The Tarim Basin, 2008
NASA landsat photo of the Tarim Basin
The
Tarim Basin (;
Uyghur: تارىم ئويمانلىقى 'Tarim Oymanliqi') is a large
endorheic basin occupying an area of more than . It is located in the
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in
China's far west. Its northern boundary is the
Tian Shan mountain range and its southern is the
Kunlun Mountains on the northern edge of the
Tibetan Plateau. The
Taklamakan Desert dominates much of the basin. The area is sparsely settled by the
Uyghurs, other
Turkic peoples and
Tajiks.
Geology
The Tarim Basin is the remains of an ancient microcontinent that amalgamated with the growing Eurasian continent during the
Carboniferous to
Permian. At present, deformation around the margins of the basin is resulting in the microcontinental crust being underthrust beneath the Tian Shan to the north, and the Kunlun Shan to the south.
The Tarim Basin is believed to contain large reserves of
petroleum and
natural gas, with
methane comprising over 70 percent of the natural gas reserve, up to 9.2 bb.
[which units?] A thick succession of
Paleozoic,
Mesozoic and
Cenozoic rocks occupy the central parts of the basin, locally exceeding thicknesses of . The
source rocks of oil and gas tend to be
Permian mudstones. Below this level is a complex Precambrian basement believed to be the remnants of the original Tarim
microplate, which accrued to the growing
Eurasian continent in
Carboniferous time.
The snow on
K2, the second highest mountain in the world, flows into
glaciers which move down the valleys to melt. The melted water forms rivers which flow down the mountains and into the Tarim Basin, never reaching the sea. Surrounded by desert, some rivers feed the oases where the water is used for irrigation while others flow to salt lakes and marshes.
History
Tarim Basin in the 3rd century
Surrounded by mountains, the Tarim Basin may be one of the last places in Asia to be inhabited, its aridity requiring that technology for water transport and storage be developed before people could live there.
The
Silk Road, a series of caravan routes through Asia, splits into two paths, the
North Silk Road, passing along the northern edge, and another, along the southern edge, of the
Taklamakan Desert. A middle path was deserted in the sixth century. The southern path includes the
oases of
Yarkand,
Niya,
Pishan,
Marin and
Khotan. The key
oases along the northern route are
Aksu,
Korla,
Turpan,
Gaochang and
Loulan. Other key towns include
Kashgar in the southwest,
Kuqa in the north, and
Dunhuang in the east.
The
Tocharian languages were once spoken in the Tarim Basin. They were the easternmost of the
Indo-European languages. The Chinese name "
Yuezhi" (Chinese 月氏; Wade-Giles: Yüeh-Chih) denoted an ancient
Central Asian people settled in the eastern Tarim Basin, who, vanquished by the
Xiongnu, migrated south, becoming the
Kushan Empire, centered on Afghanistan and Pakistan and extending into northern
India.
The Han Chinese wrested control of the Tarim Basin from the
Xiongnu at the end of the first century under the leadership of Gen.
Ban Chao (32–102 CE).
The powerful Kushans expanded back into the Tarim Basin in the 1st–2nd centuries CE, where they established a kingdom in
Kashgar and competed for control of the area with
nomads and Chinese forces. They introduced the
Brahmi script, the Indian
Prakrit language for administration, and
Buddhism, playing a central role in the
Silk Road transmission of Buddhism to Eastern Asia.
Lop Nur, a
marshy, saline depression at the east end of the Tarim Basin, is a
nuclear test site for the
People's Republic of China. The
Tarim River ends in Lop Nur.
Archaeology
Although
archaeological findings are of interest in the Tarim Basin, the prime impetus for exploration was
petroleum and natural gas. Recent research with help of
GIS database have provided a fine-grained analysis of the ancient
oasis of
Niya on the
Silk Road. This research led to significant findings; remains of hamlets with
wattle and daub structures as well as farm land, orchards, vineyards, irrigation pools and bridges. The oasis at
Niya preserves the ancient landscape. Here also have been found hundreds of 3rd and 4th century wooden accounting tablets at several settlements across the oasis. These texts are in the
Gāndhārī language script native to today's
Pakistan and
Afghanistan. The texts are legal documents such as tax lists, and contracts containing detailed information pertaining to the administration of daily affairs.
Additional excavations have unearthed tombs with
mummies, tools,
ceramic works, painted
pottery and other artistic artifacts. Such diversity was encouraged by the cultural contacts resulting from this area's position on the
Silk Road. Early Buddhist sculptures and murals excavated at
Miran show artistic similarities to the traditions of
Central Asia and
North India and stylistic aspects of paintings found there suggest that Miran had a direct connection with the West, specifically
Rome and its provinces.
See also
