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0073 Scientific Results of a Journey in Central Asia, 1899-1902 : vol.1
Scientific Results of a Journey in Central Asia, 1899-1902 : vol.1 / Page 73 (Grayscale High Resolution Image)

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doi: 10.20676/00000216
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FROM KURUK-ASTI TO THE CONFLUENCE OF THE KODAJ-DARJA.   43

tagh which lay nearest to us, that is in the short spurs which that mountain sends out towards the north-west. There however the natural watercourses are not only deeply grooved, but they terminate in spreading gravel screes, which, from the network of rivulets into which each watercourse divides and subdivides, appear like miniature deltas thrust out into the lake below. Except for these, the shore-line of the Sajtagh is on that side tolerably regular in formation, therein presenting a marked contrast to the broken and ragged outlines of its north-western shore. The lake contains several expanses of open water, separated or united by necks of land, sounds or channels, and beds of kamisch, and dotted over with islands. Along its northern shore lay a vast number of tiny lakelets, all more or less connected together by marshes or open belts of water.

The principal basin of the Sorun-köl extends between the northernmost projections of the Tusluk-tagh and the Tschoka-tagh, and in that way it escaped my observation in 1895. This part of the lake was less smothered in reeds than the Sorun-ajaghi-köl, or Lower Lake Sorun, which I shall proceed to describe presently. One of the little lakes at the northern foot of the Tusluk-tagh is called the Häserköl, and has poplars of a tolerably tender age growing thinly round its shores. On that side the Tschoka-tagh is built up of the same fine-grained, severely weathered rock which I have described as occurring in the Masar-tagh. The dip of the strata was 27° to the N. 40° E.

On October 7th I explored the Sorun-köl by boat. The lake stretches from north to south. Its water was perfectly limpid and fresh, and at II a. m. had a temperature of 13.°7 C. Algæ grow in vast quantities along its bottom; and belts of reeds, often very thick, run all round its shores, as well as dot its surface in island-like beds. The reeds on the western shore conceal numerous channels, which connect with the smaller lakes in that direction. Amongst these same lakes are a few sand-dunes, dotted with tamarisks; but they must be older than the lakes, otherwise in this marshy region the sand would have been unable to pack itself up into dunes. Along the lake's eastern shore the naked earth peeps out at intervals at the foot of the gravel screes. Towards the south the lake widens, as I have already said, into a broad basin, which was quite free of reeds, except for a narrow ribbon round its shores. The maximum depth did not exceed 1.99 m. The measurements which I obtained along a line drawn from north to south were as follows: — O.8o, 0.84, I.22, I.29, 0.81, I.or, I.o6, I.14, I.24, I.6r, I.53, 1.51, I.52, 1.59, 1.34, I.2r, I.00, I.01, I 31, I.69i I.85, I.90, 1.99i 1.89, 1.88, 1.73i I.75 m. This proves that the Sorun-köl, after all, is nothing more than a shallow, marshy sheet of water. On the other hand, in the channel which connects the Sorun-köl with the Tschöl-köl I obtained depths of 3.35, 2.00, 2.1o, 3.65, and 2.xo m. At first this connecting passage was almost completely choked with reeds; but soon we came into open water 2 to 3 m. broad, and finally emerged into a waterway which reached a breadth of 3o to 5o m., there being only one or two points at which it contracted to I o m. The ground through which it has cut its way is hard and consistent, although obscured by reeds; so that for the most part this watercourse exhibits all the regularity of an artificial canal. And yet it is kept open by nothing but the natural current flowing backwards and forwards between the Sorun-köl and the Tschöl-köl; though, owing to its en-