Kurchum

Kurchum

 

Sarytau, a mountain range of the southern Altai in the Kazakh SSR, between the Kurchum River in the north and the Kalguty and Kall’dzhir (Irtysh basin) rivers and Lake Markakol’ in the south.

The Kurchum Range is about 150 km long. Its predominant altitudes vary from 700 to 1,000 m in the west and 2,500 m in the east. Its maximum elevation is 2,645 m. The range is formed of Paleozoic metamorphic rocks. The lower parts of its steep slopes are covered with steppe vegetation and varied grassy and cereal meadows. The northern slope is wooded with larches. There is a stretch of mountain tundra at altitudes above 2,000 m.