On June 22, Kirill Belotserkovskiy and Maxim Popov from Kazakhstan made the first ascent of the north face of Turgen (4,410m), located in the Turgen Valley, in the eastern part of the Ile-Alatau region. Their new route on this almost unknown mountain was 900m, AI3, M4.
Ile-Alatau is part of the Tian Shan Mountains in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Stretching for about 350km, it’s the northernmost range of the Tian Shan. Its highest point is 4,973m Talgar Peak.
According to Kazakh guide Kirill Belotserkovskiy, there had been only one previous route on this mountain. Back in 2011, Dan Scherbina and Vic Vassiliev climbed an ice slope to the right of the face and followed a broad ridge to the top.
Kirill Belotserkovskiy (left) and Maxim Popov. Photo: Kirill Belotserkovskiy
Their effort spanned four days — two days to reach the base of Turgen, one day for the climb, and one day to return to the city of Almaty. Almaty is located at the foot of the Ile-Alatau range.
Belotserkovskiy and Popov required about 14 hours on Turgen’s north face. It featured mostly moderate ice (AI3) with a touch of excitement from a few rocky sections.
“The ice was generally thick and stable, although there were moments when I had to tie off my screws and scratch the rocks beneath the snow,” recalls Belotserkovskiy.
The duo during their first ascent of Turgen’s north face. Photo: Kirill Belotserkovskiy
KrisAnnapurna is a writer with ExplorersWeb.
Kris has been writing about history and tales in alpinism, news, mountaineering, and news updates in the Himalaya, Karakoram, etc., for with ExplorersWeb since 2021. Prior to that, Kris worked as a real estate agent, interpreter, and translator in criminal law. Now based in Madrid, Spain, she was born and raised in Hungary.
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Volume 10 - 2022 | https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2022.848895
This article is part of the Research TopicCryosphere and Climate Change in the Arctic, the Antarctic and the Tibetan PlateauView all 24 articles
Extensive efforts for quantifying regional glacier mass balance in the Qilian Mountains have been made using the geodetic method
but these estimations were rarely extended back to the period before 2000
This study presents glacier mass budgets in the Turgen Daban Range
from 1966/75 to 2020 by means of the digital elevation models generated by the topographic maps and ASTER images
The results show that the glacier mass decreased by −18.79 ± 12.48 m w.e
The average mass loss rate is estimated to be −0.19 ± 0.08 m w.e.a−1 for the 1966/75-2006 period and −0.45 ± 0.17 m w.e.a−1 during 2006–2020
suggesting a remarkable acceleration of glacier mass loss
This may be attributable to the significant increase in air temperature and the insignificant precipitation increase which cannot offset glacier melting caused by increased temperature
Due to the melting and shrinking of glaciers
the area of glacial lakes increases by 2.83 km2 from 1987 to 2020
which often result in massive economic loss and even life deaths
it is essential to carefully monitor glacier changes
Glacier extent and mass balance changes at a certain time span represent quantitative response of glaciers to climatic fluctuations (Zhang et al., 2010). There is a time lag of a decade or longer between climate change and glacier extent (Winkler et al., 2010). Compared with glacier extent, glacier mass balance is a three-dimensional parameter reflecting the change of ice storage and is more sensitive to climate changes (Zemp et al., 2009)
many attempts have been made for monitoring glacier mass balance
Glaciers over the Qilian Mountain are the resource of most rivers over the Hexi Corridor, providing water supplies for more than 4.5 million population, and thus, their variations have caused widespread concern. Various glacier inventories have been performed by means of in situ measurements and remote sensing-based observations (Sun et al., 2014; Chen et al., 2018)
the current existing studies focused on the estimation of glacier length or area changes
and quantifications of local or regional mass balance variations are still very limited
especially for the temporal coverage (mostly from 2000 onward)
The Turgen Daban Range is located at the southwestern Qilian Mountains
While glacier extent changes on this range have recently been investigated
variability in the overall glacier mass balance is still undocumented
Glacial lakes replenished by meltwater and meteoric water are widely developed at the glacier terminus of the study area
The glacial lakes expand continuously with the inflow of meltwater
Changes in the total area and counts of glacial lakes are as a function of glacier mass balance
and the first and second Chinese Glacier Inventories (CGIs)
we use the geodetic method to explore the glacier elevation and mass balance changes in the Turgen Daban Range between 1966/75 and 2020
and their relationship with climate changes are also discussed
Map showing the study area and the distribution of glaciers
We used twenty-one topographic maps at a scale of 1:50,000
which were produced from aerial stereo pairs during 1966–1975 obtained by the Chinese Military Geodetic Service (CMGS)
The references of these maps were the Beijing Geodetic Coordinate System 1954 (BJ54) in horizon and the Yellow Sea 1956 datum (the mean sea level at the Qingdao Tidal Observatory in 1956) in verticality
The coordinate system of topographic maps was converted to World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS 1984) and Earth Gravity Model 1996 (EGM96) by using the seven-parameter transformation method
The digitalized contours and elevation points were used to construct a triangulated irregular network (TIN)
which was then interpolated to a DEM at a resolution of 30 m
As reported by the Standardization Administration of the People’s Republic of China (General Administration of Quality Supervision Inspection and Quarantine, 2008)
the topographic maps have a vertical accuracy of ± 3 m for the regions with a slope of <2°
± 5 m for the regions with a slope of 2°–6°
±8 m over the regions with a slope of 6–25°
and ±14 m over the regions with a slope of >25°
with respect to the measured elevation of ground control points (GCPs)
We calculated the mean slope of glacierized areas in the Turgen Daban Range (∼15.9°) by means of the TOPO DEM
the vertical accuracy of the TOPO DEM is considered to be ±8 m
The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) is a multispectral imager launched on the NASA Terra satellite in December 1999
The ASTER sensor covers a spectral range of 14 bands from visible light to thermal infrared
The ASTER sensor provides multispectral imagery between 83°N and 83°S
covering nearly 99% of the global land surface
The visible and near-infrared telescope (VNIR) subsystem includes two independent telescopes
which have the 3N (nadir) and 3B (backward) bands to facilitate the generation of stereo images for creating DEMs
We use ASTER Level 1A images in 2006/2020 with a resolution of 15 m to generate ASTER DEMs (Table 1)
The ASTER Level 1A images consist of instrument data without geometric and radiometric corrections
These images are accompanied by relevant correction coefficients without map projections
The Level 1A data product also consists of metadata
In order to obtain DEMs from stereoscopic images of ASTER Level 1A
we first extract 3N and 3B band images from ASTER HDF file
and the projection coordinate system is defined as Asia North Albers Equal Area Conic
The control points and tie points are collected to generate epipolar images
which are used to automatically extract DEM
The DEMs generated from ASTER stereoscopic pair in the study area were highly consistent with the TOPO DEM for the stable terrain
which suggests a relatively high accuracy of the produced ASTER DEM
List of data for the glacier change assessment over the Turgen Daban Range
Since the first Landsat satellite was launched in 1972, the Landsat Program has provided abundant satellite image data for the investigation of glacier changes (Jiang et al., 2013)
To reduce the interference of snow and cloud cover
we tried to select the images with less cloud and snow
and small mountain shadow over the snow melting period
five Landsat-TM/ETM+/OLI images were selected to extract glacier boundaries during different periods
which are 1 TM image in 1987; three ETM + images in 1999
Their spatial resolutions are 30 m
The product has high accuracy through systematic radiation
We also co-register these images to topographic maps using 20–35 GCPs
the coordinates of topographic maps and images are normalized
and their coordinate systems are defined in Asia North Alberts Equal Area Conic projection and WGS 84 ellipsoid
Glacier boundaries in 1966 are digitized from the topographic maps
and the glacier field is indicated by blue color after band combination
the area and boundary of glaciers in 2006 and 2020 are extracted and corrected by comparing with the first Chinese Glacier Inventory to improve interpretation accuracy
When extracting glacier boundaries by manual visual interpretation
the accuracy of all image interpretations is limited to one pixel
The meteorological records are derived from the weather stations of Tolle (38.80°N
we use the daily air temperature and precipitation data
where dh and dh¯ (Table 2) are the elevation difference of the off-glacier areas between different DEMs and overall elevation difference
and α and Φ are the topographic slope and aspect of the DEM
Least square minimization is used to solve the regression parameters a
mean bias divided by mean slope tangent of the terrain
and mean vertical bias is represented by X
and Z directions of the DEM dataset and the uncertainty in DEMs before and after co-registration
In order to minimize the spatial matching error
the process is iterated to achieve the final solution until the standard deviation of dh decreasing by less than 2% or the offset less than 1 m
The difference in original resolution of DEM data sets leads to vertical deviation between data. Gardelle et al. (2013) have shown that vertical biases caused by resolution strongly correlate with the maximum curvature
and the biases exist no matter whether the terrain is covered with glaciers or not
the robust relationship between the vertical biases in off-glacier terrain and the maximum curvature of terrain are used to correct the vertical biases of glacial regions caused by terrain curvature in this study
we only include the pixels within the quantile range of 31.7 and 68.3% elevation changes in the accumulation area
The missing data is filled with the average value of elevation changes of the appropriate 100 m elevation band
The glacier outlines are extracted by visual interpretation to ensure the accuracy
We visually interpret the glacier outlines in 1966 by using the topographic maps corrected by aerial images
and the interpretation results are corrected in combination with the data of the first China Glacier Inventory to reduce the interpretation error caused by mountain shadow and seasonal snow
Glacier boundaries in 2006 and 2020 are manually revised by visual interpretation using Landsat ETM+/OLI and ASTER images
The nz value represents the number of independent pixel measurements
As the adjacent pixels have strong spatial autocorrelation
the spatial autocorrelation distance should be set in the calculation to eliminate its influence on error evaluation by the following formula:
Error resulting from the missing pixel is filled by the extrapolation method. The uncertainty of extrapolation (Ue) is also calculated. Maurer et al. (2016) and Maurer et al. (2019) regarded the maximum of the SDs of glacier elevation change in any 100 m elevation band as Ue
Glacier boundary error cannot be ignored in the estimation of glacier elevation changes, and the uncertainty of glacier extent is estimated according to the formula proposed by Braun et al. (2019):
that is ±7% of the elevation changes
which was also considered in the overall uncertainty estimate
The final uncertainty of glacier mass balance is calculated based on systematic and random uncertainty in glacier elevation changes (Uh)
where △M represents the mass balance estimate
△h is the estimated elevation change
and −ρi is the glacier ice density
There are 285 glaciers with total area of 389 ± 7.9 km2 over the Turgen Daban Range in 1966/75
and they have shrunk to 327.2 ± 6 km2 until 2020
with the shrinkage rate of 0.29% a−1
The area shrinkage rate is estimated to be 0.26% a−1 during 1966–2006
and 0.38% a−1 during 2006–2016
This suggests an accelerated shrinkage of glaciers from 2006 onward
This indicates that the glacier surface lowering rate has accelerated since 2006
We estimate that the glacier mass changes are −10.73 ± 8.70 m w.e
and −6.50 ± 4.45 m w.e
for the periods of 1966/75-2006 and 2006-2020
corresponding to annual mass loss rates of −0.26 ± 0.21 m w.e
and −0.43 ± 0.30 m w.e
Scatterplot of slope standardized elevation differences between TOPODEM and SRTM DEM after co-registration
Surface elevation changes of glaciers over the Turgen Daban Range between 1966 and 2006 (A) and from 2006 to 2020 (B)
Surface elevation changes of glaciers over the Turgen Daban Range from 1966 to 2020
The DEM differencing for the three time spans 1966/75 to 2006, 2006 to 2020, and 1966 to 2020 show spatiotemporally heterogeneous glacier surface elevation changes in the Turgen Daban Range. The strongest negative elevation change occurs in the lower ablation area (Figure 5)
The mean elevation of glacier terminus increases by 142 m from 1966/75 to 2020
The mean mass loss rate of north-facing glaciers (−0.28 ± 0.21 m w.e.a−1) is slightly higher than that of south-facing glaciers (−0.22 ± 0.21 m w.e.a−1) during the period 1966–2006
the mean mass loss rate of north-facing glaciers (−0.39 ± 0.30 m w.e.a−1) becomes much lower than that of south-facing glaciers (−0.53 ± 0.30 m w.e.a−1)
the glacier mass loss has been further intensified
and the glacier changes of the north- and south-facing glaciers are obviously different
Averaged glacier elevation change rate for each 100-m elevation band
As the largest flat-topped glacier in the Qilian Mountains
Dunde ice cap experiences a mass loss of −0.28 ± 0.23 m w.e.a−1 during 1966–2020
which is slightly lower than the averaged mass loss of the glaciers
Different from the accelerating loss of the overall glacier mass since 2006
the mass balance for Dunde ice cap is estimated to be −0.30 m w.e.a−1 for the 1966-2006 period
higher than that of the 2006-2020 period (−0.21 m w.e.a−1)
glaciers are more sensitive to regional warming
and the snow accumulation caused by increased precipitation cannot compensate for the melting from increased temperature
glacier mass loss from 2006 to 2020 is higher
which may be mainly related to increased summer temperature of 1.21°C
and 1.12°C over 2006-2020 than over 1966-2006 at Tolle
winter and annual mean air temperature and (B) annual precipitation from the three meteorological stations nearest to the Turgen Daban Range from 1966 to 2020
Terrain factors affect the distribution of water and heat
and cause the redistribution of mass and energy
thus affecting the melting and accumulation of glaciers
and aspect data are extracted from SRTM DEM
we calculate the glacier mass balance for the eight orientations: north
and northwest for the 1966/75-2006 and 2006-2020 periods
We also estimate the glacier mass balance in the bins of 5° slope and 500 m elevation
Changes in mass balance in different aspects for the (A) 1966/75-2006
(B) 2006-2020 and (C) 1966/75-2020 periods
Glaciers in the Turgen Daban Range are mainly distributed in the slopes below 45° and peak at 5–20°
There are similar patterns of glacier mass loss in different slopes for the 1966-2006
Glacier mass balance positively correlates with slope
the glacial mass loss rate gradually decreases
and the mass loss is strongest between 0° and 30°
Glacial lakes are highly sensitive to climate change and glacier change
under the background of the increase in meltwater caused by temperature rise
the glacial lake in Turgen Daban Range shows an expanding trend
The increase in the number and area of glacier lakes reflects that glaciers on the Turgen Daban Range have been losing their mass over the last 50 years
Distribution of glacial lakes in the Turgen Daban Range in 2020
Variations of the counts and areas of glacial lakes in the Turgen Daban Range
Based on the analysis of the mass balance estimation results of the Turgen Daban Range
we find that the uncertainty of glacier mass balance estimation varies greatly among different data sources in the same region
We analyze the impact of uncertainty on the estimation of glacier mass balance
such as the difference of spatial resolution of different data
errors generated in extraction of glacier boundary and co-registration
and selection of uncertainty estimation methods
ASTER DEM used in this study is optical stereo imagery. Steep slopes surrounding this glacier and clouds cover affect the data accuracy and the estimation results. Since the vertical deviation of the ice-free region cannot fully reflect the vertical deviation of glacier, we add the average absolute difference (ADD) between the median elevation change on- and off-glacier into the uncertainty estimation (Berthier and Brun 2019)
DEM outlier filtering and null interpolation methods also lead to errors in glacier mass balance estimation
the uncertainty of the final mass balance is the root of the sum of each squared error term
including systematic and random uncertainties in the glacier elevation changes
as well as the uncertainty of the ice density hypothesis
topographic maps and ASTER DEMs are used to examine variability in the surface elevation and mass balances of glaciers in the Turgen Daban Range of Qilian Mountains over the past 50 years by using the geodetic method
The results show that the mass loss of glaciers during 1966/75-2020 is −22.10 ± 14.53 m w.e.
indicating a significant glacier mass loss
The glacial mass loss rate has increased recently
from the mean glacier mass change rate of −0.26 ± 0.21 m w.e.a−1 over 1966/75-2006
and −0.43 ± 0.30 m w.e.a−1 over 2006–2020
The significant glacier mass loss is closely associated with the rising summer air temperature in the study area
Despite the increased annual precipitation
it is not enough to offset the glacier mass loss caused by temperature increase
local terrain and development of glacier lakes also contribute to the negative glacier mass balance during 1966/75-2020
The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors
YW developed the program for DEM automatic co-registration
Song Xu computed the geodetic mass balances for the Turgen Daban Range and for the period from 1966/1975 to 2020
SQ performed the analysis between glacier mass changes and climate
Song Xu and Yetang Wang led the writing of the manuscript
All co-authors contributed to the manuscript
LD and AD performed the analysis between glacier mass changes and climate
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41830644 and 41971081)
the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2020YFA0608202)
the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XAD19070103)
and the Project for Outstanding Youth Innovation Team in the Universities of Shandong Province (2019KJH011)
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations
Any product that may be evaluated in this article
or claim that may be made by its manufacturer
is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher
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Qi S and Zhou M (2022) Glacier Mass Balance Changes Over the Turgen Daban Range
Received: 05 January 2022; Accepted: 23 March 2022;Published: 09 May 2022
Copyright © 2022 Xu, Wang, Wang, Qi and Zhou. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use
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in accordance with accepted academic practice
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*Correspondence: Yetang Wang, eWV0YW5nd2FuZ0BzZG51LmVkdS5jbg==; Yuzhe Wang, eXV6aGUud2FuZ0Bmb3htYWlsLmNvbQ==
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To: Ministry for Emergency Situations of the Republic of Kazakhstan
From: Akmolasvyazmontazh LLP (GIS Emergency GIS)
Problem: Probable spillage of moraine lake No.5 in Almaty region
These surveys were conducted to assess the mudflow situation in the Ile Alatau Ridge area from the Kaskelen River basin to the Turgen River basin
the condition of the glacier was inspected
and an orthophoto and 3D terrain model of moraine lake No
Then the data were transferred for modeling of the situation to analysts of "Akmolasviazmontazh" LLP
located in the Central Emergency Situations Department of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Kazakhstan to carry out calculations of possible scenario and identification of risks and threats
Terrain survey over moraine lake #5 was conducted on 25-07-2024
The maximum elevation difference is 232 meters
Enlarged view from south-west to north-east
The depression is not currently filled with water
According to the orthophoto of the terrain obtained from the survey
the area of the overhanging part of the glacier at the time of the survey is - 680.764 m2
Calculation of the area of the overhanging part of the glacier
the volume at the moment of survey is 680.764 *21= 14 296.044 m3
The volume of ice taking into account its density during melting will be equal to 13 152.36 m3 of water volume
According to the orthophotomap of the terrain
the surface area of the lake is - 95,194.5 m2
according to Kazseleshchita data - 988 000 m3
as calculations were performed in GWS-84 coordinate system
- Manning's roughness coefficient was applied - 0.2 (Mudflow-type streams consisting of mud
Current moment velocity 0.11 m/s and depth 1 m
Order of lake filling in case of volume increase:
1) The excavation will be filled completely and part of it will spill out into the depression
After 10 minutes: velocity 0.18 m/s and height difference 25m in the depression
velocity 0.4 m/s and depth 4m in the original pond
2) Further the depression and the lake will continue to fill up
After 20 minutes: velocity 0.1 m/s and height difference 29m
The total water surface area is 129,471.85m2
is greater than the volume of the overhanging part of the glacier
3) This depression will be filled and part of it will go down to the river bed
After 30 minutes: the velocity of the fall into the depression is 2m/s
4) The water flow will head down into the riverbed
After 40 minutes: the velocity below will reach 14m/s and the depth will be 1m
the velocity from the fall into the depression will reach 4m/s
Analysis of the current hydrological conditions of the area indicates that the risk of debris flow formation is minimal
The depth of the river channel and the natural barrier structures of the terrain contribute to containment of the flow
which minimizes its kinetic energy and therefore the potential threat to the settlement of Turgen
the likely impact of the debris flow does not pose a significant hazard to the area
Particular attention should be paid to the Batan tourist complex
which is located in the zone of possible mudflow impact
the probability of significant impact on this site is currently low
It is recommended to continue monitoring of hydrological conditions and terrain conditions in order to timely identify possible changes that could affect the level of risk
Tourists pose for photos in front of a flowering apricot tree in Turgen Township of Xinyuan County in Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture
northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region
the apricot flowers of Turgen have been a major attraction for tourists in Xinjiang
Apricot flowers bloom in Turgen Township of Xinyuan County in Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture
A tourist takes photos of apricot flowers in Turgen Township of Xinyuan County in Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture
A couple walk in front of apricot flowers in Turgen Township of Xinyuan County in Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture
Tourists put up tents to see apricot flowers in Turgen Township of Xinyuan County in Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture
Apricot flowers bloom in Turgen Township of Xinyuan County in Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture
Tourists walk past a flowering apricot tree in Turgen Township of Xinyuan County in Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture
A tourist jumps up for photos with apricot flowers in Turgen Township of Xinyuan County in Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture
Tourists are seen next to a flowering apricot tree in Turgen Township of Xinyuan County in Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture
A folk artist performs amid apricot flowers in Turgen Township of Xinyuan County in Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture
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harvests in Kazakhstan’s forests were bountiful; now this wild fruit is threatened
Winter’s cool indifference had already embraced the snow-tipped peaks of the Tian Shan mountain system
winds whispering the tall trees into a state of undress
“It is cold,” said Alexey Raspopov, a guide with Trekking Club Kazakhstan
pointing to the dashboard thermometer of his 4x4 as we ascended
leaving Kazakhstan’s second city Almaty to disappear beneath a layer of smog
One could see with his own eyes that this beautiful site was the origin of the cultivated appleAfter driving for about two hours to the Turgen Gorge
we abandoned the vehicle and continued on foot
but biting gusts threatened to take the feeling from my fingertips and steal the words from my lips as I asked Raspopov
who has led hikes in the region for the past 30 years
about the landscape that unfolded before us
calling upon the dissolution of the Soviet Union
the thickening pollution and a shrinking glacier to illustrate his point – not that he needed to
The near disappearance of the forests of Malus sieversii
that once blanketed the foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau section of the Tian Shan mountains (which also stretches to Kyrgyzstan)
are testament enough to the changing times
• The secret fruit that can grow in -40C
• Macaroni cheese’s mysterious origins
• The island fruit that caused a mutiny
When storied Russian scientist Nikolai Vavilov first identified the Malus sieversii as the progenitor of the domestic apple
the region’s forests were thick and their harvests bountiful
“All around the city one could see a vast expanse of wild apples covering the foothills,” wrote Vavilov of his visit to Almaty
“One could see with his own eyes that this beautiful site was the origin of the cultivated apple.”
Vavilov based these words on his idea that the ‘centres of origin’ of a species lie in the places where you find its highest genetic diversity
His observations that all domestic apples may originate from Almaty has since been confirmed by modern genetics
“At some point, either seeds, trees or budwood from desirable trees was taken out of the [Malus sieversii] forests by humans and grown elsewhere,” said Gayle Volk, a research plant physiologist at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
those trees could have hybridised with wild apple species growing in other regions
Silk Road trade is believed to have scattered the fruit far and wide
eventually reaching North America with European colonists
Despite being the first to scientifically assert Almaty’s association with the apple
Vavilov was not the first to observe fruit’s influence on the region
“Almaty used to be called Alma-Ata [the Russian name for the city],” Raspopov told me at the apogee of our ascent
before handing me an acid-green fruit the size of a child’s fist
it was not plucked from one of the nearly naked branches in front of us
this apple was a triumph of farming and cultivation
sadly the very same human endeavours that have ravaged the wild apple’s natural habitats
This thought did not stop me from accepting another though
listening as Raspopov continued: “Kazakh people
That pride is worn plainly for all to see throughout the city. Billboards bearing images of apples and Almaty’s tagline, ‘the city of [a] thousand colours’, advertise nothing else but the famous fruit, injecting bold pops of red along otherwise grey highways. At the A Kasteyev State Museum of Arts
apples appear in oil paintings and metal sculptures
murals depicting the fruit adorn the sides of buildings
and a giant granite apple-shaped fountain is a point of attraction at Kok Tobe mountain
On my way to the cable car that takes visitors to its peak
I waited patiently in line to take a picture of a sunshine-yellow
stuffed full of plastic apples; the licence plate read ‘I love Almaty’
a farmers’ market thronging with locals wrapped up against the chill
precarious towers of apples fastidiously organised according to hue
offered with a steady stream of Russian – the lingua franca here – and gratefully received with a grin and a quiet “spasiba” (Russian for ‘thank you’
and about the sum of my knowledge of the language)
they are very proud of the appleJust as the Malus sieversii is the progenitor of modern apples
the Green Bazaar is ground zero for Kazakh cuisine
Each aisle presents another ingredient or element fundamental to the country’s culinary history
There is the corner dedicated to horsemeat
from an animal so sacrosanct to the once-nomadic Kazakh people that it is considered a delicacy
Then there are countless Korean specialities
emblematic of the diaspora that led many Koreans to settle in Central Asia after being forcibly deported from Soviet Russia by Stalin in 1937
where they had fled following the breakdown of the Chosun dynasty in 1910
And there are pickles of almost every type imaginable
Everything needed to make some of the country’s signature dishes can be found here. Take plov
a Central Asian rice dish that each country has adapted slightly
carrots and onions for a bit of additional sweetness
But while the region has gladly accepted the Malus domestica as its own
Kazakhstan’s wild apples have been decidedly neglected
Slow Food has demonstrated that slowing down and paying attention to what we eat is not just a matter of the lifestyle choices of the affluent,” said Iara Lee
director of Cultures of Resistance Network
“It’s about highlighting models of agroecology that provide alternatives to environmentally destructive corporate farming
We need alternative models now more than ever.”
Whether Vavilov foresaw such destructive human activity when he first visited Almaty is impossible to imagine. However, the visionary scientist made certain to collect Malus sieversii seeds to protect the species and help prevent any future famine. He added them to his collection of 250,000 seeds, fruits and roots at one of the world’s first gene banks in Leningrad (now St Petersburg)
the gene bank is the only facility of its kind in Russia
maintain and use the collection according to Vavilov’s theories and approaches,” said Igor Loskutov
barley and oats genetic resources department
“We are working to prevent the loss of genetic diversity and genetic erosion
Volk agreed: “The wild species in their native habitats will always be important
gene banks increase accessibility to the wild species and can serve as a partial backup in case of unexpected circumstances,” she said
In the case of Almaty’s wild apple forests
let’s hope those unexpected circumstances never arise
Back in the birthplace of the modern apple
along with his courageous colleagues and his contemporaries
is a footnote in the story of a city whose identity is entwined with the fruit
I stepped into a street-side stall and bought a mottled green-and-red apple
CORRECTION: A previous version of this article misidentified the car filled with apples as a Volga
Culinary Roots is a series from BBC Travel connecting to the rare and local foods woven into a place’s heritage
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Just a week before one of Stettler's biggest events
The 37-feet Christmas tree goes up and the Town of Stettler employees start putting up lights and decorating it
donning the Christmas spirit and spreading cheer
the tree has been a mainstay for years now
"This year we got the tree from one of the houses in Grand View and its a lot bigger than last year," said Curtis Benoit
one of the town employees who has been been working hard at getting the tree ready this past week
"We will start with the decorations tomorrow morning but it won't take that long we're hoping."
he has witnessed Turgen put up the tree and lights at subzero temperatures earlier
so relatively they are happy that the weather cooperated with them
The Christmas tree has 2,400 feet of lights and once decoration is complete
Santa Claus will be visiting under the tree till 7 p.m.
after which he will be at the Wells Furniture till 8 p.m
Stettler Independent is also collecting Santa's letters to send them off to North Pole
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Dornod /MONTSAME/ A state budget funded project worth MNT 2.5 billion has launched in Dornod aimag to increase the water flow in Ulz River
The first batch of project funding has been provided
materials necessary for the project implementation have been obtained
The flood alert system will be installed within this year
Ulz river that takes its origin from Ikh and Baga Burd springs located in Norovlin soum of Khentii aimag flows through Norovlin soum of Khentii aimag
Dashbalbar and Chuluunkhoroot soums of Dornod aimag and over 90 percent of the 510 km long river flows through the territory of Mongolia
Most of the rivers that flow into Ulz River including Duch
and Ajnai have dried up in the recent years
about 15 thousand locals live near the basin of Ulz river
meaning the river is central to the lives of many
Kenya News Agency
The government has been asked to double efforts to tame rising insecurity and banditry in Kerio Valley
Tinderet Member of Parliament (MP) Julius Melly said the situation was getting out of hand with thousands of people being displaced
he added has adversely affected the education sector in Baringo
Elegeyo Marakwet and West Pokot counties with teachers and learners staying away from schools for fear of their lives
Melly who chairs the Education Committee in the National Assembly said so far 18 schools have been closed in the area with fears that more institutions will not reopen for second term due to rising insecurity
He asked Interior and National Administration Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki to bolster the ongoing operation in the area to rein in the bandits
“These people appear to be regrouping and gaining more ground
It is time to stop the talking and act on the criminals now,” he said
he said were from the same community adding that it was a shame for the fighting and killings to continue unabated
“The people who are fighting here are Turgen
Pokot and Aror who all belong to the Kalenjin community
It is a shame because we are one people from the same mother,” he said
Speaking during a thanks giving day at St Marys’ Tachasis Girls Secondary School in Tinderet
the MP called for humanitarian assistance to support the affected families who have moved from their homes in the area due to insecurity
“The government’s presence must be seen through giving support to the affected people,” he said
He called for dialogue between leaders and the community to ensure that the issues fueling insecurity in Kerio Valley are addressed
The MP urged the church to play mediator role and bring the leaders and community together to dialogue
Catholic Diocese of Eldoret Bishop Dominic Kimengich said the rising insecurity in Kerio Valley was alarming
The Bishop urged the government to be on top of things to ensure that the menace is dealt with
“When this government came to power we all had hope that this menace is going to be dealt with once and for all,” he said
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