The Kondakov Plateau ( rus, Кондаковское плоскогорье; sah, Кондаков хаптал хайалаах сирэ) is a mountain

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ...

in the Sakha Republic,

Far Eastern Federal District The Far Eastern Federal District (russian: Дальневосто́чный федера́льный о́круг, ''Dalnevostochny federalny okrug'') is the largest of the eight federal districts of Russia but the least populated, with a p ...

, Russia. The town of Chokurdakh is located on the other bank of the Indigirka, facing the plateau. The nearest airport is

Chokurdakh Airport Chokurdakh Airport (sometimes written Chokurdah Airport, Cokurdah Airport) is an airport in Yakutia, Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the ...

. The Shandrin

mammoth A mammoth is any species of the extinct elephantid genus ''Mammuthus'', one of the many genera that make up the order of trunked mammals called proboscideans. The various species of mammoth were commonly equipped with long, curved tusks and ...

was discovered in 1974 at the feet of a steep slope in the eastern side of the Kondakov Plateau by

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, alt ...

B. S. Rusanov of the

Yakutsk Yakutsk (russian: Якутск, p=jɪˈkutsk; sah, Дьокуускай, translit=Djokuuskay, ) is the capital city of the Sakha Republic, Russia, located about south of the Arctic Circle. Fueled by the mining industry, Yakutsk has become one ...

Institute of Geology.Shandrinsky mammoth
/ref>

Geography

The Kondakov Plateau is located in eastern Yakutia, rising above the right banks of the lower course of the

Indigirka The Indigirka ( rus, Индиги́рка, r=; sah, Индигиир, translit=Indigiir) is a river in the Sakha Republic in Russia between the Yana to the west and the Kolyma to the east. It is long. The area of its basin is . History The ...

and gradually decreasing in elevation to the east. Slopes are generally smooth and gentle and the average height of the plateau surface is between and . There are slightly higher ridges cutting across the plateau area, the Bonga-Taga ridge in the north and the Mokholukan in the south. The highest point is high Punga Khaya located in the western part.Кондаковское месторождение, Аллаиховский район (улус), Восточная Якутия, Якутия, Россия - webmineral.ru
/ref> The plateau is limited by the

Yana-Indigirka Lowland The Yana-Indigirka Lowland (russian: Яно-Индигирская низменность; sah, Дьааҥы - Индигир намтала) is a large, low alluvial plain located in northern Siberia, Far Eastern Federal District, Russia. Admini ...

to the west, with the delta of the Indigirka to the north. To the south it is bound by the

Ulakhan-Sis Range The Ulakhan-Sis Range ( rus, Улахан-Сис; sah, Улахан Сис) is a mountain range in the Sakha Republic, Far Eastern Federal District, Russia.

and by the

Kolyma Lowland The Kolyma Lowland (russian: Колымская низменность) is a lowland plain in the northeastern parts of Sakha Republic in the basin of the Alazeya, Bolshaya Chukoch'ya and lower reaches of the Kolyma rivers. The lowland is formed ...

to the east. Google Earth

Hydrography

The Kondakov Plateau is crossed by rivers Shandrin to the east and the

Sundrun The Sundrun (russian: Сундрун) is a river in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) of the Russian Federation. It is long, and has a drainage basin of . Course It has its sources in the Ulakhan-Sis Range and flows roughly northeastwards across th ...

with some of its upper course tributaries, as well as by the

Bolshaya Ercha The Bolshaya Ercha (russian: Большая Эрча) is a river in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia), Russia. It is a tributary of the Indigirka. The river has a length of and a drainage basin area of . The river flows north of the Arctic Circle, ...

, a tributary of the Indigirka. The

Malaya Ercha Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

—the largest tributary of the Bolshaya Ercha, the Keremesit, as well as the Okhotnya and Barn-Yuryakh —tributaries of the Sakhartymay, have their sources in the plateau.Topographic map - Chokurdakh
/ref>

Flora and fauna

Permafrost Permafrost is ground that continuously remains below 0 °C (32 °F) for two or more years, located on land or under the ocean. Most common in the Northern Hemisphere, around 15% of the Northern Hemisphere or 11% of the global surfac ...

prevails in the area of the Kondakov Plateau. The surface of the uplands is markedly dissected by river valleys in which there are forests of

larch Larches are deciduous conifers in the genus ''Larix'', of the family Pinaceae (subfamily Laricoideae). Growing from tall, they are native to much of the cooler temperate northern hemisphere, on lowlands in the north and high on mountains furt ...

and

forest tundra A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

, especially in the southern part. Its higher elevations are covered with

mountain tundra Alpine tundra is a type of natural region or biome that does not contain trees because it is at high elevation, with an associated harsh climate. As the latitude of a location approaches the poles, the threshold elevation for alpine tundra gets ...

vegetation.Кондаковское плоскогорье

Great Soviet Encyclopedia The ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (GSE; ) is one of the largest Russian-language encyclopedias, published in the Soviet Union from 1926 to 1990. After 2002, the encyclopedia's data was partially included into the later ''Bolshaya rossiyskaya e ...

The Kondakov Plateau area is part of the migration corridor of the

reindeer Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subsp ...

population, which includes the adjoining

Suor Uyata The Suor Uyata ( rus, Суор-Уята; sah, Суор Уйата) is a mountain range in the Sakha Republic, Far Eastern Federal District, Russia. The village of Andryushkino, a small inhabited locality of the Lower Kolyma District, is located ...

to the southeast, and the

of the Rossokha River basin to the east.

Climate

The plateau has a harsh subarctic climate. The average temperature is . The coldest temperatures, down to , have been recorded in February. In summer the average July temperature in the valleys does not exceed .NASA Earth Observations Data Set Index.
/ref>

Geology

Geologically the plateau is composed of

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

siltstone Siltstone, also known as aleurolite, is a clastic sedimentary rock that is composed mostly of silt. It is a form of mudrock with a low clay mineral content, which can be distinguished from shale by its lack of fissility.Blatt ''et al.'' 1980, ...

s and

schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock showing pronounced schistosity. This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a low-power hand lens, oriented in such a way that the rock is easily split into thin flakes ...

s of the Upper

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...

Andesite Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predomina ...

s and

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90% of a ...

s are present in some exposed crust parts of the plateau, where the local type of

agate Agate () is a common rock formation, consisting of chalcedony and quartz as its primary components, with a wide variety of colors. Agates are primarily formed within volcanic and metamorphic rocks. The ornamental use of agate was common in ...

with a parallel-layered pattern can also be found.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Physiogeography of the Russian Far East
Plateaus of the Sakha Republic ceb:Kondakovskoye Ploskogor'ye de:Kondakow-Plateau sah:Кондаков хаптал хайалаах сирэ