Ural Mountains
Ural Mountains | |
---|---|
Highest point | |
Peak | Mount Narodnaya |
Elevation | 1,895 m (6,217 ft) |
Dimensions | |
Length | 2,500 km (1,600 mi) |
Width | 150 km (93 mi) |
Geography | |
Countries | Russia and Kazakhstan |
Range coordinates | 60°N 59°E / 60°N 59°E |
Geology | |
Orogeny | Uralian orogeny |
Age of rock | Carboniferous |
Type of rock | Metamorphic, igneous, sedimentary |
The Ural Mountains (/ˈjʊərəl/ YOOR-əl; Russian: Уральские горы, tr. Urál'skiye góry, IPA: [ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ]),[a] or simply the Urals, are a mountain range in Eurasia that runs north-south mostly through Russia, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the river Ural and northwestern Kazakhstan.[1] The mountain range forms part of the
The mountains lie within the Ural geographical region and significantly overlap with the Ural Federal District and the Ural economic region. Their resources include metal ores, coal, and precious and semi-precious stones. Since the 18th century, the mountains have contributed significantly to the mineral sector of the Russian economy. The region is one of the largest centres of metallurgy and heavy industry production in Russia.[3]
Etymology
As attested by
History
As merchants from the Middle East traded with the
Nevertheless, around the early 16th century, Polish geographer,
In the 1550s, after the
and other minerals were discovered in the Ural.Iron and copper
The first ample geographic survey of the Ural Mountains was completed in the early 18th century by the Russian historian and geographer Vasily Tatishchev under the orders of Peter I. Earlier, in the 17th century, rich ore deposits were discovered in the mountains and their systematic extraction began in the early 18th century, eventually turning the region into the largest mineral base of Russia.[1][6]
One of the first scientific descriptions of the mountains was published in 1770–71. Over the next century, the region was studied by scientists from a number of countries, including Russia (geologist
The first railway across the Urals had been built by 1878 and linked Perm to Yekaterinburg via Chusovoy, Kushva and Nizhny Tagil. In 1890, a railway linked Ufa and Chelyabinsk via Zlatoust. In 1896, this section became a part of the Trans-Siberian Railway. In 1909, yet another railway connecting Perm and Yekaterinburg passed through Kungur by the way of the Siberian Route. It has eventually replaced the Ufa – Chelyabinsk section as the main trunk of the Trans-Siberian railway.
The highest peak of the Ural, Mount Narodnaya, (elevation 1,895 m [6,217 ft]) was identified in 1927.[14]
During the
Mayak, 150 kilometres (93 mi) southeast of Yekaterinburg, was a center of the Soviet nuclear industry[1][15][16][17] and site of the Kyshtym disaster.[16][18]
Geography and topography
The Ural Mountains extend about 2,500 km (1,600 mi) from the Kara Sea to the Kazakh Steppe along the border of Kazakhstan. Vaygach Island and the island of Novaya Zemlya form a further continuation of the chain on the north. Geographically this range marks the northern part of the border between Europe and Asia. Its highest peak is Mount Narodnaya, approximately 1,895 m (6,217 ft) in elevation.[1] Transverse faults divide the mountain chain into seven major units, each of which has its own typical pattern of mountain ridges. From north to south, these are the Pay-Khoy, Zapolyarnyy, Pripolyarnyy, Polyarnyy, Severnyy, Sredniy, Yuzhnny Ural and Mugodzhary. The average altitudes of the Urals are around 1,000–1,300 m (3,300–4,300 ft), the highest point being Narodnaya peak in the Pripolyarnyy Ural which reaches a height of 1,894 metres (6,214 ft).[2]
By topography and other natural features, the Urals are divided, from north to south, into the Polar (or Arctic), Nether-Polar (or Sub-Arctic), Northern, Central and Southern parts.
Polar Ural
The Polar Urals extend for about 385 kilometers (239 mi) from Mount Konstantinov Kamen in the north to the river Khulga in the south; they have an area of about 25,000 km2 (9,700 sq mi) and a strongly dissected relief. The maximum height is 1,499 m (4,918 ft) at Mount Payer and the average height is 1,000 to 1,100 m (3,300 to 3,600 ft).
The mountains of the Polar Ural have exposed rock with sharp ridges, though flattened or rounded tops are also found.[1][6]
Nether-polar Ural
The Nether-Polar Ural are higher, and up to 150 km (93 mi) wider than the Polar Urals. They include the highest peaks of the range: Mount Narodnaya (1,895 m (6,217 ft)), Mount Karpinsky (1,878 m (6,161 ft)) and Manaraga (1,662 m (5,453 ft)). They extend for more than 225 km (140 mi) south to the Shchugor. The many ridges are sawtooth shaped and dissected by river valleys. Both Polar and Nether-Polar Urals are typically Alpine; they bear traces of Pleistocene glaciation, along with permafrost and extensive modern glaciation, including 143 extant glaciers.[1][6]
Northern Ural
The Northern Ural consist of a series of parallel ridges up to 1,000–1,200 m (3,300–3,900 ft) in height and longitudinal hollows. They are elongated from north to south and stretch for about 560 km (350 mi) from the river Usa. Most of the tops are flattened, but those of the highest mountains, such as Telposiz, 1,617 m (5,305 ft) and Konzhakovsky Stone, 1,569 m (5,148 ft) have a dissected topography. Intensive weathering has produced vast areas of eroded stone on the mountain slopes and summits of the northern areas.[1][6]
Central Ural
The Central Ural are the lowest part of the Ural, with smooth mountain tops, the highest mountain being 994 m (3,261 ft) (Basegi); they extend south from the river Ufa.[6]
Southern Ural
The relief of the Southern Ural is more complex, with numerous valleys and parallel ridges directed south-west and meridionally. The range includes the
Mountain formation near Saranpaul, Nether-Polar Urals | Rocks in a river, Nether-Polar Urals | Big Iremel Mountain | Entry to Ignateva Cave , South Urals
|
Geology
The Urals are among the world's oldest extant
Many deformed and
The western slope of the Ural Mountains has predominantly
The Ural Mountains contain about 48 species of economically valuable
Andradite | Beryl | Platinum | Quartz |
Rivers and lakes
Many rivers originate in the Ural Mountains. The western slopes south of the border between the Komi Republic and Perm Krai and the eastern slopes south of approximately 54°30'N drain into the Caspian Sea via the Kama and Ural basins. The tributaries of the Kama include the Vishera, Chusovaya, and Belaya and originate on both the eastern and western slopes. The rest of the Urals drain into the Arctic Ocean, mainly via the Pechora basin in the west, which includes the Ilych, Shchugor, and the Usa, and via the Ob basin in the east, which includes the Tobol, Tavda, Iset, Tura and Severnaya Sosva. The rivers are frozen for more than half the year. Generally, the western rivers have higher flow volume than the eastern ones, especially in the Northern and Nether-Polar regions. Rivers are slower in the Southern Urals. This is because of low precipitation and the relatively warm climate resulting in less snow and more evaporation.[1][6]
The mountains contain a number of deep lakes.[25] The eastern slopes of the Southern and Central Urals have most of these, among the largest of which are the Uvildy, Itkul, Turgoyak, and Tavatuy lakes.[6] The lakes found on the western slopes are less numerous and also smaller. Lake Bolshoye Shchuchye, the deepest lake in the Polar Urals, is 136 meters (446 ft) deep. Other lakes, too, are found in the glacial valleys of this region. Spas and sanatoriums have been built to take advantage of the medicinal muds found in some of the mountain lakes.[1][6]
Climate
The climate of the Urals is continental. The mountain ridges, elongated from north to south, effectively absorb sunlight thereby increasing the temperature. The areas west of the Ural Mountains are 1–2 °C (1.8–3.6 °F) warmer in winter than the eastern regions because the former are warmed by Atlantic winds whereas the eastern slopes are chilled by Siberian air masses. The average January temperatures increase in the western areas from −20 °C (−4 °F) in the Polar to −15 °C (5 °F) in the Southern Urals and the corresponding temperatures in July are 10 °C (50 °F) and 20 °C (68 °F). The western areas also receive more rainfall than the eastern ones by 150–300 mm (5.9–11.8 in) per year. This is because the mountains trap clouds from the Atlantic Ocean. The highest precipitation, approximately 1,000 mm (39 in), is in the Northern Urals with up to 1,000 cm (390 in) snow. The eastern areas receive from 500–600 mm (20–24 in) in the north to 300–400 mm (12–16 in) in the south. Maximum precipitation occurs in the summer: the winter is dry because of the Siberian High.[1][6]
Flora
The landscapes of the Urals vary with both latitude and longitude and are dominated by forests and steppes. The southern area of the Mughalzhar Hills is a semidesert. Steppes lie mostly in the southern and especially south-eastern Urals. Meadow steppes have developed on the lower parts of mountain slopes and are covered with zigzag and mountain clovers, Serratula gmelinii, dropwort, meadow-grass and Bromus inermis, reaching the height of 60–80 centimetres (24–31 in). Much of the land is cultivated. To the south, the meadow steppes become more sparse, dry and low. The steep gravelly slopes of the mountains and hills of the eastern slopes of the Southern Urals are mostly covered with rocky steppes. River valleys contain willow, poplar and caragana shrubs.[6]
Forest landscapes of the Urals are diverse, especially in the southern part. The western areas are dominated by dark coniferous taiga forests which change to mixed and deciduous forests in the south. The eastern mountain slopes have light coniferous taiga forests. The Northern Urals are dominated by conifers, namely
Fauna
The forests of Urals are inhabited by animals typical of Eurosiberia, such as elk, brown bear, fox, wolf,
The steppes of the Southern Urals are dominated by hares and rodents such as hamsters, susliks, and jerboa. There are many birds of prey such as lesser kestrel and buzzards.
Ecology
The continuous and intensive economic development of the last centuries has affected the fauna, and wildlife is much diminished around all industrial centers. During World War II, hundreds of factories were evacuated from Western Russia before the German occupation, flooding the Urals with industry. The conservation measures include establishing national wildlife parks.[1] There are nine strict nature reserves in the Urals: the Ilmen, the oldest one, mineralogical reserve founded in 1920 in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Pechora-Ilych in the Komi Republic, Bashkir and its former branch Shulgan-Tash in Bashkortostan, Visim in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Southern Ural in Bashkortostan, Basegi in Perm Krai, Vishera in Perm Krai and Denezhkin Kamen in Sverdlovsk Oblast.
The area has also been severely damaged by the
Cultural significance
The Urals have been viewed by Russians as a "treasure box" of mineral resources, which were the basis for its extensive industrial development. In addition to iron and copper, the Urals were a source of gold,
The region served as a military stronghold during Peter the Great's Great Northern War with Sweden, during Stalin's rule when the Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Complex was built and Russian industry relocated to the Urals during the Nazi advance at the beginning of World War II, and as the center of the Soviet nuclear industry during the Cold War. Extreme levels of air, water, and radiological contamination and pollution by industrial wastes resulted. Population exodus followed, and economic depression at the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union, but in post-Soviet times additional mineral exploration, particularly in the northern Urals, has been productive and the region has attracted industrial investment.[27]
Gallery
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Mount Iremel
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Mount Iremel
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Mount Iremel peak
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Mount Yamantau
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View from mount Yamantau second peak (Bolshaya Yamantau)
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Forest around mount Yamantau
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View of the two-peak mount Taganay
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Mount Otkliknoy Greben
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Taganay national park
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Sunrise on Taganay
See also
- Yugyd Va National Park
- Dyatlov Pass incident
- East Ural Radioactive Trace
- Idel-Ural State
- Pangea
- Research Range
- Ural Mountains in Nazi planning
- Russia portal
- Siberia portal
Notes
- romanized: Ural tawźarı, pronounced [ʊˌɾɑɫ tɑwðɑˈɾɤ]; Kazakh: Орал таулары, romanized: Oral taulary, pronounced [woˌrɑɫ tɑwɫɑˈrə]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Ural Mountains Archived 29 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine, Encyclopædia Britannica on-line
- ^ ]
- ISBN 9781577510291.
- ISBN 978-1-139-46165-8.
- ^ Фасмер, Макс. Этимологический словарь русского языка
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "Урал (географич.) (Ural (geographical))". Great Soviet Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 9 April 2022. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
- ISBN 978-0-521-82928-1.
- ^ Ural, toponym Archived 12 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine Chlyabinsk Encyclopedia (in Russian)
- ^ a b c d "What is the Urals". Survinat. 30 October 2014. Archived from the original on 17 August 2018.
- ^ Kropotkin, Peter Alexeivitch; Bealby, John Thomas (1911). . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 27 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 786–787.
... the name of Urals (Uraly)—derived either from the Ostyak urr (chain of mountains) or from the Turkish aral-tau or oral-tau...
- ISBN 978-1-4725-7379-7.
- ^ a b Geological Society of London (1894). The Quarterly journal of the Geological Society of London. The Society. p. 53.
- Keyserling, Alexander (1845). The Geology of Russia in Europe and the Ural Mountains. John Murray.
- ^ "Climbing the highest mountains of the Nether-Polar Ural ::: Ural Expedition & Tours". welcome-ural.ru.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-262-66181-2.
- ^ a b c d e Paine, Christopher (22 July 1989). "Military reactors go on show to American visitors". New Scientist. Retrieved 8 July 2010.[permanent dead link]
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7167-8919-2.
- ^ ISSN 0096-3402.
- ^ ISBN 978-0126363807.
- ISBN 978-1862392120. Archived from the original(PDF) on 31 July 2009.
- S2CID 129439058.
- .
- doi:10.1016/S0012-821X(00)00374-5. Archived from the original(PDF) on 23 April 2021. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
- (PDF) from the original on 17 June 2012. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
- ^ Производство плутония с ПО "Маяк" на Сибирский химкомбинат перенесено не будет Archived 23 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine [Plutonium production will not be transferred from Mayak], obzor.westsib.ru, 25 March 2010 (in Russian)
- ^ .
External links
- Peakbagger.com page on the Ural Mountains
- Ural Expeditions & Tours page on the five parts of the Ural Mountains