# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Tian-shan

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​TIAN-SHAN, or Celestial Mountains, one of the most extensive mountain systems of Asia. In the widest acceptation, the system extends from the E. edge (in about 67° E.) of the Aral-Caspian depression in the W. to the great bend of the Hwang-ho (about 103° E.) in the E. The Chinese geographers, however, appear to have confined the term to that part of the system which falls between the conspicuous mountain-knot of Khan-tengri (80° 11′ E. and 42° 13′ N.) and the Otun-koza or Barkul depression in 92°-93° E., where the northern ranges of the system abut upon the Ek-tagh Altai; and this conception and limitation of the term are more or less accepted by some European geographers, e.g. Dr Max Friedrichsen and G. E. Grum-Grshimailo. On the other hand P. P. Semenov (or Semyonov), one of the earliest scientific explorers of the system, applies the name to the ranges which lie immediately west of Khan-tengri, including Khan-tengri itself. The Tarbagatai Mountains and their north-western continuation, the Chinghiz-tau, are sometimes considered to belong orographically to the Altai system; but there are good reasons for regarding them as an independent range. Excluding these mountains, the northernmost member of the Tian-shan system is the Dzungarian Ala-tau in 45°-45° 30′ N. The southernmost range is the Trans-Alai, or rather its W.S.W. prolongation, Peter the Great Mountains in Karateghin (Bokhara), though some geographers (e.g. Max Friedrichsen) assign both the Alai and the Trans-Alai Mountains to the Pamirs.
General Orographical Description.—The Tian-shan consists almost everywhere of “sheaves” of parallel ranges, having their strike predominantly east and west, with deflexions to the W.S.W., west of Khan-tengri and to the E.S.E., east of 92° E., thus describing as it were a wide flattened arc open to the south. The principal constituent ranges are accompanied by another set of ranges which break away from the main axes in a westerly or even in a north-westerly direction. In the east, where the system is narrowest, the predominant feature, at least as far west as 87° E., the longitude of the Bagrash-kul, is the Pe-shan swelling, with its flanking ranges, the Chol-tagh on the north and the Kuruk-tagh on the south. North of the Chol-tagh and west of Barkul and the depression of Otun-koza (alt. 2390 ft.) the principal constituent ranges are the Bogdo-ola, continued west and north-west in the Iren-khabirga, the Talki Mountains and the Boro-khoro, flanking in succession the great depression of Dzungaria on the south. South of this last line of elevations comes the depression of Kulja or Ili, cutting deep and far into the outer edge of the great plateau of central Asia. This again is bordered on the south by another series of ranges, the Narat Mountains and the Tömurlik-tau. The last bifurcates into the Trans-Ili Ala-tau and the Kunghei Ala-tau, skirting the north shore of Lake Issyk-kul. The west continuation of the Kunghei Ala-tau is the Alexander range, which in its turn bifurcates into the Talas-tau and the Kara-tau, this last stretching far out into the desert beside the Syr-darya. South of Lake Issyk-kul, which appears to be a hollow of tectonic origin, runs the Terskei Ala-tau, separating the lake from the high valley of the Naryn. On the south side of the Naryn valley comes the Kokshal-tau, called also in part the Bozadyr, striking south-west from the Khan-tengri knot and terminating in the Terek-tau (40° 30′ N. and 74°-76° E.), at which point the system again bifurcates, the Ferghana Mountains running away from it towards the north-west until it, or rather its prolongation the Uzun-tau, strikes against the Talas-tau. From this latter point, again, the Chotkal-tau strikes away to the south-west, screening the valley of Ferghana against the Aralo-Caspian desert. The other arm of the bifurcation, situated farther south, and beginning at the Terek-tau, is double; it consists of the Alai and Trans-Alai ranges, continued westwards in the Karateghin, Zarafshan, Hissar and Turkestan ranges, though orographically the Trans-Alai ought probably to be described as the border-ridge of the Pamir plateau. Thus the Tian-shan is as a whole narrowest in the east and spreads out fan-like in the west.
Khan-tengri and the Central Tian-shan.—The peak of Khan-tengri, which according to Max Friedrichsen’s observations is not so high as had generally been supposed, being 22,800 ft. instead of 24,000 ft., stands, not on the main watershed of the central Tian-shan, but on a spur which projects from the watershed towards the south-west. The loftiest summit on the actual watershed, according to G. Merzbacher, is a peak to which he has given the name of Nicholas Mikhailovich; its altitude he puts at 20,670 ft. But the general altitude of the crest of the watershed he estimates at about 16,500 ft., and it is over topped by peaks (e.g. Dr von Almasy’s peak Edward VII.) rising 3000–3500 ft. higher.
Closely connected with the Khan-tengri knot are the Khalyk-tau on the east, and on the west three diverging lines of elevation, namely the Terskei Ala-tau or Kirghiz Ala-tau, overhanging the south shore of Issyk-kul; the Kokshal-tau, stretching away south-west as far as the Terez Mountains between Kashgar and Ferghana; and, intermediate between these two, the successive ranges of the Sary-jas, Kulu-tau, and Ak-shiryak. The snowy chain of Khalyk-tau is highest in the north and west and sinks gradually towards the south and east. The highest parts of the range have generally an east-west strike and the range itself is continued east in the Kokteke (12,300 ft.), with the Kui-kuleh pass at an altitude of 11,500 ft.
From Issyk-kul there is a sharp rise of 6000–9000 ft. to the snow-capped ridge of the Terskei Ala-tau, the peaks of which ascend to 15,000–16,500 ft. and even reach 18,000 ft. At this part the system as a whole has a breadth of 150 m. The Terskei Ala-tau forms a sharply accentuated, continuous, snow-clad range. According to I. V. Mushketov it is continued westwards in the Son-kul (alt. 9,500 ft.) of Baron Kaulbars, the Kara-kol, and the Suzamir-tau, until it abuts upon the Talas-tau. The country immediately south of the Terskei Ala-tau consists “of broad, shallow basins running east and west in en echelon pattern, and lying at 10,000 ft. Between them and bordering them run from five to seven ridges as broad as the basins and rising by gentle slopes to 13,000–16,000 ft. The ridges rise by long, gentle slopes to flat summits, where often for many miles the sky-line is an almost straight crest, from which the rounded slopes of pure white snowfields descend towards the basins. The crest line is notched by high passes only 1000–2000 ft. below the top of the crest. Oftener the summit of the ridge is broken into individual mountains, broadly flat-topped and of nearly equal elevation. . . . (Since late Tertiary times) erosion has had but little effect in altering the country from the state to which it was brought by the uplifting and warping of the old peneplain. The result of these geological changes is that, although the internal structure of the Tian-shan region is highly mountainous, its external appearance, or in other words its geographical aspect, is that of a plateau.” The passes over the Terskei Ala-tau and the plateau country to the south lie at great altitudes—at 13,560 ft. in the Kulu-tau; at 13,800 in the Bedel pass, 12,400 in the Kubergenty, at 12,600 in the Terekty, and at 14,440 in the Jan-art pass—all in the Kokshal-tau; the Terek pass at 12,800 ft., and the Turugurt at 12,730 ft., both in the Terek range; the Barskoun at 12,000 ft., the Suka or Sauka at 11,650 ft., and the Jauku at 14,000 ft. in the Terskei Ala-tau; and the Tez at 11,800 and the Akbel at 12,000 ft., both in the Sary-jas; while the pass of Muz-art, on the east shoulder of the Khan-tengri, necessitates a climb of 12,000 ft. or more. The snowline on the Terskei Ala-tau runs at 11,500 ft. The summits of the Kulu-tau or Kyulyu-tau reach 13,700 to 14,750 ft.; those of the Ak-skiryak 15,000–16,000 ft., overtopping by some 2000–3000 ft. the plateau or highland region which forms the water-parting between the Tarim basin on the east and the Syr-darya catchment area on the west. The Kokshal-tau, which consists of several parallel ranges, is truly alpine in character and bears large glaciers, which send out polyp-like arms into U-shaped valleys, behind which the mountain peaks tower up into sharp-cut, angular “matterhorns.” The loftiest range is that to the north, which exceeds 16,000 ft., and the altitude increases generally from west to east as far as the Bedel pass in 78° 30′ E., where the road crosses from Ak-su and Uch-Turfan to the valley of the Naryn and Ferghana. At its south-western extremity the Kokshal-tau merges in the Kokiya Mountains (16,000–18,000 ft.), which at their other end are met by the Alai Mountains and the Terek-tau.
Eastern and Northern Tian-shan.—The mutual relations and exact orographical connexions of several of the ranges east and north of the Khan-tengri group are not yet elucidated. The region east of the Barkul-Hami route was in part explored in the closing years of the 19th century, by P. K. Kozlov, V. A. Obruchev, the brothers G. E. and M. E. Grshimailo, V. I. Roborovsky and Sven Hedin. The system is known there locally as the Barkul Mountains and the ​Karlyk-tagh which stretch from W.N.W. to E.S.E. Its middle parts are snow-clad, the snow lying down to 12,000 ft. on the north side, while the peaks reach altitudes of 14,000-15,000 ft., but so far as is known the range is not crossed by any pass except in the east, where there are passes at 9600 ft. and 10,600 ft. (Belu-daban). Towards the east, the Karlyk-tagh radiates outwards, at the same time decreasing in altitude, though it rises again in the rocky Emir-tagh. From the Karlyk-tagh a stony desert slopes south to the Chol-tagh. The Chol-tagh marks the northern escarpment, as the Kuruk-tagh, farther south, marks the southern escarpment, of the great Pe-shan swelling of the desert of Gobi. These two ranges (described under Gobi) are apparently eastern prolongations, the former of the Khaidyk-tagh or Khaidu-tagh, and the latter of the Kok-teke Mountains, which enclose on north and south respectively the Yulduz valley and the Lake of Bagrash-kul. Thus the Kuruk-tagh are linked, by the Kok-teke, on to the Khalyk-tau of the Khan-tengri group. The Khaidyk-tau, which are crossed by the passes of Tash-againyn (7610 ft.) and Kotyl (9900 ft.), are not improbably connected orographically with the Trans-Ili Ala-tau, or its twin parallel range, the Kunghei Ala-tau, in the west, in that they are an eastern prolongation of the latter. The Narat-tau appear to form a diagonal (E.N.E. to W.S.W.) link between the Khaidyk-tau and the Khalyk-tau and are crossed by passes which V. I. Roborovsky estimates at 10,800 ft. (Sary-tyur) and 11,800 ft. (Mukhurdai). The Jambi pass in this same range lies at an altitude of 11,415 ft. and the Dundeh-keldeh pass at 11,710 ft.
At the west end of the Barkul range is the gap of Otunkoza (2390 ft.), by which the Hami-Barkul caravan road crosses into the valley of Dzungaria, and at Urumchi (87° 30' E.), over 200 m. farther west, is a similar gap (2800 ft.) which facilitates communication between the oasis of Turfan and Dzungaria. Between these two gaps stretches the snow-clad range of the Bogdo-ola, which runs at an average altitude of some 13,000 ft., and rises to an altitude of 17,000-18,000 ft. in the conspicuous double peak of Turpanat-tagh or Topotar-aulie, a mountain which the Mongols regard with religious veneration. On the north side of this range the snow-line runs at an altitude of 9500 ft. At the foot of the same slopes lies the broad, deep valley of Dzungaria (2500-1000 ft.). On the south the Bogdo-ola is flanked by the nearly parallel range of the Jargöz, a range which, in contrast to most of the Tian-shan ranges, carries no perpetual snow. But its altitude does not exceed 10,000 ft., and its steep rocky slopes meet in a sharp, denticulated crest. West of the Urumchi gap, the Bogdo-ola is continued in the double range of the Iren-khabirga Mountains (11,500 ft.), which curve to the north-west and finally, under the name of the Talki Mountains, merge into the Boro-khoro range. The Iren-khabirga, like the Bogdo-ola and the Terskei Ala-tau, are capped with perpetual snow. They culminate in the peak of Dös-megen-ora at an altitude of 20,000 ft. The more southerly of the twin ranges, the Avral-tau, in which is the Arystan-daban pass at an altitude of 10,800 ft., terminates in 82° E., over against the confluence of the Kash and the Kunghez (Ili) rivers. The Boro-khoro Mountains, with an average elevation of at least 11,500 ft., have all the characteristics of a border-ridge. This range, the slopes of which are clothed with Coniferae between the altitudes of 6000 and 9000 ft., separates the valley of Kulja (Ili) on the south from the depressions of Zairam-nor (6820 ft.) and Ebi-nor (670 ft.) in the valley of the Borotala on the north, the said. valley opening out eastwards into the wider valley of Dzungaria. The passes in the Boro-khoro lie at lower altitudes than is usual in the Tian-shan ranges, namely at 7000-7415 ft.
On its northern side the valley of Borotala is skirted by the important orographic system of the Dzungarian Ala-tau, the northernmost member of the Tian-shan. Its constituent ranges run from E.N.E to W.S.W., though some of them have a W.N.W. and E.S.E. strike. The two principal series of parallel ranges possess no common names, but are made up as follows: The northern series (going from east to west) of the Baskan-tau, Sarkan-tau, Karazryk-tau, Bionyn-tau, and Koranyn-tau, running at an average elevation of 11,000-13,000 ft., and the southern series of the Urtak-saryk, Bejin-tau and Kok-su (Semenov's Labazy chain), at altitudes of 12,000-14,000 ft.
Western and Southern Tian-shan.—On the north side of the Issyk-kul, and separated from the Terskei Ala-tau by that lake, are the twin ranges of the Trans-Ili Ala-tau and Kunghei Ala-tau, parallel to one another and also to the lake and to the Terskei Ala-tau. The two chains are connected by the lofty transverse ridge of Almaty, Almata or Almatinka. The more northerly range, the Trans-Ili Ala-tau, swings away to the north-west, and is continued in the echeloned ranges of Kandyk-tau, Kulja-bashi, Khan-tau and the Chu-Ili Mountains, the general altitudes of which lie between 4000 ft. and 9000 ft. These latter ranges separate the Muyunkum desert on the west from the Balkash deserts on the east. The Trans-Ili itself culminates in Mt Talgar at an altitude of 14,990 ft. The Kunghei Ala-tau rises nearly 8000 ft. above the Issyk-kul and lifts its summits higher than 13,000 ft. The passes across the twin ranges lie at 8000-11,000 ft. (Almaty pass) in the Trans-Ili Ala-tau and at 9000-10,885 ft. (Kurmenty pass) in the Kunghei Ala-tau. This last is continued without a break past the western end of Issyk-kul, being directly prolonged by the Alexander Mountains, although parted from them by the gorge of Buam or Bom, through which the Issyk-kul probably once drained. On neither of these ranges are there any true glaciers.
The Alexander Mountains terminate over against the town of Aulie-ata (71° 20' E.) at the relatively low altitude of 2460 ft., though farther east they rise to 13,000-14,000 ft., and even reach 15,350 ft. in Mt Semenov. On the north their declivities are steep and rugged. They are crossed by passes at 6550-11,825 ft. (Shamsi).
From the middle of the Alexander range, in about 74° E., a chain known as the Talas-tau breaks away from its south flank in a W.S.W. direction, and from near the western extremity of this latter two parallel ranges, the Chotkal or Chatkal (14,000 ft.), and the Ala-tau, break away in a south-westerly direction, and running parallel to one another and to the river Naryn, or upper Syr-darya, terminate at right angles to the middle Syr-darya, after it has made its sweeping turn to the north-west. The Talas-tau, sometimes known as the Urtak-tau, while the name of Ala-tau is also extended to cover it, has an average elevation of 14,000-15,000 ft., but lifts its snow-capped summits to 15,750 ft.; it is crossed by passes at 8000-10,650 ft.
From near the west end of the Alexander range, in about 71° E., the Kara-tau stretches some 270 m. to the north-west, between the Syr-darya and the Chu. It belongs to the later series of transverse upheavals, and consists almost entirely of sedimentary rocks. It is not clear, however, whether orographically it is connected with the Alexander range or with the Talas-tau. Its average elevation is 5000 ft., but in places it reaches up to 7000-8000 ft. In the same north-westerly to south-easterly direction and belonging to the same series of later transverse upheavals are the Ferghana Mountains, which shut in the plain of Ferghana on the north-east, thus running athwart the radiating ranges of the central Tian-shan. The Ferghana Mountains, which are cleft by the Naryn (upper Syr-darya) river, have a mean altitude of 10,000 ft., but attain elevations of 12,740 ft. (Suyuk) and are crossed by the Terek pass (distinct from the Terek pass in the Terek Mountains) at an altitude of 9140 ft.
On the south the Ferghana valley is fenced in by the lofty range of the Alai, backed by the parallel range of the Trans-Alai. Both ranges abut at their eastern or E.N.E. extremity upon the Pamir plateau, and both extend in their respective continuations a long way out into the desert. The Alai is a well-defined ridge with steep slopes, and both it and the Terek-tau, which prolongs it towards the Kokshal-tau, are flanked next the Ferghana valley by what appear to be the old uplifted strata both of the old Palaeozoic series of metamorphic limestones and of the newer Tertiary series of softer conglomerates and sandstones. The general altitude of both ranges is 16,000-19,000 ft., but the Trans-Alai culminates in peak Kaufmann (23,000 ft.). The Trans-Alai is a true border range, the ascent to it from the Pamir plateau (13,000 ft.) on the south-east being gentle and relatively short, while both it and the Alai tower up steeply to a height of 11,000-14,000 ft. above the valley of the Alai. This valley, which runs up at its eastern end to the Muz-tagh-tau, is about 75 m. long and is continued towards the south-west by the valley of Karateghin. Its breadth varies from 3 to 12 m. and its altitude decreases from 10,500 ft. in the north-east to 8200 ft. in the south-west. It is drained by the Kyzyl-su, which, under the name of Vakhish, finally enters the Amu-darya. The Alai valley is in ill repute because of the enormous masses of snow which fall in it in the winter. Despite that it is an important highway of communication between Bokhara and the Pamirs on the one hand and Kashgar and Ferghana on the other. The principal passes over it into the valley of Ferghana are Taldyk, 11,605 ft.; Jiptyk, 13,605 ft.; Saryk-mogal, 14,110 ft.;-Tenghiz-bai, 12,630 ft.; and Kara-kasyk, 14,305 ft. The first-named has been made practicable for artillery and wheeled carriages. The Pamir plateau is reached by means of the Kyzyl-art pass at an altitude of 14,015 ft.
The Alai Mountains are continued westwards in the radiating ranges of the Karateghin Mountains, Zarafshan Mountains, the Hissar Mountains and the Turkestan range, which reach altitudes of 18,500-22,000 ft., though peak Baba in the Zarafshan range reaches nearly 20,000 ft. The Trans-Alai are continued in the Peter the Great range, which culminates in the Sandal group at close upon 25,000 ft. (see further Bokhara). The passes across these ranges are as a rule difficult and lie at altitudes of some 10,000-13,000 ft. The last outlying range of the Tian-shan system in this direction is the Nura-tau, which, like the Kara-tau farther north, belongs to the more recent series of upheavals having a W.N.W to E.S.E. axis. It rises abruptly from the desert and lifts its snowy peaks to altitudes of 15,000-16,000 ft., separating the river Syr-darya from the river Zarafshan. The passes over it lie at altitudes of 10,000-13.000 ft.
Glaciation.—In the central and western parts of the Tian-shan there exist numerous indications of former glaciation on an extensive scale, e.g. in the Sary-jas, the Terskei Ala-tau, Khan-tengri, Alai, Trans-Alai, Terek range, Trans-Ili Ala-tau, Kunghei Ala-tau, Kokshal-tau, Dzungarian Ala-tau, Alexander Mountains and Talas-tau. ​Indeed, the evidences, so far as they have been examined, appear to warrant the conclusion that the region of the western Tian-shan, from Lake Issyk-kul southwards, was in great part the scene of probably five successive glacial periods, ea.ch being less severe than the period which immediately preceded it. At the present day four or five large glaciers stream down the shoulders and embed themselves in the hollow flanks of Khan-tengri—the Semenov at altitudes of 12,410–11,100 ft., the Mushketov at 11,910–10,920 ft., the Inylchik at 11,320–10,890 ft., and the Kaindy at 10,810–10,040 ft. The lnylchik glacier is computed to have a length of about 45 m. Glaciers occur also on Manas mount to the south of the town of Aulie-ata. In the Alai region there are other extensive glaciers, e.g. the Fedchenko and Shurovsky glaciers south of peak Kauffmann. Generally speaking, the snow-line runs at 11,500–12,800 ft. above sea-level, and all ranges the peaks of which shoot up above 12,000 ft. are snow-clad, and all ranges which are snow-clad rise to higher altitudes than 11,500 ft. A feature generally characteristic of the Tian-shan as a whole is that the absolute elevation of the ranges increases gradually from north to south, and from the centre decreases towards both the east and the west. At the same time the relative altitudes, or the heights of the mountain ranges above the valleys which flank them, decrease from north to south. For instance, in the Dzungarian Ala-tau, the valleys going south lie successively at altitudes of 4300 ft. in the Borotala, at 5600 ft. in the Urtaksaryk and at 6820 beside the Zairam-nor. Again, while the Ili (Kulja) valley lies at 1300 ft., the lssyk-kul has an altitude of 5300 ft., the Koshkar basin, in which the river Chu has its source, reaches 6070 ft., the Son-kul valley 9430 ft., the Ak-sai valley, farther east, 10,000 to 11,150 ft., and the Chatyr-kul on the north side of the Terek Mountains 11,200 ft. In the elevated regions of this part of the system, between the Kokshal-tau and the Pamir plateau, the snow-line runs at a higher level than is usual elsewhere, namely at 12,500 ft. and even at 13,000–13,800 ft. on the Kokiya Mountains.
Climatic Conditions.—As a rule on all the Tian-shan ranges the ascent from the north is steep and from the south relatively gentle. But the deep lateral indentations (e.g. Kulja) provide a more or less easy access up to the loftier tablelands and plateaus of the interior. Broadly speaking, the climate on the north and west of the main ranges is both milder and moister than on the south and east, and accordingly the precipitation in the former is relatively heavier, namely 10 to 20 in. annually. It used to be supposed that the Tian-shan confronted the basin of the Tarim with a steep, wall-like versant. But this is not the case. G. Merzbacher, speaking of the slopes of the Khalyk-tau and other neighbouring ranges of the central Tian-shan, says that “nearly everywhere the Tian-shan slopes away gradually towards the high plain at its southern base, in places. . . subsiding gradually in ranges of transverse spurs, whose cape-like ends project far into the desert, or in other places in the step-like tailing off of longitudinal ranges. . . . In some places limestones appear as projections from the range; at others conglomerates and Tertiary clay marls form the outermost fold.” On the north versant of the ranges the rainfall increases from the foot of the mountains upwards, and at 9000–10,000 ft. the vegetation becomes luxuriant. According to P. P. Semenov, the following vegetable zones may be distinguished on the northern slopes: altitudes of 525–1575 ft. are steppe lands, of 1575–4300 ft. are the zone of cultivation, 4300-8100 ft. the zone of coniferous trees, 8100-9500 ft. alpine pastures, 9500–11,900 ft., the higher alpine regions, and above the last limit is the region of perpetual snow. The south versant, on the other hand, is barren and desolate below the 10,000 ft. limit and above that it is dotted with scanty patches of grass and bush vegetation. Its general aspect is that of rugged slopes of bare rock, seamed with the beds of dry torrents choked with gravel (see further Turkestan, West).
Routes.—The traditional routes between China on the one side and West Turkestan and Persia on the other have from time immemorial crossed the Tian-shan system at some half a dozen points. After traversing the desert of Gobi from Sa-chou to Hami, the great northern route crossed over into the Dzungarian valley either by the Otun-koza depression or by the gap at Urumchi, or else it proceeded over the Muz-art pass on the east side of Khan-tengri or over the Bedel pass in the Kokshal-tau and so down into the valley of Kulja. The shortest route, though not the easiest, between Kashgar and East Turkestan in the east and Ferghana and West Turkestan in the west is over the Terek pass or the pass at the head of the Alai valley, a dangerous route in winter by reason of the vast quantity of snow which usually accumulates there.
Bibliography.—Dr Max Friedrichsen and Dr G. Merzbacher have both published good monographs on the central Tian-shan, the former “Morphologie des Tiën-schan,” in Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft für Erdkunde zu Berlin (1899) and “Forschungsreise in den zentralen Tiën-schan,” in Mitteilungen der geog. Gesellschaft in Hamburg (1904); and the latter in The Central Tian-shan Mountains (London, 1905). See also G. Brocherel’s “In Asia Centrale,” in Bollettino della Società Geog. Italiana (1904); P. P. Semenov (or Semyonov), in Petermanns Mitteilungen (Gotha, 1858) and in Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft für Erdkunde zu Berlin (1869); N. A. Syevertsov (Sewertzow), “Erforschung des Thianschangebirgssystems, 1867,” in Petermanns Mitteilungen, Ergänzungshefte 42 and 43 (1875); I. V. Mushketov, “Short Report of a Geological Journey in Turkestan” (in Russian), in Zapiski of Russ. Geog. Soc., 2nd series, vol. xx. (St. Petersburg, 1877), and Geological and Orographical Description of Turkestan, 1874–1880 (in Russ.; St Petersburg, 1886); S. D. Romanovsky, Materialien zur Morphologie von Turkestan (1880, &c.); I. V. Ignatyev and A. M. Krasnov, in Izvestia of the Russ. Geog. Soc. (1887); A. M. Krasnov, in Zapiski of the same society (1888); Dr von Almasy, in Mitteilungen der k. k. oesterreichischen Geog. Gesellschaft (Vienna, 1901); Baron A. von Kaulbars, “Materialien zur Kenntniss des Thiën-schan,” in Izvestia of Russ. Geog. Soc. (1874); J. W. Regel, Reisebriefe aus Turkestan (Moscow, 1876); and G. E. and M. E. Grum-Grshimailo, Along the E. Tian-shan (in Russian; St Petersburg, 1896); V. A. Obruchev, in Izvestia of Russ. Geog. Soc. (1895); G. Saint-Yves, on the “Terskei Ala-tau,” in Annales de géographie (1898); E. Huntington, “The Mountains of Turkestan,” in Geog. Journ. (London, 1905); and P. K. Kozlov, “Account of Roborovsky’s Tibetan Expedition,” in Izvestia of Russ. Geog. Soc. (1897). (J. T. Be.)
* ↑ Ellsworth Huntington, in Geog. Journ. (1905), pp. 28 seq.
* ↑ It may however eventually turn out that these ranges, together with the Mechin-ola, farther to the north-east and intimately connected with the Karlyk-tau, belong to the Altai system.
* ↑ G. Merzbacher, The Central Tian-shan Mountains, pp. 139–140 (London, 1905).