Art-crawl in Tashkent.

“It is untrue that equality is a law of nature. Nature has no equality; its sovereign law is subordination and dependence” 

Luc de Clapiers de Vauvenargues.

Pick up a boat out to Aral Sea.

East cliff the Ustyurt plateau is a part of the extensive territory of the Ustyurt plateau located between the Aral Sea in the east and the Caspian Sea in the West and also between lands of Southern of around Aral Sea, including the former water area of the Aral Sea.
East cliff the Ustyurt plateau represents the sublime plain with absolute marks 100 - 190 meters high above sea level limited to accurately expressed ledges (cliff) All surface of East chink of the Ustyurt plateau consists mainly sea tertiary (Sarmatian) carbonate breeds.
Since the beginning of the continental development this territory was not affected by direct water currents, the desert situation poorly influenced formation of a relief. The greatest changes of initial character of a relief were expressed in creation of flat and superficial hollows like Barsakelmes, Assakeaudan, Sarykamysh which relative depth makes height of 50 - 100 meters above sea level. In the tectonic plan Ustyurt is a part of the Turansky Hercynian terrestrial plate in which section allocate Jurassic Cainozoic a platform cover of the earth, top Perm and a Triassic transitional complex the folded base put by breeds Paleozoic and to Paleozoic age.
The landscape is presented clay and clay crushed stone by the desert. There are also the saline soil and the sandy desert. On the plateau there are no direct water currents. On clay soils after rains temporary fresh-water lakes are formed.
In the south the lake Sarykamysh which arose in the 1970th as a result of flooding by waters of the hollow of the same name is located. The plateau is in administrative borders of three adjacent countries: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, however about 70% of the area are to Uzbekistan.
On the Uzbekistan Ustyurt over 300 species of vertebrate animals, including flying birds meet. Regional endemics is the Central Asian steppe turtle of Agrionemys horsfieldi, a multi-colored lizard of Eremias arguta, Severtsov jerboa of Allactaga severtzovi and a sandwort of Meriones tamariscinus.
Treat the rare species of vertebrata entered in the MSOP international red lists and the national Red List (2009): a steppe turtle, a runner of Elaphe quatuorlineata, a long leg hedgehog of Hemiechinus hypomelas, Mellivora capensis, Vulpes corsac, the of Felis caracal, Gazella subgutturosa, Ustyurt uriat Ovis vignei arkal and a of Saiga tatarica, and also steppe eagles of Aquila rapax, an eagle burial ground of Aguila heliaca, a golden eagle of Aguila chrysaetos, a sea eagle of Haliaeetus albicilla meeting on aCircaetus gallicus and a bustard beauty of Chlamydotis undulate.
Cliff have fine protective properties due to formation of cracks, emptiness, hollows, ledges, ravines and canyons that attracts many animal species. All this determines the high level of specific wealth and variety of this natural climatic zone and its importance for maintenance of the general biological diversity of the Ustyurt region.

Authority:
"Ustyurt plateau geoecology. Republic of Uzbekistan". Under the editorship of P. V. Pankratyev. Orenburg, 2009.
Bykov E. A. "Fauna of land vertebrata of East chink of the Ustyurt plateau". E. A. Bykova, A. V. Yesipov, D.E. Golovtsov, D. A. Nuridzhanov. Bulletin of the Tyumen state university. Ecology and environmental management. 2017. Volume 3. No. 4.

Photos by
Alexander Petrov.