Mongolian Plateau

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Mongolian Plateau
Mongolian Cyrillic
Монголын тэгш өндөрлөг
Mongolian scriptᠮᠣᠩᠭᠣᠯ ᠤᠨ
ᠲᠡᠭᠰᠢ
ᠥᠨᠳᠥᠷᠯᠢᠭ

The Mongolian Plateau is the part of the

Greater Hinggan Mountains in the east, the Yin Mountains to the south, the Altai Mountains to the west, and the Sayan and Khentii mountains to the north.[1] The plateau includes the Gobi Desert as well as dry steppe regions. It has an elevation of roughly 1,000 to 1,500 meters, with the lowest point in Hulunbuir and the highest point in the Altai.[1]

Politically, the plateau spans all of

Dzungarian basin in Xinjiang encompass the Chinese portion of the plateau. In Russia, the plateau forms Transbaikal, part of Buryatia, and the southern Irkutsk Oblast. The Mongolian Plateau comprises the majority of the area known as the Mongol heartland
.

Geography

River in the Mongolian Plateau, northern Mongolia

The average elevation of the Mongolian Plateau ranges from 915 to 1,525 meters above sea level.[2] The highest point in the plateau is found in Tavan Bogd at 4374 meters above sea level.[3]

Ecology

The ecology of Mongolia is complex, having varying regions of

Marmots are common throughout the region including the Tarbagan marmot with large parts of its range located in the Mongolian plateau.[4]

History

The plateau was inhabited and conquered by various groups, including (chronologically) the

Northern Yuan dynasty, and Qing dynasty
.

Changing environment

Between 1980 and 2010, rising global temperatures and direct human activity (particularly the use of lake water for mining and agriculture) have contributed to a significant loss of lake surface area across the Plateau. Qagaan Nurr and XinKai Lake have shrunk by two-thirds of their surface area during that time, while others (including Huangqihai Lake and Naiman Xihu) have dried up entirely. Some exceptions, such as East Juyan Lake and Had Paozi, have grown, but overall the average total surface area of lakes in the region has shrunk by 30%.[5][6] The region also suffers from a high rate of desertification.[7]

See also

References

  1. ^
    doi:10.1007/s11442-009-0403-7
    .
  2. ^ "Mongolian Plateau | Map, Location, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com.
  3. ^ Centre, UNESCO World Heritage. "Highlands of Mongol Altai". UNESCO World Heritage Centre.
  4. ^ Unit, Biosafety. "Main Details". www.cbd.int.
  5. ^ "Shrinking Lakes on the Mongolian Plateau". NASA. 8 April 2015. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  6. PMID 25646423
    .
  7. ^ Han, Jie; Dai, Han; Gu, Zhaolin. "Sandstorms and desertification in Mongolia, an example of future climate events: a review".

External links

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