The Altai Mountains (Russian: Алтай Altay; Mongolian: Алтай,) are a mountain range in central Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan come together, and where the rivers Irtysh, Ob and Yenisei have their sources. Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages The Mongolian language (mn [[ImageMonggol kelesvg 17px]] Mongɣol kele, Cyrillic: Монгол хэл Mongol khel) is the best-known member of A mountain range is a chain of Mountains bordered by highlands or separated from other mountains by passes or valleys Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National Mongolia (mɒŋˈɡoʊliə, literally Mongol country/nation,) is a Landlocked Country in East Kazakhstan, also Kazakstan ( Қазақстан, Qazaqstan, qɑzɑqˈstɑn Казахстан, Kazakhstán,) officially the "Riverine" redirects here For the use of that term in Maritime geography, see there Irtysh (Иртыш; Kazakh: Ertis / Эртiс; Иртеш|İrteş; Chinese: Erqisi / 额尔齐斯河) a River in Siberia Ob River (Обь also Obi, is a major river in West Siberia, Russia, the country's fourth longest Yenisei (Енисе́й is the greatest River system flowing to the Arctic Ocean, and at 5539 km (3445 mi is the fifth longest river in the world The Altai Mountains are known as the Turkic peoples' birthplace. The Turkic peoples are Eurasian peoples residing in northern central and western Eurasia who speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family The northwest end of the range is at 52° N and between 84° and 90° E (where it merges with the Sayan Mountains to the east), and extends southeast from there to about 45° N 99° E, where it gradually becomes lower and merges into the high plateau of the Gobi Desert. The Sayan Mountains (Саяны Sayany; Kokmen Mountains during the period of the Göktürks) are a Mountain range in southern The Gobi (Говь Govi or Gov', "gravel-covered plain" Chinese: zh-t 戈壁(沙漠 Gēbì (Shāmò)

The name, in Turkic Alytau or Altay, means Al (gold), tau (mount); in Mongolian Алтайн нуруу Altain nuruu, the "Mountains of Gold". The Turkic languages constitute a Language family of some thirty languages spoken by Turkic peoples across a vast area from Eastern Europe and the The Mongolian language (mn [[ImageMonggol kelesvg 17px]] Mongɣol kele, Cyrillic: Монгол хэл Mongol khel) is the best-known member of The proposed Altaic language family takes its name from the mountain range. Altaic, according to its proponents is a language family that includes 66 Languages ref> Altaic languages spoken by about 348 million people mostly in and around

Contents 1 Geography 2 World Heritage site 3 Geology 3.1 Seismic activity 4 See also 5 References 6 Notes 7 External links

Geography

In the north of the region is the Sailughem Mountains, also known as Kolyvan Altai, which stretch northeast from 49° N and 86° E towards the western extremity of the Sayan Mountains in 51° 60' N and 89° E. Great Soviet Encyclopedia Сайлюгем горный хребет Юго-Восточного Алтая на границе Горно-Алтайской The Sayan Mountains (Саяны Sayany; Kokmen Mountains during the period of the Göktürks) are a Mountain range in southern Their mean elevation is 1,500 to 1,750 m. The snow-line runs at 2,000 m on the northern side and at 2,400 m on the southern, and above it the rugged peaks tower up some 1,000 m more. The snow line is the point above which or poleward of which snow and ice cover the ground throughout the year Mountain passes across the range are few and difficult, the chief being the Ulan-daban at 2,827 m (2,879 m according to Kozlov), and the Chapchan-daban, at 3,217 m, in the south and north respectively. In a range of hills or especially of mountains, a pass (also gap, notch, col, saddle, bwlch, On the east and southeast this range is flanked by the great plateau of Mongolia, the transition being effected gradually by means of several minor plateaus, such as Ukok 2380 m with Pazyryk valley, Chuya 1,830 m, Kendykty 2,500 m, Kak 2,520 m, Suok 2,590 m, and Juvlu-kul 2,410 m. The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST internal designation HT-7U is an experimental Superconducting Tokamak Magnetic fusion energy In Geology and Earth science, a plateau, also called a high plateau or tableland, is an area of highland, usually consisting Ukok Plateau is a remote and pristine Grasslands area located in the heart of southwestern Siberia, the Altai Mountains region of Russia near The Pazyryk (Пазарык is the name of an ancient Nomadic people who lived in the Altai Mountains lying in Siberian Russia south of the modern city

This region is studded with large lakes, e. A lake (from Latin lacus) is a Terrain feature (or Physical feature) a body of Liquid on the surface of a world that is localized to the g. Uvs Nuur 720 m above sea level, Kirghiz-nor, Durga-nor and Khovd Nuur 1,170 m, and traversed by various mountain ranges, of which the principal are the Tannu-Ola Mountains, running roughly parallel with the Sayan Mountains as far east as the Kosso-gol, and the Khan-khu Mountains, also stretching west and east. Uvs Nuur or Lake Uvs (Увс Нуур Uvs Nuur; Успа-Холь Uspa-Khol; Убсу-Нур Ubsu-Nur Mean sea level (MSL is the average (mean height of the Sea, with reference to a suitable reference surface A mountain range is a chain of Mountains bordered by highlands or separated from other mountains by passes or valleys The Tannu-Ola mountains ( Tuvan: tyv Таңды-Уула Tangdy-Uula mountains) is a mountain range in southern Siberia, in the Tuva Republic The Sayan Mountains (Саяны Sayany; Kokmen Mountains during the period of the Göktürks) are a Mountain range in southern

The north-western and northern slopes of the Sailughem Mountains are extremely steep and difficult to access. Belukha Mountain ( Russian: Белуха; Altai: Muztau) located in the Katun Mountains, is the highest peak of the Altay Mountains Great Soviet Encyclopedia Сайлюгем горный хребет Юго-Восточного Алтая на границе Горно-Алтайской On this side lies the highest summit of the range, the double-headed Belukha, whose summits reach 4,506 and 4,440 m respectively, and give origin to several glaciers (30 square kilometeres in aggregate area, as of 1911). Belukha Mountain ( Russian: Белуха; Altai: Muztau) located in the Katun Mountains, is the highest peak of the Altay Mountains "Glacial" and "Glaciation" redirect here For the geological periods see Glacial period. Year 1911 ( MCMXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year The second highest peak of the range is in Mongolian part named Khüiten Peak. Khüiten Peak (Хүйтний оргил cold peak; also Frendship Peak, Найрамдал оргил Nairamdal orgil; 友誼峰 Youyi Feng This massive reaches 4374 m. Numerous spurs, striking in all directions from the Sailughem mountains, fill up the space between that range and the lowlands of Tomsk. Tomsk (Томск is a city on the Tom River in the southwest of Siberian Federal District, Russia, the administrative centre of Such are the Chuya Alps, having an average altitude of 2,700 m, with summits from 3,500 to 3,700 m, and at least ten glaciers on their northern slope; the Katun Alps, which have a mean elevation of about 3,000 m and are mostly snow-clad; the Kholzun range; the Korgon 1,900 to 2,300 m, Talitskand Selitsk ranges; the Tigeretsk Alps. The Chuya Alps are part of the Altay mountain range straddling the border of Russia and Kazakhstan close to the region where their borders and those of Korgon is a Village in the Batken Province of Kyrgyzstan. Nearby towns and villages include Churbek (6 miles Andarkhan

Several secondary plateaus of lower altitude are also distinguished by geographers, The Katun valley begins as a wild gorge on the south-west slope of Belukha; then, after a big bend, the river (600 km long) pierces the Katun Alps, and enters a wider valley, lying at an altitude of from 600 to 1,100 m, which it follows until it emerges from the Altai highlands to join the Biya in a most picturesque region. Belukha Mountain ( Russian: Белуха; Altai: Muztau) located in the Katun Mountains, is the highest peak of the Altay Mountains The Biya River (Бия is a River in the Altai Krai in Russia. The Katun and the Biya together form the Ob. For the steel inverted roller coaster see Katun (roller coaster; for the village in Slovakia see Katúň. Ob River (Обь also Obi, is a major river in West Siberia, Russia, the country's fourth longest

The next valley is that of the Charysh, which has the Korgon and Tigeretsk Alps on one side and the Talitsk and Bashalatsk Alps on the other. This, too, is very fertile. The Altai, seen from this valley, presents the most romantic scenes, including the small but deep Kolyvan lake (altitude 360 m), which is surrounded by fantastic granite domes and towers. A granite dome is a dome of Granite, formed by exfoliation. Formation Granite forms Plutons of Igneous rock

Farther west the valleys of the Uba, the Ulba and the Bukhtarma open south-westwards towards the Irtysh. Ubá is a small tropical city in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil The lower part of the first, like the lower valley of the Charysh, is thickly populated; in the valley of the Ulba is the Riddersk mine, at the foot of the Ivanovsk Peak (2,060 m), clothed with alpine meadows. The valley of the Bukhtarma, which has a length of 320 km, also has its origin at the foot of the Belukha and the Kuitun peaks, and as it falls some 1,500 m in about 300 km, from an alpine plateau at an elevation of 1,900 m to the Bukhtarma fortress (345 m), it offers the most striking contrasts of landscape and vegetation. Belukha Mountain ( Russian: Белуха; Altai: Muztau) located in the Katun Mountains, is the highest peak of the Altay Mountains Kuitun ( Chinese: 奎屯 Pinyin: Kuítún is a County-level city with about 285000 residents (2000 census in Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture Its upper parts abound in glaciers, the best known of which is the Berel, which comes down from the Byelukha. Emmanuel Berl ( 2 August 1892 &ndash 21 September 1976) was a French Journalist, Historian and Essayist On the northern side of the range which separates the upper Bukhtarma from the upper Katun is the Katun glacier, which after two ice-falls widens out to 700 to 900 metres. From a grotto in this glacier bursts tumultuously the Katun river.

The middle and lower parts of the Bukhtarma valley have been colonized since the 18th century by runaway Russian peasants, serfs and religious schismatics (Raskolniks), who created a free republic there on Chinese territory; and after this part of the valley was annexed to Russia in 1869, it was rapidly colonized. The word schism (ˈsɪzəm or /ˈskɪzəm/ from the Greek σχίσμα skhísma (from σχίζω skhízō, "to tear to split" Raskol (раско́л, meaning 'split' or ' schism ' was the event of splitting of the Russian Orthodox Church into an official church and the Old Believers China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending Year 1869 ( MDCCCLXIX) is a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year The high valleys farther north, on the same western face of the Sailughem range, are but little known, their only visitors being Kyrgyz shepherds.

Those of Bashkaus, Chulyshman, and Chulcha, all three leading to the alpine lake of Teletskoye (length, 80 km; maximum width, 5 km; altitude, 520 m; area, 230. The Bashkaus (Башкаус is a River in the Altai Republic in Siberia, Russia. Chulyshman River (Чулышман is a river in Altai Krai in Russia. Lake Teletskoye (Озеро Телецкое Altay: Алтын Кӧл Altyn-Köl, literally "Golden Lake" is the largest lake in the Altay Mountains 8 square kilometeres; maximum depth, 310 m; mean depth, 200 m), are inhabited by Telengit people. Not to be confused with the unrelated Tlingit people of the Pacific Northwest coast of America. The shores of the lake rise almost sheer to over 1,800 m. From this lake issues the Biya, which joins the Katun at Biysk, and then meanders through the prairies of the north-west of the Altai. Biysk (Бийск is a city in Altai Krai, Russia. It is the second largest city of the krai (after Barnaul)

Farther north the Altai highlands are continued in the Kuznetsk district, which has a slightly different geological aspect, but still belongs to the Altai system. But the Abakan river, which rises on the western shoulder of the Sayan mountains, belongs to the system of the Yenisei. Abakan (Абака́н the Khakas word for 'bear's blood' is a River in the Republic of Khakassia, Russia formed by the confluence Yenisei (Енисе́й is the greatest River system flowing to the Arctic Ocean, and at 5539 km (3445 mi is the fifth longest river in the world The Kuznetsk Ala-tau range, on the left bank of the Abakan, runs north-east into the government of Yeniseisk, while a complexus of mountains (Chukchut, Salair, Abakan) fills up the country northwards towards the Trans-Siberian Railway and westwards towards the Ob. Kuznetsk Alatau (Кузнецкий Алатау is a Mountain range, South Siberia, Russia between Kuznetsk Depression and Minusinsk Depression Yeniseysk, also Eniseisk and other variants (Енисе́йск is a town in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located on the Yenisei The Trans-Siberian Railway or Trans-Siberian Railroad (Транссибирская магистраль Транссиб in Russian, or Transsibirskaya magistral' Ob may refer to Ob River, a river in West Siberia Russia Ob Sea, an artificial lake on the Ob River Ob (town,

The Ek-tagh or Mongolian Altai, which separates the Khovd basin on the north from the Irtysh basin on the south, is a true border-range, in that it rises in a steep and lofty escarpment from the Dzungarian depression (470-900 m), but descends on the north by a relatively short slope to the plateau (1,150 to 1,680 m) of north-western Mongolia. In Geomorphology, an escarpment is a transition zone between different physiogeographic provinces that involves a sharp steep Elevation differential characterized Dzungaria is a geographical region in northwest China corresponding to the northern half of Xinjiang. Mongolia (mɒŋˈɡoʊliə, literally Mongol country/nation,) is a Landlocked Country in East East of 94° E the range is continued by a double series of mountain chains, all of which exhibit less sharply marked orographical features and are at considerably lower elevations. Orography is the average height of land measured in geopotential meters, over a certain domain The slopes of the constituent chains of the system are inhabited principally by nomadic Kyrgyz. The Kyrgyz (also spelled Kirgiz, Kirghiz) are a Turkic Ethnic group found primarily in Kyrgyzstan.

World Heritage site

A vast area of 16,178 km² - Altai and Katun Natural Reserves, Lake Teletskoye, Mount Belukha and the Ukok Plateau - comprise a natural UNESCO World Heritage Site entitled Golden Mountains of Altai. Lake Teletskoye (Озеро Телецкое Altay: Алтын Кӧл Altyn-Köl, literally "Golden Lake" is the largest lake in the Altay Mountains Belukha Mountain ( Russian: Белуха; Altai: Muztau) located in the Katun Mountains, is the highest peak of the Altay Mountains Ukok Plateau is a remote and pristine Grasslands area located in the heart of southwestern Siberia, the Altai Mountains region of Russia near United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization ( UNESCO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations established on November 16 A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site (such as a Forest, Mountain, Lake, Desert, Monument, Building, complex Golden Mountains of Altai is the name of an UNESCO World Heritage Site consisting of the Altai and Katun Natural Reserves Lake Teletskoye, Belukha Mountain As stated in the UNESCO description of the site, "the region represents the most complete sequence of altitudinal vegetation zones in central Siberia, from steppe, forest-steppe, mixed forest, subalpine vegetation to alpine vegetation". While making its decision, UNESCO also cited Russian Altai's importance for preservation of the globally endangered mammals, such as snow leopard and the Altai argali. The snow leopard ( Uncia uncia) sometimes known as the ounce, is a large cat native to the mountain ranges of Central Asia from Afghanistan Northern Altai argali ( Ovis ammon ammon) is a traditional Subspecies of Argali, wild Sheep that roam the highlands of Altai Mountains. ^[1] The Uvs Nuur basin is also a protected site. The Uvs Nuur Basin (also Ubsu-Nur Basin) is a fragile mountain Endorheic basin, named after Uvs Nuur, a large shallow and very saline lake in the basin's

Geology

The Siberian Altai represents the northern most region affected by the tectonic collision of India into Asia. Massive fault systems run through the area, including the Kurai fault zone and the recently identified Tashanta fault zone. These fault systems are typically thrusts or right lateral strike-slip faults, some of which are tectonically active. In Geology a fault, or fault line, is a planar rock fracture which shows evidence of relative movement Rock types in the mountains are typically granites and metamorphic schists, and some are highly sheared near to fault zones.

Seismic activity

On 27th September 2003 a massive earthquake, measuring MW 7. An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth 's crust that creates Seismic waves Earthquakes are recorded with a Seismometer 3, occurred in the Chuya Basin area to the south of the Altai region. The Chuya Basin in the Siberian Altai Mountains is a depression formed by Tectonic movement of major faults in the Earths crust Seismic activity is however a rare occurrence. This earthquake and its aftershocks devastated much of the region, causing $10. An aftershock is an Earthquake that occurs after a previous earthquake (the main shock 6 million in damage (USGS) and wiping out the village of Beltir.

See also

• Altai Krai
• Altaic languages
• Altay language

References

Notes

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain. The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911 is a 29-volume reference work that marked the beginning of the Encyclopædia Britannica The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone

External links

• Altai-Project of the Technical University of Dresden - Institute of Cartography
• Golden Mountains of Altai at Natural Heritage Protection Fund
• 24-days in Altai - A travel account from the south of Altai.
• UNESCO's evaluation of Altai (PDF file)

---

© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic