The territory of North-East Siberia is huge. It includes everything that is located east of the great Lena River, along with the basins of the Indigirka, Yana, Alazeya and Kolyma, which carry their waters to the Arctic Ocean. Its total area is equal to half the territory of all of Europe, but there are more mountains here. Ranges, connecting and weaving into nodes, extend for several thousand kilometers.
Among this mountainous area, there is one of the largest mountains in Russia - Chersky ridge, which will be discussed in this article.
A Brief History of North-East Siberian Studies
Once these Siberian mountains were crossed by Cossack explorers passing from one river basin to another. This huge mountain wall, located beyond Baikal and beyond the Lena, blocked the path to the Daurian steppes and to the greatest ocean.
Many have studied this mountainous country, but for two centuries no one has made a full description and put on the map. For a long time, until the very beginning of the 20th century, it remained a "white spot". Only one person, going far and wide, carried out scientific research and approached the solution to this amazing country almost on the eve of his death. It was Chersky Jan Dementievich (a native of Lithuania), exiled to Siberia after participating in the Polish uprising in 1863. In honor of the researcher, one of the ranges of North-Eastern Siberia - Chersky - got its name.
Chersky Ya. D. spent 8 years in Omsk, and over the years independently and quite deeply studied the geography, biology and geology of this largest region. After the work he conducted, the Geographical Society (Siberian Department) achieved the transfer of the scientist to Irkutsk, for his further participation in a deeper study of Siberia. In 1885, he was called by the RAS to St. Petersburg, from where he was sent to Lake Baikal to study the geology of the surroundings of a unique natural reservoir. Then, in Kolyma, Chersky was engaged in the development of places where the fossil remains of mammoths were found, and since 1891 he took part in an expedition exploring the circumpolar regions of the river basins. Yans, Kolyma and Indigirka.
In June 1892, during the expedition, I. D. Chersky died in 1892. He was buried opposite the mouth of the river. Omolon (right tributary of the Kolyma). His wife, Mavra, continued research, after which all materials she passed to the Academy of Sciences.
A huge contribution was made by I. D. Chersky in the study of geography and geology of the Siberian territories of Russia. Chersky ridge rightfully bears the name of this great researcher.
Geographical position of North-East Siberia
This huge territory extends east of the valley of the Lena and Aldan rivers (lower reaches), from the Verkhoyansk Range to the shores of the Bering Sea. And in the south and north it is washed by the seas of the Pacific and Arctic Oceans. Its area on the map captures both the eastern and western hemispheres. The most extreme eastern point of Eurasia and, accordingly, of Russia is located on the Chukchi Peninsula.
Such a unique geographical position was predetermined for this area by harsh natural conditions with bright, contrasting and unique physical and geographical processes.
For this part of Russia, quite noticeable contrasts of the relief are characteristic: mountain systems of medium heights predominate to a greater extent, uplands, plateaus and lowlands are found.
Ridge general information
The Chersky Range was discovered and described in detail by S.V. Obruchev in 1926.
The largest rivers of the territory: Indigirka and its tributaries - Sellenii and Moma; Kolyma (its upper reaches). Settlements located on Indigirka: White Mountain, Oymyakon, Chokurdah, Ust-Honuu, Nera. Settlements of the upper Kolyma: Seymchan, Zyryanka, Verkhnekolymsk.
Airports: in Magadan, in Yakutsk.
Where is the Chersky ridge?
In essence, the Chersky Range is not a ridge, but rather a rather long mountain system. It is located in the north-eastern part of the territory of Russia, between the rift Momo-Selennyakh depression in the north-east and the Yano-Oymyakon plateau (part south-western). The rift system along with the ridges to the north of it is sometimes also included in the ridge. Administratively, this territory belongs to Yakutia (Republic of Sakha) and the Magadan region.
The main ridges of the system: Kurundya (height - 1919 meters), Hadaranya (up to 2185 meters), Dogdo (2272 meters), Tac-Hayakhtakh (2356 meters), Chibagalakhsky (2449 meters), Chemalginsky (2547 meters), Borong (2681 meters), Silyapsky (altitudes up to 2703 m) and Ulakhan-Chistay (up to 3003 m).
Chersky Ridge - one of the last largest geographical features on the geographical map of Russia. It was discovered in 1926 by S.V. Obruchev and named, as noted above, by the name of the geographer-researcher Chersky I.D.
Composition, description of the ridge
The following ranges are located on the western part of the mountain system (between the rivers Indigirka and Yana): Kurundya (up to 1919 m), Hadaranya (up to 2185 m), Dogdo (up to 2272 m), Tas-Khayakhtakh (up to 2356 m), Chibagalakh (up to 2449 m), Chemalginsky (up to 2547 m), Silyapsky (2703 meters), Borong (2681 m) and others. The eastern part (upper reaches of the Kolyma river): Ulakhan-Chistay (Pobeda Mountain - the highest point - 3003 meters), Cherge (2332 m) and etc.
The height of the Chersky ridge at its highest point (Mount Pobeda) is 3, 003 meters (according to old data, 3, 147 meters).
The relief of the mountain peaks is quite calm and even. Most of the mountain system is characterized by alpine relief, and tectonic depressions - hilly-flat. Momo-Selennyakh depression is the largest in the area.
In total, there are 372 glaciers in these mountains, of which the longest (9, 000 meters) is named after Chersky. Due to the fact that the snow has a loose structure, quite often avalanches occur here. Rivers flow through deep gorges with steep edges. Deciduous forests can be found only on the lower parts of the slopes and in the valleys, more often thickets of dwarf pine trees grow here.
Education, geology, minerals
A ridge was formed during the Mesozoic folding, during the Alpine folding, it split into separate blocks, some of which fell (called grabens), and some rose (horsts). The mountains are medium-high.
The peaks of the Chersky ridge (Chibagalakhsky, Ulakhan-Chistay, etc.), rising to 2500 meters, differ in alpine relief and have rather long glaciers. The axial part of the mountain system is composed of strongly metamorphosed carbonate rocks of the Paleozoic era, and the marginal part is composed of Permian strata (marine and continental) of the Triassic and Jurassic periods. These are mainly sandstones, shales and siltstones. In many places, these rocks have powerful intrusions of granitoids, where there are deposits of tin, gold, coal and brown coal, and other minerals. Chersky Ridge is another pantry of the wealth of the earth's bowels.
Climatic conditions
The climate of the Chersky ridge is extremely continental - quite severe. According to the observations of the weather station Suntar Hayata (founded in 1956), located at an altitude of 2070 meters, the glaciers of this mountain site are warmer than in the hollows between the mountains. This feature is especially noticeable in winter: the temperature at the tops of the ranges ranges from -34 to -40 ° C, and in low areas it reaches -60 ° C.
The summer season here is short and cool, with frequent snowfalls and frosts. July temperature rises on average from 3 ° C in the highlands to 13 ° C in the valleys. In summer, about 75% of the total annual precipitation falls (up to 700 mm per year). Permafrost is ubiquitous.
sights
The territories and surroundings of the Chersky ridge have unique natural attractions:
- Momsky National Park (covers the extinct volcano Balagan-Taas and Mount Pobeda);
- Buardach massif (the most popular tourist route runs here).
In the city of Yakutsk there are wonderful museums: cultures and histories of the peoples of the North, Yakut national music (khomus), mammoth, national art. The laboratory of the Institute of permafrost and the preserved Shergin mine are also interesting for visiting. For the first time in the world, the minus temperature of rocks at great depths was measured in this underground pantry. This proved that permafrost exists.
Interesting Facts
- In the process of the very first investigations by the geographer Chersky, and not only him, the highest peak of the mountain system went unnoticed. It was discovered only in 1945 with the help of aerial photography of a mountain site, which was carried out in the upper reaches of the Indigirka, Okhota and Yudoma rivers. At that time, it was believed that its height above sea level is 3147 meters. It is curious that the mountain located in the center of the Gulag was originally named after Lorenius Beria. Subsequently, its name was changed to Victory Peak. Climbers first conquered it in 1966.
- The surviving notes of the researcher Chersky indicate that there are some inaccuracies in the location of the mountain ranges on the geographical map of Eastern Siberia Russia. But scientists did not immediately take such conclusions into account, and for 35 years, until Chersky’s death, all the ridges were depicted incorrectly - their direction was meridional, and instead of some of the peaks either lowlands or plateaus were shown. More carefully studied the maps and diaries of I. D. Chersky, geologist S. V. Obruchev in the 20s of the 20th century. The son of the famous geographer and geologist, Academician V.A., who worked in Novaya Zemlya and Svalbard Obrucheva, in 1926 went to the area of that same mysterious “white spot” with an expedition.
