ALTAI MOUNTAINS

Russian Altay, Mongolian Altayn Nuruu, Chinese (Wade-Giles romanization) A-erh-t'ai Shan mountain system of Central Asia that extends approximately 1,200 miles (2,000 km) in a southeast-northwest direction from the Gobi (desert) to the West Siberian Plain, through Chinese, Mongolian, Russian, and Kazak territory. The Gobi Altai rising from the edge of the Gobi, southwestern vrhangay, Mongolia. The jagged mountain system, whose name is derived from the Turkic-Mongolian altan, meaning golden, divides the waters of such great rivers as the Ob, flowing northward to the Arctic, from those draining into the vast Central Asian interior basin. There are three main branches of the mountain system (northwest to southeast)the Altai proper and the Mongolian and Gobi Altai. The highest ridges tower more than 13,000 feet (4,000 m), and the Russian peak Belukha rises to 14,783 feet (4,506 m), the highest point in the range. The Altai and Mongolian Altai ranges are crisscrossed by a network of turbulent rivers which are fed predominantly by melted snow and summer rains. The rivers of the Gobi Altai are shorter, shallower, and often frozen in the winter and dry in the summer. There are more than 3,500 lakes throughout the system, most of structural or glacial origin. The regional climate is severely continental with long, bitterly cold winters and, on the lower slopes, hot summers. Precipitation is high throughout the year on the exposed western mountain ridges but decreases substantially to the east. There are four fairly distinct vegetation zones in the system: mountain subdesert, mountain steppe, mountain forest, and the alpine regions. About 70 percent of the Altai proper's territory is covered by mountain forests of conifers, birches, and aspens; forests in the Mongolian and Gobi Altai, however, are practically nonexistent. The Altai are notable for their mining and hydroelectric potential. Large mines and smelters for such nonferrous metals as copper, lead, and zinc have been built in the main range. The development of agriculture and livestock production has resulted in more settled ways of life, especially among the nomadic herders in the dry southern Mongolian Altai. Health resorts have been developed around the region's mineral springs, and the picturesque mountain peaks and lakes have attracted a growing number of tourists. The Altai Mountains. The Gobi Altai rising from the edge of the Gobi, southwestern vrhangay, Mongolia. Russian Altay, Mongolian Altayn Nuruu, Chinese (Wade-Giles romanization) A-erh-t'ai Shan, complex mountain system of Central Asia extending approximately 1,200 miles (2,000 km) in a southeast-northwest direction from the Gobi (Desert) to the West Siberian Plain, through Chinese, Mongolian, Russian, and Kazak territory. The jagged mountain ridges, whose name derives from the Turkic-Mongolian altan, meaning golden, separate the waters of such great rivers as the Ob (flowing north to the Arctic Ocean) and its major tributary, the Irtysh, from the rivers draining into the vast Central Asian basin. The system has three main prongs: the Altai proper (formerly called the Soviet Altai) and the Mongolian and Gobi Altai. A peak in the main prong, Belukhaat an elevation of 14,783 feet (4,506 metres)is the range's highest point. In the past these mountains were remote and sparsely populated; but in the 20th century they have been opened to extensive resource exploitation, and the ancient ways of life of the local peoples have been rapidly transformed. Additional reading Literature on the mountain ranges within the former U.S.S.R. is scarce, especially in English. S.A. Strelkov and V.V. Vdovin (eds.), Altae-Saianskaia gornaia oblast' (1969), published under the auspices of the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, is a scholarly survey of the Altai Mountains. V.A. Nikolaev and G.A. Chernov (eds.), Rel'ef Altae-Saianskoi gornoi oblasti (1988), is a similar later work focusing more narrowly on the relief and geomorphology of the area. Natural history and natural resources are discussed in V.E. Sokolov et al. (eds.), Prirodnye usloviia i biologicheskie resursy Mongol'skoi Narodnoi Respubliki (1986), a collection of abstracts of papers presented at an international symposium on the natural resources of Mongolia. A.A. Trofimuk et al., The Altai-Sayanian Region (1984), is a guidebook with parallel Russian and English text prepared on the occasion of the 27th International Geological Congress and offering descriptive information. Nikolay Ivanovich Mikhaylov