Flying Camera Images 1997

397
WOOD TIKCHIK STATE PARK, ALASKA

(Flying Camera Calendar, January 1997)

Wood Tikchic State Park was founded in 1978 (visible in the left part of the satellite image) and is located approximately 500 square kilometres west of Anchorage and northward of Bristol Bay. A part of the extensive "Togiak National Wildlife Refuge" adjoins the Park to the west. Both areas are separated by the snow and ice covered Wood River Mountains (blue in the satellite image) - which is the southern extension of the Kuskokwim Mountains.

Wood Tikchik State Park is the largest "state park" in Alaska; covering 6,000 square kilometres (1.5 million acres, more than twice the size of Saarland in Germany). Characteristic for the landscape forms, are the eleven elongated lakes, which developed at the end of the Ice Age. In the western part, the lake resembles fjords deepening down to 300 metres depth; to the East the lakes are shallower. In contrast to the non-glaciated interior of Alaska at that period, the South had higher precipitation rates and was covered by ice. Even today the mountain ranges and glaciers are covered with deep snow. The consequences of the former ice-coating are the rugged relief, U-shaped valleys, large lakes and also hundreds of small lakes. An unstable slope has many areas, which up to the present have no drainage system networks of streams and tributaries. The main drainage system runs to the east to Nushagak River and Wood River, in the western part of the drainage system runs to the south towards the Togiak River. Within the broad valleys, the braided rivers meander in multiple arms, which is typical for permafrost areas. Rocky regions without vegetation cover show up as pale violet in the satellite image; the yellow-light-green areas are covered with mountain tundra, whereas the dark-green areas are wet tundra; in the valleys the forests consist mainly of spruce (an arctic type of fir tree) and birch forests.

The main fault line in Alaska runs approximately in north-south direction (visible in left side - middle of the satellite image), showing up in some of the lakes and river sections. This is the continuation of the Mount McKinley - Denali Fault, which here is the boundary of the Togiak Terrane. This is a welded-on microplate on Alaska, in a younger geological time-frame.

The southern part of Wood Tikchik State Park can be reached from Dillingham on a macadam road. In the remaining areas, the only mode of transportation is by seaplane, which ferry mainly sport fishers (especially for salmon) to the five lodges in the Park, and the three camping sites. Widespread in the Park are black and brown bears, elks, caribou, wolves, foxes, and beavers within the Park. Eskimos and Indians are allowed to hunt unlimited the above-mentioned animals and fishes. Tourists and sport fishers are allowed to stay only for 15 days per year in the Park.

(Flying Camera Calendar, February 1997)

Saarbrücken is a river city where arterial main roads cross each other. Along the Saar River is an ancient road which in Roman times linked the Imperial town of Trier with Rome. The river was crossed by the "Imperial Roads", running from Paris to Worms. The Roman settlement was located three kilometres upstream, with a bridge and a Roman fort. In the Tenth Century, the earls of Saarbrücken built a fortress on the steep rocks, and northwards the citizens built their houses - this today is the core of the City of Saarbrücken. A ferry united the town with the opposite shore, where the commercial centre Saint Johann at the intersection of both the long-distance highways has existed since Carolingian times. Both Saarbrücken and Saint Johann were places which obtained the status of a town in 1321; and remained independent until the alliance with the City of Saarbrücken in 1909.

The structure of the buildings has remained the same - on the left shore is the castle which, since the 16th Century, has been in the possession of the Counts of Saarbrücken - and - up to 1815 the Princes of Nassau-Saarbrücken, and who have administrated the earldom. Today, in the area of the former castle gardens on the banks of the Saar river - are located the Saarland Parliament, the Ministries and the Courts of Justice. In the former castle at the top of the Saar rocks, is the seat of the president of the City Association. Vis-à-vis, on the right side of the river, the old town centre of Saint Johann is clearly visible in the photograph. Up to present, the town has remained a city of merchants and commercial activities. From the old city core to the railroad station, the Railway Street runs down to the "Shopping Mile" street. Many people meet each other from the neighbouring State of Lorraine during a shopping stroll.

In 1546, the Emperor Karl V. and his retinue were set on the Saar bank for several days, as the ferry was not in service - due to high floods. The Emperor initiated the building of a small bridge - the "Old Bridge". This narrow bridge led to the Castle Rocks across Saint Johann. The river had always been a shipping passage; and had been linked to the French waterways system since the Nineteenth Century. Since the extension of the Moselle and Saar rivers has been completed in the last few decades, the German waterways have also been adjoined to the system.

(Flying Camera Calendar, March 1997)

Central Sweden is geologically very old. The region belongs to the Baltic Shield, which is also referred to as Early (primary) Europe. The rocks are mainly gneiss and granite, and have ages from 1.8 to 2.5 million years. For the morphological development certainly very young geological events were of far more importance - namely the Last Ice Age. These events let to developing landscapes, which were composed of smooth hilly areas, with numerous water courses and small lakes.

The reefs are also glacial forms. These reefs are small islands, smoothed off by the inland ice which forms the so-called skerry coast - seen in the upper right corner of the satellite image. More than 24,000 small and large islands have been counted. These skerrys continue on to the Åland Islands as far as south-west Finland. Also the Oser (swedisch Åser) with tunnels under the ice cover, in which water can flow freely; are typical forms of this Ice-Age Landscape. The City of Stockholm should be thankful to such an esker - which forms a dry dam in the abundance of water-landscapes.

The capital city is located on the eastern outlet of Määlar Lake (upper right corner of the satellite image); which separates the province Uppland in the northwest, and Södermanland in the southwest from each other. Next to the capital city, is the city of Södertälje, which developed on the southeastern end of the Sea, to the Province of Stockholm. The city is circa 40 kilometres from the open Ostsee (lower right corner of the image). The Province of Stockholm is the province with the highest percent of population in Sweden.

(Flying Camera Calendar, April 1997)

N 52^o33', E 13^o13'
11 March 1995, 11:45h
ca. 1:4,000 - ca. 1,800
Height above ground: 600 m
upward: S

The Havel city of Spandau is five years older than Berlin; as Spandau was first mentioned in a Charter dated 1232. Spandau has the longest harbour embankment on the Havel, the largest share of agricultural acreage under cultivation, and recreation areas and a medieval town centre. The city is not simply one urban district along with many others. Spandau was first incorporated into the Berlin Metropolis in 1920. Spandau still retains a contemplative small town ambiance, so that one can quickly get away from the "madding" crowds of Berlin.

The Citadel is located in the middle of Spandau - encircled by the Havel river - and is the oldest secular building in the city. The clear geometric form of the island calls to mind, that the building is more a castle, than a military fortress.

In the period of the 11th and 12th centuries, there was a slavic fortification built mainly of wood and earth on the area of the present-day Citadel. The oldest stone building, as well as the Palace and the Tower of Julius, belong to the 13th and 14th centuries. The rebuilding of the medieval citadel was constructed as a fortress, according to the plans of Francesco Chiaramella de Gandino. The new Italian building style was built in the years between 1562 and 1594, and the Julius Tower and the main residential premises were incorporated into the building.

The original form of the 16th Century building is - despite numerous structural alterations - easily recognizable today in the photograph. The four bastions, which like spear points tower across the moat, are linked together by walls - i.e. the part of a rampart joining two bastions or gates - the so-called "curtains" and compose an almost square inner court. Measuring from bastion spire to bastion spire results into diagonals of about 300 metres. The earth banks in front of the Citadel impose additional barriers for the defense of the Citadel. Today, the barriers have been converted into parks. West of the Citadel, an installation in the area of the mound was probably constructed as a gate to the medieval citadel, which could be reached over the drawbridge.

The Julius Tower was built in the early 13th Century and has a height of 30 metres. The Tower is located in the southwest corner of the grounds, and has had an eventful history. The Tower was used as a refuge in times of distress, and as the last line of defence. The Tower was regarded as being an especially difficult escape from prison, as well as being a burglar-proof treasure-house. In the year 1874 120 million gold Marks were deposited in 1,200 coffers, filling up the two floors of the Tower.

The Spandau Citadel was used exclusively for military purposes until 1945 and was also known to be a notorious state prison. Imprisoned were such famous personalities as Anne Sydow, the mistress of Joachim II (1571) or the founder of the field of gymnastics - nick-named F.L. Jahn (1819). Today, the Museum of Local History and Culture is Spandau, has a well-kept stock of exhibits from the Stone Age, finds from the Middle Ages and historical evidence of the history of Spandau.

(Flying Camera Calendar, May 1997)

S 27^o07', W 70^o12'
27 July 1985
1: 500,000 - ca. 1:180,000
Height above ground: 705 km
Thematic Mapper (TM), Landsat 5
Upward: N

Chile is the "longest" country in the World; the North-South extent of the land is more than 4,300 km. The country reaches from the deserts in the North to the icy South; the area in the West is circumscribed by the Pacific Ocean, and in the East by the Andes Mountains.

Characteristics of geological structures and landscape types in Chile, are the long distances of the nearby Cordilleran coasts and the Andes mountain system. These two systems divide Chile along almost the entire length of the country. The formation of the Tertiary Andes Chain is still not yet complete - in contrast to the Caenozoic Era Coastal Cordillera. The crustal movements continue - causing earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The major features of the landforms are structured along meridional parallel strips. The various areas are differentiated in the interior - the High Cordillera; the Middle High Upland plains; the Coastal Cordillera and the Coastal Peneplains on the Pacific Ocean. Next to the precise longitudinal divisions, Chile can be divided into five large natural regions - the Large North, the Small North, Central Chile, the Small South, and the Large South.

In the Small North, which is located south of Antofagasta on the eastern slope of the Coastal Cordillera, a semiarid climate prevails - with semidesert structures, interspersed with green oases. Broad perennial stream valleys cut through the coastal cordillera. Here the characteristic types of plants are succulents and deciduous long-thorned shrubs, in looser unconsolidated formations to the North. The Small North was formerly Chiles' most important industrial mining area. Even up to the present, there are several active precious metal and copper mines existing in various parts of the country. Of most importance are the iron ore deposits which are now being opened up in the surrounds.

The satellite image has been processed using the GeoVue system of the Earth Satellite Corporation. GeoVue combines the spectral information of the six reflecting Thematic Mapper channels, into a single color photograph. The advantages of this process lie in the distinct differentiation of geological structures and soil types; whereby the information on vegetation is suppressed to a large extent

(Flying Camera Calendar, June 1997)

N 27^o45', W 15^o35'
29 June 1995, 15:13h
1:18,000 - ca. 1:7,500
Height above ground: 2750 m
Camera: WILD RC-30, F: 152,85 mm
Upward: N

The Canary Islands have always had a favourable uniform and constantly warm subtropic climate. The Islands are situated fore the West Coast of Africa. The Islands have developed into one of the world's largest tourist attractions. Even in ancient times the islands were given affectionate nicknames such as the "Islands of Eternal Spring", or "Islands of Happiness".

Gran Canaria is the third largest island, with a size of 1,532 square metres and lies only 350 kilometres from the West-African Continent. The island is of volcanic origin, and has the form of a shell. The central massif - Cumbre - towers cone-shaped out of the ocean, with the highest elevation of Pozo des las Nieves (1,950 metres). From the middle of the island, deep ravines (Barrancos) stretch star-formed down to the sea. To the West and the North, the ravines fall into the sea in cliffs and steep escarpments - in some cases as far as 1,000 metres in dept in the ocean. In the South and East the ravines run down into small sandy beaches. On the southern cape of Maspalomas the wind has blown sand from the Sahara, building a 10 kilometres long sand foreshore with metre high wandering dunes (lower west corner of the photograph).

These conditions were ideal for building a tourist center in the area. There were no settlements, with the exception of the small oasis fishing village of Maspalomas. Today this village site has grown into holiday centres - Playa del Inglés (on the right side of the photograph) and San Augustin (not in the picture). A gigantic tourist metropolis has grown up, due to the prevailing favourable climate conditions. The island is visited on a year-round basis.

The holiday resort Playa des Inglés is visible as a densely built up triangle with hotels, apartment houses and bungalows and the bright light-blue areas of swimming pools. This borders on the six-kilometre-long, flatly slanting beach. Here small restaurants and bars provide for the well-being of the bath guests. Beach promenaders can run through the desert-like dune landscapes to Maspalomas. The extensive sand-dune fields of Maspalomas are also ideal for nudism. Above the dunes and left of the Playa del Inglés, an eighteen-hole golf links has been built - Campo de Golf de Maspalomas - which is also surrounded with holiday camps. Of course, these tourist metropolis provides countless sport and entertainment possibilities. Not only tennis, squash, and miniature golf are offered - all types of water sports i.e. diving, sailing, and wind surfing. There are also various large amusement parks and centers, with shops, various different gastronomic restaurants and discotheques, so that during the evening hours, the tourists have no time to be bored.

The freeway in the upper margin of the photograph, connects the capital city of Las Palmas in the North, and the airport with the tourists towns in the South. The freeway cuts the spur of the mountain ridge the "Lomo des Maspalomas".

(Flying Camera Calendar, July 1997)

N 44^o00', E 60^o00'
23 July 1995
1: 3,500,000 - ca. 1:1,200,000
Resurs-01-1 MSU-SK, Kanale 4,2,1
upward: NNE

The region of the Aral Sea has been for many decades, one of the major ecological crisis areas of the earth. Intensive irrigation projects along the tributaries of the Aral Sea, have reduced the original water area to less than fifty percent - down from an area of 70,000 square kilometres to approximately 33,000 square kilometres.

The cause of the desertification processes are the increasing anthropogenic demands on the two rivers of Amu-Darya and Syr-Darya - for agricultural use, mainly for cotton and rice products. As a result of the water deficit, the entire area is confronted with irreversible damage to ecological and economic processes. The large irrigation area in the southern part of the Aral Sea is the Amu-Darya-Delta, visible in red color tones. This northern part of the sea was earlier rich in moisture-accustomed growing flora and fauna; these plants, however, have almost completely vanished due to the increasing silting-up of the area. The light silted-up areas along the coastal region, mark the drying-up of the former lake floor, and also show the extent of the fresh-water lake about 1960. Due to the high evaporation rate, salt accumulates as crusts in the dried-up areas. The wind shifts salt crusts from the exposed areas, on to the ecologically important cultivated areas.

The former fishing towns on the North and South of the Lake are - today - located almost 100 kilometres away from the present-day lake surface. Since then, the Lake is no longer useable for fishing. Since 1987 the "small Aral Sea" in the North has been cut off from the larger southern part of the Lake, in order to limit the outflow of the Syr-Dayras exclusively to the northern area. The connecting canal between both part-basins is clearly visible in the upper part of the image.

Using temporally progressive satellite data, the full extent of the catastrophy can be documented; and scenarios can be made available for future silting-up processes.

(Flying Camera Calendar, August 1997)

N 52^o14', E 11^o01'
27 April 1993, 12:34h
ca. 1:8,000 - ca. 1:3,500
Height above ground: 1200 m
Camera: ZEISS RMK Top 15/23
f: 154 mm
Film: Agfa Avichrome
Photo: Hansa Luftbild GmbH, Munster
upward: NE

The town of Helmstedt is located some 36 km east of Braunschweig (Brunswick) in the ElmLappwald Nature Park, and can look back on a long history. The first evidence that mankind lived in the vicinity of Helmstedt about 10,000 years B.C., were the finds of geometrically formed flints. Late Neolithic settlement traces are the Lübbensteine on Saint Annenberg, located on the western fringe skirts of Helmstedt. These are stone monuments and megalithic tombs from the period of the Band Ceramic and Trichterbecher Cultures.

At the end of the Eighth Century A.D. the area around Helmstedt was regarded as the "Adventure of Religious Faith" movement. The Frisian Ludger founded a Benedictine Cloister in 876 A.D. on the then important crossroads. The Rhine-Elbe-Road ran from Cologne-Paderborn-Brunswick-Magdeburg, and the Kornroad to Halberstadt-Celle. (The Ludgeri Cloister is located just above the middle of the photograph). As a result, in 1050 the market town was already in the possession of the right to mint coins. The town itself was founded in 1150. Buildings of the Romanesque Period (9th to the 12th Century) are the Romanesque cloister Marienberg and the Gothic Stephans church. Part of the town walls and wall constructions are still preserved (the elongated green areas in the left lower quadrants) and indicates the old town centre with the numerous half-timbered houses (characteristic through the red roofs below the centre of the photograph). The Hausmanns Tower is one of the very few town gate towers in North Germany.

The importance of the town as a trade centre grew in the subsequent periods, and Helmstedt - as a member of the Saxonian League of Towns - was declared as a Hansa Town in 1426. Helmstedt grew in reputation, due to the founding of a Protestant University by Julius von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel in the year 1576. The Juleum - the University Building - was built in Renaissance style in 1600. The University was dissolved in 1810, by Napoleon I.

Beginning in 1794, the Helmstedter District began to mine brown coal, however at that time with little success. Up to today, the brown-coal mining has become a very important branch of industry in the region. After 1990, the former GDR areas have re-united with the Revier regions.

After the establishment of the GDR (German Democratic Republic), and up to the Reunification in 1990, Helmstedt was an important check point, and the beginning of the transit route to West Berlin. The former motorway is clearly visible in the upper left of the photograph.

N 22^o45', E 53^o50'
28 May 1992
1:300,000 - 1:120,000
Height above ground: 832 km
Multispectral Scanner (HRV-XS) SPOT, Bands: 3,2,1
upward: N

The "Kidan plain" - regional name "Suhul al Kidan" - is situated in the border region between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The dune field represented on the image is part of the northeastern Rub'-al-Khali - the "Empty Quarter" - on the southern Arabian Peninsula. Precipitation is extremely variable; long-term averages range from 20 to 50 mm. The hyperarid climate resembles that of the central Sahara.

The area is characterized by huge, overlapping transverse dunes with an average width of 3 to more than 4 km (when measured from the windward to leeward end) and must be classified as transverse draa dunes (i.e. of great size, but fossil transverse dunes). The pronounced asymmetry of the gently rising windward slopes and the steeply dipping leeward slopes, indicates the main wind direction in the image - from the upper left to the lower left, due to the trade wind regime, which in this part of the Arabian Peninsula is characterized by prevailing northerly winds.

The lower windward slopes of the draa dunes (i.e. the north-facing slopes) appear dark yellow to medium brown, indicating that these areas are dominated by deflation. Whereas the fine- to medium-sized sand grains are blown out and exported, coarse sand grains are gradually accumulated to form a lag pavement. The dark colours of these parts of the draa slopes are partly due to dark coatings of the coarse sand grains, partly due to the greater wavelengths and shades of the coarse-grained megaripples in the deflated areas. The steeply sloping and roughly south-facing slipfaces (bright yellow) of the draa dunes are a result of the dominant sand drift direction.

Many of the west-facing slopes of the transverse draa dunes show oversteepened rims, a phenomenon known as "deflation rim". This leads to the conclusion that there must be formative winds even from northwestern directions. Due to their size and weathered sands the transverse draas can be regarded as immobile. Under present-day conditions, the main aeolian activity takes place on the numerous and small superimposed barchanoid dunes (bright yellow) which cover the draa dunes. The superimposed dunes are aligned in wind-parallel stripes which consist of dunes of equal size and height.

Bright blue to dark blue patches located between the dunes represent sand-free depressions with outcrops of gently dipping Tertiary sedimentary rocks. Some depressions show remnants of lake sediments (diatoms, evaporites), which appear white on the image. In some areas of the northern and wesern part of the image, present-day deflation of the lake sediments can be deducted from whitish shades of accumulation on the lower slopes of the draa dunes. The present-day sand transport is accelerated in the interdune areas due to smoothness of surface, preventing even temporal accumulation except for some depressions which show - as compared to the draas - very small fields of barchans and simple transverse dunes.

Due to its high albedo and spectral contrast, a major dirt road can easily be identified north of the central part of the image. The construction material of the West-East-running road most probably was white lake sediment. As the road leads straight across lower slopes and dune flanks of the draa dunes, it confirms the present-day stability of these dunes. Next to the upper right margin of the image, dirt roads made of white (lake sediments) or black (asphalt) material and several tarred areas can be identified, indicating the position of an oil borehole camp.

(Flying Camera Calendar, October 1997)

S 33^o55', E 18^o25'
22 January 1993, 9:53 h
1:30,000 - ca. 1:13,000
Height above ground: 4,572 m
Camera: ZEISS RMK A, f: 152,54 mm

In 1652 the Dutch East India Company -- better known as the VOC -- sent Commander Jan van Riebeck to the "Cape of Good Hope", in order to establish a maritime replenishment station. By 1679 a pentagonal fortification had been built on the waters' edge, for the protection of the settlers from hostile forces. To this day no shot has been fired in anger from this fortification. This fortress building is clearly visible in the centre of the picture. The company gardens were situtated in the green rectangle visible in the built-up section of the city centre and are still referred to as "the gardens". Flanking the gardens on the South Eastern side is the South African Parliament, and Tuinhuis, the Prime Ministers residence.

The large open area to the South East of the fort is District Six. This was a coloured residential area. The residents were removed in the 1970's under the implementation of the Group Areas Act.

With the increase of sea trade and shipping around the Cape the first harbour, the Alfred Basin was completed in 1865. With steam ships replacing sail; and gold and diamonds having been discovered and the development of the hinterland the harbour facilities were expanded in 1895 with the Victoria Basin, which is clearly visible in the top left corner of the photograph. At that time the shore line ran from this harbour, in an arc past the fortification and eastwards (where the railway lines are now visible).

In 1936 a start was made on Duncan Dock, the large rectangle in the centre of the photograph, with all the dredged material being used to create an artificial land mass between the new harbour and the existing shore. This area has now been built up with office blocks. An extension, the Ben Schoeman Dock, was constructed in the 1970's as a response to containerisation.

From the central business district stretching southwards are located the first residential suburbs of Cape Town. These were situated along the lower slopes of Table Mountain. The building at the bottom -- left edge of the picture -- is the lower cable way station.

Cape Town, one of the most beautiful cities of the world, is one of the bid cities for the 2004 summer Olympic Games.

(Flying Camera Calendar, November 1997)

N 31^o17', E 68^o14'
16 October 1988
1:1,000,000 - ca. 1:350,000
Height above ground: 705 km
Thematic Mapper (TM), Landsat 5, Bands 1, 4, 5

The Toba and Kakar Ranges in the border region between Afghanistan in the northern third of the scene and Pakistan are part of the Old World belt of fold mountains. The synclines and anticlines formed as a result of folding by compression from the southeast have been transformed into ribbons of hogbacks separating broad intramontane basins and etchplain strips or straths. High areas without the hogback pattern, as in the center of the upper third, and rather uniform crest heights are evidence for the existence of a former etchplain or peneplain once cutting across all the structures and strata. Out of it the present pattern was eroded as if carving a cameo. The geologically young strata -- mostly from the older half of the Tertiary with some Cretaceous beds to the south -- are made up of limestones, sandstones and shales, of which the latter could be eroded more easily and today form the basins covered with Quaternary unconsolidated sediments.

This type of landforms corresponds to that of the folded Appalachians in the eastern U.S., except for the fact that there are generally multiple crests, that the whole region lies higher -- between 1,000 and 3,000 m, and that the region only bears a dry steppe vegetation with some junipers in the higher parts, due to its continental setting within the Asian dry belt. Riparian vegetation partly including trees is found on the valley bottoms. Due to the present rock-type dependent weathering and poor soil vocer the rock structures show particularly well.

A climatic and fluvial divide cuts diagonally across the scene. The southeast is still reached by the Indian summer monsoon rains with 300 to 400 mm precipitation, whereas the north and west receive only about 200 mm of winter rains. Due to its position at the northern margin of the subtropical belt the monthly means of temperature with above 25 in July and around 0 C are relatively high for this mountain region.

The wedge-shaped basin of the Kundar River to the southeast with its sequence of alluvial fans overlying rock pediments and the Zhob River at the southern rim of the scene drain to the Indian Ocean via the Indus River. The west-oriented rivers of most of the scene send their episodic floods to the large Argandab and Hilmand Rivers to the north of the scene that end in an endorheic region in southern Afghanistan. The blueish fan structures of the salt swamps in the northern part of the scene underline the northwards increasing semiaridity.

With its numerous through valleys and gorges cutting through the hogback ribbons the river network shows a considerable independence of the tectonic grain of the country. The fluvial pattern has largely been inherited from the etchplain antedating uplift and dissection, and many courses were thus superimposed and incised across the increasingly accentuated mountain relief. This process is still going on, including continued deformation and uplift even of Quaternary beds at the southern margin of this fold-mountain belt.

(Flying Camera Calendar, December 1997)

N 42^o50', E 88^o30'
5 September 1987, ca. 8:00 h
ca. 1:3,000 - ca. 1:150
Height above ground: ca. 250 m
Camera: Nikon 2, 24 x 36 mm², f: 85 mm

Green and yellow-brown hues dominate the characteristic forms of the western part of the Turfan Depression. The Depression is located southeast of the Tienshan Mountains, in the independent Province of Xinjiang in Western China.

The Turfan Depression and the surrounding regions compose the arid central area of inner Asia, shielded by the high mountains. Vast regions are without vegetation cover, so that agricultural cultivation is possible only in river valleys, oases or use of man-made water supplies. The plateau is dissected into three valleys, which consist of loess and consolidated loamy sands. The plateau is almost vertical and bounded by walls rising up to some thirty metres in height. In both of the larger valleys, there are virtually no more flowing streams. The measures taken for artificial irrigation, result only in sparse rivulets. The ravine in the northwest corner of the photograph, has no flowing water and therefore cannot be used for agriculture. The irrigated areas in both of the stream areas are densely parceled, and are used for many types of crops. The windbreak stips are clearly visible, which have high wind-speeds -- between 8 to 12 on the Beaufort scale. The windbreaks are also planted to reduce the dessication of the soil -- as well as to reduce the sand and dust drifts.

On the spur between the two valleys -- the southern part of an island between two river arms -- the town of Jiahoe (also known as Yarkhoto -- the "Town of the Cliff" was built before the turn of the Era. The town was the capital city of a Kingdom from the Second Century B. C. to the Fifth Century A. D. In the Seventh Century A. D., the town was seat of a Prefect during the Tang Period. In the Eight Century A. D., the Uighur tribes conquered the area -- hence the name Eastern Turkey -- which tribes today are an ethnic minority in Xingjiang. In the Thirteenth Century the city was abandoned; after the water supply was destroyed by events due to the armed conflicts.

Jiahoe is located on the northern branch of the famous Silk Route, which runs from Chargan (today Xian) -- via Dunhuang, which separates into a northern and southern track. Jiahoe has a "chess board" ground plan, and has a clearly functional differentiation in residential areas, administrative sector, traffic control and the religious district. City walls were not built, since this was not necessary because of the steep cliffs. The entrance is on the southwest side of the spur. The walls of the building are made of unburned clay brick, which for the most part belong to the Tang Period (618 - 907 A. D.) and are partially preserved. The main street divides the city into two halves, and leads to the religious district. Here are the remains of a quadratic stupa and another Buddhist temple.

In the nearer and farther environs, there are numerous ruins of cities, fortresses and monuments; as well as burying places and caves with some famous mural wall paintings -- which give evidence of the former importance of the locality, and of the long-distance trading on the Silk Route.

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