geo.wikisort.org - Mountains

The Qinling (Chinese: 秦岭) or Qin Mountains, formerly known as the Nanshan ("Southern Mountains"), are a major east–west mountain range in southern Shaanxi Province, China. The mountains mark the divide between the drainage basins of the Yangtze and Yellow River systems, providing a natural boundary between North and South China and support a huge variety of plant and wildlife, some of which is found nowhere else on earth.

Qinling
Highest point
Peak	Mount Taibai
Elevation	3,767 m (12,359 ft)
Coordinates	33°57′48″N 107°37′05″E
Naming
Language of name
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	秦嶺
Simplified Chinese	秦岭
Literal meaning	Qin Peak(s)
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Qínlǐng Wade–Giles Chʻin2 Ling3
Former name is Southern Mountains
Chinese	南山
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Nánshān Wade–Giles Nan-shan
Geography
Qinling Show map of Northern China Qinling Show map of China
Country	China
Region	Southern Shaanxi Province

To the north is the densely populated Wei River valley, an ancient center of Chinese civilization. To the south is the Han River valley. To the west is the line of mountains along the northern edge of the Tibetan Plateau. To the east are the lower Funiu and Dabie Shan which rise out of the coastal plain.

The northern side of the range is prone to hot weather, however the physical barrier of the mountains mean that the land to the North has a semi-arid climate, with the lack of rich, fertile landscape that can not support a wealth of wildlife.[1] The mountains also acted as a natural defense against nomadic invasions from the North, as only four passes cross the mountains. In the late 1990s a railway tunnel and a spiral was completed, thereby easing travel across the range.[2]

The highest mountain in the range is Mount Taibai at 3,767 meters (12,359 ft), which is about 100 kilometers (62 mi) west of the ancient Chinese capital of Xi'an.[3] Three culturally significant peaks in the range are Mount Hua (2,155 meters or 7,070 feet), Mount Li (1,302 meters or 4,272 feet), and Mount Maiji (1,742 meters or 5,715 feet).

Environment, flora and fauna

The environment of the Qin Mountains is a deciduous forest ecoregion.[4]

The Qin Mountains form the watershed between the Yellow River basin, which was historically home to deciduous broadleaf forests, and the Yangtze River basin, which has milder winters and more rainfall, and was historically home to warm temperate evergreen broadleaf forests. Therefore the Qin Mountains is commonly used as the line separating northern and southern China.

The low-elevation forests of the foothills are dominated by temperate deciduous trees like oaks (Quercus acutissima, Q. variabilis), elm (Ulmus spp.), common walnut (Juglans regia), maple (Acer spp.), ash (Fraxinus spp.) and Celtis spp. Evergreen species of these low-elevation forests include broadleaf chinquapins (Castanopsis sclerophylla), ring-cupped oaks (Quercus glauca) and conifers like Pinus massoniana.[5]

At the middle elevations, conifers like Pinus armandii are mixed with broadleaf birch (Betula spp.) oak (Quercus spp.) and hornbeam (Carpinus spp.). From 2,600 to 3,000 meters (8,500 to 9,800 ft) elevation, these mid-elevation forests give way to a subalpine forests of fir (Abies fargesii, A. chensiensis), Cunninghamia, and birch (Betula spp.), with rhododendron (Rhododendron fastigiatum) abundant in the understory.[5]

The region is home to a large number of rare plants, of which around 3,000 have so far been documented.[3] Plant and tree species native to the region include Ginkgo, thought to be one of the oldest species of tree in the world, as well as Huashan or Armand pine (Pinus armandii), Huashan shen (Physochlaina infundibularis), Acer miaotaiense and Chinese fir.[6] Timber harvesting reached a peak in the 18th century in the Qinling Mountains.[7]

Home to the Qinling pandas, a sub-species of the giant panda, which are protected in the region with the help of the Changqing and Foping nature reserves,[1] between 250 and 280 giant pandas live in the region, which is estimated to represent around a fifth of the entire wild giant panda population.[3] The mountains are also home to the golden takin, golden pheasant, golden snub-nosed monkey, Temminck's tragopan, crested ibis, golden eagle, blackthroat and clouded leopard.[8]

The Chinese giant salamander, at 1.8 meters (5 ft 11 in) the largest amphibian in the world, is critically endangered as it is collected for food and for use in traditional Chinese medicine. An environmental education programme is being undertaken to encourage sustainable management of wild populations in the Qin Mountains and captive breeding programmes have been set up.[9]

Weapons of mass destruction

According to the Nuclear Information Project, China "keeps most of its nuclear warheads at a central storage facility in the Qinling mountain range, though some are kept at smaller regional storage facilities."[10]

See also

• Gallery road
• Huaqing Pool
• Qinling Orogenic Belt
• Qinling panda

References

External links

Media related to Qin Ling at Wikimedia Commons

На других языках

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[de] Qin Ling

Der Qin-Ling (chinesisch .mw-parser-output .Hant{font-size:110%}秦嶺 / 秦岭, Pinyin Qín Lǐng), auch Qin-Ling-Gebirgszug (秦嶺山脈 / 秦岭山脉, Qín Lǐng Shānmài) genannt, geografisch in der Mitte der Volksrepublik China, erstreckt sich in West-Ost-Richtung über etwa 1000 km Länge[1] (bei einer Breite von bis zu 170 km) vom Süden der Provinz Gansu über den gesamten Süden der Provinz Shaanxi bis zum zentralen Teil der Provinz Henan.

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- [en] Qinling

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[fr] Monts Qinling

Les monts Qinling (chinois simplifié : 秦岭 ; chinois traditionnel : 秦嶺 ; pinyin : Qínlǐng ; litt. « Cordillère des frênes ») sont une importante chaîne de montagnes de la Chine centrale, qui s'étend d'est en ouest sur près de 1 500 km.

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[it] Monti Qin

I monti Qin (cinese: 秦岭; pinyin: Qin Ling; romanizzazione Wade-Giles: Ch'in Ling), noti anche come monti Tsinling, sono una catena montuosa della Cina settentrionale, estesa lungo un asse ovest-est dalla provincia del Gansu sud-orientale fino alle province di Shaanxi ed Henan.

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[ru] Циньлин

Циньли́н[1] (кит. трад. 秦嶺, упр. 秦岭, пиньинь Qin Ling) — горный хребет в Восточной Азии, расположен на территории Китая. Является восточным продолжением хребта Куньлунь. Тянется с запада на восток на 1000 км от юго-запада провинции Ганьсу в провинции Шэньси и Хэнань. Самая высокая точка — гора Тайбайшань (высота 3767 м).[2] Кроме того, вершиной хребта является одна из священных гор даосизма — Хуашань.

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