located_in Qinghai Province Tibetan Plateau Zaidan Basin 2010-01-02T07:41:18Z A vast depression 850 km long by 350 km wide near the northern edge of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. It was probably once the largest lake in central Asia but, as the climate of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau has become drier, has almost completely dried out. The few lakes and marshes which persist are continually fluctuating in content and shape, and are gradually vanishing. The principal lakes at the present time lie in the central and lowest portion of the depression, in a chain stretching for some 260 km from Beihuoluxun Hu and Nanhuoluxun Hu in the east to Xitaijinaier Hu in the west. The lakes are fed by numerous rivers and streams, mostly intermittent, rising in the Burhan Budai Shan to the south, Kun Lun Shan to the southwest, and lesser mountain ranges to the northeast. Many other rivers end in gravel beds or terraces, or form temporary lakes and marshes. GAZ GAZ:00247558 GAZ:00247558 michaelashburner Qinghai Province Tibetan Plateau Zaidan Basin 2010-01-02T07:41:18Z A vast depression 850 km long by 350 km wide near the northern edge of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. It was probably once the largest lake in central Asia but, as the climate of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau has become drier, has almost completely dried out. The few lakes and marshes which persist are continually fluctuating in content and shape, and are gradually vanishing. The principal lakes at the present time lie in the central and lowest portion of the depression, in a chain stretching for some 260 km from Beihuoluxun Hu and Nanhuoluxun Hu in the east to Xitaijinaier Hu in the west. The lakes are fed by numerous rivers and streams, mostly intermittent, rising in the Burhan Budai Shan to the south, Kun Lun Shan to the southwest, and lesser mountain ranges to the northeast. Many other rivers end in gravel beds or terraces, or form temporary lakes and marshes. GAZ GAZ:00247558 GAZ:00247558 michaelashburner