The Ashchykol Depression (), is a depression in the

Turkistan Turkestan,; ; ; ; also spelled Turkistan, is a historical region in Central Asia corresponding to the regions of Transoxiana and East Turkestan (Xinjiang). The region is located in the northwest of modern day China and to the northwest of its ...

and

Kyzylorda Kyzylorda ( , formerly known as Kzyl-Orda (), Ak-Mechet (Ак-Мечеть), Perovsk (Перовск), and Fort-Perovsky (Форт-Перовский), is a city in south-central Kazakhstan, capital of Kyzylorda Region and former capital of the ...

regions,

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

Google Earth Google Earth is a web mapping, web and computer program created by Google that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satelli ...

The village of Taykonyr,

Suzak District Suzak () is a Districts of Kyrgyzstan, district of Jalal-Abad Region in western Kyrgyzstan. The administrative seat lies at Suzak. Its area is , and its resident population was 308,243 in 2021. Population Towns, rural communities and villages ...

, Turkistan Region is located in the depression. The Ashchykol zone includes a

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

.Lakes in the lower reaches of the Chu River - BirdLife Data Zone
/ref>

Geography

The Ashchykol Depression lies between the lowest reaches of the Sarysu in the west and the mouth of the

Chu Chu or CHU may refer to: Chinese history * Chu (state) (c. 1030 BC–223 BC), a state during the Zhou dynasty * Western Chu (206 BC–202 BC), a state founded and ruled by Xiang Yu * Chu Kingdom (Han dynasty) (201 BC–70 AD), a kingdom of the H ...

river in the east. It extends roughly from east to west for a length of roughly to the southwest of the

Betpak-Dala Betpak-Dala or Betpaqdala (, ''Betpaqdala''; from Turkic ''batpak'', “swampy,” or Persian ''bedbaht'', “unlucky” and Turkic ''dala'', “plain”; Russian: Бетпак-Дала or Сeверная Голодная степь, lit. ''Hung ...

desert, west of the

Moiynkum Desert The Moiynkum Desert (, ''Moiynqūm''), is a desert in the Turkistan Region, Turkistan and Jambyl Region, Zhambyl regions of southern Kazakhstan. Common plant types in the desert include Haloxylon ammodendron, saksaul, milk vetch, milkvetch, mugwo ...

and north of the northwestern end of the Karatau Range. It is a largely flat

endorheic basin An endorheic basin ( ; also endoreic basin and endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water (e.g. rivers and oceans); instead, the water drainage flows into permanent ...

filled with mixed sand and clay deposits, as well as sandy

alluvial Alluvium (, ) is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluvium is also sometimes called alluvial deposit. Alluvium is ...

sediments. There are numerous intermittent salt lakes and sors. The main lakes are

Akzhaikyn Akzhaykyn (; ) is a salt lake group in Sozak District, Turkistan Region, Kazakhstan. Akzhaykyn is one of the main lakes of the Ashchykol Depression. There used to be fisheries in the lake in 1965—1967, at the time of the Kazakh SSR. Geogra ...

and Ashchykol. In wet years the Chu river may reach lake Akzhaikyn at the eastern end and the Boktykaryn the Ashchykol lake. At the western end the Sarysu river usually ends in the Telikol lake. The latter is located between the western limit of the Ashchykol Depression and the Daryaly takir plain further to the west.''Kazakhstan National Encyclopedia'' / Ch. ed. B.O. Jakyp. —

Almaty Almaty, formerly Alma-Ata, is the List of most populous cities in Kazakhstan, largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population exceeding two million residents within its metropolitan area. Located in the foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau mountains ...

: «Kazakh encyclopedia» ZhSS, 2011. ISBN 9965-893-64-0 (T.Z.), ISBN 9965-893-19-5

Flora

Reeds and

sedges The Cyperaceae () are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as sedges. The family is large; botanists have described some 5,500 known species in about 90 generathe largest being the "true sedges" (genu ...

may grow in marshy areas and lake shores. Wormwood, winterfat, '' Aeluropus'' and

saltwort Saltwort is a common name for various genera of flowering plants that thrive in salty environments, typically in coastal salt marshes and seashores, including: :*'' Salsola'' and related genera within subfamily '' Salsoloideae'' :*''Salicornia'' :* ...

grow sparsely in the land areas in between.

References

External links

*{{commonscat inline Depressions of Kazakhstan Turkistan Region Kyzylorda Region Chu (river)

Geography

Flora

See also

References

External links