昆仑山要想走向世界，就应让全世界都了解自己：
Kunlun Mountains
Introduction
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 ranges—Pu-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.
Physical features
Physiography
Throughout much of their alignment, the Kunluns comprise two or three parallel ridges rather than a single crest. This is especially true in the western reaches. At the Sarykol Range where the Kunluns forge out from the Pamirs, a short spur to the north called the Aghil Mountains actually has some of the highest summits, Mount Kung-ko-erh (Kongur), at 25,324 feet (7,719 metres), as well as Mount Mu-shih-t'a-ko (Muztagh Ata), at 24,757 feet. A major bifurcation occurs just south of the oasis town of Ch'ieh-mo (Cherchen); there, the A-erh-chin Mountains branch in a northeasterly direction from the A-erh-ko Mountains at Mount Mu-tzu-t'a-ko (Muztagh), which at 25,338 feet (7,723 metres) is the highest point in the Kunluns. To the east the northern rim of the Kunluns then becomes the southern margin of the vast, high Tsaidam (Ch'ai-ta-mu) Basin. High valleys with occasional saline lakes intersperse the medial Kunlun ridges.
The highest crest of the main range of the western Kunlun Mountains is Mount K'o-li-ya (Keriya), at an elevation of 23,359 feet. Several peaks exceeding 20,000 feet punctuate the skyline in the central to eastern reaches, including Mounts Mu-tzu-t'a-ko and Pu-k'a-ta-pan (22,507 feet). The surrounding plain lies above 16,000 feet; hence, these mountains do not have the prominence of other high mountains in Asia. Soil zonation is simple in structure, with steppe soils and desert soils, both including those of the alpine group, predominating. Organic content is low, and bogs, moors, and saline depressions are common at the lower altitudes. Eolian erosion results in scattered large sand dunes.
Geology
The principal folded structures and granitic rocks of the Kunlun Mountains date to about 250 million years ago, a time during which there was much mountain building in the Eastern Hemisphere. The inner depressions of the Kunluns, however, are relatively recent structures in their entirety, being formed by deposits that are no more than 26 million years old; only the largest of them, the Tsaidam Basin, contains a thick sedimentary cover of which Jurassic deposits (those 144 to 208 million years old) represent the oldest strata. The Kunluns also represent a region of geologically recent movements of the Earth's crust, and a considerable amount of seismic (earthquake) activity still occurs.
Drainage and glaciation
The Kunluns form a part of that region in Central Asia in which there is only internal drainage, associated mainly with the Tarim and Tsaidam basins to the north and the basins of the Plateau of Tibet to the south. Only the most easterly spurs of the mountain system, where the source of the Huang Ho (Yellow River) is located, have drainage systems that empty into the ocean.
There are two river networks in the Kunluns: the large streams that rise in the Karakoram Range and in northern Tibet, cutting through the entire chain of Kunlun ranges by way of gorges, and the small streams that drain the slopes of the peripheral ranges. The major rivers form lengthy, zigzag valleys; several supply irrigation water to the oases on the northern rim of the Kunluns.
Although they receive some rainwater, the Kunlun rivers are fed mainly by snows and glaciers. The volume of flow thus varies with the seasons; 60 to 80 percent of it occurs in the summer months, when intensive thawing of snow and ice in the mountains is combined with maximum precipitation. High evaporation of snow and glacial meltwater has resulted in the formation of extensive salt pans.
In spite of the great elevation, there is little glaciation in the Kunluns because of the extreme dryness of the climate; external snows persist only along the deep crevices of the highest peaks. The main centres of glaciation occur where elevations approximate about 23,000 feet. All the glaciers are notable for their unusual steepness and for their paucity of meltwater.
Climate
The Kunluns are almost totally isolated from the climatic influence of the Indian and Pacific Ocean monsoons. Instead, they are under the constant influence of the continental air mass, which causes great annual and diurnal temperature fluctuations. Maximum aridity occurs in the middle segment of the mountain system; to the west and east, however, the climate is somewhat moderated.
In the most arid part of the Kunluns, precipitation is less than 2 inches (50 millimetres) annually in the foothills and about 4 to 5 inches in the high altitudes; near the Pamirs and the Tibetan mountains, the amount of annual precipitation increases to about 18 inches. In the lower tier of mountains (those bordering the northern plains), the average temperature in July is 77° to 82° F (25° to 28° C) and not lower than 16° F (-9° C) in January; in the upper tier of mountains and on the border of Tibet, however, the average temperature in July is less than 50° F (10° C) and often falls to -31° F (-35° C) or lower in winter.
In the high-altitude zone, with its extremely sharp daily fluctuations of temperature, weathering from heat and frost reaches great intensity, accounting for the presence of an enormous quantity of loose material. Characteristic of the Kunluns are their high winds, the strongest of which occur in autumn; the winds of the Tsaidam Basin are particularly noteworthy.
Plant and animal life
The desert or, at best, steppe conditions prevailing throughout the Kunluns inhibit development of vegetation. Much of the terrain consists of rock deserts. Occasional stagnant water pools provide browsing and water for several wild ungulates, such as the Tibetan gazelle and Tibetan goat antelope (chiru), along with large herds of wild asses (kiang) and clusters of wild yaks. In the more humid western mountains, argali sheep (nayaur and Marco Polo) graze on the high grasslands. On the upper crags blue sheep, Ladākh urials, and ibex range sporadically throughout the western reaches. Willow thickets near watercourses frequently contain brown bears; wolves are endemic, but the snow leopard is rare. Many migratory waterfowl visit the lakes during seasonal migration.
The people and the economy
Despite the extreme climatic and topographic conditions, the Kunluns and adjacent areas support permanent and migratory populations. On the northern slopes are found Uighur, up from the oases, and occasional Mongols; and, south to the northern areas of Tibet, Tibetan pastoral nomads have commandeered large expanses of formerly abandoned steppe grazing lands. Mountain Tajik and Kyrgyz remnants occupy the few settlements in the deep valleys of the western mountains adjacent to the Karakoram and Pamir ranges. Chinese (Han) are ubiquitous, with concentrations along the extensive and well-maintained network of gravel roads that has been constructed since 1949.
Irrigation in a few areas sustains limited crop farming; otherwise, pastoralism constitutes the economic base, with a focus on yak and yak crossbreeds, sheep, goats, and occasionally cattle. High-yielding strains of wheat, barley, peas, potatoes, and rapeseed occupy the greater part of Tibet's arable land. The grass crop is low in volume but high in nutrients and protein.
The hard-surfaced trans-Tibetan road from Tun-huang to Lhasa serves the settlements in Tsinghai; and Ko-erh-mu, itself a modern city rising from the windblown flats of the Tsaidam Basin, is a railway terminus. Several other major roads from the Tarim Basin oases penetrate the Kunlun massif. Trucks supply vegetables, building materials, motor fuel, and sundry goods to the farthest settlements and deliver raw materials such as oil, soda ash, and coal from extraction sites to nearby towns.
Study and exploration
The northern rim of the Kunlun Mountains, skirting the Tarim Basin, served for centuries as the southerly branch of the Silk Road that, until the 16th century, connected China with Central and West Asia. Wool and salt were the main products brought down from the heights of the Kunluns to the oases on the edge of the Takla Makan Desert. Small regional Buddhist monasteries retained Tibetans as serfs, but repeated Muslim incursions from the north kept the Kunluns in a state of flux.
British attempts to tap the trading potential of Chinese Turkistan spurred adventurers to probe the western end of the Kunluns, but it was not until the end of the 19th century that explorers such as the Swede Sven Anders Hedin mustered enough resources to plot the western Kunluns. Several travelers used the east-west route in Tsinghai, through the eastern extensions of the Kunluns and Ko-erh-mu as an alternative route to the Kansu Corridor. With the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, these peripheral territories came under central control, and Chinese scientific expeditions explored throughout the area. Major Chinese scientific accomplishments have defined the geology, glaciation, soils, and vegetation of the Kunluns. Another study, entailing international cooperation, has focused on the physiological and ecological adaptability of the various Kunlun ethnic groups to the high marginal environment adjoining the range's southern rim.
Vasily Mikhaylovich SinitsynNigel John Roger Allan
——《大英百科全书》
Encyclopedia Britannica 2008
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楼主: hanvool
发表于 2007-12-25 18:53:53
，思想咋不与时俱进呢
你以为我昆仑山日常还以狼烟为号，十里一烽火台？
：现在我们都是光纤上网，昆仑弟子断是不收费的
发表于 2009-1-16 17:14:41