Kuznetsk Alatau
Кузнецкий Алатау
Highest point
PeakStaraya Krepost
Elevation2,217 m (7,274 ft)
Coordinates53°51′34″N 89°18′01″E / 53.85944°N 89.30028°E / 53.85944; 89.30028[1]
Dimensions
Length300 km (190 mi) SW / NE
Width150 km (93 mi)
Geography
Kuznetsk Alatau is located in Khakassia
Kuznetsk Alatau
Location in Khakassia
Kuznetsk Alatau is located in Kemerovo Oblast
Kuznetsk Alatau
Kuznetsk Alatau (Kemerovo Oblast)
Kuznetsk Alatau is located in Russia
Kuznetsk Alatau
Kuznetsk Alatau (Russia)
CountryRussia
Federal subjectKhakassia
Kemerovo Oblast
Range coordinates53°45′N 89°15′E / 53.750°N 89.250°E / 53.750; 89.250
Parent rangeAltai/Sayan
South Siberian System
Geology
OrogenyAlpine orogeny
Age of rockProterozoic, Lower Paleozoic
Type of rockGabbro, diorite, granite and syenite intrusive rocks
The Kuznetsk Alatau range
Sunset in the range

Kuznetsk Alatau (Russian: Кузнецкий Алатау) is a mountain range in southern Siberia, Russia. The range rises in the Altai-Sayan region of the South Siberian Mountains, northwest of Mongolia. The Siberian Railway skirts the northern limit of the range.[2]

Geography

The Kuznetsk Alatau consists of several ridges of medium height stretching for about 300 kilometres (186 mi) between the Kuznetsk Depression and the Minusinsk Depression. The highest peak is 2,217 metres (7,274 ft) high Staraya Krepost, another important peak is 2,178 metres (7,146 ft) high Verkhny Zub. The Abakan Range is at the southern limit and to the north the range descends gradually to the West Siberian Plain. To the east lies the basin of the Yenisei. The mountains have generally a smooth outline with rather steep western slopes and gentler eastern ones.[3][2]

The range is composed mainly of metamorphic rocks rich in iron, manganese, nephelines, and gold.

Flora

The Siberian fir overwhelmingly predominates in the forest belt except for its upper part where, at the tree line (1300–1900 m), the siberian pine becomes dominant. The highlands are occupied mostly by vast large-stoned screes, and also by patches of subalpine meadows and, on some southern mountain massifs, of bushy, lichen and moss tundras. The basin of the Kondoma River in Gornaya Shoriya is remarkable for the Siberian lime-tree woods which are thought to be the relics of a pre-Pleistocene nemoral vegetation of Siberia. All over the upland, the forest openings are occupied by long forb forest meadows.[3]

See also

References

  1. "Staraya Krepost". PeakVisor. Retrieved 2023-12-20.
  2. 1 2 "Кузнецкий Алатау" [Kuznetsky Alatau]. Great Soviet Encyclopedia (in Russian). Retrieved 2023-12-20 via bse.sci-lib.com.
  3. 1 2 "A geographic sketch, the text from Korshunov & Gorbunov (1995)". pisum.icgbio.ru. Retrieved 2023-12-20.


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