The Ayagöz () also spelled Ayaguz and Ayaköz, is a river of the

Balkhash-Alakol Basin The Balkhash-Alakol Basin or Balkhash-Alakol Depression(; ), is a flat structural basin in southeastern Kazakhstan.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 ...

Geography

The Ayagöz is fed by snowmelt from the

Tarbagatai Mountains The Tarbagatai Mountains are a mountain range straddling the China–Kazakhstan border, located in northwestern Xinjiang, China, and the Abai Region of East Kazakhstan. The name of the mountain derived from the Mongolian word ''tarvaga'', m ...

and is used for irrigation, flowing into the eastern end of

Lake Balkash Lake Balkhash, also spelt Lake Balqash (, , ), is a lake in southeastern Kazakhstan, one of the largest lakes in Asia and the 15th largest in the world. It is located in the eastern part of Central Asia and sits in the Balkhash-Alakol Basin, ...

, although there is no longer much flow from the river into the lake. The city of Ayagöz is located on its banks. The river is long and has a basin area of .

History

In 1717, Kaip Khan and Abul Khayr attacked the Dzungar

Khanate A khanate ( ) or khaganate refers to historic polity, polities ruled by a Khan (title), khan, khagan, khatun, or khanum. Khanates were typically nomadic Mongol and Turkic peoples, Turkic or Tatars, Tatar societies located on the Eurasian Steppe, ...

but were defeated on the River Ayagöz. Various Russian explorations took place in the area in the first half of the 19th century. Federoff explored the area in 1834. Between 1837 and 1843 the trans-Irtysh steppe as far as the Ayagöz River and Chu River was mapped on a scale of five

verst A verst (; ) is an obsolete Russian unit of length, defined as 500 sazhen. This makes a verst equal to . Plurals and variants In the English language, ''verst'' is singular with the normal plural ''versts''. In Russian, the nominative singul ...

s to the inch. The shores of Lake Balkash were also surveyed and explored. Prince Gortchakoff, governor of

Western Siberia Western Siberia or West Siberia ( rus, Западная Сибирь, p=ˈzapədnəjə sʲɪˈbʲirʲ; , ) is a region in North Asia. It is part of the wider region of Siberia that is mostly located in the Russia, Russian Federation, with a Sout ...

, sent an officer named Assanoff in 1839 with some men to Lake Balkash to see if a fishing station could be established. He left Ayagöz and descended the river Ayagöz taking soundings, and fishing. He found two types of fish: marena and

sudak Sudak ( Ukrainian and Russian: ; ; ; sometimes spelled Sudac or Sudagh) is a city, multiple former Eastern Orthodox bishopric and double Latin Catholic titular see. It is of regional significance in Crimea, a territory recognized by most countri ...

, although not in large numbers, in the brackish water. The Kuzu Kerbetch tomb was found nearby and was said to be significant to the Kyrgyz population. Kuzu-Kerpetch was a Kyrgyz chief known from folk songs for valor and his love for Baian Sulu (who eventually caused his death)From Kulja, Across the Tian Shan to Lobnor
by N. Prejevalsky

Fauna

The river's

reed Reed or Reeds may refer to: Science, technology, biology, and medicine * Reed bird (disambiguation) * Reed pen, writing implement in use since ancient times * Reed (plant), one of several tall, grass-like wetland plants of the order Poales * Re ...

y lower section was once tiger habitat. The river turned up an

Ordovician The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and System (geology), system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era (geology), Era, and the second of twelve periods of the Phanerozoic Eon (geology), Eon. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years f ...

trilobite Trilobites (; meaning "three-lobed entities") are extinction, extinct marine arthropods that form the class (biology), class Trilobita. One of the earliest groups of arthropods to appear in the fossil record, trilobites were among the most succ ...

fossil, an Agerina acutilimbata (see list of trilobite genera), found by Ghobadi Pour et al. in 2011 in

Katian The Katian is the second stage of the Upper Ordovician. It is preceded by the Sandbian and succeeded by the Hirnantian Stage. The Katian began million years ago and lasted for about 7.6 million years until the beginning of the Hirnantian mill ...

, Karagech Formation on the east side of the Ajaguz River north of

Akchi Akchi, also spelled Akchiy, is a populated place in Kazakhstan. It has a small population and is in Pavlodar Region. Relatively nearby towns include Akhmat, Kyzyltash, Uzunbulak and Uzynbulaq. Astana, Karaganda, Pavlodar, Semey and Omsk are the cl ...

i village in the

Tarbagatai Range The Tarbagatai Mountains are a mountain range straddling the China–Kazakhstan border, located in northwestern Xinjiang, China, and the Abai Region of East Kazakhstan. The name of the mountain derived from the Mongolian word ''tarvaga'', meani ...

.''Ordovician of the World'' edited by Juan Carlos Gutiérrez-Marco, Isabel Rábano, Diego García-Bellido pages 174, 175

References

External links

Panaramio image of east lake and river
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ayagöz (river) Rivers of Kazakhstan Tributaries of Lake Balkhash