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Tianshan Mountain Range

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synonymTianshan Mountains in Xinjiang(The main part of Xinjiang Tianshan Mountain Range) generally refers to the Tianshan Mountain Range

Tianshan Mountain Range, one of the seven mountain systems in the world, is located in the hinterland of Eurasia, the largest land on the earth. It is the largest independent zonal mountain system in the world, the furthest mountain system from the ocean in the world and the largest mountain system in the global dry area.

The Tianshan Mountains stretch from east to west across China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, with a total length of 2,500 kilometers and an average width of 250-350 kilometers from north to south, with the widest point reaching more than 800 kilometers. The highest peak is Tomur Peak (7443 meters above sea level, located in Xinjiang, China). ^[3] It is a huge international mountain system. Xinjiang Tianshan refers to the East Tianshan in China. It is 1,760 kilometers long, accounting for more than 2/3 of the total length of Tianshan. It stretches across the entire territory of Xinjiang, spanning nine prefectures and cities of Kashgar, Aksu, Yili, Boltala, Bayingoleng, Changji, Urumqi, Turpan and Hami. It is the natural geographical boundary between the Junggar Basin and the Tarim Basin, and also a unique geographical symbol of Xinjiang ^[33] . Xinjiang Tianshan Mountain combines hot and cold, dry and wet, desolate and beautiful, spectacular and delicate, its aesthetic diversity, geographical diversity and biological diversity are rare in the world. It not only has snowy mountains and ice peaks, forest meadows, rivers and lakes, and red layer canyons, but also is the origin and best habitat area of the global snow ridge spruce and Central Asian wild fruit forest, and is also an important habitat for Central Asian mountain relic species, many rare and endangered species and endemic species. ^[36]

On June 21, 2013, in Tianshan Mountain, Xinjiang Province Tomur Peak ( Aksu prefecture ), Karatjun -- Kurdistin Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture ), Bayanbulak ( Bayingoleng Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture ), Bogda ( Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture Four areas have successfully applied for World Natural Heritage status under the name "Xinjiang Tianshan" ^[35] It has become China's 44th World Heritage site, with a declared area of 5,759 square kilometers. ^[14]

Chinese name: Tianshan Mountain Range
Foreign name: Tianshan Mountains ^{37 - [38]}
alias: Hakusan , Snowy mountain
Geographical position: Eurasia hinterland
Go to: East-west trend

length: 2500 km
breadth: An average of 250-350 km
Principal peak: Tomur Peak , Khan Tengger Peak , Bogda Peak
Home country: China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan

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Formation and evolution

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EDITOR

Tianshan Mountain Range is an ancient and young mountain system with a complex geological development history. As early as the Sinian period, the distribution of sea and land has been relatively obvious outline. The Sinian system is quite developed in the Tianshan area. From the perspective of Marine strata distribution, the northern margin of the sea area extends to the Junggar ancient land, and the southern margin to the Tarim ancient land, which has a very wide range. Only the east-west uplift zone formed by the pre-Sinian system appears in the Zhongtianshan area. However, the formation of modern Tianshan was shaped by the strong tectonic movement of Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Late Cenozoic, late Holocene and Quaternary Early Pleistocene. This reflects the complexity of the history of geological development and evolution of the Tianshan Mountains, and also shows that it is both ancient and young. ^[18]

Generally speaking, before the Paleozoic is the gestation period of the ancient Tianshan Mountains. The formation and evolution of Tianshan Mountain mainly went through three stages of development, namely Paleozoic fold uplift stage, Mesozoic and Early Tertiary denudation and planation stage, Neogene stage and early Quaternary stage of block uplift. In each stage of development, relatively speaking, the first stage is dominated by internal power, the second stage is dominated by external power, and the third stage is dominated by internal power. It is the violent tectonic movement in the third stage that formed the magnificent situation of modern Tianshan Mountains. ^[18]

I. Paleozoic fold uplift stage

The Tianshan geosynclinal fold system arose on the basis of the Paleo-Chinese platform formed in the late Proterozoic Yangtze cycle. After the Caledonian movement in the early Paleozoic and Varissian Movement in the late Paleozoic, especially after various strong tectonic activities in the late Varissian movement, the fold uplifted into a tall mountain.

The Tianshan geosynclinal fold system is further divided into four fold belts, namely, the South Tianshan Miogeosynclinal fold belt, the North Tianshan geosynclinal fold belt, the middle Tianshan uplift belt and the Beishan geosynclinal fold belt.

Caledonian movement The most obvious performance is in the Middle Tianshan area, and the western section of the North Tianshan is also affected. During this period, the crustal movement formed the Middle Tianshan fold uplift belt in China, which ran from northwest to southeast, roughly from the present Wusun Mountain between Yining and Zhaosu in the west, to the east through the Narathi Mountains and the Elbin Mountains to the Jelotag Mountains, and extended to the southern margin of the Turpan-Hami Basin. The Middle Tianshan may have been born before the Sinian period and the Caledonian fold uplift, thus becoming an important boundary between the North Tianshan Trough and the South Tianshan Trough in the Late Paleozoic era. It is this movement that causes the strong differentiation of geosyncline and makes the south Tianshan geosyncline and the north Tianshan geosyncline develop in two different directions. The south Tianshan has gradually changed from the ground trough to the miogeosynclinal environment, and the north Tianshan has changed from the miogeosynclinal to the ground trough environment.

Devonian period Suwa Carboniferous period At the beginning, there was a general folding movement in the north and south Tianshan Mountains, which belonged to the first act of the Varissian movement Tianshan cycle. The Carboniferous period is the most frequent period of crustal tectonic changes in Tianshan area. The second, third, fourth and fifth acts of the Varissian movement of Tianshan cycle are manifested in all mountain segments, but the movement intensity is different in different places. After the multi-fold movement of the Carboniferous period, the North Tianshan Trough basically returned to the land, and the South Tianshan trough also shrank greatly. In the Early Permian, the sea area of Tianshan area was reduced, the land area was expanded, and the Marine and continental volcanic activities were intense. At the end of the early Permian, the Warissian Movement, the sixth act of the Tianshan Cycle, caused the Tianshan Trough to uplift and landfall. The seventh act of the Late Permian Varissian Movement of the Tianshan Cycle caused some of the remaining waters (inland lakes) of the Tianshan Mountains to fold up, thus ending the formation of the Tianshan Trough.

After the folding and uplifting of the Tianshan geosyncline, it has become a huge mountain with large height and wide range.

At the end of Permian, after the Tianshan geosyncline folded into landmass, the Kuqa and Kashi depression developed in the southern foot of the Tianshan Mountains, the Urumchi depression formed in the northern foot of the Tianshan Mountains, the Turpan-Hami Mountain depression appeared in the eastern part of the Tianshan Mountains, and the Ili Mountain depression appeared in the western part of the mountain system. These premountain depressions and intermountain depressions became the main areas receiving redeposition of mountain denudation materials after Paleozoic.

The fold belt of the Beishan prodromic trough is located at the east end of the Tianshan Mountains. In the early Paleozoic, the middle basic eruption was significant, forming a volute. The late Caledonian movement was strong, causing the early Paleozoic strata to be tightly folded and metamorphic. The late Paleozoic was dominated by neutral eruptive rocks, and the geosynclinal deposition ended at the end of the Early Permian.

In the Paleozoic period, the sea area of Tianshan Mountain was different in size and sedimentary environment at different periods, which was reflected in the sedimentary facies and strata. The Cambrian in Tianshan area are all normal shallow Marine carbonate rocks and clastic rocks. There are obvious differences in Ordovician lithofacies in different regions. For example, the western section of the North Tianshan Mountains is from the bottom to the gulf facies to the Marine facies and then to the shallow sea facies, and the middle Tianshan Mountains is from the coastal shallow sea facies to the shallow sea semi-deep facies deposits. In the western part of the Silurian system, the North Tianshan is mainly composed of bay-shallow-marine clastic rocks, the middle Tianshan is composed of shallow-marine carbonate rocks and clastic rocks, and the South Tianshan is composed of shallow-marine sediments. Most of the Devonian system in the North Tianshan Trough belongs to the middle and lower Devonian series, which are mainly Marine volcanic rocks and pyroclastic rocks, while the upper Devonian system belongs to normal shallow Marine clastic rocks. In the South Tianshan Trough, the lower Devonian is a littoral and shallow Marine terrigenous clastic rock, the middle Devonian is a normal shallow Marine clastic rock and carbonate rock, and the upper Devonian is a littoral and shallow Marine deposit. The Carboniferous system is widely distributed in the Tianshan Mountains with complex lithology and huge thickness, and the lithofacies of the northern and southern troughs are very different. In the early Carboniferous period, the submarine volcanic activity was frequent, mostly Marine volcanic rock - pyroclastic rock, which was changed into shallow Marine clastic rock in the late period, and the sedimentary thickness reached 7000-10000 m. The southern Tianshan Mountains are mostly littoral and shallow Marine carbonate rocks with clastic rocks. The Marine environment is relatively stable, and the sedimentary thickness is 1000-7000 meters. The significant characteristics of the early Permian in Tianshan area are that the Marine deposit area is reduced, the continental deposit area is expanded, and the volcanic rock distribution is increased. The Upper Permian was composed of continental clastic rock deposits, which ended the life of the trough.

In Paleozoic, the magmatic activity in Tianshan area is quite strong, but the southern and northern Tianshan Mountains are obviously different. The Northern Tianshan has strong magmatic activity, from ultrabasic rocks to acidic rocks exposed, and frequent volcanic eruptions. Volcanic activity occurred from the beginning of Ordovician to the end of Paleozoic. Volcanic rocks account for a large proportion in the late Paleozoic strata. The magmatic activity in the southern Tianshan Mountains is weak and mainly invaded by acidic magma, which can be divided into two stages: gray biotite granite in the early stage and flesh-red biotite granite in the late stage. The granites are all formed in Varissian Stage, and the volcanic activity is weaker. The magmatic activity in the northern Tianshan became more and more intense from the late Caledonian to Varisinian, with multiple intrusions and eruptions. In the southern Tianshan, only a small amount of Varissian acid magma invaded. ^[19]

Second, Mesozoic and Paleogene denudation and planation stage

The Tianshan fold belt of the late Permian fold uplift is composed of a series of polyanticlines and polysynclines, which form high mountains with a relative height of about 2000 meters. Kepingtag and Kuluktag, which were originally part of the Tarim block on the south side of the Tianshan Mountains, were also lifted up by folds and separated from the Tarim platform, joining the ranks of the Tianshan Mountains. Together they constitute mountain denudation area.

The Mesozoic Indochinese movement and Yanshan movement existed in Tianshan area, but their activity intensity was weak, especially the former was only shown in local areas, and the latter was relatively strong. These movements mainly formed intermountain depressions on the edge of mountain systems. From the beginning of Mesozoic to the end of Early Tertiary, the evolution of Tianshan Mountain was dominated by the interaction of external and internal forces. During this period, all the uplifted Paleozoic boundary mountains of the Tianshan Mountains have been subjected to denudation, and the fore-mountain depressions and mountain discontinuous depressions on both sides have been continuously received and basically filled out. The entire ancient Tianshan Mountains with folded uplifts have been denudated and flattened into a peneplain, forming a gentle and gentle surface with little elevation difference.

The PaleoTianshan Peneplain from the end of EOGene to the beginning of EOGene was generally composed of three different types of ground:

The first is the flattened Paleozoic ground, that is, the folded mountain composed of older Paleozoic and previous strata, which has undergone a long multi-cycle process of denudation-planation in the Mesozoic and Early Tertiary, and this part of the ground is the most extensive.

The second is the flattened ground of the Mesozoic. This surface and the first surface have only been experienced in common during the Early Tertiary period. In other words, the upper age of the two types of flattened ground is very different, but the lower age is the same, and they are unified in the peneplain.

The third type is the Lower Tertiary accumulative surface, which is small in scope and occupies a certain area only on the outer edge of the early peneplain, but it is also unified in the peneplain. In the process of denudation-planation of the ancient Tianshan Mountains, huge Mesozoic and Early Tertiary strata were deposited in the piedmont depression. Many longitudinal intermontane basins in the Tianshan mountain system, such as the Turpan-Hami Basin, Barkol Basin, Yanqi Basin, Yurdu Basin and Yili Basin, also accept the Mesozoic and Early Tertiary strata with greater thickness. These strata have also been folded in the Yanshan movement and Himalayan movement, but their intensity is relatively weak. ^[20]

Iii. Neogene - Quaternary uplift stage of fault block

enter Neogene Especially after the Pliocene, the peneplain formed by the denudation and planation in the Mesozoic and Early Tertiary has undergone the fault block lifting and differentiation during the extremely violent neotectonic movement. The peneplain uplifted by the fault block became a huge mountain, and on both sides of the peneplain formed a renewed piedmont depression belt. In the interior of the mountain, that is, the original mountain intermittent subsidence, further settlement into the depression basin. These negative topographic areas generally accept Upper Tertiary and Quaternary deposits.

Since Pliocene, the neotectonic movement has been intense, mainly due to the differential movement of fault block lifting along the active strike of the great fault zone, which displaces and deforms the unified peneplain. The fault-block mountain is uplifted strongly, and the fault-depression basin is sinking continuously. The whole Tianshan Mountain area forms a remarkable contrast between mountain and basin. Because of the difference of fault block uplift, the mountain itself has a number of steps at different elevations, and the layered landform is quite obvious.

For the formation of the modern Tianshan Mountain, the basic form of the mountain was controlled by the inheritable longitudinal large faults, especially the large faults on both sides of the main mountain composed of the Paleozoic and older strata. For example, the activities of the southern Junggar Basin fault at the northern foot of the Tianshan Mountains, the northern Tarim Basin fault at the southern foot of the mountains, and several longitudinal faults in the mountain system since the Pliene have caused the fault block uplift in the Tianshan peneplain, forming the stepped landform on the southern and northern slopes of the Tianshan Mountains. This is clearly displayed throughout the Tianshan region. The fault block movement makes the horst uplift mountain in the eastern part of the North Tianshan Mountain near to the east direction. The mountain planation surface falls into three steps along the longitudinal fault zone. The highest level of the mountain planation surface is 4000 meters above sea level, which is the high mountain area occupied by modern glaciers. The top planation surface of the Harlik Mountain is quite flat, and typical flat-top glaciers are distributed on it till now. The elevation of the secondary mountain echelon is 3000-3200 meters, that is, the peak of the sub-alpine and middle mountain belt, generally distributed in a ring around the high mountain belt; The altitude of the lowest mountain echelon is 1800-2200 meters, which is the peak of the low mountain belt. In other parts of the Tianshan Mountains, the mountain echelon is also widely distributed, generally showing a grade 3, but the elevation is higher than the eastern part. For example, in the Khantengri Mountain convergence area, the highest Paleozoic high mountain belt is nearly 5000 meters above sea level; The second stage of the Paleozoic summit surface elevation rises to 3400-3600 meters; The lowest level is mainly the low mountain and hilly zone composed of the middle and Cenozoic. The upper limit of this downward sloping mountaintop is more than 2,200 meters above sea level.

In the mountains surrounding the fault basins in the Tianshan Mountains, such as the Wusun Mountain between the Yili Basin and the Zhaosu Basin, the Hewulale Mountain between the Kashi River Valley and the Kunes River Valley, and the Narati Mountain between the Kunes River Valley and the Great Yurdu Basin, the most common and well-preserved mountain planation surface (that is, the peak surface) is mostly 3000-3200 meters above sea level. The elevation of the planation surface around the Yanqi Basin varies greatly. The elevation of the Elbin Mountain area between the northwest of the basin and the Small Yurduz Basin is 4000-4200 meters; the southeast of the basin is the western section of Kiziltag and Kuruktag mountains, the latter falling to an altitude of 2600-2700 meters and the former falling to an altitude of 2000-2200 meters. In other areas, the hilltop faces have been destroyed, and the elevation of the ridgelines varies, but can also reflect the remnants of the planation surface.

The outer side of the main mountain of the Paleozoic in Tianshan Mountains, that is, the above-mentioned piedmont depression area, was deposited in the Mesozoic and folded under the Yanshan movement, and the area that was originally deposited in the Lower Tertiary system occurred piedmont depression and received the Upper Tertiary system and Quaternary system deposit. In the Tianshan Mountain system, in the large fault depression of the Mesozoic era, the Tertiary system and the Quaternary system were also accepted to varying degrees later.

The uplift of fault blocks in the Tianshan area is completely the result of the intense neotectonic activities since the Neogene, especially the Pliocene and Early Pleistocene. This movement causes the denudated Tianshan mountain with a height of only >1000 meters to have a large uplift of fault blocks, and the uplift amplitude is 3000 meters or more. The subsidence range of the foothill area can be seen from the thickness of Upper Tertiary and Quaternary deposits up to 7000-8000 meters.

The middle and Cenozoic of the piedmont belt were influenced by many tectonic activities, especially the late Quaternary early Pleistocene tectonic movement, and strong folding occurred while the main mountain block uplifted. This folding can be clearly reflected in the southern and northern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains and the margins of large basins.

The Urumuqi Shanqian depression at the northern foot of the Tianshan Mountains stretches from Jinghe County in the west to Mulei County in the east, 600 kilometers in length from east to west, and about 60 kilometers in width from north to south. It is a depression belt superimposed by the Middle and Cenozoic, with a thickness of 13,000 meters deposited in the middle and Cenozoic. In this depression, the folds produced by the neotectonic movement formed three rows of fold belts spreading east-west on the surface, each of which became low mountains and hills. The terrain gradually decreased from south to north, with the elevation dropping from 1800 meters to 700 meters. The strata of fold structure also changed from old to new. The top surface of the low hills, which are distributed in an east-west band, constitutes the lowest first-level landform step on the north slope of the Tianshan Mountains.

The Kuqa depression at the southern foot of Tianshan Mountain and the northern depression of Kashi Mountain also have fold tectonic belt similar to the northern foot of Tianshan Mountain. Kuqa Shanqian depression is more than 600 kilometers long from east to west, and about 70 kilometers wide from north to south. Sedimentary strata with a thickness of more than 10,000 meters have accumulated since the Middle and Cenozoic era. The fold structure produced by the new tectonic movement in the depression descends from north to south in a stepped manner, and can be divided into four rows of folds, which are formed from old to new in turn. There are also 3 rows of anticlinal structures in the northern depression of Kashi. The landform produced by the neotectonic movement at the southern foot of Tianshan Mountain constitutes the lowest first-order landform cascade on the southern slope.

As can be seen from the above brief description, Tianshan Mountain has mainly experienced three major development stages in its long geological development history. Pliocene epoch and Pleistocene The neotectonic movement played a decisive role, not only raised the denudated and flattened ancient Tianshan to a huge height, but also caused the folding and uplifting of the foothill depression, thus expanding the range of Tianshan mountain. ^[21]

Geological structure map of Tianshan Mountain

Location boundary

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EDITOR

The Tianshan Mountain Range is one of the seven mountain systems in the world and is located on the largest piece of land on Earth Eurasia 腹地，东起中国新疆哈密 Xingxing Gorge Gobi, west to Uzbekistan The Kizilkum Desert , extending nearly east-west, across China , Kazakhstan , Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan Four countries. The Tianshan Mountain Range is the largest independent zonal mountain system in the world, the furthest mountain system from the ocean in the world and the largest mountain system in the global dry area.

The Tianshan Mountain range is about 2,500 kilometers long from east to west, 250-350 kilometers wide from north to south, and more than 800 kilometers wide at its widest point. Among them, from the national border in the west to the west of the Xingxing Gorge in the east, the east stretches for more than 1700 kilometers, accounting for more than 2/3 of the total length of the mountain range; The Commonwealth of Independent States The territory is about 800 kilometers long, accounting for nearly a third of the mountain range. ^[16]

Xinjiang Tianshan has its highest peak, Tomur Peak (7443 meters above sea level), with an average width of 300 kilometers, which is a medium temperate zone Junggar Basin Warm temperate zone Tarim basin The natural geographical divide between north and south Taklimakan and Gurbantunggut Two great deserts surround each other ^[3] . China's Tianshan Mountains span 22 longitudes from east to west and 6 latitudes from north to south, stretching across the whole of Xinjiang. It covers Kashgar Prefecture, Kizilsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture, Aksu Prefecture, Bayingoleng Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture, Turpan City and Hami City in southern Xinjiang, and Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture, Boltala Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture, Shihezi City, Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture and Urumqi City in northern Xinjiang, and is a unique geographical symbol of Xinjiang. ^{[14, 15]}

Geographical environment

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EDITOR

landform

The average altitude of the Tianshan Mountains is 4,000 meters, and many peaks are more than 5,000 meters above sea level, with the highest peak, Tomur Peak, reaching 7443 meters above sea level. The height difference between Tianshan Mountain and Tarim Basin in the south and Junggar Basin in the north is 3000-3500 meters, and the terrain contrast is very great, and the whole mountain system is very magnificent. ^[16]

The modern geomorphological process of Tianshan Mountain ranges from the peak to the foothills, in order:

① Perennial snow cover and modern glaciation zone. Located at an altitude of 3,800-4,200 meters above sea level, the snow covered mountains are extremely high. According to statistics, there are nearly 7,000 modern glaciers in the Tianshan Mountains, covering an area of 10,000 square kilometers.

② Frost action belt. Located in the mountains above 2600 to 2700 meters above sea level, a large number of ancient glacial sediments have been accumulated, and a variety of glacial erosion landforms have been preserved - ancient cirques, ice trough valleys, ice canes, etc. The negative temperature period lasts for half a year and thaws only in midsummer.

③ Water erosion and accumulation zone. Located at an altitude of 1500-2700 meters (or 2800 meters), the river network is dense and the valley terrace is developed.

④ Drought denudation of low mountain belt. Located below an altitude of 1300-1500 meters, annual precipitation 200-400 mm, the south slope is located below an altitude of 1700-2000 meters, annual precipitation 100-150 mm, the external force is mainly dry denudation, the south slope especially sheng. ^[1]

There are many intermountain basins in the Tianshan Mountains, the area of which is large, from west to east, there are Ili Basin, Zhaosu basin, Kunes Valley, Yurdu Basin, Yanqi Basin, Kumish basin, Turpan Basin, Hami Basin and so on. In the North Tianshan, there are also Sayimu Lake basin, Aibi Lake lowland, Dabancheng Basin, Barkol Basin and so on. The basins in the South Tianshan include Baicheng Basin, Wushi Valley and Harajun Small Basin. Most of the Outlines of these basins or valleys are diamond shaped or banded, and the direction of their long axis is generally consistent with the distribution of structures on both sides and the strike of adjacent ridges.

The basins in the Tianshan Mountains are divided into three kinds according to elevation: high, middle and low. The elevation of the upper basin is more than 2000 meters, such as Sayram Lake Basin Zhaosu Basin and large and small Yurdu Basin. The elevation of the median basin is generally 1000-1600 meters, such as Yanqi Basin, Barkol Basin and so on. Low basin elevation is less than 1000 meters or elevation is lower than the neighboring foothills, such as Turpan Basin, Hami basin, Aibi Lake lowland, etc. The lowest lake in the Turpan Basin is -155 meters above sea level, which is the lowest place on land in China and the second lowest place in the world after the Dead Sea Lowlands. The Turpan Basin covers an area of 4,050 square kilometers below sea level.

The fan land or sloping plain in front of mountains is mainly distributed in the northern and southern foothills of Tianshan Mountains, and is connected by the fan forms accumulated by many large and small rivers after leaving the valleys. Most of these areas are oases, and most of them are farmland, which has become a place for long-term human reproduction and survival. The oases at the north foot of the Tianshan Mountain are now connected into a narrow and large area oasis belt from west to east, and the big oases from the south edge of the Tianshan Mountain include Kashi oasis, Aksu oasis, Kuqa oasis, Luntai oasis and Korla oasis. ^[17]

Climatic characteristics

Tianshan Mountain range belongs to an inland arid climate area with strong continental characteristics in the middle latitude ^[15] . Tianshan Mountain Range is the only large mountain range in the world sandwicked by a huge desert. It is the most typical representative of large mountain ecosystems in the temperate arid region of the world due to its deep inland geographical location, temperate continental arid climate, landform pattern between mountains and basins, numerous glacial rivers, wonderful natural scenery, special biota and ecological processes, and many other natural characteristics. The Tianshan Mountains in Xinjiang have the most typical and complete vertical natural zone spectrum of the temperate regions in the world, which reflects the distribution characteristics and change rules of the mountain biodiversity and biological ecological processes affected by the spatial changes of water and heat of elevation, slope direction and slope in the temperate regions.

The climate in the Tianshan Mountains is obviously divided into two seasons: cold and warm. In the cold season, the weather is sunny, and the mountains, basins and valleys below 3000 meters are covered with deep snow and foggy frost. In the warm season (summer), it rains and snows more than 3000 meters above sea level. The climate is cool below 3000 meters.

In the Tianshan Mountains, especially in the western part of the Tianshan Mountains, obvious inversion stratification is often formed in winter. The inversion occurred in October and disappeared in April of the following year. The highest is the January layer, which is about 3,000 meters high. ^[1]

precipitation

The annual precipitation of Tianshan Mountain decreases gradually from west to east on the same hillside. The windward slope (north slope) is more than the leeward slope (south slope). The inner basin or valley of the mountain is less than that of the outer mountain. Located inside the Tianshan Mountain, Bayanbulak is 2438 meters above sea level, with an annual precipitation of only 276.2 mm, less than the mountain at the same height. The average annual precipitation of the north slope of Tianshan Mountain is more than 500 mm, which is a wet island in the arid region of China. In the western section, the Zhongshan forest belt is the largest, reaching 1139.7 mm (recorded in 1970). Toxon, which is near sea level, receives the least rainfall, 6.9 mm. The precipitation season varies greatly, with the largest precipitation concentrated in May and June, and the least in February. ^[1]

The precipitation distribution in the Tianshan Mountains is very uneven, and the annual precipitation difference between the highest precipitation area and the least precipitation area is more than 10 times. The general characteristics of precipitation distribution are: the west is more than the east, and the north slope is more than the south slope; The inner part of the western section is more than the outer edge, and the forest zone is more than the lower part.

The precipitation pattern in the Tianshan Mountains varies with height and season. The high mountains have solid precipitation all year round, so modern glaciers and permanent snow cover are common in the high mountains. According to statistics, there are 6896 modern glaciers in the Tianshan Mountains of China, covering an area of 9548.45 square kilometers, and the glacial water storage is about 3600x10 8 Cubic meter. This "mountain solid reservoir" becomes a steady supply source for the river, which is replenished by the melting of snow and ice each summer. The proportion of glacial meltwater in river water recharge is very different in different areas. In general, the proportion of glacier meltwater recharge in the southern slope of the mountain is larger, while the proportion in the Northern Slope is smaller. For example, glacier meltwater accounts for more than 70% of the river water in the southern slope of Muzarte River, about 35% of the river runoff in the Northern Slope of Manas River, and the proportion of glacier meltwater in the river water in the Northern Slope of Bogda Mountain is less than 10%. Obviously, the proportion of glacial meltwater replenishment river is larger in the area where the Tianshan Mountain Mediterranean Sea is elevated and the glacier area is large, whereas the proportion of glacial meltwater is small. In areas with high rainfall, such as the Ili River basin, the proportion of glacial meltwater is also small, only about 14%. The middle and low mountain areas of the Tianshan Mountains have snowfall in the winter half year (that is, seasonal snow, which can form spring season and is conducive to farming), and rainfall in the summer half year. The proportion of rainfall recharge to river runoff is also the largest in Yili area and north slope of Tianshan Mountains, which is generally 50-80%. ^[30]

Seasonal (i.e. winter and spring) snow cover mainly occurs in the high mountain areas on the north slope of Tianshan Mountain and other mountain segments. The north slope of Tianshan Mountains has a lot of snow in the winter half year, accounting for about 30% of the annual precipitation, and often forms a stable snow layer with a thickness of tens of centimeters, especially in the foothills. In March and April every year, as the temperature rises, the snow gradually melts from low to high, forming the so-called "small spring flood", which plays the role of spring irrigation on farmland. The snow layer in the piedmont plain can not only protect the winter wheat from freezing to death, but also play an excellent moisture role in the spring wheat greening.

The rainfall in Tianshan Mountains is abundant, except for the snowfall all the year round above the high mountain zone, the other middle and low mountain zones all have rainfall in summer. Rainfall plays an important role in the recharge of rivers in the Tianshan Mountains, generally accounting for more than 50% of the annual runoff of rivers, and 70-80% in many rivers. Located in the arid area of Tianshan Wet Island, its precipitation is generally between 400-600 mm, and many areas exceed 800 mm, so that some areas of Tianshan Mountain have the characteristics of semi-humid areas. Therefore, the abundant precipitation in Tianshan area has a great influence on the water quantity of rivers, and the amount of precipitation directly affects the agricultural prosperity of oasis area. ^[23]

Tianshan vertical natural band spectrum

Stream hydrology

The main rivers in the Tianshan Mountains are Chu River, Xier River, Ili River and so on. ^[9]

Chu River

Chu River A river in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. In ancient times, it was called broken leaf water. Rising from the Terskye and Kyrgyz Mountains, it is an internal river. The river flows northeast through the Issyk Lake Basin (part of its runoff is discharged into the Issyk Lake by its tributary, the Kutemmaldi River, during flood times), then turns northwest, becoming the border river between Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, and continues northwest, entering Kazakhstan 50 km northwest of Bishkek, then traversing the Muyunkum Desert, and finally joining Lake Akzhayken.

With a total length of 1,067 kilometers and a drainage area of 62,500 square kilometers, the Chu River has an average annual flow of 61 cubic meters per second and a runoff of 1.92 billion cubic meters. The geographical location of the basin is 67°26 '-77 °22' east longitude and 41°52 '-45 ° north latitude. On the right bank of the main tributaries are the Karakujur River, the Jonkemin River, the Ergeti River, the Kakpatas River, etc., and on the left bank are the Alamekin River, the Aksu River, the Curagati River, etc. The Chuhe River is a glacier snow water recharge type, and the underground runoff plays an important role. The maximum runoff occurs in July-August. From late July to early August, the downstream channel dried up, and runoff resumed in December. In the lower reaches, the glacial period is from December to March of the following year. The Chu River has the Ortotokoikoye reservoir and three barrages. ^[10]

Syr

Syr It originates in the Tianshan Mountains and includes the two headwaters of the Narun River and the Karadaria River. The Narun River is a positive source, originating in Kyrgyzstan. The two sources converge near Namangan and flow west into the Fergana Valley, leaving the bitter Valley in Tajikistan and reaching Bekabad before turning northwest and flowing through Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan before empting into the Aral Sea. The Sier River has a total length of 2212 kilometers, a watershed area of 219,000 square kilometers, with an average annual flow of 500 cubic meters per second at the estuary and an annual runoff of 37 billion cubic meters. The main tributaries of the Syr River are the Ahangaran, Chilchik, Keres and Aresi rivers. ^[11]

Ili

Ili It is the largest inland river in China and the richest river in Xinjiang. The Teksi River, the main source of the Ili River, originates from the north side of the Khantengri Peak, flows from west to east, turns north at about 82° E, crosses the Kadmin Mountains, joins the Kunes River, turns west again, joins the Yining and Kashi rivers, crosses the border into Kazakhstan, and finally enters the Balkhash Lake. ^[9]

Tarim River

The length of the Tarim River, such as counting from the source of the Yerqiang River to Taitema Lake, has a total length of 2137 kilometers. Its length is second only to the Yangtze River, the Yellow River and the Heilongjiang River, ranking fourth in the country. The basin covers an area of 198,000 square kilometers (narrow sense). The customary Tarim River refers to the section of the Aksu River, the Yerqiang River and the Hetian River from the confluence to the Taitma Lake, about 970 kilometers long.

The water source of Tarim River comes from the mixed supply of melting water and precipitation from the Tianshan Mountains and Kunlun Mountains, and the inter-annual variation of runoff is small, but the annual variation is great, and the summer (June to August) is highly concentrated. Due to the rapid growth of the river meteor in summer, coupled with the large sand content of the river, frequent changes in erosion and silt, resulting in frequent diversion of the river, north-south swing, migration, in the middle reaches of the alluvial plain about 100 kilometers wide, the river twists and turns, numerous Han current, reed grass and water, coupled with the river on both sides of the poplar forest shade the sun, forming a natural green corridor, fertile miles. In 1921, the last time the main stream flowed east into the Peacock River into Lop Nur. In 1952, a dam was built near Weili County to separate it from the Kongqi River, and the water flowed through the old Tieganlik Road to Taitema Lake.

The main stream of Tarim River is divided into three sections: upper, middle and lower:

① Yangji Baza is the upper section, this section of the riverbed does not fork, side erosion is strong, meander development, the riverbed is unstable.

② Yangji Baza to Qunke is the middle part, where there are many branching rivers and lakes, and the water flows overflow and disperse during flood period, and the mainstream is often diverted.

After leakage, evaporation and irrigation in the upper and middle sections of the water, there is not much left, and because of the construction of Daxihai Reservoir between Qunke and Tieganlik, only a small amount of water can flow to Yingsu, which has been cut off for a long time between Yingsu and Taitma Lake.

Tarim River is an inland river originating from the surrounding mountains of Tarim Basin and flowing to the inner part of the basin, forming a centripetal water system. Its main tributaries are Yerqiang River, Hetian River, Aksu River, Kizi River, Gezi River, Keriya River, Kaidu River, Weigan River and so on.

The Yerqiang River

The Yerqiang River It is the longest tributary of the Tarim River, originating from the Temukanli Glacier at the southeast foot of the 7,464 meters Telimukanli peak in the Karakoram Mountains, and flows into the Tarim River from southwest to northeast. The Yerqiang River has a total length of 1,289 kilometers and a catchment area of 50,200 square kilometers above the mountain pass. Water is abundant in the mountainous area, after the mountain passes through the long desert, due to the consumption of irrigation, leakage and evaporation, the water loss is great, so its downstream dry season river bed dry, only in the flood season more than water discharged into the Tarim River, an annual average of 270 million cubic meters of water to the Tarim River.

Hetian River

Hetian River Originating in the western part of the Kunlun Mountains, the Karrakesh River and Yulong Kashi River are called Hetian River after the two rivers converge in the Taklimakan Desert, and then the Hetian River crosses the desert from south to north before entering the Tarim River. The total length of the Hotan River is 1,127 kilometers, and the catchment area of the Karakash River and Yulong Kashi River is 19,900 square kilometers (Ulurwati) and 14,600 square kilometers (with Guzillok), respectively. The lower reaches of Hetian River are sandy riverbed with strong leakage, so the excess water flows into the Tarim River during the flood period, and the annual annual water transfer to the Tarim River is 1.05 billion cubic meters.

Aksu River

Aksu River There are two rivers, the Kunmaalik River and the Toshgan River, both from the Tianshan Mountains in Kyrgyzstan, the two rivers after the confluence called Aksu River. The Aksu River flows from northwest to southeast into the Tarim River. It has a total length of 530 kilometers and a drainage area of 36,000 square kilometers. The Aksu River is rich in water, does not cross the desert area, and is close to the main stream, so it becomes the main water source of the Tarim River, with an average flow of 195 cubic meters/second, and an annual average of 3.65 billion cubic meters of water to the Tarim River. ^[12]

lakes

There are not many lakes in the Tianshan Mountains, The largest lakes are Bostan Lake (an area of 1001 square kilometers), Aibi Lake (an area of 552 square kilometers), Saimu Lake (an area of 457 square kilometers), Balikun Lake (an area of 113 square kilometers), Chaiwopu Lake (an area of 29 square kilometers), Aiding Lake (an area of 23 square kilometers), Dabancheng Salt Lake (an area of 15 square kilometers) and so on. ^[23]

These lakes are salty or brackish lakes except Bosten Lake, which can irrigate farmland. ^[23]

Tianshan Tianchi

Vegetation condition

The vegetation distribution of the southern and northern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains is different, and the vegetation of the Northern Slope from the foot of the mountain to the top of the mountain is successively mountain grassland and mountain Meadow grassland , coniferous forest, alpine grassland, Alpine cushion vegetation Snow and glaciers; The south slope from the foot of the mountain to the top is: desert , Desert steppe Arid mountain steppe, mountain steppe, denudation mountain, snow glacier. ^[1]

Natural disaster

The disasters in Tianshan Mountains are mainly geological disasters and meteorological disasters, the former including earthquake, debris flow, collapse and landslide, the latter mainly drought, wind, snow, freezing damage, heavy rain and flood. These are natural disasters. Land salinization and desertification are the result of natural and human activities. ^[29]

Mountain range

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EDITOR

Major mountain range

The Tianshan Mountain system consists of three mountains, from north to south, called the North Tianshan, the Middle Tianshan and the South Tianshan. Among them, the North Tianshan Mountain has Alao Mountain , The Bharakonu Mountains and Irenhabirga Mountain Zhongtian Mountain has Usun Mountain , The Narati Mountains and Elbin Mountain In the south Tianshan, there is Kirkeshale Mountain, Kharkethawu Mountain , Cocktie Hill and Hola Mountains . In addition, the Eastern Tianshan Mountains have Bogda Mountain Barkol Mountain and Callik Mountain ^[4-5] . The "North Tianshan", "Middle Tianshan" and "South Tianshan" respectively include a number of mountains and intermountain basins.

Tianshan Mountain Range includes main mountain, intermountain basin, fore-mountain belt and fore-sloping plain, with a total area of 57×10 4 Square kilometers. The mountainous area is nearly 32×10 4 Square kilometers, intermontane basin 9.1×10 4 Square kilometers, 16×10 sloping plains in front of mountains 4 Square kilometers, accounting for 56.1%, 15.9% and 28.0% of the total area of the Tianshan Mountains, respectively.

The North Tianshan Mountains, about 1,300 kilometers long from east to west, is divided into eastern and western sections along the Urumqi-Turpan line. The western section runs from northwest to southeast, and from west to east there are mainly Alatao Mountain, Bezhentao Mountain, Koguqin Mountain, Boroknu Mountain, Ilenhabirga Mountain, Tianger Mountain, etc. The average altitude of the mountains is about 4,000 meters, and the highest mountain section is Boroknu Mountain to Ilenhabirga Mountain, among which there are 2 peaks above 5,000 meters, the highest peak reaching 5,289 meters; The overall trend of the eastern section is north west - east west - south east east, from west to east there are mainly Bogda Mountain, Barkol Mountain, Harrik Mountain and Meishinura Mountain, the average altitude of the mountain is about 3500 meters, many peaks beyond the altitude of 4000 meters, the highest Bogda peak is 5445 meters above sea level, there are three nearby mountains more than 5000 meters.

The Middle Tianshan Mountain is about 800 kilometers long, and the ridge runs almost to the east. From the west to the east there are mainly Usun Mountain, Bhikik Mountain, Narathi Mountain, Elbin Mountain, Bortuura Mountain, Kyaw Lothag Mountain. The altitude of the mountain is about 3000 meters; The highest peak is Mount Elbin at 4,835 meters.

From the source of the Kizilesu River in Shanxi Province in the south to the Bosten Lake in the east, a total length of 1,100 kilometers. To the west of Khan Tengri Mountain, it is called the "South of Tian Shan", which runs nearly to the northeast, including the westernmost Alai Mountain, and the east is Kektongtao, Medantawu Mountain, and Kuokshal Mountain. In the east of Khan Tengri Mountain, from west to east, there are Kharktawu Mountain, Kirktik Mountain, Khora Mountain, Kuluktag Mountain, and the mountain trend turns from North-East to south-east. South Tianshan Khan Tengri Mountain knot is the highest, generally more than 5000 meters above sea level, the main peak Tomur peak of 7435.3 meters, is the highest peak of Tianshan. Khantengri Peak, located directly north of Tomur Peak, is the second highest peak of the Tianshan Mountains at 6,995 meters above sea level. There are also 40 peaks above 6,000 meters in the mountain knot area. From Khan Tengri Mountain to the west or east, the mountain has been reduced, the average elevation is maintained at about 4000 meters, and many peaks are above 5000 meters. Kuruktag Mountain to the east of Korla goes almost to the east, the mountain is low, some of the peaks are about 3,000 meters above sea level, and most of the elevation drops to 2,000 meters below sea level, which is a low mountain hill. ^[17]

Major peak

Bogda Peak

Bogda Peak, 5,445 meters above sea level, is located at 88.3° E and 43.8° N in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Fukang City Within the territory, it is the famous peak of the eastern section of the Tianshan Mountains. The mountain is 3,800 meters above the snow area all the year round, white snow, so it is called "snow sea". ^[6]

Tomur Peak

Tomur Peak is located near the border between China and Kyrgyzstan in Wensu County, Aksu Prefecture. It is the highest peak of the Tianshan Mountain Range, which stretches over 2,500 kilometers across Xinjiang. It is 7443.8 meters above sea level and also the highest peak in Kyrgyzstan.

"Tomur" means "iron" in Uygur language. Its main peak and the surrounding 100,000 hectares of mountains were listed as autonomous region level nature reserves in 1980, mainly to protect the alpine glaciers and lower forests, biological communities and ecological environment. Tomur Peak is the first peak of Tianshan Mountain and is listed as a national comprehensive nature reserve.

In addition to the spectacular glacier wonders, there are many hot springs in the Tomur Mountain region. Alashan hot spring, located on the east side of the North Muzarte Valley, is one of them and has become a famous health resort in Xinjiang. The spring water in Alashan changes seasonally, basically dry in winter and spring, and the spring water is the largest in June to August. Hot spring water contains trace amounts of sulfides and soda and other minerals, which have a certain effect on many diseases. ^[7]

Khan Tengger Peak

Khantengri is located on the border between the People's Republic of China and Kazakhstan at 80.2° E and 42.2° N. It is the second highest peak in the Tianshan Range, at the junction of Kirkshaler and Halke Mountains in the Tianshan Range, at 6,995 meters above sea level. It is adjacent to Tomur Peak in the east, Issyk Lake Basin in Kyrgyzstan in the west, Ili River Valley in the north and Tarim Basin in the south Akzo An oasis. The area of Khan Tengri Peak is high in terrain, with mountains mostly above 4000 meters above sea level, and as many as 40 peaks above 6000 meters, and a large area of mountains protruding above the snow line. ^[8]

The Tiangar Peak

On the north side of Tiangal Peak Tianshan Urumqi River source No. 1 glacier It is located in Kerawucheng Mountain in the middle of Tianshan Mountain in Nanshan District of Urumqi, 118 kilometers away from Urumqi. The glacier was formed during the Third Glacial Period and is 4 million years old. The shape of the glacier is double iceberg The glacier, the upper limit of the glacier is 4474 meters above sea level, the end of the ice tongue is 3790 meters above sea level, the length of the glacier is 200 meters, the area of 1.74 square kilometers. ^[8]

Tianshan mountain system map

Resource status

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EDITOR

summarize

The natural resources in the Tianshan Mountains are abundant, both on the surface and underground. The high mountains are covered with snow and glaciers; The grassland in mountainous area is vast, and it is the production base of animal husbandry. Mountain basin, foothills and river along the fertile land, sufficient water, mild climate, suitable for the development of planting industry. The Tianshan Mountains are rich in mineral resources, such as coal, oil and iron. ^[22]

Water resources

The Tianshan Mountains are rich in water resources, including mountain glaciers, precipitation, river runoff, lakes and reservoirs, and seasonal snow.

Modern glaciers are widely developed in the alpine areas of Tianshan Mountains in China. The end of the ice tongue is mostly 3,300-3,500 meters above sea level. There are 6,896 modern glaciers with an area of 9,548.45 square kilometers, accounting for about 16.92% of the total glacier area in China, and the water storage capacity of glaciers is about 3,600x10 8 Cubic meter. The distribution of glaciers in the Tianshan Mountains is more in the west than in the east, and more in the north than in the south. The elevation of the snow line in the Tianshan Mountains is low in the west, high in the east, low in the north and high in the south. The snow line of the north slope of Beizhentao Mountain in the western section is about 3,600 meters above sea level, the north slope of Bogda Mountain in the eastern section is 3,860 meters above sea level, and the north slope of Harlik Mountain in the easternmost section is 3,900-3,950 meters. The 20-year average snow line of Urumqi River Source Glacier No. 1 on the north slope of Tianger Mountain is 4050 meters above sea level, while the snow line on the south slope of the mountain is more than 4300 meters above sea level. The snow line on the southern slope of Mt. Tomur - Khan Tengri is 4500 meters above sea level. Mount Tomur - Khantengri is the highest part of the Tianshan Mountain system, with more than 20 peaks over 6,000 meters above sea level. This is the area with the most concentrated distribution of glaciers in the Tianshan Mountains, with a glacier area of more than 2,800 square kilometers, accounting for 29% of the total area of glaciers in China's Tianshan Mountains. The longest Khantengri Complex Valley glacier is about 60 kilometers long. The largest river in the Tianshan Mountains, the longest tributary of the Ili River, the Teksi River, and the main source of the Tarim River, Aksu River, all originate here. The glaciers in the Tianshan Mountains are the source of all rivers, acting as a "solid reservoir" in the mountains and a stable source of recharge for rivers. ^[23]

There are many reservoirs in the Tianshan area, especially in the southern and northern foothills, all of which were built for agricultural irrigation since the founding of New China. Only the northern foot of Tianshan Mountains has built up to 200 large, medium and small reservoirs, mainly plain reservoirs, mainly storing flood and autumn and winter surplus water. In addition to irrigating farmland, there are also many integrated developers such as power generation and fish farming in these reservoirs. ^[23]

Land resources

Tianshan Mountain range has a vast range, the mountain undulation is very wide, the land area is very wide, the hierarchical structure of land use in the mountain is very obvious. The lower mountain belt with annual precipitation of less than 400 mm, the upper part is good dry steppe (e.g. Kunes steppe in Yili region), the lower part is desert steppe. The mid-mountain belt on the north slope of the Tianshan Mountains, with an annual precipitation of 400-600 mm, forms a dense and lush forest belt, which is the main source of timber in Xinjiang, occupying a vertical space of 1700-2800 meters above sea level. The alpine and sub-alpine zones are alpine meadow grasslands, which are good summer pastures. The high and cold Yurduz Basin inside the Tianshan Mountains, the famous elevation of Bayanbulak grassland and the western Hercynian grassland of the Semuli Lake Basin are good pastures for the Tianshan Mountains.

The upper limit of mountain cultivation is that the north slope of Tianshan Mountains is 1500-1700 meters above sea level, and the south slope is 2000-2200 meters above sea level. The Northern Slope of the Tianshan Mountains and the low mountain belt on the edge of the Yili Basin have developed a part of dry land agriculture in areas with annual precipitation of about 400 mm.

The sloping plain of the north and south foothills of Tianshan Mountain is the main oasis area, with fertile land, abundant water source, convenient transportation and developed irrigated agriculture. Large oasis areas and their cities are concentrated here, and the conditions for industrial development are better. ^[24]

Pasture resources

Tianshan Mountain area has Bayanbulak Grassland , Kunes Grassland , Sayram Lake Hercynian Grassland, The Barkol Steppe And vast mountain grasslands.

The mountain steppe of Tianshan mountains can be divided into alpine desert steppe, subalpine meadow steppe, forest steppe, middle and low mountain dry steppe - semi-desert steppe, and foothill desert steppe. The growth period of herbage in alpine desert steppe is very short, the utilization value is very low, and it is short-term pasture in midsummer. The piedmont desert steppe lacks water and has low utilization value. The mountain grassland has a large vertical distribution range, excellent forage, dense growth, stable yield, and can develop a variety of livestock. The distribution height of the mountain steppe on the north and south slopes of the Tianshan Mountains is different to some extent. The southern slope is mainly between 2400-3800 meters above sea level with a vertical height difference of 1400 meters, and the Northern Slope is mainly between 1300-3300 meters with a vertical height difference of 2000 meters. ^[25]

Forest resources

In the middle mountains of the Tianshan Mountains, especially in the north slope of the mountain, the primary forests are almost all coniferous forests, except for the Siberian larch forest in the upper part of the Balikol Mountain and the Harlik Mountain forest belt in the eastern part of the North Tianshan Mountains, the others are pure spruce forests in the snow ridge. The distribution height of the forest belt, the north slope of Tianshan Mountain is 1500-2800 meters and the vertical zone height difference is about 1300 meters, the south slope of Tianshan Mountain is 2300-3000 meters and the vertical height difference is only 700 meters, and most of the flake forest, does not constitute a complete forest belt. In some areas on the north slope of the Tianshan Mountains, there are also poplar forests or mixed forests of cypress and spruce under the coniferous forest. There are also large wild apple forests in the mountains around Xinyuan and Huocheng in the west of the Tianshan Mountains. Gongliu County In the south, there are also wild walnut forests on the north slope of Narathi Mountain. Desert river valley forest grows in the north and south river valleys of Tianshan Mountains. The main tree species are populus eueux, poplars, willow, elm, jujube, sea buckthorn, tamarisk, haloxylon and other shrubs. The plantation is mainly distributed in the vicinity of the residential area, mainly for farmland protection forest belt and fruit forest.

There are a lot of medicinal plants in Tianshan area, mainly rare plants growing in the high mountain zone of snow lotus, the middle and low mountain zone distribution of petillaria, ephedra, codonopsis, purple grass, licorice and so on. The Ili River valley and the north slope of Tianshan Mountain are the main production bases of Xinjiang, ephedra is mainly distributed in the south slope of Tianshan Mountain, and licorice is mainly distributed in the banks of Tarim River and its tributaries. ^[26]

Animal resources

There are many kinds of wild animals in the Tianshan Mountains, which are mainly distributed in the mountainous forest grassland area and the plain desert valley forest area. Among the rare animals listed in the key protection are the swan of Bayanbulak, the four-clawed tortoise of Huocheng, the Saiga antelope and wild donkey, and other protected deer, sable, argali, snow chicken, snow leopard, lynx and so on.

Tianshan area has been included in a number of nature reserves, such as Tianchi natural landscape reserve, Bayanbulak swan Reserve, Tomur Peak reserve and so on. The rare animals in Tianchi Reserve are snow leopard, red deer, lynx, northern goat, stone marten, three-toed woodpecker and so on. The main protected objects of Bayanbulak Reserve are whooper swans, cygnets and mute swans. The main protected animals in Tomur Peak reserve are snow leopard, snow chicken, red deer and so on. Some animals have begun to domesticate artificially, and there are many domesticated deer herds in the Tianshan Mountains.

In addition, there are many aquatic organisms in the Ili River, Tarim River, Bosten Lake and some reservoirs. Xinjiang has more than 50 kinds of fish, some of which are rare species, such as sturgeon , green yellow croaker, perch, Schizothorax tarimensis Let's wait. ^[27]

During the third comprehensive scientific expedition to Xinjiang, In the Irtysh River basin, the team discovered a new species of unique unhooked shrimp, and compared the genetic and distribution data of 3,180 unhooked shrimp around the world, proving that the Tianshan Mountains and its surrounding areas are one of the origins of cold-water organisms in the world. ^[34]

Mineral resources

Xinjiang is rich in mineral resources, with relatively complete mineral species and large reserves. More than 120 kinds of minerals have been discovered in Xinjiang, accounting for 81.3% of the discovered minerals in China. The proved reserves in China are beryllium, Muscovite, saltpeter, feldspar, clay, serpentine and bentonite. Cesium, flux dolomite and cast stone diabase occupy the third place in China. Ranked fourth in China are natural gas, asbestos, natural sulfur, chromium, lithium; Oil and coal rank fifth in China; The oil shale bismuth, glauberite, tantalum, manganese, nickel, brick clay, cement shale, salt, niobium and titanium are ranked 6-10 in China. These mineral resources are mostly distributed in the Tianshan Mountains, and some reserves are large.

coal

Coal resources in the Tianshan Mountains are widely distributed, with large reserves and good quality, mainly produced in the early and middle Jurassic strata. Coal is distributed in the southern and northern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains and in the intermountain basins, the largest of which are Urumqi coalfield, Hami Sandaoling coalfield and Yili Basin coalfield. The coal resources in the north foot of Tianshan Mountain are the most widely distributed, from Jimsar in the east to Wusu in the west, hundreds of kilometers from east to west, with many coal seams, large and stable single-layer thickness, good coal quality and suitable for coking. There are more than 30 layers of coal that can be mined in Urumqi coal field, the thickness of the coal seam is 160 meters, and the reserves in some places are 1000×10 per square kilometer area 4 Tons. Several billion tons of coal reserves have been identified in the northern margin of the Hami Basin, most of which are high-quality coal that can be coking.

petroleum

The oil resources in Xinjiang region are widely distributed and have large reserves. The annual output has reached >600×10 4 The old large oil field of Karamay has been extended to the north. The exploration shows that the Tarim Basin is rich in oil and natural gas resources. Oil and gas resources have also been discovered and exploited in the eastern Junggar Basin. Most of these large oil fields are distributed in the northern and southern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains and intermountain basins, such as Lunnan oil field in the southern foot and Santai oil field in the northern foot. Turpan-hami oil field, which has been recently discovered and exploited, has rich reserves, shallow oil layers, easy exploitation, close to Lan-Xin Railway, and convenient transportation. Oil and gas fields have also been discovered in other basins in the Tianshan Mountains.

Iron mine

Iron ore in Xinjiang is mainly distributed in the Tianshan Mountains. Hami Yamansu Iron ore has been exploited. It is dominated by magnetite and associated with copper and cobalt minerals, which can be comprehensively utilized. The vanadium and titanium magnetite of Weiya has a high grade of vanadium and its utilization value may be greater than that of iron. The reserves of Xinyuan and Zhaosu iron mines in Yili area are about 2000×10 4 Tons, industrial reserves accounted for more than half. The iron ore deposits near the southern slope of Tianger Mountain and Jingpaluntai may have considerable prospective reserves. The iron ore in Huotai, west of Baicheng Basin is associated with copper, zinc and tungsten. Manganese deposits have been found in Zhaosu in the western part of the Tianshan Mountains and Dalangba in the middle part of Kuqa.

Other minerals

Copper, lead, zinc, nickel, molybdenum and other minerals are found in the middle and west of the Tianshan Mountains, and need to be further identified. Gold deposits are distributed in the western section of the Tianshan Mountains (vein gold) and the Northern Slope of the Tianshan Mountains (placer gold).

Building materials and non-metallic minerals are widely distributed in the eastern section of Tianshan Mountain and the southern vein of Tianshan Mountain. Chemical raw materials and minerals are mostly found in intermountain basins and foothills. Rock salt in the Tertiary red layer is widely distributed in the foothills. Pool salt and beach salt are abundant in Dabancheng, Qijiaojing and other places. ^[28]

Natural landscape

The modern natural landscape of the Tianshan Mountains has not only horizontal zonal differences, but also very obvious vertical zonal structures. The Tianshan Mountains span over 22° longitude and 6° latitude, and the area is very broad. The difference of natural conditions between the south slope and the north slope, the east slope and the west slope of the mountains leads to obvious differences in its natural landscape.

The annual precipitation of the northern foot of the Tianshan Mountains is 150-200 mm, the average annual temperature is 6-7 ℃, and the annual accumulated temperature of ≥10℃ is 3000-3500 ℃. It belongs to the semi-desert area in the middle temperate zone of northern Xinjiang, showing the arid grassland landscape. The annual precipitation of the southern foot of Tianshan Mountain is only 60-100 mm, the annual average temperature is about 10 ° C, and the annual accumulated temperature of ≥10 ° C is above 4000 ° C, which belongs to the warm temperate desert area, so it is a desert or semi-desert landscape. They form the base zone of the north and south slopes of the mountain.

The vertical natural landscape of the Tianshan Mountains is very obvious. In general, from the foothills to the top of the mountain can be divided into five landscape belt, namely, the foothills desert - semi-desert landscape belt, mountain grassland landscape belt, mountain forest (grassland) landscape belt, subalpine meadow grassland landscape belt, alpine ice and snow gravel desert landscape belt. Some sub-zones or transitional zones can also be separated between these landscape zones. The natural vertical spectrum of the whole mountain, especially the southern slope, has the color of the mid-latitude temperate continental arid climate.

1. Piedmont desert - semi-desert landscape belt

This is the base band of the mountain landscape. This landscape belt is mainly found in the southern and northern foothills of the extremely arid and stony Tianshan Mountains and the marginal areas of large intermountain basins such as Turpan-Hami. The soil in this zone is brown desert soil with strong gravel and gypsum.

The lower part of the piedmont desert - semi-desert zone is occupied by ultra-xerophilous small semi-shrub vegetation, which forms the base of the landscape zone. The plants of the group include Pipaeba, pseudoequisetum, Salicyra, Yanzhaocao, and Hetou grass, and there are often desert plants such as naked fruit and ephedra. The upper part of this belt transitions to steppe.

In the loess covered areas of the foothills, the vegetation is artemisia desert, and the soil is mountain lime calcium soil or brown calcium soil. There are many kinds of dwarf plants mixed in wormwood desert in some Qianhan mountain foothills (northern margin) of Yili area. In the sloping plain area of the northern foothills of the Turpan-Hami Basin, the soil is a very stony gypsum brown desert soil, most of which is bare ground, and a few areas have halophytic vegetation.

This belt is generally distributed in the fan zone below 900 meters above sea level at the northern foot of the Tianshan Mountains, and in the southern foot of the Tianshan Mountains, it is mostly distributed in the fan zone or low hill zone about 1,500 meters above sea level.

2. Mountain grassland landscape belt

This landscape zone is generally developed in the lower mountain zone on the north slope of the Tianshan Mountains, while in the south slope of the Tianshan Mountains, due to the high distribution of desert zone and semi-desert zone, this landscape zone is forced to rise, occupying almost the entire middle mountain zone and even the subalpine zone.

Tianshan mountain steppe landscape zone can be divided into desert steppe and true steppe two sub-zones.

The desert steppe subzone is located in the lower part of the mountain steppe zone and is dominated by grassland xerophytic grasses, so it is also called "dry steppe". This section is mainly stony mountain, the soil layer is very thin, the vegetation is sparse and poorly developed, and the southern slope of Tianshan is widely distributed. The soil in this zone is mountain brown calcium soil or light chestnut soil.

The true grassland subzone is generally distributed in the lower part of the middle mountain zone on the north slope of the Tianshan Mountains or on both sides of the slopes in the middle reaches of the larger river valleys in the mountains. There is more precipitation here, the soil layer is thicker, the soil is mountain chestnut soil, the vegetation cover is large, and the plants grow lush. The plants of the group are mainly grasses and weeds, including stipa, fox grass and ice grass.

This mountain grassland zone is distributed in the front mountain zone at an altitude of 900-1700 meters on the Northern Slope of Tianshan Mountain, and in the southern slope of Tianshan Mountain at an altitude of 1500-2600 meters. ^[31]

3. Mountain forest landscape belt or forest grassland belt

Tianshan Mountain

The distribution of this landscape zone in the Tianshan Mountains is generally consistent with the maximum precipitation zone. On the north slope of the Tianshan Mountains, most of the area appears in the deep mid-mountain zone of the river valley. On the southern slope of Tianshan Mountain, only in the subalpine grassland landscape zone, it appears on the shade slope of wet valley, showing small pieces of forest.

The composition of the forest belt in Tianshan Mountains is relatively simple, and almost all of it is coniferous forest (Xueling spruce). Only in the warm and humid Yili Valley on both sides of the lower slopes of certain broad leaf forest belt. For example, on the southern slope of Keguqin Mountain in the northern part of Yili Basin, broad-leaved forests of wild apple and apricot are distributed in some local sections at an altitude of 1100-1500 meters. On the north slope of Narati Mountain in the southern part of Yili Basin, a broad leaf wild fruit forest composed of wild apple and apricot is often found on the slope of gully valley in the low mountain belt with elevation of 1100-1600 meters. On the Northern Slope of the same mountain, Walnut Gully in Tokkuzluk County also grows a small jungle of ancient wild walnuts. The broad-leaved forests in the lower part of these forest belts are mostly developed on the loess silty soil with large thickness, and the soil is forest black brown soil.

Most of the coniferous forest belt in the vast area of Tianshan Mountains is pure spruce forest with tall, lush and very dense trees, generally 30-40 meters high, the highest one is more than 60 meters, the diameter of most of them is about 1 meter, and the largest one can reach 2.3 meters. In the eastern part of the Northern Tianshan Mountains, the Balikol and Harlik Mountains are different, where the upper part of the forest belt, from top to bottom, is first a pure forest of Siberian larch, and then a mixed forest of Siberian larch and snow ridge spruce; The lower part of the forest belt is pure spruce forest. The soil in the forest zone is gray forest soil or grassy podzolic soil.

The distribution height of forest zone not only varies greatly between the north and south slopes, but also between the eastern and western sections of the same slope. The distribution of forest belt in the eastern section of the north slope of the Tianshan Mountains, such as the north slope of the Balikol Mountain at an altitude of 2200-2850 meters, and the western section of the Ilenhabila Mountain at an altitude of 1700-2800 meters. Spruce flake forests on the southern slope of Tianshan Mountain are distributed at an altitude of 2600-3000 meters.

4. Subalpine meadow grassland landscape belt

This landscape zone is generally distributed in the north slope of Tianshan Mountains at an altitude of 2800-3500 meters, and its lower part is mainly subalpine creeping cypress shrub and broad-leaved shrub. On the southern slope of Tianshan Mountain, this scrub belt has largely disappeared. In addition, in some parts of the Tianshan Mountains, there are also unique ghostly shrubs visible at the same height.

Subalpine meadow steppe zone is widely distributed in various sections of Tianshan Mountains. Xerophytic plant species occupy a considerable number in meadow composition. However, in some parts of the northern slopes of Narati Mountain and Northern Tianshan Mountain in the south of Yili Basin, the meadows are mainly composed of lush and flowery mesophytic weeds and grasses, and the dominant ones are cape grass and geranium. The subalpine meadow grassland zone in the Tianshan Mountains is where the summer pasture is located, and the soil here is subalpine meadow soil.

5. Alpine snow and ice gravel desert landscape belt

This landscape zone is located on the north slope of Tianshan Mountains at an altitude of 3,500 meters above sea level; The south slope of Tianshan Mountain is higher, generally more than 3900 meters, and individual sections such as Tomur Peak and other places reach 4500 meters. The lower part of this zone is a desert zone of high gravel. The frost weathering is very strong.

In this subzone, there are few plants and single species, which is the growth area of snow lotus in Tianshan Mountain, and other moss lichens are mainly. In addition, some short-lived hardy grasses appear on the alpine tundra floor. The dominant vegetation types in the alpine zone are wormwood meadows of Tibetan plateau type and alpine cushion plants on the clastic rock slopes.

The upper part of the alpine snow and ice gravel desert zone is a subzone of bare rocks, glaciers and permanent snow without plant growth, most of the area is between 3900 and 4000 meters above sea level, where modern glaciers have etched, glacial erosion and accumulation landforms can be seen everywhere. This area is rarely touched by humans and the scenery is very desolate. The elevation of the modern snow line in this area varies greatly, and the north slope of Tianshan Mountain is generally 3700-3950 meters, and the south slope is 4000-4500 meters. ^[32]

Tianshan Tianchi Scenic Spot

Tianshan Tianchi Scenic Area is a world natural Heritage site, a national 5A tourist attraction, a national geopark and a national key scenic spot. ^[13]

Tianshan Tianchi Scenic Area is centered on Tianchi Lake, with complete 4 vertical natural landscape belts, snow mountain glaciers and alpine lakes as the main features, with ancient Yao Lake West Queen Mother myth, religion and unique national folk customs as the cultural connotation, integrating forests, grasslands, snow mountains and cultural landscapes as one, the scenery is unique. ^[13]

Cultural landscape

West Wang Mother Temple

West Wang Mother Temple Located on the east bank of Tianshan Tianchi, northwest of Bogda Peak, about 2000 meters above sea level, it is one of the oldest and highest Taoist temples in Xinjiang. It is said that the Queen Mother was here to become immortal, so it is called the West Wang Mother ancestral Temple. ^[8]

History and culture

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East Tianshan culture

A prehistoric culture that developed 4,000 years ago, Yueshi , Usun The remains of early nomadic activities, as well as the constant communication, integration, development and evolution of ancient nomadic culture and agricultural culture are all in the territory of Eastern Tianshan culture.

Hami is a symbol of the Eastern Tianshan Mountains, with deserts, Gobi and oases centered on the Hami Basin to the south. In the north, there are Barkkun and Yiwu grassland, different natural environments, so that Hami has both grassland culture, oasis culture, and farming culture, plus it is Xinjiang and even China and Central Asia's main transportation road, multi-ethnic, diverse cultures gather here, so that the East Tianshan in Hami shows the characteristics of multi-ethnic, diverse cultures.

Story and legend

According to... The Legend of Mu Tianzi "Recorded, 3,000 years ago King Mu of Zhou Had taken the "eight horses car" west Tianshan Mountain, Queen Mother of the West He was met at Tianchi. King Mu presented a large number of brocade silk and beautiful silk Central Plains Special products, the west queen mother returned the treasures of the Tianshan Mountains, and invited King Mu to visit the Tianshan Mountains. Mu King's personal book "West Queen Mother Mountain", left as a memorial. At parting, the Queen mother of the West urged her to drink again and again, and sang impromptu, saying, "I wish you a long life. May you come again."

World heritage site

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In 2013, at the 37th session of the World Heritage Assembly, four areas in Xinjiang Tianshan -- Tomur, Karajun-Kurunin, Bayanbulak and Bogda -- were successfully applied for World Natural Heritage status under the name of Xinjiang Tianshan.

Tomur, Karajun-Kurunin, Bayanbulak and Bogda are located in the western, central and eastern parts of Xinjiang Tianshan respectively. These four heritage areas include the main peak area, valley area and large intermountain basin, which are the most representative areas of Xinjiang Tianshan.

The Tomur Heritage Site is the main peak area and the largest center of glaciation, a prominent representative of the natural beauty of the Snow Peak glacier and the Red Layer Canyon.

The Kalajun-Kurunin Heritage site is located in the Ili River Valley belt in the middle of the Tianshan Mountains of Xinjiang, which has the richest biodiversity characteristics. A total of 2,622 species of vascular plants, 550 species of vertebrates, 94 species of leftover plants before the Quaternary glacial period, 110 species of rare and endangered plants, 367 species of rare and endangered wild animals, 118 species of plants endemic to Xinjiang, and 22 species of animals endemic to Xinjiang have been identified.

Bayanbulak Heritage Site is a typical representative of large intermountain basins in Tianshan Mountains, a typical representative of alpine wetland ecosystems in temperate arid areas, and the most typical representative of meander marsh landscape.

Bogda Heritage site is the main peak area of the North Tianshan Mountain, which is the most typical representative of the vertical mountain natural belt in the temperate arid region of the world. At present, there are 34 species of state-level protected animals monitored in the Bogda area, including snow leopards, northern goats, red deer and lynx. In recent years, the wildlife population in the site has been increasing, the range of activities has been expanding, and the biodiversity has become richer, indicating that the ecosystem here is more stable and the harmony between man and nature has been rapidly formed.

In terms of world heritage value, Xinjiang Tianshan Mountain shows the world's most representative temperate arid mountain comprehensive natural landscape, with significant landscape diversity, showing a unique natural beauty. At the same time, the Tianshan Mountains in Xinjiang are an outstanding example of ongoing ecological evolution in temperate arid regions of the world compared to other similar regions. ^[36]

Ecological protection

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Tomur Peak National Nature Reserve in Xinjiang Located in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Aksu prefecture Wensu County, the geographical coordinates of 79°50' -80 °54' east longitude, 41°40' -42 °04' north latitude, is a forest ecosystem type nature reserve. The reserve is 105 kilometers long from east to west and 28 kilometers wide from north to south, with a total area of 237,600 hectares.

Xinjiang Tomerfeng Nature Reserve was founded in June 1980 and promoted to national nature reserve in 2003.

Tianshan Mountain (2 photos)

West Tianshan National Nature Reserve It is located in the Yili area of the Shanxi section of Zhongtian, with a length of 28 kilometers from north to south and a width of 14 kilometers from east to west, with a total area of about 28,000 hectares. Annual precipitation of 800-1000 mm, reaching the subtropical level of precipitation, is the highest precipitation in Xinjiang, known as the "wet island" in the arid desert. There are 7 vertical natural landscape zones belonging to cold zone and temperate zone in the protected area, which makes the protected area very rich in species. The main protection objects of the reserve are spruce forest and its habitat. ^[2]

In 2013, Xinjiang Tianshan Mountain successfully applied for natural heritage status, becoming China's 44th World Heritage site.

Inscribed on the World Natural Heritage list, "Xinjiang Tianshan Mountain" refers to Tomur, Karajun-Kurdisin, Bayanbulak , Bogda Four areas, up to 1760 kilometers, with a total area of 5759 square kilometers, accounting for more than 3/4 of the total length of the Tianshan Mountains, across the whole of Xinjiang Kashgar , Akzo , Ili , Bortala , Bayingolin , Changji , Urumqi, Turpan , Kami 9 prefectures and cities.

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