The Turgay Depression, also known as Turgay Basin, Turgay Trough, and Turgay Hollow ( kk, Торғай қолатый; rus, Тургайская ложбина), is a structural basin in
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 ...
.Тургайская ложбина ''
Great Soviet Encyclopedia
The ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (GSE; ) is one of the largest Russian-language encyclopedias, published in the Soviet Union from 1926 to 1990. After 2002, the encyclopedia's data was partially included into the later ''Bolshaya rossiyskaya e ...
'' in 30 vols. — Ch. ed.
A.M. Prokhorov
Alexander Mikhailovich Prokhorov (born Alexander Michael Prochoroff, russian: Алекса́ндр Миха́йлович Про́хоров; 11 July 1916 – 8 January 2002) was an Australian-born Soviet-Russian physicist known ...
. - 3rd ed. - M. Soviet Encyclopedia, 1969-1978. (in Russian)
Google Earth
Google Earth is a computer program that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satellite images, aerial photography, and geog ...
The depression is named after the Turgay River, which flows southwards along a stretch of the trough.
The
Lakes of the lower Turgay and Irgiz
Lakes of the lower Turgay and Irgiz ( rus, Озёра в низовьях рек Иргиз и Тургай) is a protected area in the Turgay Depression, Kazakhstan. Administratively it is located in the Yrgyz District of the Aktobe Region.
Des ...
Nature Reserve is a
protected area
Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...
located in the southern sector of the basin.
Geography
The Turgay Depression runs across the
Turgay Plateau
The Turgay Plateau ( kk, Торғай Үстірті, ''Torğai Üstırtı''; russian: Тургайское плато) is a plateau in north-west Kazakhstan, central Asia. It lies 200–300 m above sea level.
It extends some 630 km north–s ...
in north-western Kazakhstan. It stretches from north to south and connects the
West Siberian Plain
The West Siberian Plain (russian: За́падно-Сиби́рская равни́на ''Zapadno-Sibirskaya ravnina'') is a large plain that occupies the western portion of Siberia, between the Ural Mountains in the west and the Yenisei River ...
to the north with the
Turan Depression
The Turan Depression, Turan Lowland or Turanian Basin is a low-lying desert basin region stretching from southern Turkmenistan through Uzbekistan to Kazakhstan.
Geography
The lowland region lies to the east of the Caspian Sea and southeast ...
. It has a length of and an average width between and with a maximum of . The
Ubagan
The Ubagan ( kk, Обаған ''Obağan''; russian: Убаган) is a river of Kazakhstan and Russia, a right tributary of the Tobol. It has a length of , and a catchment area of , with water supplied by melting snow. In the summer the water is b ...
River, a right tributary of the
Tobol
The Tobol (russian: Тобол, kk, Тобыл ''Tobyl'') is a river in Western Siberia (in Kazakhstan and Russia) and the main (left) tributary of the Irtysh. Its length is , and the area of its drainage basin is .
History
The Tobol River was ...
flows along it in the northern direction. Among the rivers flowing southwards, the main ones are the Turgay with its tributaries Irgiz and Ulkayak, including the Saryozen through the
Tauysh
Tauysh ( kk, Тәуіш) is a village in Zhangeldi District, Kostanay Region, Kazakhstan. It is the administrative center of Zharkol rural district (KATO code - 394249100). Population:
Geography
Tauysh is located at the southern end of lake Sar ...
channel, as well as the Uly-Zhylanshyk. The lowest parts of the depression are occupied by numerous lakes, with mostly saline or bittern-salty waters, such as
Kushmurun
Kushmurun ( kk, Құсмұрын; russian: Кушмурун) is a brackish lake in the Kostanay Region, Kazakhstan.
Kushmurun is one of largest natural waterbodies of Kazakhstan. It lies in the northern sector of the Turgay Basin, at the border be ...
Sarykopa
Sarykopa ( kk, Сарықопа; russian: Сарыкопа) is a Bittern (salt), bittern salt lake in the Kostanay Region, Kazakhstan.
Sarykopa lies in the steppe of the central sector of the Turgay Basin in Zhangeldi District, in the southern are ...
,
Akkol
Akkol ( kz, Ақкөл, ''Aqköl'', zh, 阿科尔), formerly known as ''Alexeyevka'' (russian: italic=yes, Алексеевка, until 1997), is a town in northern Kazakhstan. It is located north of the national capital Nur-Sultan along the hig ...
Shalkarteniz
Shalkarteniz ( kk, Шалқартеңіз; russian: Шалкартениз) is an extensive salt flat and seasonal lake in the Yrgyz District, Aktobe Region, Kazakhstan.
The Shalkarteniz lies in the northeastern sector of the Turan Depression, ...
.Geographical position, geological structure and surface topography of the south of Western Siberia (in Russian) /ref>
Geologically the entire trough corresponds to the Turgai
tectonic subsidence
Tectonic subsidence is the sinking of the Earth's crust on a large scale, relative to crustal-scale features or the geoid. The movement of crustal plates and accommodation spaces created by faulting create subsidence on a large scale in a variet ...
of ancient alluvial and lacustrine deposits. The Turgay Plateau rises between the
Urals
The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western ...
and
Mugodzhar Hills
Mugodzhar Hills ( kk, Мұғалжар тауы, ''Mūğaljar tauy''; russian: Мугоджары, Мугоджарский хребет) or Mugodzhar RangeKazakh Steppe in the east.Тургайское плато
Great Soviet Encyclopedia
The ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (GSE; ) is one of the largest Russian-language encyclopedias, published in the Soviet Union from 1926 to 1990. After 2002, the encyclopedia's data was partially included into the later ''Bolshaya rossiyskaya e ...
steppe
In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes.
Steppe biomes may include:
* the montane grasslands and shrublands biome
* the temperate grasslands, ...
Barsuki Desert
The Barsuki Desert is a desert zone in the Aktobe and Kyzylorda regions of Kazakhstan. It has two parts, the Greater Barsuki ( kk, Үлкен Борсық; russian: Большие Барсуки) in the west and the Lesser Barsuki ( kk, Кіші ...
at the southern end near the
Aral Sea
The Aral Sea ( ; kk, Арал теңізі, Aral teñızı; uz, Орол денгизи, Orol dengizi; kaa, Арал теңизи, Aral teńizi; russian: Аральское море, Aral'skoye more) was an endorheic basin, endorheic lake lyi ...
. In the spring and summer, large swathes of it are used for pasture.
See also
*
Geology of Kazakhstan
The geology of Kazakhstan includes extensive basement rocks from the Precambrian and widespread Paleozoic rocks, as well as sediments formed in rift basins during the Mesozoic.
Geologic history, stratigraphy and tectonics
Archean rocks of the Z ...