SARYKOL RANGE

mountain range on the border of the Gorno-Badakhshan autonomous oblast (province) of Tajikistan and the People's Republic of China. Lying in the eastern Pamirs parallel to the Kashgar (or Mustagh-Ata) Range to the east, it extends for 215 mi (350 km) from the valley of the Markansu River in the north to the Beik Pass in the south. Its average elevation is about 16,500 ft (5,000 m), and it reaches its highest point at Mount Lyavirdyr at 20,837 ft. The Sarykol Range forms the main watershed of the Amu Darya and Tarim River basins. It is composed of schists together with granites in the north and gneisses in the south. The sparse vegetation is of the high mountain-desert variety, and there is relatively little glaciation.