DZUNGARIAN BASIN

Chinese (Wade-Giles) Chun-ko-erh P'en-ti, or (Pinyin) Junggar Pendi, extensive basin in the Uighur Autonomous Region of Sinkiang, China. The basin is located between the Mongolian Altai Mountains, on the Sino-Mongolian border, to the north, and the P'o-lo-k'o-nu and O-ha-pu-t'e mountains to the south; the latter run east and west immediately to the north of the Tien Shan (Celestial Mountains). To the east and southeast, respectively, the basin is bounded by the Baytag Bogd and Po-ko-ta mountains. The basin's western limit is defined by the Dzungarian Alatau and Tarbagatay (T'a-erh-pa-ha-t'ai) mountain ranges, which separate it from the Lake Balqash depression in Kazakstan. The main pass through the western ranges is the so-called Dzungarian Gate (Chun-ko-erh Men), which leads to Lake Alakl and Lake Balqash in Kazakstan. In the far north the O-erh-ch'i-ssu River (Russian: Kara Irtysh) drains into Lake Zaysan across the Kazakstan border. Otherwise, the Dzungarian Basin is an area of internal drainage, with the rivers from the Altai draining into Chi-li Lake and those from the southern ranges draining into Ma-na-ssu or Ai-pi lakes in the low-lying depression immediately southeast of the Dzungarian Gate. The whole depression lies between 1,650 and 3,300 feet (500 and 1,000 m) above sea level, with a general slope from northeast to southwest, where Ai-pi Lake lies at an elevation of little more than 620 feet (189 m). The area is very dry and receives only 612 inches (150300 mm) of precipitation annually. It also experiences great extremes of temperature. The surrounding mountains, however, receive much heavier precipitation, and much of the northern ranges and the Altai are forested. The east-central part of the basin is a desert (the Dzungarian Gobi) but is not totally barren. Surrounding it are zones of steppe (grassy plains) and semisteppe watered by seasonal watercourses that often peter out into saline marshes. There are few rivers in the basin. The population consists mostly of Uighurs and various Turkic or Mongol peoples, the only native Han (Chinese) being the settlers on the southern oases and state farms and the industrial population.