Ulugh Muztagh or Ulugh Muztag (Uighur: Ulug muz tag) () and Muztag Feng (), is an extremely remote mountain group on the northern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Located on the border between the

Tibetan Autonomous Region The Tibet Autonomous Region or Xizang Autonomous Region, often shortened to Tibet or Xizang, is a province-level autonomous region of the People's Republic of China in Southwest China. It was overlayed on the traditional Tibetan regions of Ü ...

and

Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...

, it is part of the main range of the Kunlun Mountains of

East East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

- Central Asia. There have been only a few attempts to climb Ulugh Muztagh and several of them have not been even able to reach the foot of the mountain. Getting near the mountain requires a difficult drive across terrain at the elevation of 4300–5000 metres. Expeditions who have climbed the mountain spent 2 to 3 weeks on the approach alone using 4 or 6 wheel drive vehicles. The 7,723 metre elevation claim was made by the English country gentleman and explorer St

George Littledale Clement St. George Royds Littledale (8 December 1851 – 16 April 1931) and his wife Teresa Harris (Scott) (1839–1928) were known in their time as the greatest British Central Asia travellers of the nineteenth century. Littledale is also consid ...

in 1895. Despite the fact that earlier explorers had put forward elevations several hundred metres lower, and the scientific 6,973 metre measurement made in 1985, the Littledale elevation has been so resilient that even into the 21st century it still remains the most widely quoted; it is found in generally reliable publications, including the ''Times Atlas'' and fact books. Other remote Tibetan-related mountains whose elevations have been established by SRTM and modern Chinese mapping include: * Nganglong (Aling) Kangri, , 6,720 m, but still often quoted at 7,315 m * Amne Machin (Maqen Gangri), , 6,282 m, but still often quoted at 7,160 m * Bukadaban Feng, , 6,860 m, but still quoted much higher * Zangser Kangri, , 6,540 m, but still sometimes quoted at 6,940 m. Northeast of Ulugh Muztagh an

endorheic An endorheic basin (; also spelled endoreic basin or endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water, such as rivers or oceans, but drainage converges instead into lakes ...

basin with several important lakes (Aqqikol, Ayakkum, Jingyu, etc.) is located. The basin is bounded by the main range of the Kunlun in the south, and by the more or less parallel range, the

Altyn-Tagh Altyn-Tagh (also Altun Mountains, Altun Shan; , Pinyin: ''A'erjin Shan'', Wade–Giles: ''A-erh-chin Shan;'' Uyghur'':ئالتۇن تاغ'') is a mountain range in Northwestern China that separates the Eastern Tarim Basin from the Tibetan P ...

, in the north. Much of the basin is officially protected as the

Altun Shan Nature Reserve Altun Shan National Nature Reserve () (literally, "O You Golden Mountain") is a large, arid area in the southeast of Xinjiang Autonomous Region, on the northern edge of the Tibetan plateau and the southern edge of the Tarim Basin in northwest Chi ...

References

;Notes ;Sources * William Holgate, ''Arka Tagh: the Mysterious Mountains'', The Ernest Press 1994, {{ISBN, 0-948153-33-4. The elevation of Ulugh Muztagh is discussed on p. 122.

External links

Ulugh Muztagh on summitpost
Mountain ranges of Tibet Mountain ranges of Xinjiang Six-thousanders of the Kunlun

See also

References

External links