Valley of Lakes

an intermontane depression in the southwestern part of the Mongolian People’s Republic, between the Gobi Altai and Khangai. It is about 500 km long, about 100 km wide, and from 1,000 to 1,400 m deep. The bottom of the depression is a chain of closed basins composed of loose deposits and separated by hills and rocky ridges. There are many lakes without outlets (Bon-TsaganNur, Orog-Nur) that tend to dry up and whose contours change markedly in dry and wet years. Desert landscapes predominate, including cumulose sands, solonchaks, and takyrs.