How many "different worlds" can a mountain separate?

The mountains stretch north and south

It created a division and barrier between the east and west landforms

The mountains span east and west

Formed the difference between the northern and southern geographical units

A mountain range

How many types of landscapes can be separated?

Tianshan topographic map

Image from China National Geography, Issue 2, 2008. Map by Cai Bofeng

The Tianshan Mountains are a huge mountain range that runs across the arid inland region of Asia.

The main part of Tianshan is located in Xinjiang, my country

The rest is in Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia

In Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan

Its huge middle mountain separates

Ili River Valley and Tarim Basin

Picea schrenkiana is the main tree species in the forest belt in the northern foothills of Tianshan Mountains.

Distributed on the back side of the middle and low mountain belts, on the shady slopes

The Tian Shan Mountains run through the arid interior of central Asia.

Its tall mountains intercept the atmospheric circulation water vapor

The mountainous area has abundant rainfall

But most of this precipitation is concentrated in the west and north

Usually, in the mid-mountain zone with an altitude of 1300-2800 meters

Forming forests and grasslands

In high mountains and very high mountains above 3,600 meters

The formation of year-round snow and glaciers

Becoming a "wet island" in arid areas

Therefore, many rivers developed around Tianshan Mountain.

This in turn nourishes the oases in the foothills, basins and plains.

Such as the Ili Valley and the Issyk-Kul Basin

The climate becomes dry in the south of Tianshan Mountains.

Relying only on the water of the Tarim River

There are several "fragmented" oases scattered around

Take Kuche in the southern part of Tianshan Mountain as an example

This was originally an inland lake.

Later, the rise of Tianshan blocked the water vapor

Thick red mudstone and sandstone gradually deposited in the lake.

Then layers of yellow-brown deposited on it

and gray-brown sandstone, mudstone, and conglomerate…

Over the years, the rock layers have taken on several colors: red, yellow, and gray.

And they are all in horizontal shape

Later, violent tectonic movements occurred

The crust is deformed due to compression

Wave-like folds

Thus, the Red Rock Mountain in Kuche Canyon was formed.

Kuche Grand Canyon

The Tianshan Mountains are located around 85° east longitude

Merge the North Branch Mountain Range with the South Branch Mountain Range

Forming what we usually call the Eastern Tianshan Mountains

It's even less visited here

It is a distant and silent place

Like a desert where no one has ever set foot

Kunlun Mountains topographic map

Image from China National Geography, Issue 1, 2011

The southernmost of Xinjiang's "Three Mountains"

Kunlun Mountain is also high and majestic

Because according to legend it is the highest and largest mountain in China

There are many different opinions about the range of Kunlun Mountain.

But no matter which statement is made, Kunlun Mountain is extremely tall.

Due to the influence of surface weathering

The rocks that originally rose up have long been eroded away.

The majestic Kunlun Mountains seen today

It is just the product of uplift in the last 3 million years.

They were formed at the same time and have basically the same direction.

And they are all typical single-sided mountains

There is a basin in the north and the roof of the world in the south.

Standing at the Suonandajie Nature Reserve in Hoh Xil and looking north

The towering Kunlun Mountains stretch out on the horizon

Like a barrier, it blocks out the world beyond

Covered with glaciers stretching for dozens of kilometers

Like a white dragon lying quietly

Guarding all the living beings on this pure land

Schematic diagram of the mountain ranges in the Qilian Mountains

Image from China National Geography, Issue 3, 2006

Between Gansu and Qinghai

Between the Hexi Corridor and the Snowy Plateau

The Qilian Mountains stand here

Overlooking the Hexi Corridor

This is the Qilian Mountains, which was called "Tianshan" by the Huns in ancient times.

Qilian Mountain is located in the arid region of Northwest China.

To the north are the Beishan Gobi and Badain Jaran Desert

To the south is the Qaidam Arid Basin

To the west is the Kumtag Desert and to the east is the Loess Plateau.

The Qilian Mountains, like the Tianshan Mountains, are divided into two sections: east and west.

Except for the southeastern part which is in the monsoon area and is relatively humid

The rest of the southwestern section, including the entire northern foothills, is very dry.

From the east, there is abundant rainfall.

Dense forests grow

There are many national forest parks

Overlooking Gansu

Water is the key to Qilian Mountains

The Hexi Corridor on the northern slope of the Qilian Mountains is an oasis in the arid area.

It is the rivers that nourish these oases

Mountains above 5,000 meters are covered with snow all year round

The highest peak, Tuanjie Peak, is 5,808 meters above sea level.

Mountains above 4,000 meters account for one third of the area

The tall mountains intercept the air currents and clouds.

There are many snow-capped mountains and glaciers in the mountains.

Like many tall mountains

This is a huge solid water reservoir.

The left side is the northern slope of Qilian Mountain, and the right side is the southern slope

Crossing the Qilian Mountains

The plateau with an average altitude of 4,000 meters suddenly has a depression

Basin over 2700 meters

This is the plateau basin of Qaidam

Flat, dry, desolate, silent, barren...

This is the feeling of the scenery of Qaidam

To put it in a bigger picture

This is the 4,000-kilometer-long Kunlun-Qinling latitudinal tectonic system.

To put it simply

It is the boundary between the Guanzhong Basin and the Sichuan Basin.

The southern slope of Qinling Mountains on the right blocks water vapor

View of Qinling Mountains from north to south

The northern slope is steep and rugged; the southern slope is gentle and long.

The characteristic of Qinling Mountains is that it rises in the north and lies in the south.

This characteristic determines that Qinling Mountains are very sensitive to the cold air coming from the south.

Formed a strong barrier

The warm and humid air currents from the north can penetrate deep into the Qinling Mountains.

Northern foothills of Qinling Mountains

Image from China National Geographic, June 2005

South Foothills

Image from China National Geographic, June 2005

Because of the geographical location of Qinling Mountains

It happens to be a densely populated area in my country.

So this "one mountain, different world"

Intuitive feeling is the closest

For example, the following two sets of pictures ▼

Photography/@泽_Angel

The above picture shows the cold wave

The landscape on the north and south sides of the Qinling Tunnel at the same time

The above picture is located in the north of Qinling Mountains

The picture below is the southern part of Qinling Mountains

Such scenes may be common in the West.

But in the central and eastern regions

I'm afraid only Qinling can do it

▼

The “Rice and Flour Dispute” Across the Qinling Mountains

Daxinganling topographic map

Image from China National Geography, Issue 10, 2012

After talking about the east-west mountains

Let's look at the north and south.

Although the name "Daxing'anling" contains "Da"

But the mountain is not very tall. The highest peak in the south, Huanggangliang, is over 2,000 meters above sea level.

But in the north of Daxinganling

The highest mountain is only about 1,500 meters above sea level.

Don't look at it, although it is not high

But it separates the Inner Mongolia Plateau and the Northeast Plain

The Taoer River is the boundary

The Greater Khingan Range is divided into two distinct sections: north and south.

The southern section belongs to the East Asian mid-temperate broad-leaved forest area

The northern section belongs to the Eurasian cold temperate coniferous forest belt

The main difference between the north and the south is vegetation

The difference between things is even greater

Because of its low altitude

Therefore, the west side is connected to the Inner Mongolia Plateau

Outlines the edge of the Inner Mongolia Plateau

On the east side, due to the low altitude of the Northeast Plain

This highlights the steepness of the Greater Khingan Range.

There are dense river networks and a large population.

The "horseshoe-shaped" terrain makes the Northeast Plain fertile

Imagine if there were no Greater Khingan Range

Will there still be black soil created by volcanoes?

Will the fertile land still exist?

Taihang Mountains topographic map

Image from China National Geography, Issue 2, 2015. Map by Cai Bofeng

If the Qinling Mountains are the north-south climate dividing line in my country

Then the entire section of Taihang Mountain is the east-west boundary of the landform

Taihang Mountains run from north to south

The crust on the east side of the fault is sinking

Became the Haihe-Yellow River-Huaihe Plain in North China and Central China

and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in the south

Crustal uplift west of the fault

Become Inner Mongolia-Shanxi Plateau

As well as the Sichuan Basin and the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau

This is an important boundary between east and west in China.

The upper picture shows the North Taihang Mountains. The lower picture shows the South Taihang Mountains.

People usually divide Taihang Mountains into three sections.

That is, North Taihang, South Taihang and West Taihang

Generally speaking, they are located in Hebei Province

Henan Province and Shanxi Province

Among these three components, the topography of the West Taihang Mountains

Already close to the Loess Plateau

There are big differences between the southern and northern Taihang Mountains.

The South and North Taihang Mountains are very different from the West Taihang Mountains

In addition to the differences in topography

Both North Taihang and West Taihang are areas with severe water shortages.

Only the southern Taihang Mountains are blessed with the nourishment of flowing water.

topic

What other mountains do you know?

How is it possible to achieve “one mountain separates two worlds”?

- END -

Image source: TuChong, Visual China

Editor/ Kunkun