Neogene floras of the mountain regions of central Asia and Southern Kazakhstan (palynological data of the Tien Shan and the Pamirs)

Abstract

Palynological data prove that forest-vegetation elements are more abundantly and diversely represented in the flora of mountain regions than in that of the plains. The explanation lies in the fact that the area lies further south as compared with the floras of the plains of Kazakhstan and in the uneven relief of this region. Probably this can also explain the longer preservation of Tertiary relicts in the composition of the modern flora in the mountain regions of the south of central Asia. The climate of the Neogene period on the territory of the mountain regions, especially in northern Tien Shan and the Pamirs was warm and rather wet. Further palynological exploration of the mountain regions of Kazakhstan and central Asia will give a more complete idea of the Neogene floras and their replacement in the course of time.