Part of the Central Asian Plateau
The
Mongolian Plateau
is the part of the
Central Asian Plateau
lying between 37°46′-53°08′N and 87°40′-122°15′E and having an area of approximately 3,200,000 square kilometres (1,200,000 sq mi). It is bounded by 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
Mongolia
, along with parts of
China
and
Russia
.
Inner Mongolia
and parts of the
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
[
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]
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
[
edit
]
The ecology of Mongolia is complex, having varying regions of
highland and lowland
areas. Grazing species such as
yaks
,
Przewalski's horses
, domesticated
sheep
,
saiga antelope
,
Siberian ibex
and
Argali
are common.
Predator
species include the
Eurasian lynx
,
snow leopard
,
Corsac fox
as well as
carnivorous birds
such as the
bearded vulture
,
saker falcon
, and the
cinereous vulture
.
Marmots
are common throughout the region including the
Tarbagan marmot
with large parts of its range located in the Mongolian plateau.
[4]
History
[
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]
The plateau was inhabited and conquered by various groups, including (chronologically) the
Xiongnu
,
Xianbei
,
Gokturks
,
Tang dynasty
,
Liao dynasty
,
Mongol Empire
,
Yuan dynasty
,
Northern Yuan dynasty
, and
Qing dynasty
.
Changing environment
[
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]
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
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Zhang, Xueyan; Hu, Yunfeng; Zhuang, Dafang; Qi, Yongqing; Ma, Xin (2009). "NDVI spatial pattern and its differentiation on the Mongolian Plateau".
Journal of Geographical Sciences
.
19
(4). Springer-Verlag: 405.
doi
:
10.1007/s11442-009-0403-7
.
- ^
"Mongolian Plateau | Map, Location, & Facts | Britannica"
.
www.britannica.com
.
- ^
Centre, UNESCO World Heritage.
"Highlands of Mongol Altai"
.
UNESCO World Heritage Centre
.
- ^
Unit, Biosafety.
"Main Details"
.
www.cbd.int
.
- ^
"Shrinking Lakes on the Mongolian Plateau"
.
NASA
. 8 April 2015
. Retrieved
26 November
2016
.
- ^
Tao, Shengli; Fang, Jingyun; Zhao, Xia; Zhao, Shuqing; Shen, Haihua; Hu, Huifeng; Tang, Zhiyao; Wang, Zhiheng; Guo, Qinghua (17 February 2015).
"Rapid loss of lakes on the Mongolian Plateau"
.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
.
112
(7): 2281?2286.
doi
:
10.1073/pnas.1411748112
.
PMC
4343146
.
PMID
25646423
.
- ^
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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]