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Chink (geology)
Chink (russian: Чинк) is a regional term in Central Asia for steep chalk and limestone escarpments and cliffs of heights up to 350 m, often around flat-top elevations. They are the result of denudation and abrasion during the regressions of the Caspian and Aral seas. Most commonly they may be found on the Mangyshlak Peninsula ( Kenderli-Kayasan nature reserve) and Ustyurt Plateau ( Ust'urt Nature reserve). Chinks may also result from tectonic uplifts. They are usually formed when top hard rocks overlay soft rock layers. Detached chinks are called ''ostantsy'' (останцы) in Russian, literally akin to the word "leftovers". The Ustyurt Plateau is nearly completely bounded by chinks on all sides. In the east it is the former west shore of the Aral Sea, in the south its chink breaks to the Kunya-Darya (Куня-Дарья) alluvial plain and the Uzboy valley, in the west to the Karynyaryk depression and to the North Caspian Sea Karakum sands, and in the north to the C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mangyshlak Peninsula
Mangyshlak or Mangghyshlaq Peninsula ( kk, Маңғыстау түбегі, translit=Mañğystau tübegı; russian: Полуостров Мангышла́к, translit=Poluostrov Mangyshlák) is a large peninsula located in western Kazakhstan. It borders on the Caspian Sea in the west and with the Buzachi Peninsula, a marshy sub-feature of the main peninsula, in the northeast. The Tyuleniy Archipelago lies off the northern shores of the peninsula. The area is between desert and semidesert with a harsh continental dry climate. There are no rivers and no fresh water springs. Geologically, the Mangyshlak Peninsula is part of the Ustyurt Plateau. To the north, three mountain ranges stretch across the peninsula, the North and South Aktau Range and the Mangystau Range, with the highest point reaching 555 m. Administratively, the peninsula is in Kazakhstan's Mangystau Province. The largest city, and the capital of the province, is Aktau (formerly Shevchenko). This peninsula was forme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Karakiya District
Karakiya District ( kk, Қарақия ауданы, Qaraqiia audany, ) is a district of Mangystau Region in south-western Kazakhstan. The administrative center of the district is the selo of Kuryk Kuryk ( kk, Құрық, ''Qūryq'') is a selo and the administrative center of Karakiya District in Mangystau Region in western Kazakhstan. History The settlement which was founded in the 19th century was known as Yeraliev () until 1993. In 196 .... Population: References Districts of Kazakhstan Mangystau Region {{Kazakhstan-geo-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caspian Depression
The Caspian Depression ( kk, Каспий маңы ойпаты, ''Kaspıı mańy oıpaty''; rus, Прикаспи́йская ни́зменность, p=prʲɪkɐˈspʲijskəjə ˈnʲizmʲɪnnəsʲtʲ, Caspian Lowland) or Pricaspian/Peri-Caspian Depression/Lowland is a low-lying flatland region encompassing the northern part of the Caspian Sea, the largest enclosed body of water on Earth. It is the larger northern part of the wider Aral-Caspian Depression around the Aral and Caspian Seas. The level of the Caspian sea is below sea level, however several areas in the depression are even lower, and among them Karagiye near Aktau is the lowest at . Geography The depression lies at the southern end of the Ryn Desert, and is in both Kazakhstan and Russia. Most of the Russian Republic of Kalmykia lies in the Caspian Depression. The Volga River and the Ural River flow into the Caspian Sea through this region. The deltas of the Ural and Volga Rivers are extensive wetlands. Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Karakum Desert
The Karakum Desert, also spelled Kara-Kum and Gara-Gum ( tk, Garagum, ; rus, Караку́мы, Karakumy, kərɐˈkumɨ), is a desert in Central Asia. Its name in Turkic languages means "black sand": "" means sand; "" is a contraction of : "dark" or may pre-date that (be a derivation from a likely broader meaning which the word for black bore: ) in this language family. This refers to the shale-rich sand generally beneath the sand of much of the desert. It occupies about 70 percent, , of Turkmenistan. The population is sparse, with an average of one person per . Rainfall is also rare, ranging from per year. Geography The desert covers roughly seventy percent of Turkmenistan, a long east–west swath. It sits east of the Caspian Sea which has a steep east bank. It adjoins, to the north, the long delta feeding the South Aral Sea further north, another endorheic lake, about higher than the Caspian Sea. The delta is that of the Amu Darya river to the northeast, demarcating ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Uzboy
The Uzboy (sometimes rendered Uzboj) was a distributary of the Amu Darya which flowed through the northwestern part of the Karakum Desert of Turkmenistan until the 17th century, when it abruptly dried up, eliminating the agricultural population that had thrived along its banks. (It was a part of the ancient region of Dahistan). Now a dry river channel and a center for archaeological excavations, the Uzboy flowed some , from a branch in the Amu Darya River via Sarykamysh Lake to the Caspian Sea. A riverine civilization existed along the banks of the river from at least the 5th century BC until the 17th century AD, when the water which had fed the Uzboy abruptly stopped flowing out of the main course of the Amu Darya. The Uzboy dried up, and the tribes which had inhabited the river's banks were abruptly dispersed, the survivors becoming nomadic desert dwellers. In the early 1950s, construction work started to build a major irrigation canal roughly along the river bed of the forme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rock (geology)
In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks form the Earth's outer solid layer, the Earth's crust, crust, and most of its interior, except for the liquid Earth's outer core, outer core and pockets of magma in the asthenosphere. The study of rocks involves multiple subdisciplines of geology, including petrology and mineralogy. It may be limited to rocks found on Earth, or it may include planetary geology that studies the rocks of other celestial objects. Rocks are usually grouped into three main groups: igneous rocks, sedimentary rocks and metamorphic rocks. Igneous rocks are formed when magma cools in the Earth's crust, or lava cools on the ground surface or the seabed. Sedimentary rocks are formed by diagenesis and lithification of sediments, which in turn are formed by the weathe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tectonic Uplift
Tectonic uplift is the geologic uplift of Earth's surface that is attributed to plate tectonics. While isostatic response is important, an increase in the mean elevation of a region can only occur in response to tectonic processes of crustal thickening (such as mountain building events), changes in the density distribution of the crust and underlying mantle, and flexural support due to the bending of rigid lithosphere. Tectonic uplift results in denudation (processes that wear away the earth's surface) by raising buried rocks closer to the surface. This process can redistribute large loads from an elevated region to a topographically lower area as well – thus promoting an isostatic response in the region of denudation (which can cause local bedrock uplift). The timing, magnitude, and rate of denudation can be estimated by geologists using pressure-temperature studies. Crustal thickening Crustal thickening has an upward component of motion and often occurs when continenta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ustyurt Plateau
The Ustyurt or Ust-Yurt (from kk, Үстірт; uz, Ustyurt; tk, Üstyurt; — flat hill, plateau) is a transboundary clay desert shared by Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. The plateau's semi-nomadic population raises sheep, goats, and camels. Geography The Ustyurt is located between the Dead Kultuk, Mangyshlak Peninsula and Kara-Bogaz-Gol of the Caspian Sea to the west, and the Aral Sea, Amudarya Delta and Sarygamysh Lake to the east. It extends roughly , with an average altitude of . Its highest point rises to in the south-west. At its northeastern edge it drops steeply to the Aral Sea and the surrounding plain. Protected areas Kazakhstan created the Ustyurt Nature Reserve (223,300 hectares) in July, 1984 in the south of Mangystausky district in Eralievsky region. It preserves rare fauna and flora such as the Ustyurt Mountain sheep and the Saiga antelope. Among its features are Sherkala Mountain and the concretions found in the Torysh ('Valley of Balls') ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aral Sea
The Aral Sea ( ; kk, Арал теңізі, Aral teñızı; uz, Орол денгизи, Orol dengizi; kaa, Арал теңизи, Aral teńizi; russian: Аральское море, Aral'skoye more) was an endorheic lake lying between Kazakhstan (Aktobe and Kyzylorda Regions) in the north and Uzbekistan (Karakalpakstan autonomous region) in the south which began shrinking in the 1960s and had largely dried up by the 2010s. The name roughly translates as "Sea of Islands", referring to over 1,100 islands that had dotted its waters. In the Mongolic and Turkic languages, ''aral'' means "island, archipelago". The Aral Sea drainage basin encompasses Uzbekistan and parts of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, and Iran. Formerly the fourth largest lake in the world with an area of , the Aral Sea began shrinking in the 1960s after the rivers that fed it were diverted by Soviet irrigation projects. By 2007, it had declined to 10% of its original size, splitt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
