Aktau + Katutau Mountains + Singing Dune in Altyn-Emel

Amazing in beauty, exotic relief of white mountains surrounded by the black stony silvery surface of extremely rare deserts. Aktau Mountains is a kind of paleontological museum in the open air. Nature has created here the most beautiful gorges of sheer walls composed of multicolored layers of rocks: from green and red to mottled and white - in the upper. The height of the deposits is more than 1000 m. Their total area is about 50 sq km. Endemic plants, such as Mikhelson's kermek, and cornflower plagiobase, which are listed in the Red Book of Kazakhstan, have been preserved here at the outlets of tertiary five-colored clays. For the first time, animal skeletal remains in the upper part of the deposit were discovered in the 60s of the last century and since then, as a result of repeated excavations, numerous remains of ancient animals that lived in different geological epochs have been discovered. In the lower part of the sediments, bones of older Middle or Late Eocene age (40-45 million years) were found. These findings prove that in the past there lived swamp rhinos and one of the species of extinct animals that looks like a rhinoceros-brontotherium. The remains of the latter were discovered during joint Kazakh-American expeditionary work, 1995 - 1967 and described as belonging to a new genus and species. The three skulls and an almost complete skeleton of brontotherium found here are the first most complete materials found in Kazakhstan.

There are many sites with singing sands on the globe. They are found in the deserts of Arabia, Egypt, on the Kola Peninsula, their first description was made by the Chinese more than 1000 years ago.
The singing dunes in the Altyn Emel National Park are a natural wonder located in the Almaty region of Kazakhstan. They are called "singing" because of the sound they make when the wind blows over them. It is said that this sound resembles the sound of an airplane engine or a distant chorus, and it can be heard for several kilometers around.

The singing dune stretches for more than three kilometers and rises to a height of 150 meters. He is a giant among the sand hills. The dune has a pronounced ridge with several prominent peaks and an excellent panorama of the Ili River and the Kapchagai reservoir. Its slopes are steep, and only the base turns into rounded dunes overgrown with trees of white saxaul and bright green dzzhuzgun. The dunes are located in a remote area of the Altyn Emel National Park, surrounded by the Altyn Emel Mountains, which help to amplify the sound they produce. It's no secret that they are known for their unique acoustic properties, which are caused by the movement of grains of sand. When the wind blows through the dunes, it makes the grains of sand vibrate, creating a buzzing sound.

The wind picks up trickles of sand and interrupts as if filtering out dust. Therefore, it is amazingly clean and homogeneous. There are many versions explaining the origin of this phenomenon. A plausible explanation is given by Professor P.I. Marikovsky: "In any dune at a shallow depth, there is always a layer of compacted wet sand... The wet layer is closed from above with dry mobile sand, as the cover clothes the entire huge mountain of the singing dune., then the upper layers, experiencing less friction, overtakes the lower layers, and there is a peculiar, well-noticeable undulation of the surface. It is transmitted by periodic shocks to a layer of wet sand, it, like the soundboard of a musical instrument, begins to vibrate, making sounds." This version is confirmed by the fact that during precipitation the Dune falls silent.

This sandy wonder is a popular destination for tourists who come to hear the unique sound it makes and climb to the top to admire the stunning views of the surrounding landscape. Visitors are advised to wear comfortable shoes and take plenty of water with them, as the climb can be quite stressful.

Dunes are also known for their ever-changing shape, as the wind constantly changes their contours. This is a fascinating natural phenomenon that has captured the imagination of visitors for many generations.