Terskei-Alatau

(or Terskei-Alatoo), a mountain range in the Tien-Shan that forms the southern border of the basin of Lake Issyk-Kul’, in the Kirghiz SSR. The maximum elevation is 5,216 m, and the length is 375 km. The northern slopes are steep and high and are dissected by narrow gorges; in the upper parts there are glacial troughs and cirques with valley glaciers and névé fields. The flattened crest, which slopes toward the south, is crowned by glaciers. The southern slope is gentle and merges with the syrty of the Inner and Central Tien-Shan. The range is composed mainly of granite, metamorphic shale, and limestone. The total area of glaciation is about 1,080 sq km. The gorges of the northern slopes are covered with spruce forests, the crests with high-mountain meadows and meadow-steppes, and the southern slopes with rocky high-mountain tundra, which gives way to the cold high-mountain deserts of the syrty.