Boro-Horo ridge

Boro-Horo ridge is part of the Tien Shan mountain system in Central Asia, and a watershed of the Jungar and Ili basins. The Western spurs are located on the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and the main part is located on the territory of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous region in China.

The Boro-Horo ridge stands out for its sheer walls, sharply divided narrow ridge, wild, inaccessible gorges, large foothills, abundance of moisture and extreme monotony of flora. There is a mountain lake Sairam-Nur in the Western part of the range. The length of the ridge is about 250 km; the maximum height reaches 4,500 m. There is glaciation of the Alpine type and about 50 glaciers in the Eastern most elevated part of the ridge. The ridge is a high and continuous wall with a short Northern foundation. River valleys in the upper reaches replaced by slits that are difficult for pedestrians. The depth of riverbeds exceeds 300 m. The river becomes visible only when approached directly due to the lack of terraces. The largest river is the river Kiytik.

The steep ridge of Boro-Horo cut by gorges and almost devoid of any vegetation. Vegetation has no place to take root because of the steepness of the walls. There is more vegetation on the foothills and sloping slopes of the ridge. The gently rolling slopes of the ridge like back axial rock mass that disappears under the lug just to the West of the river Girgalty. The fir tree is a solid impassable thicket that covers the Boro-Horo from the crest to the sole. The stony steppe surrounds the Boro-Horo Mountains in a wide belt, separating them from the cultural zone. Bushes and broad-leaved forest are crowded only in gorges, interfering here with the fir tree. There are few Apple trees and raspberries (Rubus idaeus).

The Boro-Horo ridge is located on the territory of Kazakhstan and China. In the Western part of the gorge located Khorgos, Sigyn, Tuscan, Koktal and Usek. The Ili valley stretches from the ridge at the South; the ridge separate from the Jungar Alatau by the Koksu and Kazan gorges at the North; the Barohudzir valley separates the Jungar Alatau from the Altyn Emel mountains. The highest peak of the mountains is Toksanbai - 4 370 meters. The ridge is composed of rocks of the Riphean metamorphic, intrusive formations of the Riphean, early and late Paleozoic, the effusive rocks of the Devonian and Carboniferous, Cambrian sedimentary rocks, Ordovician, Devonian, and Carboniferous. Pliocene deposits and early Pleistocene conglomerates are common at the foot of the ridge. The rise of the ridge began 2.5 million years ago and continues to the present day.

• Боро-Хоро
• Борохоро // Бари — Браслет. — М. : Советская энциклопедия, 1970. — (Большая советская энциклопедия : [в 30 т.] / гл. ред. А. М. Прохоров ; 1969—1978, т. 3).
• Боро-Хоро // Большая советская энциклопедия : в 66 т. (65 т. и 1 доп.) / гл. ред. О. Ю. Шмидт. — М. : Советская энциклопедия, 1926—1947. — Т. 7. — Стб. 195.