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0149 The Pulse of Asia : vol.1
The Pulse of Asia : vol.1 / Page 149 (Color Image)

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doi: 10.20676/00000233
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and the basin floor takes the form of a monocline or bend.
Farther to the east, from Keriya to beyond Lop-Nor or
farther, and from Korla to Ying-pen, where the uplifted
portion of the northern mountains comes to an end, it takes
the form of a fault or break. The result is a pronounced
topographic difference between the more gently descending
western borders of the basin, on the one hand, and the
sharply cut eastern border, on the other. To the west, the
mountains merge somewhat into the plain, and, however
grudgingly, invite man, as it were, to enter and occupy
them: to the east, the mountains, though battered and
dissected, rise steep and repellent, offering no opportunity
for roads or settlement. Here, as on the borders of other
sharply depressed seas like the Mediterranean or Carib-
bean, there are evidences of volcanic activity at times no
farther distant than the early part of the glacial epoch, as
I saw on the Keriya River near Polu.

In order to understand the distribution of life in the Lop
basin, we must remind ourselves of a familiar geological
process. Ever since the beginning of the differentiation
between the plateaus and the basin, streams from the high-
lands have brought to the basin floor rock waste of all sizes,
and have deposited it to a depth of probably thousands
of feet. Among the mountains, the streams descend steeply
and rapidly, and are heavily loaded with rock-waste, much
of which consists of cobbles and pebbles. On reaching the
edge of the basin, their velocity is suddenly checked because
of the change in grade; and they are compelled to deposit
the coarser materials, and to go on loaded only with sand
and clay. Little by little these too are deposited, as the