tains were polished smooth. The valleys, everywhere, were 
filled with deep moraine deposits especially of conglomerates, 
through which the rivers of our age have worn their way. 
In Pamir of to-day there are no glaciers except in the north 
and east on the highest mountains, where, indeed, they are 
very large. 
The glacial period was followed by a lake period, during 
which many lakes, far greater than those of to-day, came 
into being. In many places, in Alitshur for instance, water 
washed out all traces of the glacial period, eating away the 
moraines and depositing the debris in the bottoms of the 
valleys. 
The glacial period and the lake period together, still ac- 
cording to Iwanorr, have given to High Pamir of to-day its 
orographical characteristic of plateau. 
According to another theory, represented among others by 
Max FRIEDERICHSEN, conglomerates, the so-called Hanhai 
formations, are the results of atmospheric disintegration in 
an arid climate. 
From a tectonic point of view, High Pamir is no moun- 
tain plateau, but, as has been stated above, a mighty moun- 
tainous mass, with deep valleys partly filled with deposits 
of conglomerates. Tne valleys are continually being filled to- 
day at a lively pace by the help of the atmospheric dis- 
integration, which is very great, on account of the enormous 
differences in temperature from season to season, and be- 
tween day and night. Huge stretches of talus at the base 
of all the mountains bear witness to this. 
The deep valleys of Lower Pamir, with their steep 
slopes are being filled in a similar way. Here, though, no 
glacial nor lake period has acted as an auxiliary. 
Lower Pamir, as its name indicates, does not lie-as high 
as High Pamir. Chorock, located at the junction of the 
Gund and Pandsh rivers is about 2,100 mètres above sea 
level, Pamirski Post in High Pamir about 3,600 mètres. The 
climates of the two localities are very similar, as the curves 
on Fig. 3 show, but that of Lower Pamir is much milder 
and has far more rainfall during the winter season (see 
below). The valleys of Lower Pamir are cultivated for the 
2 
