KUNLUN MOUNTAINS

Wade-Giles romanization K'un-lun Shan, Pinyin Kunlun Shan mountain system of Asia, extending for about 1,250 miles (2,000 km) through the western regions of China. From the Pamir mountain area of Tajikistan, the Kunlun system runs due east along the border between the Chinese autonomous regions of Sinkiang Uighur and Tibet to the Sino-Tibetan ranges in the province of Tsinghai. The system unites dozens of High Asian mountain ranges and divides the northern limit of the high Plateau of Tibet from the interior plains of Central Asia. The full length of the Kunlun system is not uniform in structure but is subdivided into two unequal sectionsthe smaller western and principal eastern parts. The western Kunluns, composed of three parallel chains of ranges crowded closely together and separated only by narrow intermontane depressions, have a width of only 60 miles (95 km). The eastern Kunluns are characterized by a complex branching of mountain chains that pass around broad intermontane valleys; their width reaches as much as 375 miles (605 km) in places. The A-erh-ko Mountains in the eastern section contain the highest peak, the 25,338-foot (7,723-metre) Mount Mu-tzu-t'a-ko (Muztagh). With the exception of the most easterly mountain spurs, the Kunluns have an internal drainage system, the rivers and streams of which flow into the large interior basins of Central Asia, most notably the Tarim (T'a-li-mu) and Tsaidam (Ch'ai-ta-mu) basins. Being almost totally isolated from the climatic influence of the Indian and Pacific monsoons, the region is arid. Precipitation is less than 2 inches (50 mm) annually in the foothills and about 4 to 5 inches (100 to 125 mm) in the high altitudes of the driest areas. Great seasonal and daily temperature fluctuations are caused by the constant influence of the continental air mass, and strong winds prevail, especially during the autumn months. Because of poor soil coverage, extreme deficiency of moisture, and, in high altitudes, insufficient warmth, large areas of the Kunluns support only very limited plant growth and animal life. Most of the region of the Kunlun Mountains is unpopulated; only the large river valleys, up to an elevation of 10,000 feet (3,000 m), have inhabitants. Transportation through the mountains is difficult but has been improved since 1949 with the construction of new roads. Pastoralism is the main economic activity, and crops are raised on irrigated land in Tibet. Oil, soda ash, and coal are extracted from the Tarim Basin. The Kunlun and Pamir mountain ranges. Chinese (Wade-Giles) K'un-lun Shan, or (Pinyin) Kunlun Shan, mountain system of Asia. The Kunluns extend east to west some 1,250 miles (2,000 kilometres) from the Pamirs in Tajikistan on the west to the Kunlun Pass and the adjacent Sino-Tibetan rangesPu-erh-han-pu-ta (Burhan Budai), P'a-yen-k'a-la (Bayan Hara), and A-ni-ma-ch'ing (Amne Machin)on the east. The width of the Kunluns varies considerably but rarely exceeds 125 miles. In the western margins they form an Inner Asian rampart between the Plateau of Tibet and the Tarim (T'a-li-mu) Basin in western China. A northern fork of the A-erh-chin (Altyn Tagh) Mountains continues this alignment. The southern face of the Kunlun Mountains rises no more than 5,000 feet (1,500 metres) above the Plateau of Tibet, which itself averages some 15,000 feet in altitude. From the perspective of the oases at the southern edge of the Takla Makan Desert to the north of the mountains, however, the Kunluns form a massive rampart blocking access to the icy barren expanses of the westernmost reaches of Tibet. Additional reading Information on the Kunlun Mountains is found in writings on China and Tibet, especially Sven Hedin, Scientific Results of a Journey in Central Asia, 18991902, 6 vol. and atlas (190407), a record of the work of Central Asia's renowned explorer and his collaborators; Matthias Kuhle, The Cold Deserts of High Asia: Tibet and Contiguous Mountains, GeoJournal, 20(3):319323 (1990); Proceedings of Symposium on Qinghai-Xisang (Tibet) Plateau (1980), surveying the geology and natural history of the high-altitude regions; David H.S. Chang, The Tibetan Plateau in Relation to the Vegetation of China, Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, 70(3):564570 (1983); Maurizio Gaetani, Guido Gosso, and Ugo Pognante, A Geological Transect from Kun Lun to Karakorum (Sinkiang, China): The Western Termination of the Tibetan Plateau, Terra Nova, 2(1):2330 (1990); and Melvyn C. Goldstein and Cynthia M. Beall, Nomads of Western Tibet (1990). Nigel John Roger Allan