Ust Yurt

The Ustyurt plateau stretches between the eastern Caspian and the Sarygamysh depression. Its flat desert surface is broken by hollows, salt flats and steep escarpments called chinks. Southward the plateau approaches the old Uzboy channel, while to the east the Sarygamysh basin once received water from branches of the Oxus. The open upland and its abrupt edges form a formidable landscape between the coastal country and the irrigated oases of Khwarazm.