Khorgo-Terkhiin Tsagaan Nuur National Park ( mn, Тэрхийн Цагаан нуур) covers the picturesque Terkhiin Tsagaan Lake and the nearby

Khorgo The Horgo ( mn, Хорго) is a volcano in the Taryatu-Chulutu volcanic field in the Tariat district in the Arkhangai Province of Mongolia. The Horgo lies east of the lake Terkhiin Tsagaan Nuur and together they are the core of the Khorgo-Ter ...

Mountain (a recently extinct volcano) in the north central khangai Mountains of

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

. The marshes along the west end of the lake are an important breeding and staging area for birds. The park is located in

Tariat Tariat ( mn, Тариат, crop) is a sum (district) of Arkhangai Province in central Mongolia. As of 2009 it had a population of 5086 people (mainly Chalcha) in 2009, 644 of whom lived in the village of Tariat. Geography Tariat is located nort ...

District of

Arkhangai Province The Arkhangai Province or Arkhangai Aimag ( mn, Архангай аймаг, Arhangai aimag, ; "North Khangai") is one of the 21 aimags of Mongolia. It is located slightly west of the country's center, on the northern slopes of the Khangai Mou ...

Topography

The park is situated in the valley of the

Chuluut River Chuluut River ( mn, Чулуут гол, ''stony river'') is a river flowing through the valleys of the Khangai Mountains in central Mongolia, and a tributary of the Ider River. It is 415 km long, the width at the mouth into the Ider river ...

and Suman River in the Tarvagatai Range of the Khangai Mountains. Lake Terkhiin Tsagaain is a freshwater, oligotrophic lake in a volcanically-formed valley. The terrain immediately around the lake is hills with steppe and forest steppe vegetation. The lake is about 15 km long. It has a maximum depth of 20 meters, with 40% being less than 2 meters deep.

Mountain is about 4 km east of the lake, in the

Taryatu-Chulutu Taryatu-Chulutu ( mn, Тариатын чулуут, ''tariatyn chuluut'', "rocks of Tariat") is a volcanic field in Mongolia. It is part of a volcanic area in Central Asia in the Hangai range that may be linked to the rifting of the Lake Baikal ...

valley, a volcanic field. Khorgo experienced a significant eruption in approximately 8,000 BCE. Khorgo2

Climate and ecoregion

The climate of the area is ''

Cold semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...

'' (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

(BSk)). This climate is characteristic of steppe climates intermediary between desert humid climates, and typically have precipitation is above

evapotranspiration Evapotranspiration (ET) is the combined processes by which water moves from the earth’s surface into the atmosphere. It covers both water evaporation (movement of water to the air directly from soil, canopies, and water bodies) and transpi ...

. At least one month averages below . Annual precipitation averages 100–100 mm, with 80% of that falling in July and August. The park is in the Selenge-Orkhon forest steppe ecoregion.

Flora and fauna

The fish in the lake are typical northern Eurasian species - cyprinids ( Cyprinidae), pike and perch. Birds breeding in the marshes along the lake's edge include

Bar-headed goose The bar-headed goose (''Anser indicus'') is a goose that breeds in Central Asia in colonies of thousands near mountain lakes and winters in South Asia, as far south as peninsular India. It lays three to eight eggs at a time in a ground nest. It ...

(Anser indicus), Ruddy shelduck (Tadorna ferruginea), and

Red-breasted merganser The red-breasted merganser (''Mergus serrator'') is a diving duck, one of the sawbills. The genus name is a Latin word used by Pliny and other Roman authors to refer to an unspecified waterbird, and ''serrator'' is a sawyer from Latin ''serra' ...

(Mergus serrator).

References

External links

Park borders, Khorgo Terkh Zagaan Nuur National Park, ProtectedPlanet.net
{{National parks of Mongolia

Topography

Climate and ecoregion

Flora and fauna

See also

References

External links