Verkhoyansk Range
Template:Short description Template:Infobox mountain The Verkhoyansk Range (Template:Langx, Verhoyanskiy Khrebet; Template:Langx) is a mountain range in the Sakha Republic, Russia, near the settlement of Verkhoyansk, known for its frigid climate. It is part of the East Siberian Mountains.
The range lies just west of the boundary of the Eurasian and the North American tectonic plates.[1] The mountains were formed by folding, and represent an anticline.[2]
The Verkhoyansk Range was covered by glaciers during the Last Glacial Period, and the mountains in the northern section, such as the Orulgan Range, display a typical Alpine relief.
There are coal, silver, lead, tin, and zinc deposits in the mountains.
Geography
Rising from the shores of the Buor-Khaya Gulf in the north, it runs southwards spanning roughly Script error: No such module "convert". across Yakutia, east of the Central Yakutian Lowland, and west of the Chersky Range, reaching the Lena Plateau to the south and the Yudoma-Maya Highlands to the southeast. It forms a vast arc between the Lena and Aldan rivers to the west and the Yana River to the east.
The Verkhoyansk Range has a higher southeastern prolongation than the Suntar-Khayata Range, which is occasionally considered as a separate range system. Thus the highest point of the range in a restricted geographical sense is an unnamed Script error: No such module "convert". peak in the Orulgan Range.[3] The Ulakhan-Bom, highest point Script error: No such module "convert"., Sette-Daban, highest point Script error: No such module "convert"., and Skalisty Range (Rocky Range), highest point Script error: No such module "convert"., are located at the southern end and were also considered separate ranges in classical geographic works. The two ranges were surveyed in 1934 by geologist Yuri Bilibin (1901–1952) together with mining engineer Evgeny Bobin (1897–1941) in the course of an expedition sent by the government of the Soviet Union. After conducting the first topographic survey of the area, Bilibin established that the Skalisty and Sette-Daban mountain chains belong to the Verkhoyansk Mountain System. Bilibin and Bobin also explored for the first time the Yudoma-Maya Highlands, located to the southeast of the Ulakhan-Bom/Sette-Daban/Skalisty ranges.[4]
Subranges
Besides the Orulgan, the system of the range comprises a number of subranges, as well as a plateau,[5] including the following:[6]
- Northern section —north of the Arctic Circle
- Kharaulakh Range, highest point Script error: No such module "convert".
- Tuora Sis, highest point Script error: No such module "convert".
- Kunga Range, highest point Script error: No such module "convert".
- Dzhardzhan Range, highest point Script error: No such module "convert".
- Sietinden Range, highest point Script error: No such module "convert".
- Kular Range, highest point Script error: No such module "convert".
- Byrandia Range, highest point Script error: No such module "convert".
- Kuyellyakh Range (Кюельляхский хребет), highest point Script error: No such module "convert".
- Southern section —south of the Arctic Circle
- Echysky Massif, highest point Script error: No such module "convert".
- Arkachan Plateau, highest point Script error: No such module "convert".
- Tagindzhin Range, highest point Script error: No such module "convert".
- Muosuchan Range, highest point Script error: No such module "convert".
- Bygyn Range, highest point Script error: No such module "convert".
- Kuturgin Range, highest point Script error: No such module "convert".
- Munni Range, highest point Script error: No such module "convert".[7]
- Kelter Range, highest point Script error: No such module "convert".
- Sorkin Range, highest point Script error: No such module "convert".
- Ust-Vilyuy Range, highest point Script error: No such module "convert". (close to the Lena)[8]
- Chochum Range, highest point Script error: No such module "convert".
- Sordogin Range, highest point Script error: No such module "convert".
- Khabakh Range, highest point Script error: No such module "convert". (east)
- Khunkhadin Range, highest point Script error: No such module "convert". (east)
- Far southern section (Part of the greater Verkhoyansk Range, together with the Suntar Khayata)
- Kyllakh Range, highest point Script error: No such module "convert".
- Ulakhan-Bom, highest point Script error: No such module "convert".,[9]
- Sette-Daban, highest point Script error: No such module "convert".
- Skalisty Range, highest point Script error: No such module "convert".
Hydrography
The Verkhoyansk mountain system separates the basins of the Lena River to the west and southwest and the Omoloy and Yana to the east and northeast. It is deeply cut by riverine intermontane basins. Many right tributaries of the Lena flow westwards, having their sources in the range, including the Kyundyudey, Undyulyung, Begidyan, Sobolokh-Mayan, Menkere, Dzhardzhan, Uel-Siktyakh, Kuranakh-Siktyakh, Byosyuke, Tikyan, Dyanyshka, Lyapiske, Belyanka, Munni, Kele, Tukulan, Tumara, Nuora, and Baray, among others. To the northeast flow left tributaries of the Omoloy such as the Kuranakh-Yuryakh, Arga-Yuryakh, Bukhuruk, and Sietinde. The Tompo cuts across the range in its southern part, flowing from its source in the Suntar Khayata. The valley of the Aldan is located to the south, where the river makes a wide bend.
From the eastern slopes flow the rivers Dulgalakh and Sartang, which form the river Yana further north, as well as its tributaries Bytantay, Nelgese, Derbeke, and Baky, among others.
Rivers in the mountainous areas are usually frozen between September and May.[3]
Climate and flora
The world's lowest temperatures for inhabited places have been recorded in this region at Verkhoyansk (Script error: No such module "convert".) and Oymyakon (Script error: No such module "convert".), and there is quite deep snow cover for most of the year.
The mountain range is home to an alpine tundra, supporting various species of mosses and lichens.[2] Some sparsely-wooded forests of mainly larch and dwarf Siberian pine are found on smooth slopes.[3]
See also
References
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- ↑ News Archive - The Earth Institute at Columbia University
- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b c Verkhoyansk Range // Great Soviet Encyclopedia: [in 30 vols.] / Ch. ed. A.M. Prokhorov. - 3rd ed. - M. Soviet Encyclopedia, 1969-1978.
- ↑ Essays on the History of Geographical Discoveries (in Russian)
- ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
- ↑ Oleg Leonidovič Kryžanovskij, A Checklist of the Ground-beetles of Russia and Adjacent Lands. p. 16
- ↑ Predominant heights of the Verkhoyansk Range
- ↑ Хребет Усть-Вилюйский - Wikimapia
- ↑ Snow Cover and Glaciers
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External links
- Template:Sister-inline
- NASA picture
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