Zaisan Depression

an intermountain depression in the Kazakh SSR, between the Southern Altai range in the north and the Tarbagatai and Saur ranges in the south. The altitude of the floor ranges from 370 m (Lake Zaisan) to 900–1,000 m in the foothills of the neighboring mountains. The surface of the Zaisan Depression is formed of Cenozoic lake and river sand and clay. In places monadnock massifs rise above the inclined plains of the depression. The rivers flowing from the mountains of the Southern Altai and Tarbagatai are used for the irrigation of crops and do not reach Lake Zaisan, into which flows only the Chernyi Irtysh River. Semidesert landscapes, usually used as pastures, predominate in the depression; there are tugaic forests on the delta of the Chernyi Irtysh River.