The Ketmen Ridge is a

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have aris ...

located in southern

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 ...

, close to the borders of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir Mountains, Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Kyrgyzstan, largest city. Kyrgyz ...

. The ridge is within the territory of the

and Raiymbek districts of the

Almaty region Almaty Region ( ), formerly known as the Alma-Ata Region until 1993, is a region in Kazakhstan, located in the southeastern part of the country. It surrounds, but does not include, the eponymous city of Almaty. Its capital is Qonaev. Geography ...

. It is located to the east of the Zailiisky Alatau, in the northern

Tien Shan The Tian Shan, also known as the Tengri Tagh or Tengir-Too, meaning the "Mountains of God/Heaven", is a large system of mountain ranges in Central Asia. The highest peak is Jengish Chokusu at high and located in Kyrgyzstan. Its lowest point is ...

mountain range. The total length of the ridge is and its width is up to . The Ketmen Ridge runs from the Kyungei-Ala-Too Ridge in the west to the Narat Ridge in the east and its northern slopes pass into the Ili Valley. It forms the southern border of the ‘ Semirechiya’ (‘Seven Rivers’) region, which surrounds

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 ...

. The

altitude Altitude is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum (geodesy), datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context (e.g., aviation, geometr ...

ranges from 3,000 to 3,600 m, with the highest point being Mount Aspan at . The ridge is composed of igneous and sedimentary rocks such as

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

and

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

. The slopes are steep with gentle peaks below the snow line. The ridge has a

permafrost Permafrost () is soil or underwater sediment which continuously remains below for two years or more; the oldest permafrost has been continuously frozen for around 700,000 years. Whilst the shallowest permafrost has a vertical extent of below ...

zone but does not have glaciation or snowfields. It contains

steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without closed forests except near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the tropical and subtropica ...

and

taiga Taiga or tayga ( ; , ), also known as boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruces, and larches. The taiga, or boreal forest, is the world's largest land biome. In North A ...

forests which consist mainly of spruce trees and meadows in high-altitude zones. At the foot of the southern slope of the ridge, steppe bison remains have been found. The eponymous Ketmen Pass is located at an altitude of above sea level in the eastern part of the mountain range. A caravan trail from the Ili Valley to the Kegen-Tekes Hollow runs through the pass, which connects the northern slope in the Ketmen Gorge and southern slope of the ridge of the Shalkudysu river valley.

Flora and Fauna

The Ketmen Ridge includes 1,890 species of mountainous flora. The vegetation in this area consists primarily of vascular plants such as angiosperms, dicots, and monocots. Eighty-four species from 11 genera of rust fungi were found. The most abundant genera found were 48 species of

Puccinia ''Puccinia'' is a genus of fungi. All species in this genus are obligate plant pathogens and are known as rusts. The genus contains about 4000 species. The genus name of ''Puccinia'' is in honour of Tommaso Puccini (died 1735), who was an Ital ...

, and 12 species of Uromyces.

References

;Further Reading * Казахстан. Общегеографическая карта / Т. П. Филатова (ред.). — Роскартография. — Омск: Омская картографическая фабрика, 2011. — * Кетпенский хребет // Казахстан. Национальная энциклопедия. — Алматы: Қазақ энциклопедиясы, 2005. — Т. III. — . * Краткие сообщения Института археологии / Гл. ред. Н. А. Макаров. — М. : Языки славянской культуры, 2012. — Вып. 227. — С. 191, 193. — {{ISBN, 978-5-9551-0634-2.

External links

TripAdvisor
Mountains of Kazakhstan