The Issyk-Kul depression, slightly resembling an inverted triangle, extends from west to east for more than 220 km, and the maximum width reaches 75 km in its central part.Tilted river and lake terraces in deformed structures in the eastern part of the Issyk-Kul basin are the result of active tectonic movements in the Quaternary time.In this research, we focused on the evolution of topography with the goal of defining the features of active tectonics, through the analysis of the digital elevation model (DEM).The belt of modern deformations in the eastern part of the basin extends in the latitudinal direction for more than 80 km.In this area from west to east, there are several separate anticlinal structures composed of Paleogene-Neogene and Quaternary deposits.Geological-geomorphological mapping and profiling of terraces show that the deformation of the terraces is caused mainly by gently dipping thrust faults.Active faults are represented in relatively small segments of 10-20 km, with the exception of the Tasma fault.This fault, extending to the west for more than 60 km, deforming a broad lake terrace at an elevation of 1650 m.Analysis of the terraces shows that the older (Q2) terraces occupying the foothill zones have relatively steep slopes and in some places their surface is also ruptured with modern active faults.Late Pleistocene and Holocene terraces completely occupy the entire flat part of the basin, and in some places, these terraces also underwent deformation.The degree of influence of tectonic and climatic processes on the evolution of the Quaternary topography is preserved in the morphometric characteristics of river and lake terraces.The development of deformation processes inside the basin in this region with a width of 40-45 km is the result of active shortening of the earth's crust, which is caused by the counter movements of the Teskey and Kungey ranges.

The Kyrgyz Republic is located in a highly seismic region subjected to devastating earthquakes that have caused loss of life, destroyed homes and ruined livelihoods in historical and recent times. In order to better understand the risk from earthquakes across the entire country, a nationwide seismic hazard and risk management study for buildings was undertaken. Across the Kyrgyz Republic, there are 150,000 residential buildings with an estimated portfolio value of 60 billion USD, 5,500 school buildings with an estimated value of 1.5 billion USD, 333 fire station buildings with a value of 500 million USD and 185 hospital buildings with a value of 9 billion USD. In this study, direct earthquake losses due to ground shaking have been quantified for each building asset portfolio using a probabilistic hazard and risk assessment for the entire country as well as twelve (12) selected credible scenario earthquake hazard and risk calculations. Risk assessments were performed independently for each building portfolio, using exposure and vulnerability models specifically tailored to the characteristics of each group of assets. The probabilistic seismic hazard and risk assessment confirmed that the country is subjected to moderate to high seismic hazard across most of the country and that significant average annual losses are expected (for example, up to 4% of GDP for the residential buildings portfolio). For the considered scenario events, the estimated monetary losses (mean) range from 138 million to 11 billion USD (i.e. up to 150% of GDP while fatalities range from 200 to 10,300 people. These findings will allow stakeholders to make informed decisions for upgrades and investment to reduce losses, better plan for emergency response and inform longer term recovery after earthquake disasters.

The Kyrgyz Republic is located in a highly seismic region subjected to devastating earthquakes that have caused loss of life, destroyed buildings and infrastructure and ruined livelihoods in historical and recent times. In order to better understand the hazard and the risk from earthquakes to critical assets, including transport infrastructure, a national level seismic hazard and risk study was undertaken. Across the Kyrgyz Republic there are around 4,300 km of four-lane primary roads, 43,000 km of two-lane secondary roads and over 1,400 road bridges with an estimated total value of USD 34 billion. The study included a probabilistic seismic hazard assessment for the country as well as twelve (12) representative scenario earthquake events hazard calculations. The mean expected direct economic losses to road transport infrastructure associated with the individual scenario earthquake events was estimated to be in the range of USD 60 million to 1 billion for roads and in the range of USD 2.4 to 22 million for bridges. These findings will allow stakeholders to make informed decisions for upgrades and new investment for transport infrastructure to reduce losses, better plan for emergency response and inform longer term recovery after earthquake disasters.

Well-preserved flights of river and lake terraces traverse an actively deforming rangefront, and form a link between glaciated mountains and a large intermontane lake in the Issyk-Kul basin of the Kyrgyz Tien Shan. We investigated the history and geometry of these lake and river terraces using geologic mapping, surveying, and radiocarbon and terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide dating. A prominent late Pleistocene highstand of the lake occurred over at least the period of 43-25 ka, followed by a period of deep regression and subsequent rise of the lake to the modern sill level in the late Holocene. Major aggradation of the most prominent latest Quaternary river terrace along the Ak-Terek and Barskaun rivers likely started at similar to 70-60 ka, coincident to the local last glacial maximum in this region. In contrast to some models of aggradation and incision, the rivers appear to have stayed near the top of the fill for >20 ka, incising subtly below the top of this fill by similar to 37 ka, locally. Deep incision likely did not occur until the peak deglaciation in the latest Pleistocene. Older dated terrace surfaces are consistent with one major terrace-forming event per glacial, constant deformation and incision rates, and typical fluvial gradients lower than the modern incising streams. The dating confirms regional terrace correlations for the most prominent late Quaternary terraces, but correlating higher terraces is complicated by spatially varying uplift rates and preferential terrace preservation between basins in the Tien Shan. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The general plan of settlement always determines the future development of municipal area, housing and communal services, transport systems and industrial facilities. This plan is based on the urban area zoning according to the state of knowledge of the development and distribution of natural hazards. Knowledge of the engineering and geological conditions and their spatial (and temporal) variability involves mapping and dividing the city territory into zones of different purposes. Main task of mapping of natural hazards is to identify dangerous exogenous processes, as well as to present imagination on the map created by the study of literature and archive materials, preliminary decoding of optical satellite imagery and specified by field observations. Despite the extensive literature, we nevertheless do not always find comprehensive cartographic materials on the distribution of landslides providing direct danger to urban infrastructure with the purpose of its visualization and verification. It was found that landslides shown on the archive cartographic material (scale 1: 100,000 for 1997), could be located 300–450 m from their real location. Also in the study area more than 150 landslides are revealed by decoding of optical images of medium (MR) and high (HR) resolution. Totally 45 landslides within the town limits are investigated and systemized. 6 of them provide direct threat to urban infrastructure and vulnerable communities. According to the results of conducted works the modern map of landslide distribution for Sulukta town and its agglomeration area was developed. Though this simplified hazard map was designed for understanding and visualization not by experts in cartography field, the collected materials can significantly assist the researcher in understanding the development of landslide processes in region.

Climate models suggest that the onset of Asian monsoons and aridification have been governed by Tibetan plateau uplift, global climate changes and the retreat to the west of the vast epicontinental Proto-Paratethys sea during the warm Eocene greenhouse period (55-34 million years ago). However, the role of the Proto-Paratethys sea on climate remains to be quantified by accurate and precise reconstructions. By applying a novel intra-annual geochemical multi-proxy methodology on Eocene oyster shells of the Proto-Paratethys sea and comparing results to climate simulations and sedimentology analyses, we show that the Central Asian region was generally arid with a high seasonal contrast characterized by hot and arid summers and wetter winters. Hotter and more arid summers despite the presence of the Proto-Paratethys may be explained by warmer Eocene global conditions with a strong anticyclonic Hadley cell descending at Central Asian latitudes and a stronger Foehn effect from the emerging Tibetan Plateau to the south. This implies that the shallow sea did not have a strong dampening thermal effect on the monsoonal circulation in contrast to previous circulation models results but in agreement with recent evidence for Eocene summer monsoons. Enhanced winter precipitations, relative to modern, is linked to a westerly moisture source coming from the Proto-Paratethys sea at that time. Additional bulk sediment stable isotope data from marine limestones and pedogenic carbonates suggest a gradual decrease in this westerly moisture source, which is in line with the retreat of the Proto-Paratethys followed by the Oligo-Miocene orogeny of the Central Asian ranges (Tian Shan and Pamir) shielding the westerlies.

As part of a seismic risk study sponsored by the World Bank, a revised seismic hazard map for the Kyrgyz Republic has been produced, using the OpenQuake-engine developed by the Global Earthquake Model Foundation (GEM). In this project, an earthquake catalogue spanning a period from 250 BCE to 2014 was compiled and processed through spatial and temporal declustering tools. The territory of the Kyrgyz Republic was divided into 31 area sources defined based on local seismicity, including a total area covering 200 km from the border. The results are presented in terms of Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA). In addition, macroseismic intensity estimates, making use of recent intensity prediction equations, were also provided, given that this measure is still widely used in Central Asia. In order to accommodate the associated epistemic uncertainty, three ground motion prediction equations were used in a logic tree structure. A set of representative earthquake scenarios were further identified based on historical data and the nature of the considered faults.

Abstract The Cretaceous and Palaeogene sediments of the basins in Central Asia include the remnants of the easternmost extent of a vast shallow epicontinental sea, which extended across the Eurasian continent before it retreated westwards and eventually isolated as the Paratethys Sea. To improve understanding of its long-term palaeogeographical evolution, we complement the well-constrained chronological framework of the Tarim Basin in China with stratigraphic records of the sea retreat from the Fergana Basin and the Alai Valley Basin in southern Kyrgyzstan and the Afghan–Tajik Basin in SW Tajikistan. By lithostratigraphic analyses and identification of bivalve assemblages, this study establishes for the first time a clear and detailed regional correlation of Palaeogene marine strata across Central Asia, showing that the basins share a similar palaeogeographical evolution characterized by a long-term stepwise retreat punctuated by short-term shallow-marine incursions. Our correlation shows that the last two marine incursions recognized in the Tarim Basin can be traced westwards. The permanent disappearance of the sea from Central Asia probably occurred with limited diachroneity in the late Eocene, before the isolation of the Paratethys Sea, shifting the easternmost margin of the sea hundreds of kilometres westwards and probably significantly reducing moisture supply to the Asian interior.

Loess deposits on the northern slopes of the Kyrgyz Tien Shan were examined. Their particle size characteristics show silt size dominancy (> 80%) with minor contribution from sand (12%) and clay (7%). The loess was dated using optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and radiocarbon methods to define the timing of deposition. The OSL ages of fine and coarse quartz fractions were consistent with each other within 2σ uncertainty level, except several samples deposited during MIS 2. Based on the OSL ages, four major loess depositional periods are recognized in the northern Kyrgyz Tien Shan during the Late Quaternary: the Holocene, MIS 2, MIS 3, and MIS 4. The rate of dust accumulation in the northern Tien Shan during MIS 2 was greater than that during MIS 3 or MIS 4. This implies that cold–dry conditions varied significantly during the Late Quaternary in the study area. The accumulation patterns of the Kyrgyz loess deposits in the northern Tien Shan are closely related to climate fluctuations during the Late Quaternary, influenced by changes in the mid-latitude westerlies, Asian summer monsoons, and Siberian High Pressure (SHP) systems, during which there was no significant cessation of deposition.

In response to the Indo‐Asian collision, deformation of the Tien Shan initiated at ~25 Ma along the northwestern margin of the Tarim Basin. 300 km north, the Kyrgyz Range began deforming ~15 Ma later. Although multiple intervening structures across the Tien Shan are currently active, the sequencing of initial deformation across the orogen's entire width remains poorly known. To determine whether deformation migrated sequentially northward or developed less predictably, we documented deformation patterns within the Naryn Basin in south‐central Kyrgyzstan. Detailed mapping and a published balanced cross section across the Naryn Basin suggest that deep‐seated, relatively steeply dipping thrust faults have disrupted the basin during late Cenozoic deformation. Dating of deformed fluvial terraces with ages between ~10 and 250 ka constrains the rate of deformation across relatively young structures in the Tien Shan interior. Based on geodetic surveys of dated terraces, local rates of relative rock uplift span from 0.3 to 3.5 mm/yr. Folding rates and patterns are temporally persistent at a given site. Moreover, they mimic modern geodetic rates measured from interferometric synthetic aperture radar. Extrapolating these rates into the past suggests that structures within the interior of the Naryn Basin formed in the last 1 Myr, whereas the ranges surrounding the basin initiated at least 1–4 Myr earlier. Hence, within the Naryn Basin itself, deformation has migrated from margins to interior. Similarly, these new chronologies indicate that at least some deformation in the interior of the Tien Shan initiated millions of years later than along either orogenic margin.

Basement‐cored uplifts bounded by steeply dipping reverse faults are mechanically difficult to explain. Reactivation of strike‐slip faults that aid the formation of new, high‐angle reverse faults in the surrounding crust may provide one origin for these structures. This hypothesis is explored by examining the late Miocene to Quaternary evolution of the Kungey and Zailiskey ranges in the northern Tian Shan. These ranges are cored by the Kemin‐Chilik fault (KCF), an inherited Paleozoic structure with sinistral separation of basement terranes. Range growth in response to northward propagation of the Tian Shan has taken place along a network of steeply dipping reverse and oblique‐slip faults surrounding the KCF. Deformation of a low relief unconformity separating Neogene strata from Paleozoic basement records structural growth in response to fault slip. Deformed river terraces surrounding the ranges are correlated to a well preserved chronosequence in the southern Kungey Range. Cosmogenic10Be dating of this chronosequence combined with offset measurements yields slip rates ranging from 0.07 to 0.37 mm/yr for dip‐slip faults, and 1.1 to 1.5 mm/yr for strike‐slip faults Late Quaternary activity in the Kungey‐Zailiskey ranges is consistent with the longer‐term, outward stepping pattern of range growth. Based on cross sections constrained from the folded unconformity surface, deformed Neogene strata and Quaternary terraces, faults building the Kungey Range are inferred to steepen at depth and emanate from a shear zone co‐located with the reactivated KCF. This geometry is consistent with a slip partitioned system developed by an obliquely slipping reactivated fault at depth.

Numerous large landslide deposits occur in the Tien Shan, a tectonically active intraplate orogen in Central Asia. Yet their significance in Quaternary landscape evolution and natural hazard assessment remains unresolved due to the lack of "absolute" age constraints. Here we present the first 10Be exposure ages for three prominent (>107m3) bedrock landslides that blocked major rivers and formed lakes, two of which subsequently breached, in the northern Kyrgyz Tien Shan. Three 10Be ages reveal that one landslide in the Alamyedin River occurred at 11–15ka, which is consistent with two 14C ages of gastropod shells from reworked loess capping the landslide. One large landslide in Aksu River is among the oldest documented in semi-arid continental interiors, with a 10Be age of 63–67ka. The Ukok River landslide deposit(s) yielded variable 10Be ages, which may result from multiple landslides, and inheritance of 10Be. Two 10Be ages of 8.2 and 5.9ka suggest that one major landslide occurred in the early to mid-Holocene, followed by at least one other event between 1.5 and 0.4ka. Judging from the regional glacial chronology, all three landslides have occurred between major regional glacial advances. Whereas Alamyedin and Ukok can be considered as postglacial in this context, Aksu is of interglacial age. None of the landslide deposits show traces of glacial erosion, hence their locations and 10Be ages mark maximum extents and minimum ages of glacial advances, respectively. Using toe-to-headwall altitude ratios of 0.4–0.5, we reconstruct minimum equilibrium-line altitudes that exceed previous estimates by as much as 400m along the moister northern fringe of the Tien Shan. Our data show that deposits from large landslides can provide valuable spatio-temporal constraints for glacial advances in landscapes where moraines and glacial deposits have low preservation potential.

(1) Institut fur Geologie und Palaontologie, Westfalische Wilhelms-Universitat Munster, Correnstr. 24, 48149 Munster, Germany, k.sanhueza.pino@uni-muenster.de, rahetzel@uni-muenster.de, (2) Institut fur Erdund Umweltwissenschaften, Universitat Potsdam, Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 24 14476 Potsdam, Germany, oliver.korup@geo.uni-potsdam.de , (3) Stadtmuseum Gmunden, Austria, (4) Division of Geography, Northumbria University, Ellison Place, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, United Kingdom, (5) Kyrgyz Institute of Seismology, Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic