The Gobi is the great desert that extends along southern Mongolia and northern China. Its northern extent is marked by a series of mountain ranges called the Gobi Altai (Altai means ‘golden’). The mountains appear desert-like, with usually nothing higher than small shrubs growing on them, if anything at all, but isolated patches of forest show… Continue reading A Glimpse in to the Rise of the Mongolian Gobi Altai
Category: Mongolian Geology
Mixed-up with Mongolian Migmatite
When I was a novice geology student, the world appeared kind of simple. Faced with a rock, I could ask myself the most fundamental question – is this rock sedimentary, metamorphic or igneous? And there was some sort of expectation that the question could be answered clearly. It seemed the same in First-year Botany. We were… Continue reading Mixed-up with Mongolian Migmatite
Really Old Mongolian Limestone
We set up ‘camp’ at the base of Mongolia’s ‘White Doors’ — a gap in a massive outcrop of vertically-tilted limestone. ‘Camp’ was the three of us, our swags (roll-up beds we just placed on the ground and slept under the stars) and our big food box. We ate, and after dark, retreated to our… Continue reading Really Old Mongolian Limestone