page_title: Altyn-Tagh
section_title: Intermontane endorheic basins
hierarchical_section_title: Altyn-Tagh / Intermontane endorheic basins
caption_attribution_description: 中文（中国大陆）‎: 阿尔金山景观 English: Altyn-Tagh landscape
context_page_description: Altyn-Tagh is a mountain range in Northwestern China that separates the Eastern Tarim Basin from the Tibetan Plateau. The western third is in Xinjiang while the eastern part forms the border between Qinghai to the south and Xinjiang and Gansu to the north.
  Altun Shan is also the name of a 5,830 metres mountain near the eastern end of the range, the highest point in Gansu.
context_section_description: Inside the "V" shaped area between the Altyn-Tagh and the main Kunlun range (which in this area is called Arka-Tagh) a number of endorheic basins are located.
  Within southeastern Xinjiang, the main of these basins is the Kumkol Basin (Chinese: 库木库里盆地; pinyin: Kùmùkùlǐ Péndì)
  The two main lakes in this basin are the saline Lake Aqqikkol (also Ajig Kum Kul, Achak-kum; Chinese: 阿其克库勒湖; pinyin: Āqíkèkùlè Hú; 37°05′N, 88°25′E,  4,250 metres (13,940 ft) elevation) and Lake Ayakum (Chinese: 阿牙克库木湖; pinyin: Āyákèkùmù hú;  37°30′N, 89°30′E; elevation  3,876 metres (12,717 ft)). These lakes are two of the few noticeable bodies of water in this extremely arid area; the area around them is officially protected as the Altun Shan Nature Reserve.
  Farther east, in northwestern Qinghai, the much larger Qaidam Basin starts between the Altyn-Tagh and the Kunlun and extends almost to the east side of the plateau; the Altyn-Tagh separates the west side of this basin from the Kumtagh Desert.
caption: Altyn Tagh landscape
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