The Aldan Highlands, or Aldan Plateau (; ) are a mountainous area in the

Sakha Republic Sakha, officially the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), is a republics of Russia, republic of Russia, and the largest federal subject of Russia by area. It is located in the Russian Far East, along the Arctic Ocean, with a population of one million ...

Far Eastern Federal District The Far Eastern Federal District ( rus, Дальневосточный федеральный округ, p=dəlʲnʲɪvɐˈstot͡ɕnɨj fʲɪdʲɪˈralʲnɨj ˈokrʊk) is the largest and the least populated federal districts of Russia, federa ...

, Russia. Aldan town and Tommot are located in the northern area of the highlands and Chulman in the south.

Google Earth Google Earth is a web mapping, web and computer program created by Google that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satelli ...

The Olyokma Nature Reserve is a

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...

located on the northwestern side, partly within the neighboring

Lena Plateau The Lena Plateau, also known as Prilensky Plateau (; ), is one of the great plateaus of Siberia. Administratively it is mostly within the Sakha Republic (Yakutia), with a small sector in the Irkutsk Oblast, Far Eastern Federal District, Russia. T ...

History

The area of the Aldan and the Yudoma-Maya highlands, between the basins of the Aldan River and the Yudoma, was uncharted territory well until the 1930s. It was first surveyed in 1934 by geologist Yuri Bilibin (1901—1952) together with mining engineer Evgeny Bobin (1897—1941) in the course of an expedition sent by the government of the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. Bilibin and Bobin made a thorough topographic survey of the mountainous region leading separate research parties.

Geography

The Aldan Highlands are located at the southern end of the Sakha Republic, between the Aldan River and the Uchur River, a right tributary of the Aldan. The Aldan partly crosses the uplands in the north, in the same manner as the Amga River in the west. The highlands are limited by the Stanovoy Range to the southwest, and by its Toko-Stanovik subrange to the south and southeast. In the west the Olyokma River marks the limit, beyond which lies the Olyokma-Chara Plateau. The Dzhugdzhur Range rises to the east of the highlands.URSS 1,000,000 scale Operational Navigation Chart; Sheet D-7
/ref>URSS 1,000,000 scale Operational Navigation Chart; Sheet D-8
/ref> The highest point of the Aldan Highlands is Mount Ningam (Гора Нингам), a high peak located in the southern part, rising above the basin of the Gonam River, a left tributary of the Uchur. The same mountain is high according to other sources.

Subranges

The system of the Aldan Highlands comprises a number of subranges where mountains are generally of middle height and their relief usually smooth. The highest point is an unnamed summit. The ranges within the uplands include the following: *Western Yangi Range, highest point Mount Evota * Sunnagyn Range (Aldan-Uchur), highest point *Ket-Kap Range, highest point *Tommot Range, highest point

Hydrography

Besides the Aldan and the Amga, the rivers of the highlands include the Buotama, the Amedichi, the Elkon, the Ulu, the Bolshoy Nimnyr, the Yungyuele, the Timpton and the Tuolba.Алданское нагорье
/ Great Russian Encyclopedia; in 35 vol.] / Ch. ed. Yu.S. Osipov, Great Russian Encyclopedia, 2004—2017.

Geology

The highlands are composed of

Archean The Archean ( , also spelled Archaean or Archæan), in older sources sometimes called the Archaeozoic, is the second of the four geologic eons of Earth's history of Earth, history, preceded by the Hadean Eon and followed by the Proterozoic and t ...

crystalline

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

s and gneisses. The Aldan Highlands coincide geographically with the Aldan Shield, a geological region that is an exposed part of the

Siberian Craton Siberia, also known as Siberian Craton, Angaraland (or simply Angara) and Angarida, is an ancient craton in the heart of Siberia. Today forming the Central Siberian Plateau, it formed an independent landmass prior to its fusion into Pangea during ...

. Together with the Anabar Shield further to the northwest, the Aldan Shield is one of the main features of the

craton A craton ( , , or ; from "strength") is an old and stable part of the continental lithosphere, which consists of Earth's two topmost layers, the crust and the uppermost mantle. Having often survived cycles of merging and rifting of contine ...

Flora

The mountains of the highlands are covered by larch

taiga Taiga or tayga ( ; , ), also known as boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruces, and larches. The taiga, or boreal forest, is the world's largest land biome. In North A ...

up to elevations between 1,100 and 1,300 m and by rocky

tundra In physical geography, a tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. There are three regions and associated types of tundra: #Arctic, Arctic, Alpine tundra, Alpine, and #Antarctic ...

at higher altitudes.

References

External links

Rare birds of the Aldan highlands (South Yakutia)
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