Mongolia is essentially a vast plateau with an average elevation of 914 to 1,524 m (3,000 to 5,000 ft). Mongolia comprises a mountainous section in the extreme west, where the peak of Nayramadlin Orgil (Huyten Orgil) of the Mongolian Altay Mountains rises to a height of 4,374 m (14,350 ft). Other mountain ranges are the Hentiyn, along the Soviet border, and the Hangayn, in west-central Mongolia. The southern part of the country is occupied by the Gobi, a rocky desert with a thin veneer of shifting sand. Explorations have uncovered large reservoirs of water 2–3 m (7–10 ft) beneath the desert surface.