The Turgay Depression, also known as Turgay Basin, Turgay Trough, and Turgay Hollow ( kk, Торғай қолатый; rus, Тургайская ложбина), is a structural basin in

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental coun ...

.Тургайская ложбина
''

Great Soviet Encyclopedia The ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (GSE; ) is one of the largest Russian-language encyclopedias, published in the Soviet Union from 1926 to 1990. After 2002, the encyclopedia's data was partially included into the later ''Bolshaya rossiyskaya e ...

'' in 30 vols. — Ch. ed.

A.M. Prokhorov Alexander Mikhailovich Prokhorov (born Alexander Michael Prochoroff, russian: Алекса́ндр Миха́йлович Про́хоров; 11 July 1916 – 8 January 2002) was an Australian-born Soviet-Russian physicist known ...

. - 3rd ed. - M. Soviet Encyclopedia, 1969-1978. (in Russian) Google Earth The depression is named after the Turgay River, which flows southwards along a stretch of the trough. The Lakes of the lower Turgay and Irgiz Nature Reserve is a

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

located in the southern sector of the basin.

Geography

The Turgay Depression runs across the Turgay Plateau in north-western Kazakhstan. It stretches from north to south and connects the West Siberian Plain to the north with the Turan Depression. It has a length of and an average width between and with a maximum of . The Ubagan River, a right tributary of the Tobol flows along it in the northern direction. Among the rivers flowing southwards, the main ones are the

Turgay Turgay is a Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkis ...

with its tributaries Irgiz and Ulkayak, including the Saryozen through the Tauysh channel, as well as the

Uly-Zhylanshyk The Uly-Zhylanshyk ( kk, Ұлы Жыланшық; russian: Улы-Жыланшык) is a river in Kazakhstan. It is long and has a catchment area of . It is one of the rivers of the Turgay Depression, flowing across the Amangeldi and Zhangeld ...

. The lowest parts of the depression are occupied by numerous lakes, with mostly

saline Saline may refer to: * Saline (medicine), a liquid with salt content to match the human body * Saline water, non-medicinal salt water * Saline, a historical term (especially US) for a salt works or saltern Places * Saline, Calvados, a commune in ...

or bittern-salty waters, such as Kushmurun,

Koybagar Koybagar ( kk, Қойбағар; russian: Койбагар) is a lake in the Kostanay Region, Kazakhstan. Koybagar is a steppe lake of the central sector of the Turgay Basin in Karasu District, Kostanay Region. Karasu village is located west of t ...

Tyuntyugur Tyuntyugur ( kk, Тімтуір; russian: Тюнтюгур) is a lake in the Kostanay Region, Kazakhstan. Tyuntyugur is a steppe lake of the central sector of the Turgay Basin in Karasu District, Kostanay Region. By the northern shore lies the sm ...

Aksuat Aksuat ( kk, Ақсуат, ''Aqsuat''; russian: Аксуа́т) is a selo in Tarbagatay District, East Kazakhstan Region East Kazakhstan Region ( kk, Шығыс Қазақстан облысы, translit=Şyğys Qazaqstan oblysy; russian: Во� ...

, Sarymoin, Sarykopa, Akkol,

Barakkol Barakkol ( kk, Барақкөл, ''Baraqköl'') is a lake in Ulytau District, Karaganda Region, central Kazakhstan. Barakkol is part of the proposed Ulytau-Arganatinsk nature reserve. The nearest settlement is Arganatinsk. ''Köl'' is the wor ...

and Shalkarteniz.Geographical position, geological structure and surface topography of the south of Western Siberia (in Russian)
/ref> Geologically the entire trough corresponds to the Turgai

tectonic subsidence Tectonic subsidence is the sinking of the Earth's crust on a large scale, relative to crustal-scale features or the geoid. The movement of crustal plates and accommodation spaces created by faulting create subsidence on a large scale in a varie ...

of ancient alluvial and lacustrine deposits. The Turgay Plateau rises between the

Urals The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western ...

and Mugodzhar Hills in the west and the Kazakh Steppe in the east.Тургайское плато

Deposits of iron ore and other minerals occur in the basin, as well as significant oilfields in the southern part.Geologic structure, oil and gas potential of the Turgai Depression, and goals of regional geological and geophysical exploration
/ref> The northern part of the basin is characterized by

steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the temperate grasslan ...

and the southern part by semi-desert, with the Barsuki Desert at the southern end near the

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 Kazakh ...

. In the spring and summer, large swathes of it are used for pasture.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Characteristics of strike-slip inversion structures of the Karatau fault and their petroleum geological significances in the south Turgay Basin, KazakhstanKushmurun Lake - BirdLife Data Zone
Structural basins Depressions of Kazakhstan

Geography

See also

References

External links