ALA-TAU ("Variegated Mountains"), the name of six
mountain ranges in Asiatic Russia. Three of these are in the
government of Semiryechensk in Central Asia, all belonging to
the Tianshan system:-(1) the Terskei Ala-tau, south of and
parallel to the lake of Issyk-kul; (2) the Kunghei Ala-tau,
and (3) the Trans-Ili Ala-tau, both N. of and parallel to the
same lake; and (4) the Dzungarian Ala-tau, lying N. of the Ili
depression. The first three link together the Tian-shan and
the Alexander Range. Their mean elevation is 60007000 ft.;
their culminating point, Talgar, on a transverse ridge between
(2) and (3), reaches 15,000 ft.; the limits of perpetual
snow run at 11,000-11,700 ft. The Dzungarian Ala-tau reach a
maximum altitude of 11,000 ft. and have a mean altitude of 6250
ft. From the middle of the Alexander Range another range
(5) called Ala-tau, or Talastau, strikes west by south. The
name Ala-tau also enters into the designation of (6), a range
between the upper Yenisei and the upper Ob, in the government
of Tomsk, namely, the Kuznetsk Ala-tau, forming an outlier of
the Altai Mountains, and reaching 6000-7000 ft. in altitude. Category:
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