Emin Valley

The Emin Valley (Chinese: 额敏谷地; pinyin: Émǐn gǔdì) is located on the China-Kazakhstan border, in Central Asia. It has an area of about 65,000 square kilometres (25,000 sq mi). Its main waterway is the Emil River.

Emin Valley
Emin Valley
Area65,000 km2 (25,000 sq mi)
Geography
Coordinates47.5°N 82°E / 47.5; 82 
RiverEmil River

Administratively, the Emin Valley occupies areas of Tacheng Prefecture in the Xinjiang Region of north-western China; and in East Kazakhstan Province of eastern Kazakhstan.

Ecology

The Emin Valley has a steppe ecosystem of mostly grasslands; with two saline lakes, Alakol and Sasykkol; and mountains with temperate climates.

The Emin Valley Steppe is a Palearctic ecoregion in the Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands Biome. It lies within the vast and larger Eurasian Steppe.

WWF ecoregion "Emin Valley" (PA0806) (in purple)

Hydrology

Orographically, the Emil Valley is an endorrheic basin. In the north, the Tarbagatai Mountains separate it from the Lake Zaysan basin, which is part of the basin of the Irtysh River, eventually draining into the Arctic Ocean. In the southeast, another series of mountain ranges separate it from the Dzungarian Basin (Gurbantünggüt Desert).

The Emin Valley's main watercourse is the Emin (Emil) River, which flows in the general western direction, receiving numerous streams flowing from the Tarbagatai Mountains and carrying their water to Lake Alakol.

Lake Alakol and Lake Sasykkol, situated in the western (Kazakhstan) part of the valley, are the homes of the rare Dalmatian pelican and relict gull.

gollark: Probably. I imagine the windows have filters on them.
gollark: Are more powerful lasers actually different enough to less powerful ones (apart from... burning stuff more, needing more eye protection, and being more expensive) to make you get un-bored?
gollark: So a blindfold?
gollark: Are you talking about... Myers-Briggs types, or whatever it is?
gollark: It doesn't matter if things are "sleek" if they're *in space*.

See also
  • "Emin Valley steppe". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
  • World Wildlife Fund, ed. (2001). "Emin Valley steppe". WildWorld Ecoregion Profile. National Geographic Society. Archived from the original on 2010-03-08.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.