Siberia

Siberia ({{lang-ru|???????}}, common English transliterations: Sibir?, Sibir; from the Tatar for ?sleeping land?) is a vast region of Russia and northern Kazakhstan constituting almost all of northern Asia. It extends eastward from the Ural Mountains to the Pacific Ocean and southward from the Arctic Ocean to the hills of north-central Kazakhstan and the borders of both Mongolia and China. All but the extreme south-western area of Siberia lies in Russia, and it makes up about 56% of that country's territory.

Geography and geology

With an area of over 9,653,000 km2, Siberia makes up roughly two thirds of the total area of Russia. If Siberia were to secede from Russia, it would be the world's second-largest country, with only Canada being larger. Major geographical zones include the West Siberian Plain and the Central Siberian Plateau.

Related Topics:
Km² - Canada - West Siberian Plain - Central Siberian Plateau

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The West Siberian Plain consists mostly of Cenozoic alluvial deposits and is extraordinarily flat, so much so that a rise of fifty metres in sea level would cause all land between the Arctic Ocean and Novosibirsk to be inundated. Many of the deposits on this plain result from ice dams; having reversed the flow of the Ob and Yenisei Rivers, so redirecting them into the Caspian Sea (perhaps the Aral as well). It is very swampy and soils are mostly peaty Histosols and, in the treeless northern part, Histels. In the south of the plain, where permafrost is largely absent, rich grasslands that are an extension of the Kazakh steppe formed the original vegetation (almost all cleared now).

Related Topics:
Cenozoic - Novosibirsk - Ice dam - Caspian Sea - Aral - Histosols - Histels - Kazakh - Steppe

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The Central Siberian Plateau is an extremely ancient craton (sometimes called Angaraland) that formed an independent continent before the Permian (see Siberia (continent)). It is exceptionally rich in minerals, containing large deposits of gold, diamonds, and ores of manganese, lead, zinc, nickel, cobalt and molybdenum. Only the extreme northwest was glaciated during the Quaternary, but almost all is under exceptionally deep permafrost and the only tree that can thrive, despite the warm summers, is the deciduous Siberian Larch (Larix sibirica) with its very shallow roots. Soils here are mainly Turbels, giving way to Spodosols where the active layer becomes thicker and the ice content lower.

Related Topics:
Craton - Continent - Permian - Siberia (continent) - Gold - Diamond - Manganese - Lead - Zinc - Nickel - Cobalt - Molybdenum - Permafrost - Tree - Summer - Siberian Larch - Turbels - Spodosols

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Eastern and central Sakha comprise numerous north-south mountain ranges of various ages. These mountains extend up to almost three thousand metres in elevation, but above a few hundred metres they are devoid of vegetation to an extraordinary degree. The Verkhoyansk Range was extensively glaciated in the Pleistocene, but the climate was too dry for glaciation to extend to low elevations. At these low elevations are numerous valleys, many of them deep, and covered with larch forest except in the extreme north, where tundra dominates. Soils are mainly Turbels and the active layer tends to be less than a metre deep except near rivers.

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Lakes and rivers

• Anabar River
• Angara River
• Indigirka River
• Irtysh River
• Kolyma River
• Lake Baikal
• Lena River
• Ob River
• Tunguska River
• Uvs Nuur Lake
• Yana River
• Yenisei River

Mountain ranges

• Anadyr Range
• Chersky Range
• Dzhugdzhur Mountains
• Gydan Mountains
• Koryak Mountains
• Sayan Mountains
• Ural Mountains
• Verkhoyansk Mountains
• Yablonoi Mountains

A harsh climate has limited Siberia's development and population growth. The region has an abundance of natural resources, including many minerals, vast oil fields, rich forests, and grasslands in the extreme southwest that are good for farming. However, the winters are long and bitter. Ice and snow cover most of the region for about six months of the year. The temperature can drop below -90°F (-68°C). Most of the coastal waters, lakes, and rivers freeze for much of the year.

Related Topics:
Climate - Mineral - Oil field - Grassland - Winter - Ice - Snow - F - C - Lake - River

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