The lowest point on the Chinese mainland, why is it so difficult for people to enter?
When it comes to which places in China have low altitude, many people first think of some coastal cities, because their altitude may be less than 10 meters. However, this is not the case in fact. Not many people know that the places with the highest summer temperatures and the lowest terrain in China are originally in the Turpan Basin.
Turpan Basin is an intermountain basin located on the eastern southern slope of the Tianshan Mountains in Xinjiang. Most of the area belongs to Turpan City. In fact, in Uyghur, Turpan means "lowland". Most of the ground in the Turpan Basin has an altitude of less than 500 meters. The lowest point of our country's land is in Turpan City, and its name is Aydin Lake.
Aiding Lake is 154.31 meters lower than sea level
Aiding Lake is the second lowest-lying land in the world. Its detailed address is located in Gaochang District, Turpan City, Xinjiang. The altitude of the lake here is They are all more than 100 meters below sea level, and the lowest point at the bottom of the lake is only -161 meters. Since the Turpan Basin itself is closed, all surface runoff in this area will converge at the lowest point, Aydin Lake.
Besides alkaline land and salt flats, there are sand dunes around Lake Eding, so the road to Lake Eding is not easy. Since the evaporation of Lake Edin is much greater than the precipitation, it is also one of the driest places in the world. In 2011, the weather station here also measured an extreme high temperature of 50.2 degrees, which directly became The highest temperature area in China.
Different from ordinary lakes, the surface of Lake Edin looks like it is covered with salt crusts, and its periphery is a lake plain landform. The surface looks hard, but in fact it hides salt swamps and a lot of silt. In the center of Lake Aydin, there are all white crystal salts. Research has shown that Lake Ayding was once a freshwater lake 20,000 years ago. Because the lake is full of various minerals, it is also the largest lake in China. It is truly the largest lake with the highest salinity in the lake.
Aydin Lake is more than just a lake
Yes, Aydin Lake is indeed more than just a lake. It is also an important relic of human civilization and a haven for many wild animals. critical habitat. On the north and south sides of Aiding Lake are the Upan Tula beacon and Tash beacon respectively. It may be a bit difficult to understand if you say this directly. These two beacons, which don’t look very special, are exactly the battle and defense sites left by the ancient ancestors who are far enough away from now. From the perspective of altitude, these two beacons are undoubtedly They are also the two beacon towers with the lowest altitude in my country.
If it were not for the relatively low temperature in winter, it would be difficult for ordinary people to enter Lake Edin. There are wild snow leopards and brown bears here, and you may also see critically endangered wild camels. Lake Edin was once a paradise for various wild birds and animals. Very rare wild birds and animals such as goshawks, black storks and kites lived here. Of course, these scenes of wildlife prosperity no longer exist, but for many visitors to Lake Eding, even just seeing some wild rabbits is enough to make them cheer.
How was the Turpan Basin where Lake Edin is located formed?
As mentioned before, Lake Edin is the lowest point on land in our country and the second-lowest land in the world, and the one in front of it is the Dead Sea in Jordan. Aydin Lake is located in the center of the Turpan Basin. When we look at the basin from a height, it is equivalent to three rings spliced together, and the center of these rings is Aydin Lake.
Since ancient times, Turpan Basin has been called the Fire Continent because the evaporation here is always more than 3,000 millimeters, but the average annual precipitation is only a dozen millimeters. From June to August every year, The average maximum temperature in this area is above 38 degrees Celsius, and the temperature on the surface sand surface may exceed 80 degrees Celsius.
The Turpan Basin is surrounded by mountains. Geological research shows that the Turpan Basin was originally a sea, but violent crustal movements changed it into the basin terrain we see today, especially about three thousand The Himalayan orogeny thousands of years ago. Although the mountainous area of the Turpan Basin reaches more than 9,000 square kilometers, the plain area is also close to 6,000 square kilometers. The oases on the north and south sides provide important guarantees for the survival of local residents.
In the Turpan area, wind is also a natural resource, and it is mostly northwest wind. The wind is the strongest and strongest from March to June of the year. It can be said that Turpan’s wind energy resources are inexhaustible. Inexhaustible, not only the cost is relatively low, but also there is no pollution. The water shortage problem in the Turpan Basin is also being alleviated by diverting water from the Irtysh River. The "Land of Fruits" can bring more delicious fruits to everyone for a long time to come.