Verkhoyansk Mountain Range

The Verkhoyansk mountain range (Russian: Верхоянский хребет; Verkhoyanski jrebet), is a mountain range of more than 1200 km long located in the north of Asian Russia, on both sides of the Arctic Circle and in the center of Eastern Siberia.

Administratively, it belongs to the Sakha Republic (or Yakutia) of the Russian Federation.

Geography

This massif forms a large arc of 1,200 km between the Lena and Aldán rivers, in the west, and the Yana, in the east. Many rivers originate in the mountain range: on the eastern slope, Sartang, Durgalach, Yana, Bytantaj and Omolóy; on the western slope, shorter rivers that almost all flow into the Lena and Aldán.

The highest point rises, in the south, to 2,389 m. The most important settlement in the region is Verkhoyansk, on the banks of the Yana River, which in 2017 had 1,307 inhabitants. Downstream of the Yana, about 60 km, is another town, Batagaj.

The lowest recorded temperatures in commonly inhabited places have been recorded in this region, which generally remains covered under a deep blanket of snow for most of the year. During the last ice age the mountain range had extensive glaciers. The landscape in summer is typical of the alpine mountains.

In the region there are deposits of coal, silver, lead and zinc.

The Verkhoyansk Range has a higher extension to the southeast, the Suntar-Khayata Range, which is sometimes considered a separate mountain range system. Thus, the highest point of the mountain range in a restricted geographical sense is an unnamed peak 2,409 meters high in the Orulgan mountain range. The Ulakhan-Bom, highest point of 1,600 meters, the Sette-Daban, highest point height of 2,012 meters, the Skalisty mountain range (rocky mountain range), highest point of 2,017 meters, were also considered separate mountain ranges in classical geographical works. The two mountain ranges were studied in 1934 by the geologist Yuri Bilibin (1901-1952) together with the mining engineer Evgeny Bobin (1897-1941) during an expedition sent by the government of the Soviet Union. After conducting the first topographical study of the area, Bilibin established that the Skalisty and Sette-Daban mountain ranges belong to the Verkhoyansk mountain system. Bilibin and Bobin also first explored the Yudoma-Maya highlands, located southeast of the Ulakhan-Bom/Sette-Daban/Skalisty mountain ranges.

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  Verkhoyansk mountain range. Zone of steep crests

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  Landscape of the Verkhoyansk mountain range with soft mountains and intermontañeras basins

Parts of the mountain range

In addition to the Orulgan, the mountain range system includes a series of submountain ranges, as well as a plateau, among which are the following:

• Northern Section - North of the Arctic Circle

• • Kharaulakh mountain range, highest point 1,429 metres
    • Tuora Sis, highest point 990 meters (3,250 feet)
    • Kunga mountain range, highest point 439 meters (1,440 feet)
  • Cordillera Dzhardzhan, highest point 1,925 meters (6,316 feet)
  • Sietinden mountain range, highest point 1,929 meters
  • Kular range, highest point 1,289 meters
  • Byrandia mountain range, highest point 1,915 meters
  • Cordillera de Kuyellyakh (Кюельляхский хребет), highest point 1,483 meters (4,865 feet)

• Section south - south of the Arctic Circle

• • Echysky Massif, highest point 2.063 meters (6,768 feet)
  • Arkachan Plateau, highest point: 1,351 meters
  • Tagindzhin Range, highest point 2,084 meters
  • Muosuchan mountain range, highest point 1,243 meters
  • Bygyn mountain range, highest point: 1,152 meters
  • Kuturgin mountain range, highest point 1,056 meters (3,465 feet)
  • Cordillera de Munni, highest point: 1,784 meters[7].
  • Kelter Range, highest point 2.002 meters (6,568 feet)
  • Sorkin Range, highest point 1,250 meters (4,100 feet)
  • Cordillera de Ust-Vilyuy, highest point 998 meters (near Lena)[8]
  • Chochum range, highest point 1.363 meters (4,472 feet)
  • Sordogin mountain range, highest point 1,352 meters (4,436 feet)
  • Khabakh mountain range, highest point 1,122 meters (3,681 feet) (east)
  • Khunkhadin mountain range, highest point 1,802 meters (5,912 feet) (east)

Far south (part of the great Verkhoyansk mountain range, together with the Suntar Khayata)

• • Kyllakh mountain range, highest point 901 meters (2,956 feet)
  • Ulakhan-Bom, highest point 1,830 meters (6,000 feet),[9]
  • Sette-Daban, highest point 2.102 meters (6,896 feet)
  • Skalisty Range, highest point 2,017 meters (6,617 feet)

Geology

The mountain range is located just west of the boundary of the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates.. The mountains were formed by folding and represent an anticline.

The river valleys on their western and southern slopes are deep, with traces of glacial processing, and at their exit in the flat amphitheater moraine cones form. The crests of the ridges have sharp alpine shapes. To the southeast, in the upper basin of the Yana River, the tops of the mountain ranges and massifs are rounded and with 'softer' shapes.

Tectonically, the Verkhoyansk ridge is an anticline composed of siltstones, sandstones and shales, and less frequently limestones. In some places, the sedimentary rocks are impregnated with diabase dykes and granite intrusions, with which deposits of gold and tin are connected.

There are deposits of gold, tin, lead, zinc, coal and others. Extraction is very difficult due to the harsh climate. Until 1990-91, mineral extraction was supported and financed by the then government. Today, this industry is in decline, only a few gold deposits remain in operation.

Hydrology

The Verkhoyansk Range is a watershed between the basins of the Lena Rivers to the west and southwest and the Omoloy and Yana Rivers to the east and northeast. From there, to the west and south, many right tributaries of the Lena (Bösyuke, Jarjan, Menkere, Soboloh Mayan, Begidjan, Undulyung, Djaniska, Lepiske) and Aldan originate. From its eastern slopes arise the Dulgalah and Sartang rivers (which comprise the Yana River), as well as the first and second order tributaries of the Yana (Bitantai Nelgese Derbeke, etc.), and to the northeast of the Orulgan mountain range the Omoloy River originates..

Climate

The climate is cold, markedly continental. During the long winter, temperature inversions are a characteristic phenomenon, especially acute in the foothills, valleys and river valleys. This region has recorded the lowest temperatures in the world for inhabited places, and there is a fairly deep snow cover for most of the year. The average January temperature -36°C, -38°C. Summer is short and in the south of the valleys relatively warm (average temperature in July 12 to 14 °C). During the summer season, almost 3/4 of the annual amount of precipitation falls, with the largest amount - up to 600 mm falling on the western slope of the Orulgan mountain range. Permanently frozen ground extends almost everywhere. Rivers in mountainous areas are normally frozen between September and May.

Vegetation

The mountain range is home to an alpine tundra, which is home to several species of mosses and lichens. Some sparsely wooded forests of larch and dwarf Siberian pine mainly occur on gentle slopes.

A cold arctic desert reigns on the tops of the highest ridges. Down the slopes on weak soils, pathetic mountain-tundra vegetation appears, alternating further down with patches of dwarf cedar pine, creeping birch, bush spruce and polar willow. To the south, the lower parts of the slopes up to a height of 800 to 1200 m are covered with sparse larch forests and there are vast areas of steppe. On alluvial podzolic soils at the bottom of the valleys of large rivers there are forests of pine and birch, rarely of spruce, poplar and deciduous shrubs.