The extreme north of Asia and North America is occupied by Arctic deserts - lifeless spaces with extremely sparse vegetation, located among the snows and ice. These landscapes are characteristic of most of Greenland, the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, as well as other islands of the Arctic Basin and islands located off the coast of Antarctica.
The climate of this natural zone is arctic, cold. Winter is long and severe (average temperature is from -10 to -35 ° С), and summer is short and cold (0 … + 5 ° С). In winter, a polar night reigns, which, depending on the latitude of the area, lasts from 98 days to six months. In June, simultaneously with the onset of the polar day, the Arctic deserts slowly come to life - spring comes. Despite the fact that the sun shines around the clock, the soil thaws only a few centimeters. During that short period during which positive temperatures are maintained, snow melts only in small areas with marshy and rocky soils.
In summer, the sky is extremely rare; as a rule, it is overcast by clouds giving long precipitation (rain, often with snow). During this period, the earth is often enveloped in thick fogs, formed due to the evaporation of moisture from the surface of the ocean. Almost all atmospheric moisture remains on the surface, not evaporating due to the low position of the sun and low temperatures, and not seeping into frozen soils.
Scale mosses, lichens, as well as grassy vegetation adapted for life in the north are characteristic of this natural zone. Plots covered with vegetation are a kind of oases among the polar glaciers and snows, reviving the Arctic deserts. Representatives of flowering plants are also found here: saxifrage, foxtail and some other cereals, buttercup, polar poppy, lingonberry, sedge. There are no shrubs, but lichens, mosses and grassy species do not form a continuous cover. The height of plants rarely exceeds 10 cm, since cold Arctic air is heated from the ground, and below it is relatively warm. Fleeing from the wind, plants are pressed to the stones and settle in depressions, on the leeward side of rocks and other elevations of the relief, on the slopes of the southern exposure.
The terrestrial fauna of this natural zone is extremely poor. Arctic foxes, lemmings, and polar bears live here. In the summer “bird bazaars” appear: gaga, guillemot, sandpiper, summer fowl, silly, chistik, goose and other species fly and nest. The fauna is richer.
The Arctic desert zone of Russia in the south reaches the latitude of Wrangel Island, and in the north it is limited to the islands of Franz Josef Land. It covers Franz Josef Land, Novaya Zemlya (northern island), Novosibirsk Islands, Northern Earth, Wrangel Island, the northern part of the Taimyr Peninsula and the Arctic seas washing these land areas. The coastal zones of most islands are flat lowlands, and the inner regions are mountain ranges up to 1000 m high and table plateaus. The snow line in these latitudes is low, so a significant part of many islands are occupied by glaciers (up to 85% on Franz Josef Land). In places, continental glaciers crawl to the sea and break off, forming icebergs. Permanently frozen soils are found on land areas free of ice.
Permafrost, cold and short summers and sparse vegetation create unfavorable conditions for the soil-forming process. Therefore, the soils in the territory of this natural zone are thin, stony, and poor.
However, despite the extreme depletion of the soil and vegetation cover, the Arctic deserts of Russia are characterized by a change in the species composition in the latitudinal direction. To the north of the zone grass-moss communities are characteristic, which to the south replace the depleted shrub-moss communities. In the extreme south, the same arctic deserts of shrub-moss type are common, but already with a pronounced shrub layer.
