The Ayagöz ( kk, Аягөз) also spelled Ayaguz and Ayaköz, is a river of the

Balkhash-Alakol Basin The Balkhash-Alakol Basin or Balkhash-Alakol Depression( kk, Балқаш-Алакөл ойысы; rus, Балхаш-Алакольская котловина), is a flat structural basin in southeastern Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

Geography

The Ayagöz is fed by snowmelt from the

Tarbagatai Mountains The Tarbagatai Mountains ( mn, , , translit. ''Tarvagatai nuruu'', literally: "range with marmots"; ; kk, Тарбағатай жотасы, ''Tarbağatai jotasy'') are a range of mountains located in the north-western parts of Xinjiang, China, ...

and is used for irrigation, flowing into the eastern end of Lake Balkash, although there is no longer much flow from the river into the lake. The city of Ayagöz is located on its banks. The river is long and has a basin area of .

History

In 1717,

Kaip Khan AIP may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Action International Pictures * Afghan Islamic Press * AIP Records, a record label * American International Pictures, an independent film production/distribution company, now a subsidiary of MGM ...

and Abul Khayr attacked the

Dzungar Dzungar may refer to: *Dzungar people, Oirat tribes in the Dzungar Khanate *Dzungar Khanate, a historical empire * Jungar Banner, an administrative division of China *Junggar Basin The Junggar Basin () is one of the largest sedimentary basins in ...

Khanate A khaganate or khanate was a polity ruled by a khan, khagan, khatun, or khanum. That political territory was typically found on the Eurasian Steppe and could be equivalent in status to tribal chiefdom, principality, kingdom or empire. Mong ...

but were defeated on the River Ayagöz. Various Russian explorations took place in the area in the first half of the 19th century. Federoff explored the area in 1834. Between 1837 and 1843 the trans-Irtysh steppe as far as the Ayagöz River and Chu River was mapped on a scale of five

verst A verst (russian: верста, ) is an obsolete Russian unit of length defined as 500 sazhen. This makes a verst equal to . Plurals and variants In the English language, ''verst'' is singular with the normal plural ''versts''. In Russian, the no ...

s to the inch. The shores of Lake Balkash were also surveyed and explored. Prince Gortchakoff, governor of

Western Siberia Western Siberia or West Siberia (russian: Западная Сибирь, Zapadnaya Sibir'; kk, Батыс Сібір) is a part of the larger region of Siberia that is mostly located in the Russian Federation. It lies between the Ural region an ...

, sent an officer named Assanoff in 1839 with some men to Lake Balkash to see if a fishing station could be established. He left Ayagöz and descended the river Ayagöz taking soundings, and fishing. He found two types of fish: marena and

sudak Sudak (Ukrainian & Russian: Судак; crh, Sudaq; gr, Σουγδαία; sometimes spelled Sudac or Sudagh) is a town, multiple former Eastern Orthodox bishopric and double Latin Catholic titular see. It is of regional significance in Crimea, ...

, although not in large numbers, in the brackish water. The Kuzu Kerbetch tomb was found nearby and was said to be significant to the Kyrgyz population. Kuzu-Kerpetch was a Kyrgyz chief known from folk songs for valor and his love for Baian Sulu (who eventually caused his death)From Kulja, Across the Tian Shan to Lobnor
by N. Prejevalsky

Fauna

The river's

reed Reed or Reeds may refer to: Science, technology, biology, and medicine * Reed bird (disambiguation) * Reed pen, writing implement in use since ancient times * Reed (plant), one of several tall, grass-like wetland plants of the order Poales * ...

y lower section was once tiger habitat. The river turned up an

Ordovician The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and System (geology), system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era (geology), Era. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years from the end of the Cambrian Period million years ago (Mya) to the start ...

trilobite Trilobites (; meaning "three lobes") are extinct marine arthropods that form the class Trilobita. Trilobites form one of the earliest-known groups of arthropods. The first appearance of trilobites in the fossil record defines the base of the At ...

fossil, an Agerina acutilimbata (see list of trilobite genera), found by Ghobadi Pour et al. in 2011 in

Katian The Katian is the second stage of the Upper Ordovician. It is preceded by the Sandbian and succeeded by the Hirnantian Stage. The Katian began million years ago and lasted for about 7.8 million years until the beginning of the Hirnantian millio ...

, Karagech Formation on the east side of the Ajaguz River north of Akchii village in the

Tarbagatai Range The Tarbagatai Mountains ( mn, , , translit. ''Tarvagatai nuruu'', literally: "range with marmots"; ; kk, Тарбағатай жотасы, ''Tarbağatai jotasy'') are a range of mountains located in the north-western parts of Xinjiang, China ...

.''Ordovician of the World'' edited by Juan Carlos Gutiérrez-Marco, Isabel Rábano, Diego García-Bellido pages 174, 175

References

External links

Panaramio image of east lake and river
{{Rivers of Kazakhstan Rivers of Kazakhstan Tributaries of Lake Balkhash