East Siberian Mountains

The East Siberian Mountains or East Siberian Highlands (Russian: Восточно-Сибирское нагорье) are one of the largest mountain systems of the Russian Federation. They are located between the Central Yakutian Lowland and the Bering Strait in the Far Eastern Federal District and Northeast Siberia. The whole area of the East Siberian System has a very low population density.[1] The territory of the mountain system is one of the Great Russian Regions.

East Siberian Mountains
Восточно-Сибирское нагорье
View of the northern end of the Chersky Range
Highest point
Peak	Pobeda
Elevation	3,003 m (9,852 ft)
Coordinates	65°10′32″N 146°00′27″E
Dimensions
Length	2,700 km (1,700 mi)
Width	1,200 km (750 mi)
Area	2,000,000 square kilometres (770,000 sq mi)
Geography
Location in Eastern Russia
Country	Russia
Federal subjects	Sakha Republic, Magadan Oblast, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Kamchatka Krai and Khabarovsk Krai
Range coordinates	65°N 158°E
Borders on	Central Yakutian Lowland, East Siberian Lowland and South Siberian Mountains
Geology
Orogeny	Alpine orogeny
Climbing
Easiest route	From Yakutsk or Magadan

In some areas of the East Siberian Mountains, such as the Kisilyakh Range and the Oymyakon Highland there are kigilyakhs, the rock formations that are highly valued in the culture of the Yakuts.[2]

Geography

The East Siberian System consists of several separate sections of mountain ranges rising to the north and south of the Arctic Circle. The main group of ranges stretches for a distance of nearly 3,000 kilometres (1,900 mi) from the Lena River valley to Cape Dezhnev, at the eastern end of the Chukotka Peninsula. Although it reaches a width of roughly 1,200 kilometres (750 mi), the highland region is almost cut in half by the East Siberian Lowland that stretches to the north in the central area. To the southwest the boundary is not clearly delimited, as it overlaps with the system of the South Siberian Mountains. Owing to the mountainous terrain, large swathes of the East Siberian system are uninhabited. The largest city is Magadan.[3]

Ranges

• Verkhoyansk Range
  • Kharaulakh Range
  • Kular Range
  • Orulgan Range
  • Ust-Vilyuy Range
  • Sette-Daban
• Suntar-Khayata Range
• Yana-Oymyakon Highlands
  • Elgin Plateau
  • Oymyakon Plateau
  • Yana Plateau
• Kyundyulyun
• Chersky Range
  • Selennyakh Range
  • Moma Range
  • Ulakhan-Chistay Range
  • Angachak Range
  • Arga-Tas
  • Tas-Kystabyt
• Yukaghir Highlands
• Nera Plateau
• Kolyma Mountains
  • Omsukchan Range
• Anadyr Highlands
  • Anadyr Plateau
  • Anyuy Range
  • Ilirney Range
  • Kyrganay Range
  • Chuvanay Range
• Chukotka Mountains
  • Chantal Range
  • Pekulney Range
• Dzhugdzhur Mountains
• Koryak Mountains
  • Rarytkin Range
  • Ukvushvuynen Range

Mountain taiga in the summer. Kyrganay Range.

Winter road near Goltsovoy Mine, Kolyma Range.

Hydrography

The main rivers of the vast region are the Yana, Indigirka, Kolyma and its tributary Omolon, as well as the Anadyr.[4]

Climate, flora and fauna

The world's lowest temperatures for inhabited places have been recorded in this region. In the south of the East Siberian Mountain System lies the area of the famous Oymyakon Depression, where record low temperatures are registered, even though the region is about 3,000 kilometres (1,900 mi) to the south of the geographic North Pole.[5]

The lower elevations of the ranges, as well as the valleys, are largely covered by taiga.[6] Rivulets and humid areas in lower altitudes of most of the ranges of the system provide a habitat for the Siberian Salamander,[7] a species known for surviving deep freezes —as low as −45 °C (−49 °F).[8]

Ecoregions

• Chukchi Peninsula tundra
• Cherskii-Kolyma mountain tundra
• Northeast Siberian taiga

See also

• Moma Natural Park

References

1. Gvozdetsky N. A. & Mikhailov N. I. Physical geography of the USSR. M., Thought, 1978.
2. "Кисиляхи" (in Russian).
3. Google Earth
4. Геоморфология России (Geomorphology of Russia)
5. World Meteorological Organization Global Weather & Climate Extremes
6. Herbert Hesmer. Einwirkungen der Menschen auf die Wälder der borealen kühlen Zonen der Alten Welt, Ch. Sowjetunion (Taiga), p. 188
7. JSTOR - Emmett Reid Dunn, The Salamanders of the Family Hynobiidae
8. "How salamanders survive the deep freeze". New Scientist. 11 September 1993. Retrieved 2 November 2012.