138 
EXPLORATIONS IN TURKESTAN. 
ON THE PAMIR. 
The region from Kizil-Art pass south through the Great Kara Knl l)asin is a 
splendid field for the study of glacial geology. All along the trail one meets with 
records of past glacial activity. The high mountain sides are, at frequent intervals, 
sharply carved into large amphitheaters and small cirques, while the plains are 
dotted with piles of till. From our camp at Kara Kul we could see large moraines 
spread in front of the principal valleys around the liasin, and with our field-glasses 
we clearly .saw the glaciers as they e.xist to-day, shriveled up, hanging free-ended in 
their great cirques below the crest. 
ANCIENT SHORELINES AND SEDIMENTS OF THE GREAT KARA KUI, BASIN. 
The glacial geologj- of the Kara Kul region was found to be so intimately 
associated with the lacustrine that it has seemed best to begin with a careful 
description of the ancient shorelines and sediments observed in the Cireat Kara 
Kul basin. These shorelines resolve themselves into two classes — those below the 
150-foot level and those above the 150-foot level. The first class is in excellent 
preservation ; the second class is largely obliterated. 
tig. lUO. The Norlhern Peninsula ot Kara Kul. The white of the lower portion of the right half of the illustration 
is salt, probably CaS04. 
The best examples of these shores were seen on the northern peninsula (fig, 
100). There are three especially well marked le\'els at about 60 feet, 120 feet, and 
150 feet, respectively, above the present lake surface. Where cut in steep rock- 
slopes they have the fonn of narrow, inclining terraces. When followed around to 
more gradnalh- sloping land they are found to be broader, gently sloping, and 
covered with deflating fragments of slate. The slopes are marked by miniature 
bands of briefer action, especially from the 60-foot mark to the present shore. There 
they occur as delicate contours at remarkably regular intervals of about 6 or 7 feet 
drop, as though there had taken place a gradual intermittent recession by equal 
decrements. The remarkable lack of after-erosion and the general freshness of the 
shorelines can not be too much emphasized. 
The second class, or older shores, lie at about 200 feet and 320 feet. On the 
peninsula they are seen as rounded-off terraces encircling and breaking the slope 
