represented by the inhabitants of the desert and steppe fauna.
The most numerous representatives of the local fauna include goitered gazelle, ground squirrel, stomp hare, gerbil, jerboa, etc.
Of the reptiles, there are snakes (patterned snake, muzzle, viper) and lizards.
Of the birds, larks, bustards, partridges, and imperial eagles are common.
But representatives of the forest fauna live in the mid-mountain regions - a wild boar, a brown bear, a lynx, a wolf, a fox, a roe deer, etc. Of the birds, the nutcracker and crossbill prevail here.
Above in the mountain ranges live marmots, voles, argali and stoats. The most beautiful and rare predator is the snow leopard (irbis). From birds - eagles, vultures, lark, alpine jackdaw, etc.
Waterfowl species of birds (ducks, geese) live on mountain lakes. On Issyk-Kul during the migration period, you can see swans, and on Bagrashkul - cormorants and black storks. There are also many fish in the lakes (chebak, marinka, osman, etc.).
Section 8. Pobeda Peak - history of conquest
Many argue that the Tien Shan mountains in Kazakhstan, whose height often exceeds 6,000 meters, give the impression of giant giants, reaching almost to the sky. However, the highest point is still not here.
Pobeda Peak (Chinese name Tomur) is located in Kyrgyzstan near the borders of China. It is included in the list of the highest peaks (7439 m).
Presumably, the peak was first conquered by a group of Soviet climbers in 1938. Although there are doubts that they reached the top. In 1943, in honor of the victory over the Germans near Stalingrad, the government of the USSR poisoned a team at Pobeda Peak.
Also in 1955, two teams set out to climb the summit. The route of one of them ran from the Chon-Ton pass in Kazakhstan, and the other - along the Zvezdochka glacier in Uzbekistan. Due to weather conditions, the team from Kazakhstan, having reached 6000 m, was forced to descend back. Of the 12 people in the group, only one survived. Since then, the mountains have had a bad reputation. The ascent continues to this day. Basically, these are daredevil climbers from Russia and the CIS.
Section 9. Heavenly Lake of the Tien Shan
110 km from Urumqi, high in the mountains of China, hid the purest lake Tianchi (“Heavenly Lake”), which has the shape of a crescent. The surface area of the reservoir is about 5.0 sq. km, depth - over 100 m.
Residents call the lake the "Pearl of the Heavenly Mountain". It is fed by the melt waters of mountain peaks. In summer, the reservoir saves people with its coolness from the heat. Tianchi is surrounded by snow-white peaks, the slopes of which are covered with coniferous forests, and flower meadows. One of the peaks is Bogdafen Peak, which is over 6000 m high. Eagles soar in the sky above the lake.
The lake received its former name in 1783. It used to be called Yaochi ("Jade Lake"). Tradition says that the reservoir was the font of the Taoist goddess Xi Wangmu, the keeper of springs and the fruits of immortality. A peach tree grows on the shore, whose fruits give people eternal life.
Section 10. Mountain tourism
Many travelers, especially sports enthusiasts, try to visit the Tien Shan at least once in their lives. Photos taken here by travelers who have already been here will help someone decide on a new vacation destination. And someone will consider them, anticipating the next trip.
The main area of all the aforementioned countries consists of mountainous terrain. It is not surprising that these regions are ideal for the development of ski tourism. There are many resorts on the mountain slopes, the tracks of which are suitable for both professionals and beginners. For convenience, there are equipment rental points, and experienced instructors will help you master your skiing skills.
For example, in Kyrgyzstan, ski resorts "Oru-Sai", "Orlovka", "Kashka-Suu" and "Karakol" are very popular.
The skiing season opens in December and ends at the end of March. The best months for skiing are February and March. In the highlands on the glaciers, the snow does not melt even in summer. Freeride enthusiasts can use a helicopter or car to climb the hill. For climbers, climbs to peaks and glaciers and descents are organized. The slopes of the mountains are suitable for skiing and snowboarding.
Geography of the Tien Shan
Tien Shan (translated from Chinese - " heavenly mountains”) is a mountain system occupying the territory of Central Asia: China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.
The relief is characterized by the presence of powerful ridges and intermountain basins.
The Tien Shan mountain system includes:
- Northern Tien Shan: Zailiysky Alatau, Ketmen, Kirghiz and Kungei-Alatau ridges;
- Eastern Tien Shan: ridges Iren-Khabyrga, Borohoro, Bogdo-Ula, Kuruktag, Sarmin-Ula, Karlyktag Halyktau;
- Western Tien Shan: Talas Alatau, Karatau, Chatkal, Ugam and Pskem ranges;
- Southwestern Tien Shan: southwestern slope of the Fergana Range, ridges located near the outskirts of the Fergana Valley;
- Inner Tien Shan: bounded by the Issyk-Kul basin and the Kyrgyz ridge (from the north), the Kokshaltau ridge (from the south), the Fergana ridge (from the west), the Akshiyrak mountain range (from the east).
The Tien Shan mountains are high. More than 30 peaks have a height of more than 6000 meters. The highest point is Pobeda Peak (Tomur, 7439 m). Pobeda Peak is located on the border of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Republic of China and Kyrgyzstan. The second highest peak is Khan-Tengri peak (6995 m), located on the border of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
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To the west of the Central Tien Shan, mountain ranges diverge, which are separated by intermountain basins (Naryn, Issyk-Kul, At-Bashyn, etc.) and then in the west are again connected by the Ferghana Range.
The Eastern Tien Shan (altitude 4000-5000 m) contains two parallel mountain ranges separated by depressions. Feature- the presence of syrt - high-elevated leveled surfaces (3000-4000 m).
The total area of glaciers is 7.3 thousand square meters. km. The largest glacier is South Inylchek.
The total length of the mountain system from west to east is 2500 km.
Remark 1
On the territory of the Tien Shan, tectonic activity is high, earthquakes often occur.
The mountain ranges are mainly composed of igneous rocks, and the basins are composed of sedimentary ones. Deposits of antimony, mercury, lead, zinc, silver, cadmium have been found in the mountains, and oil has been found in the basins.
Above 3200 m permafrost dominates.
Geological structure
The Tien Shan ranges are composed of metamorphic, sedimentary and igneous rocks of the Paleozoic and Precambrian (sandstones, shales, limestones, gneisses, marbles, granites, effusive rocks, syenites). Intermountain basins consist mainly of continental loose sedimentary deposits of the Cenozoic.
For the main part of the northern ranges of mountain ranges, the Terskey-Ala-Too, Talas Alatau and partly Karatau ridges, an extensive development of Lower Paleozoic and Proterozoic rocks - terrigenous and carbonate geosynclinal sediments is characteristic. Caledonian and Proterozoic folding processes were widely manifested in these territories.
The continental regime was established from the Upper Silurian. Subsequently, terrigenous sediments accumulated only in troughs of the folded Caledonian basement.
The Paleozoic stage of development of this zone was completed by the Hercynian folding.
The rest of the mountain system belongs to the southern geological zone, separated from the previous zone by a number of tectonic faults.
Lower Paleozoic and Precambrian rocks are not widely distributed in this zone. Carboniferous and marine Upper Devonian deposits are widely developed. The main folding is Hercynian.
In this zone, subzones are distinguished:
- Chatkal-Naryn (the geosynclinal stage of development ended in the Middle Carboniferous);
- Fergana-Kakshaalskaya (the geosynclinal stage of development ended in the Permian).
In the areas of the Western Tien Shan in the Paleogene and in the Cretaceous, shallow seas entered. Marine transgressions deposited shallow water sediments.
In most of the territory, continental, mainly clastic, sediments are developed from Neogene and Paleogene deposits.
At the end of the Neogene, tectonic activity sharply intensified. As a result of the Lower Quaternary and Neogene tectonic movements on the site of small hills and denudation plains, the modern high-mountain relief of the Tien Shan was formed.
Mountain relief features
Alpine chains are characterized by the presence of sharp ridges with sharp tops "peaks". This is a typical alpine mountain-glacier relief.
Sometimes in the Central, Northern and Inner Tien Shan, on the crests of the ridges, there are flat alignment surfaces, which, due to folded deformation, are inclined to one side (the crest of the Terskey-Ala-Too ridge). Tien Shan ridges of medium height have leveled or abrasion surfaces (ridge of the eastern part of the Karatau ridge).
In the Central and Inner Tien Shan, often leveled surfaces form the bottoms of high-altitude valleys covered with alluvial, moraine or other sediments, as well as terrace-like wide steps along the sides of the valleys.
At high altitudes, the bottoms of the valleys are practically bare rocky tundra.
The slopes of the mountain ranges are dynamic. Erosion processes, rockfalls and talus occur on them, landslides occur in places, and mudflows occur in the gorges.
High-rise landscape zones
With height, nature in the Tien Shan mountains changes significantly, regularities of altitudinal zoning are observed.
Altitude zoning is most clearly seen on mountain ranges open to the north, west, or southwest. On the inner ridges, the zonality is somewhat attenuated or modified:
- The nature of the lower altitudinal zones of the Northern, Western and Southwestern Tien Shan has subtropical features and is close to the Pamir-Alai.
- Zone of foothill semi-deserts (900-1200 m). The vegetation cover is represented by wormwood-turf-grass communities. In the southwestern part of the Tien Shan, during the transition to the subtropics, wormwood-ephemeral communities are common, passing with height into ephemeroid couch grass-grass species.
- Mountain-steppe high-altitude landscape zone. The lower belt is represented by dry steppes, the south - by large-grass subtropical steppes. The vegetation cover is grass-forb communities.
- Mountain forest-meadow-steppe landscape zone (up to 2000 m). Deciduous forests, meadow steppes and shrub thickets are widespread.
- Zone of alpine meadows and meadow steppes (2600-2800 m).
- Glacial-nival landscape zone (3600-3800 m). Found on marginal ridges. It is characterized by eternal glaciers, snow, rocks and talus on steep slopes.