Zhygylgan

Zhygylgan, the fallen earth, is a roughly circular depression about eight kilometres across on the Caspian shore where a section of the plateau subsided, leaving a rim of cliffs and a floor of tumbled blocks and slabs running down to the sea. The collapse is generally attributed to the dissolution of underlying rock and the failure of the roof over the resulting cavities. On slabs at the shore edge are fossil tracks, three-toed prints attributed to Miocene mammals including hipparion, a three-toed horse, which is what draws palaeontologists and gives the place a second name as the valley of tracks. The site is unmarked and reached by track.

What you actually see

• The collapse basin - the circular depression and its cliff rim.
• Tumbled blocks - the broken slabs running down toward the sea.
• Fossil tracks - the three-toed prints on slabs near the shore.
• The Caspian - the sea at the outer edge of the basin.

When to go

April to May and September to October; summer is very hot with no shade and winter brings wind off the Caspian. Low sun shows the fossil tracks best. Access tracks are poor after rain.

Honest expectations

The site is unmarked with no interpretation or facilities. Finding the fossil tracks needs a guide who knows the exact slabs. The descent into the basin is over unstable broken rock. Access requires four-wheel drive.

Nearby

Fort-Shevchenko lies north; Aktau is south.