Environmental characteristics of the Upper and Middle Orkhon Valley, Mongolia

The Upper and Middle Orkhon Valley in Mongolia refers to the area adjacent to the former capital Karakorum. It is suggested that cultural and societal development during historic and prehistoric times has interacted with landscape evolution in this region. Thus, knowledge on the environmental characteristics and their temporal and spatial changes may help to understand the time-variant human activities. The area of interest is located in a sensitive ecosystem characterized by extreme environmental conditions that constitute many constraints for the mainly agrarian society. Here, we give a review on these environmental settings and address their temporal changes. Furthermore we give insight into paleoenvironmental archives and their significance for the analysis of environmental reconstruction of the history of the area of interest.