An ice-cold stream, fed by sources, in the Tes-Khem River floodland 5 km SW of the village Erzin. Tes-Khem is the main river draining the great Ubsu-Nur [Uvs-Nor] Hollow, or depression, which lies partly in the Tyva Republic within Russia, partly in Mongolia. This is a typical Central Asian country with an arid and sharply continental climate. Precipitation is scarce and falls mostly in middle summer as showers and thunderstorms. Vegetation is represented by dry steppes, semideserts and even sandy deserts. The hollow is surrounded with the Tannu-Ola Mts. (Russia) in the north and Khan-Khukhei Mts (Mongolia) in the south. The Tes-Khem River descends from the Khangai Mountains in Mongolia and is clear and rather cold river. The floodland is grown with thickets of willows, poplar (Populus laurifolia Ledeb.) (seen), birch (Betula microphylla Bunge), and, in some places, larch (Larix sibirica Ledeb).
50o15' N 95o06' E, alt. 1150 m, Russia, South Siberia, Tyva Republic (or Tyva), Erzin District, 13th July 2000. O. Kosterin

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