How many meters are the Ural Mountains? Physical Geography - Ural (Ural Mountains)

27.09.2019

The Ural Mountains are unique for our country natural object. You probably shouldn’t think too hard to answer the question why. The Ural Mountains are the only mountain range that crosses Russia from north to south, and are the border between two parts of the world and two largest parts(macroregions) of our country - European and Asian.

Motherland. Ural Mountains: Ural - the ridge of Russia

The Ural Mountains stretch from north to south, mainly along the 60th meridian. In the north they bend towards the northeast, towards the Yamal Peninsula, in the south they turn towards the southwest. One of their features is that the mountainous area expands as you move from north to south (this is clearly visible on the map on the right). In the very south, in the Orenburg region, the Ral Mountains connect with nearby elevations, such as General Syrt.

No matter how strange it may seem, the exact geological border of the Ural Mountains, as well as the exact geographical border between Europe and Asia, still cannot be accurately determined. In 2010, the Russian Geographical Society equipped a special expedition for this purpose.

The Ural Mountains have a long and complex history. It begins in the Proterozoic era - such an ancient and little-studied stage in the history of our planet that scientists do not even divide it into periods and eras. About 3.5 billion years ago, at the site of the future mountains, a rupture of the earth's crust occurred, which soon reached a depth of more than ten kilometers. Over the course of almost two billion years, this rift widened, so that about 430 million years ago an entire ocean, up to a thousand kilometers wide, was formed. However, soon after this, the convergence of lithospheric plates began; The ocean disappeared relatively quickly, and mountains formed in its place. This happened about 300 million years ago - this corresponds to the era of the so-called Hercynian folding.

New large uplifts in the Urals resumed only 30 million years ago, during which the Polar, Subpolar, Northern and Southern parts of the mountains were raised by almost a kilometer, and the Middle Urals by about 300-400 meters.

Currently, the Ural Mountains have stabilized - there are no major movements of the earth's crust observed here. However, to this day they remind people of their active history: from time to time earthquakes occur here, and very large ones at that. The strongest had an amplitude of 7 points and was recorded not so long ago - in 1914.

From a geological point of view, the Ural Mountains are very complex. They are formed by rocks of various types and ages. In many ways, the features of the internal structure of the Urals are related to its history, for example, traces of deep faults and even sections of oceanic crust are still preserved.

Ural Mountains medium height, nai highest point— Mount Narodnaya on Subpolar Urals, reaching 1895 meters. It is curious that the second highest peak of the Urals - Mount Yamantau - is located on Southern Urals. In general, in profile the Ural Mountains resemble a depression: the most high ridges located in the north and south, and the middle part does not exceed 400-500 meters, so that when crossing the Middle Urals, you may not even notice the mountains.

We can say that the Ural Mountains were unlucky in terms of height: they were formed during the same period as Altai, but subsequently experienced much less strong uplifts. The result is that the highest point in Altai, Mount Belukha, reaches four and a half kilometers, and the Ural Mountains are more than two times lower. However, such an elevated position of Altai resulted in the danger of earthquakes - the Urals in this regard are much safer for life.

Typical vegetation of the mountain tundra belt in the Ural Mountains. The photo was taken on the slope of Humboldt Mountain (Main Ural ridge, Northern Urals) at an altitude of 1310 meters. Photo by Natalya Shmaenkova

The long, continuous struggle of volcanic forces against the forces of wind and water (in geography, the former are called endogenous, and the latter - exogenous) created a huge number of unique natural attractions in the Urals: rocks, caves, etc.

The Urals are also famous for their huge reserves of minerals of all types. These are, first of all, iron, copper, nickel, manganese and many other types of ores, building materials. The Kachkanar iron deposit is one of the largest in the country. Although the metal content in the ore is low, it contains rare but very valuable metals - manganese and vanadium.

In the north, in the Pechora coal basin, hard coal is mined. There are also precious metals in our region - gold, silver, platinum. Undoubtedly, Ural precious and semi-precious stones are widely known gems: emeralds mined near Yekaterinburg, diamonds, gems from the Murzinsky strip, and, of course, Ural malachite.

The beauty of the Ural Mountains awakened the talent of P.P. Bazhov, who created a series of tales about the Urals and the richness of nature of this region.

Unfortunately, many valuable old deposits have already been developed. Magnetic mountains containing large reserves of iron ore have been turned into quarries, and malachite reserves have been preserved only in museums and in the form of separate inclusions at the site of old mines - it is now hardly possible to find even a three-hundred-kilogram monolith. Nevertheless, these minerals largely ensured the economic power and glory of the Urals for centuries.

The route to Siberia lies through the Urals. See video about this:

The Ural Mountains, formed due to the collision of the Eurasian and African lithospheric plates, are a unique natural and geographical object for Russia. They are the only mountain range crossing the country and dividing the state to the European and Asian parts.

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Geographical location

Any schoolchild knows which country the Ural Mountains are located in. This massif is a chain that is located between the East European and West Siberian plains.

It is stretched so that it divides the largest into 2 continents: Europe and Asia. Starting from the shore of the Arctic Ocean, it ends in the Kazakh desert. It stretches from south to north, and the length in some places reaches 2,600 km.

The geographical location of the Ural mountains passes almost everywhere parallel to the 60th meridian.

If you look at the map, you can see the following: the central region is located strictly vertically, the northern region turns to the northeast, and the southern region turns to the southwest. Moreover, in this place the ridge merges with the nearby hills.

Although the Urals are considered the border between continents, there is no exact geological line. Therefore it is believed that they belong to Europe, and the line dividing the mainland runs along the eastern foothills.

Important! The Urals are rich in natural, historical, cultural and archaeological values.

The structure of the mountain system

In the chronicles of the 11th century, the Ural mountain system is mentioned as Earth belt. This name is explained by the length of the ridge. Conventionally, it is divided into 5 areas:

Polar.
Subpolar.
Northern.
Average.
South.

The mountain range partially covers the northern regions of Kazakhstan and 7 Russian regions:

Arkhangelsk region
Komi Republic.
Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug.
Perm region.
Sverdlovsk region.
Chelyabinsk region.
Orenburg region.

Attention! Widest part mountain range located in the Southern Urals.

Location Ural mountains on the map.

Structure and relief

The first mention and description of the Ural Mountains comes from ancient times, but they were formed much earlier. This happened under the interaction of rocks of different configurations and ages. In some areas they are still preserved remnants of deep faults and elements of oceanic rocks. The system was formed almost at the same time as Altai, but subsequently it experienced smaller uplifts, resulting in a small “altitude” of the peaks.

Attention! Advantage over high Altai is that there are no earthquakes in the Urals, so it is much safer for living.

Minerals

The long-term resistance of volcanic structures to the force of the wind was the result of the formation of numerous attractions created by nature. These include caves, grottoes, rocks and so on. In addition, in the mountains there are huge mineral reserves, primarily ore, from which the following chemical elements are obtained:

Iron.
Copper.
Nickel.
Aluminum.
Manganese.

Making a description of the Ural Mountains according to physical map, we can conclude that most of mineral development is carried out in the southern part of the region, or more precisely in Sverdlovsk, Chelyabinsk and Orenburg regions . Almost all types of ores are mined here, and not far from Alapaevsk and Nizhny Tagil Sverdlovsk region A deposit of emeralds, gold and platinum was discovered.

The area of the lower trough of the western slope is replete with oil and gas wells. The northern part of the region is somewhat inferior in deposits, but this is compensated by the fact that precious metals and stones predominate here.

Ural Mountains – leader in mining, ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy and chemical industry. In addition, the region is in first place in Russia in terms of pollution level.

It should be taken into account that no matter how beneficial the development of underground subsoil is, the harm to the surrounding nature is more significant. The lifting of rocks from the depths of the mine is carried out by crushing with the release of large quantities of dust particles into the atmosphere.

At the top, the fossils enter into a chemical reaction with their surroundings, the process of oxidation takes place, and the chemical products thus obtained are again enters the air and water.

Attention! The Ural Mountains are known for their deposits of precious, semi-precious stones and precious metals. Unfortunately, they are almost completely exhausted, so Ural gems and malachite can now only be found in museums.

Peaks of the Urals

On topographic map Russia's Ural Mountains are indicated in light brown. This means that they do not have great indicators relative to sea level. Among natural areas we can emphasize the highest region located in the Subpolar region. The table shows the coordinates of the heights of the Ural Mountains and the exact size of the peaks.

The location of the peaks of the Ural Mountains is created in such a way that there are unique areas in each region of the system. Therefore, all listed heights are recognized tourist sites successfully used by people leading an active lifestyle.

On the map you can see that the Polar region is medium in height and narrow in width.

The nearby Subpolar region has greatest height, it is characterized by a sharp relief.

Of particular interest arises from the fact that several glaciers are concentrated here, one of which is almost as long as 1,000 m.

The height of the Ural Mountains in the Northern region is insignificant. The exception is a few peaks that dominate the entire ridge. The remaining heights, where the vertices are smoothed and they themselves have a rounded shape, do not exceed 700 m above sea level. Interestingly, closer to the south, they become even lower and almost turn into hills. The terrain is almost resembles a plain.

Attention! A map of the southern Ural Mountains with peaks more than one and a half kilometers away again reminds us of the ridge’s involvement in the huge mountain system separating Asia from Europe!

Big cities

A physical map of the Ural Mountains with cities marked on it proves that this area is considered abundantly populated. The only exception is the Polar and Subpolar Urals. Here several million-plus cities and a large number of them, containing more than 100,000 people.

The population of the region is explained by the fact that at the beginning of the last century there was an urgent need for minerals in the country. This caused a large migration of people to the region where similar developments were taking place. In addition, in the early 60s and 70s, many young people left for the Urals and Siberia in the hope of radically changing their lives. This influenced the formation of new settlements, being built on the site of mining rocks.

Ekaterinburg

Capital of the Sverdlovsk region with population 1,428,262 people considered the capital of the region. The location of the metropolis is concentrated on the eastern slope of the Middle Urals. The city is the largest cultural, scientific, educational and administrative center. Geographical position The Ural Mountains were created in such a way that it is here that there is a natural path connecting Central Russia and Siberia. This influenced the development of the infrastructure and economy of the former Sverdlovsk.

Chelyabinsk

The population of the city, which is located where the Ural Mountains, according to the geological map, border on Siberia: 1,150,354 people.

It was founded in 1736 on the eastern slope of the South Ridge. And with the advent of railway communication with Moscow, it began to develop dynamically and became one of the largest industrial centers in the country.

Over the past 20 years, the ecology of the region has deteriorated significantly, which has caused an outflow of population.

Nevertheless, today the volume of local industry is more than 35% of gross municipal product.

Ufa

The capital of the Republic of Bashkortostan with a population of 1,105,657 people is considered 31st city in Europe by population. It is located west of the Southern Ural Mountains. The length of the metropolis from south to north is more than 50 km, and from east to west - 30. In terms of size, it is one of the five largest Russian cities. In the ratio of population and occupied area, each resident accounts for about 700 m2 of urban territory.

In addition to the population of over a million, near the Ural Mountains there are cities with a population less than the specified number. First of all, you need to name the capitals administrative centers, which include the following: Orenburg - 564,445 people and Perm - 995,589. In addition to them, you can add some more cities:

Nizhny Tagil – 355,694.
Nizhnevartovsk – 270,865.
Surgut – 306,789.
Nefteyugansk – 123,567.
Magnitogorsk – 408 418.
Zlatoust – 174,572.
Miass – 151,397.

Important! Information on the population is presented as of the end of 2016!

Geology: Ural Mountains

Ural region. Geographical location, main features of nature

Conclusion

Although the height of the Ural Mountains is not great, they are an object close attention from climbers, tourists and simply people leading an active lifestyle. Anyone, even the most experienced person, can find something to their liking here.

I love my native Ural Mountains very much! And that’s why I created a whole section dedicated to this region of Russia. It contains both my personal materials from various hikes in the Ural Mountains, and simply encyclopedic materials about each individual region of the Ural Mountains. This section is a guide to the Ural Mountains and will be very useful for tourists, travelers and simply nature lovers. Sights of the Urals, numerous photographs, description of the region.

Polar Urals - the most Northern part Ural mountains. The northern border of the region is considered to be Mount Constantine Stone, and in the south the border with the Subpolar Urals is the Lyapin (Khulga) River. Area - about 25,000 km.

The Subpolar Urals is a mountain system in Russia. Its northern border starts from the sources of the Lyapin (Khulga) River 65 40’ N. sh., and in the south the border passes through Mount Telposis 64 s. w. Geographical objects Subpolar Urals.

The Northern Urals are part of the Ural Mountains. Starts from Kosvinsky Kamen and the neighboring Konzhakovsky Kamen (59° N) in the south to northern slopes Telposis massif

The Middle Urals are the lowest region of the Ural Mountains, lying between 56° and 59° N. w. The southern border is considered to be Mount Jurma, which lies in Chelyabinsk region, and the northern one - the Kosvinsky stone mountain and its neighbor - the Konzhakovsky stone.

The widest part of the Ural Mountains. It is located on the territory of two states: Russia and Kazakhstan. The southern outskirts of the Southern Urals (Mugodzhary) lie on the territory of the Aktobe region of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Largest rivers Ural. In the Urals there are a large number of rivers suitable for rafting - navigable rivers. The most popular routes along the Ural rivers. Photos, descriptions of the most interesting rivers.

Mansi are the people who make up indigenous people Northern Urals These are Finno-Ugric people, they are direct descendants of the Hungarians (belong to the Ugric group: Hungarians, Mansi, Khanty).

Walking through the Ural forests, we come across a wide variety of different plants that caught our eye with bright colors. But without a special botanical education, we often do not know at all what kind of plants they are

Hiking to the Dyatlov Pass tract in June 2016. My spontaneous trip to the pass, how it happened. How to get to the Dyatlov Pass by car and on foot? Detailed report.

The trip to the Kvarkush plateau took place on August 12-13, 2014. We approached the ridge from the eastern side, through Severouralsk and the Main Ural Ridge, which lies on the border between the Perm Territory and the Sverdlovsk Region.

This trip to Mount Shunut-Kamen took place in October 2010. The four of us went. The weather turned out to be very good, sunny. However, it was already October - and it was quite cool. There were already frosts.

In June 2011 we went to main mountain and the main ridge of the Sverdlovsk region - Konzhakovsky stone. Konjac is favorite place for the ascent of many tourists both from Yekaterinburg and from all over Russia.

Our hike to the Taganay ridge turned out to be quite good. We visited the Otklikny ridge and Mount Kruglitsa. We looked at the South Ural taiga, which has a lot of linden, probably instead of Siberian cedar.

We took a bus to the city of Kachkanar. It was still early morning, or rather even night. We waited until dawn bus station. We had no idea how to get to Mount Kachkanar - and so we started asking the bus station workers.

Mount Bolshoy Iremel is located on the border of Bashkiria and the Chelyabinsk region. This happened around the end of July - beginning of August 2011. There were 10 of us, 2 cars.

At the end of August 2011, we managed to escape to the north of our region - to the Main Ural Ridge (GUR). It is located strictly on the border of the Sverdlovsk region with Perm region and stretches from south to north.

The Ural Mountains are among the oldest mountains in the world. They have a relatively low altitude, the highest point is Mount Narodnaya - only 1895 m above sea level. The low height of such a huge mountain system is determined by the age of the mountains. During its existence previously high mountains collapsed, forming heaps of stone placers - kurums. But once upon a time, the Ural Mountains were in no way inferior in their grandeur to some Sayan Mountains or perhaps even to the Himalayas themselves!

The surroundings of the ridges are covered with taiga forests, at altitudes above 800 m the forest-tundra belt begins, at altitudes above 850-900 - tundra. In the Southern Urals, the mountains are covered with steppe and are small in size. In the Far North - tundra. From time immemorial, the tundra areas of the mountain have been great place for walking deer, local indigenous people of this region. The mountain tundra belt, suitable for deer walking, reaches the central part of the Northern Urals - the Kvarkush plateau. Below Kvarkush, mountain tundra is relatively rare.

The climate in the mountains is continental, temperate continental. Winter at altitudes above 850-900 meters comes early, snow falls already in September and continues to lie all year in the form of small snow patches even at the height of summer - in July. The open higher elevations are very windy, giving the climate harsher conditions. In summer the sun can warm up to +30-33 degrees, and in winter there are temperatures down to -57 (Burmantovo village, Ivdelsky district).

The Ural Mountains are mountain system, located between the West Siberian and East European plains, and represent a kind of border separating Europe from Asia. They were formed by the collision of the African and Eurasian lithospheric plates, as a result of which one of them literally crushed the other. From the point of view of geologists, these mountains arose in a complex way, as they consist of rocks of different ages and types.

With a length of more than 2000 km, the Ural Mountains form the Southern, Northern, Subpolar, Polar and Middle Urals. Because of their length, they were called the Earth Belt in the first mentions of the 11th century. Everywhere you can see crystal clear mountain streams and rivers, which then flow into larger bodies of water. From big rivers The following rivers flow there: Kama, Ural, Belaya, Chusovaya and Pechora.

The height of the Ural Mountains does not exceed 1895 meters. Thus, it is medium in level (600-800 m) and the narrowest in width of the ridge. This part is characterized by peaked and sharp shapes with steep slopes and deep valleys. The peak of Pai-Er has the greatest rise (1500 m).

The circumpolar zone expands slightly and is considered the highest part ridge. The following peaks are located here: Mount Narodnaya (1894 m), which is the highest, Karpinsky (1795 m), Sablya (1425 m) and many other Ural mountains, the average rise of which ranges from 1300 to 1400 meters.

They are also characterized by sharp landforms and large valleys. This part is also notable for the fact that there are several glaciers here, the largest of which stretches almost 1 km in length.

In the northern part, the Ural Mountains, whose height does not exceed 600 meters, are characterized by smoothed and rounded shapes. Some of them, made of crystalline rocks, take on funny shapes under the influence of rain and wind. Closer to the south they become even lower, and in the middle part they take the form of a gentle arc, where the most significant mark (886 m) is occupied by the Kachkanar peak. The relief here is smoothed and more flat.

In the southern zone, the Ural Mountains rise noticeably, forming many parallel ridges. Among the highest points we can note (1638 m) Yamantau and (1586 m) Iremel, the rest are slightly lower (Big Sholom, Nurgush, etc.).

In the Urals, in addition to beautiful mountains and caves there is a very picturesque, diverse nature, as well as many other attractions. And that is why it is so attractive to many tourists. Here you can choose routes for people of different levels of training - both for beginners and for amateurs extreme travel. In addition to all other advantages, the Ural Mountains are a storehouse of minerals, which include the following: ores of copper, chromium, nickel, titanium; placers of gold, platinum, silver; deposits of coal, gas, oil; precious malachite, diamonds, yam, crystal, amethyst, etc.).

As they say, the only things better than mountains are mountains. And this is true, because their indescribable atmosphere, beauty, harmony, grandeur and clean air inspire and charge with positive, energy and vivid impressions for a long time.

1. Geographical location.

2. Geological structure and relief.

3. Climate and surface waters.

4. Soils, flora and fauna.

Geographical position

The Ural Mountains stretch along the eastern edges of the Russian Plain, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to southern borders Russia. “Ural” translated from Turkic means “belt”. From north to south, the Ural mountainous country stretches for more than 2000 km, crossing five natural areas– tundra, forest-tundra, taiga, forest-steppe and steppe. Width mountain belt from 50 km in the north to 150 km in the south. Together with the foothill plains, the width of the country increases to 200-400 km. In the north, the continuation of the Urals is the island of Vaygach and the islands New Earth, and in the south the Mugodzhary Mountains (in Kazakhstan). In the west, the border of the Urals with the Russian Plain does not have clear outlines. Usually the border is drawn along the Pre-Ural marginal trough, along the valley of the Korotaikha River and the Usa River, then along the Pechera Valley, then just east of the Kama Valley, along the Ufa and Belaya rivers. In the east, the Ural Mountains drop steeply to low foothills, so the border of Western Siberia is more contrasting. It starts from Baydaratskaya Bay, further south to the Trans-Ural Plateau. The Urals have long been considered the border between Europe and Asia. The border is drawn along the entire part of the mountains and further along the Ural River. Naturally, the Urals are closer to Europe than to Asia.

Geological structure and relief

The geological structure of the Urals is quite complex. In its structure two structural tiers (complexes) can be traced. The lower tier is represented by pre-Ordovician strata (gneisses, crystalline schists, quartzites, marble). These rocks are exposed in the cores of large anticlinoria. From above, these strata are covered with Upper Proterozoic sediments up to 10-14 km thick. There are quartz sandstones, which grade higher into siltstones, shales, dolomites and limestones. Probably this lower tier was formed into the Baikal fold, while the territory of the Urals sank and rose repeatedly, becoming dry land. The upper tier is formed by sediments from the Ordovician to the Lower Triassic. The tectonic structures of the modern Urals are associated with the formation of this particular structural stage. The Urals are an example of one of the large linear folded structures stretching for thousands of kilometers. It is a meganticlinorium consisting of alternating anticlinoria and synclinorium, elongated in the meridional direction. The modern structural plan of the Urals was laid down already in the early Paleozoic. At the same time, in the geological structure there are clearly visible differences in the development of the tectonic zones of the western and eastern slopes, which form two independent megazones. The eastern megazone is maximally deflected and is characterized by the development of basic volcanism and intrusive magmatism. It has accumulated thicknesses (over 15 km) of sedimentary-magmatic deposits. Western - devoid of igneous rocks and consists of marine terrigenous sediments. To the west it passes into the Pre-Ural marginal trough. Thus, the formation of the Urals began during the Caledonian folding with the interaction of the lithospheric oceanic plate in the east and the continental East European plate in the west. But the main orogeny of the Urals continued into the Hercynian folding. In the Mesozoic, mountain-forming processes of denudation took place actively, and by the beginning of the Cenozoic, extensive peneplains and weathering crusts were formed, with which alluvial deposits of minerals are associated. In Neogene-Quaternary times, differentiated tectonic movements were observed in the Urals, crushing and movement of individual blocks occurred, which led to the revival of the mountains. In the Urals there is a clear correspondence geological structure modern surface. From west to east, 6 morphotectonic zones replace each other here. 1) The Cis-Ural foredeep separates the folded structures of the Urals from the eastern edge of the Russian Plate. The trough is divided into separate depressions by transverse horst-forming uplifts (Karatau, Polyudov Kamen, etc.): Belskaya, Ufimsko-Solikamskaya, Pecherskaya, Vorkutinskaya (Usinskaya). The thickness of sediments in troughs ranges from 3 to 9 km. Here there are salt strata, and to the north there are coal strata, and there is oil. 2) The zone of synclinoriums on the western slope (Zilairsky, Lemvilsky, etc.) is adjacent to the Pre-Ural trough. It is composed of Paleozoic sedimentary rocks. This zone also includes the Bashkir anticlinorium. There are few minerals here, only building materials. In relief, this zone is expressed by short marginal ridges and massifs, for example, the Zilair plateau, High Parma. 3) The Ural anticlinorium forms the axial, highest part of the Urals. It is composed of more ancient rocks (lower tier): gneisses, amphibolites, quartzites, schists. The main Ural deep fault runs along the eastern slope of the anticlinorium, where nickel, cobalt, chromium, iron, platinum, and Ural gems occur. In relief, the anticlinorium is represented by a narrow linearly elongated ridge, in the north it is called the Belt Stone, then the Ural Range, in the south Uraltau. 4) Magnitogorsk-Tagil (Green Stone) synclinorium stretches from Baydaratskaya Bay south to the state border. It is composed of sedimentary-volcanic rocks: diabase, tuff, jasper, there are liparites, marbles; there is copper pyrite, iron ore, placer gold, and precious stones. In relief, the zone is represented by short ridges, up to 1000 m high. 5) The East Ural (Ural-Tobolsk) anticlinorium can be traced along the entire folded structure, but only its southern part (south of Nizhny Tagil) is part of the Ural Mountains. It is composed of shale and volcanic rocks. There is gold, iron, precious stones here. In relief, this is a strip of eastern foothills and the Trans-Ural peneplain. 6) The Ayat synclinorium is part of the Urals only with its western wing in the south of the country. There is coal. In relief, this is the Trans-Ural Plateau.

In the relief of the Urals, two strips of foothills (western and eastern) are distinguished, between which there is a system of mountain ranges elongated in the submerideonal direction parallel to each other. There can be from 2-3 to 6-8 such ridges. The ridges are separated from each other by depressions along which rivers flow. The Ural mountains are low. The highest point of the Urals is Mount Narodnaya (1895 m). In the Urals, several orographic regions are distinguished from north to south: Pai-Khoi from the Yugorsky Shar Strait to the Kara River, mountain height 400-450 m; The Polar Urals from Mount Konstantinov Kamen to the upper reaches of the Khulga River, the height of the ridges is 600-900 m. The highest point is Mount Payer (almost 1500 m). Subpolar Urals from the Khulga River to the Shchugor River. This is the highest part of the Urals - a mountain node. Here several peaks exceed 1500 m: Narodnaya, Neuroka, Karpinsky, etc. The Northern Urals begin with Mount Telpoz and end with Konzhakovsky Kamen (1570 m); Middle Urals - up to Mount Yurma, this is the lowest part of the mountains, height 500-600 m; Southern Urals from Mount Yurma to the southern borders of Russia. This is the widest part of the Urals, the mountain heights range from 1200 m to 1600 m, the highest point is Mount Iremel (1582 m). The main type of morphostructures of the Urals are revived fold-block mountains. There are morphostructures transitional from folded to platform areas: the plateau of the South Ural peneplain, the basement ridge hills (Pai-Khoi) and the basement plain - the Trans-Ural peneplain. These structures are strata plains. Smaller morphostructures of exogenous origin are superimposed on the morphostructures created by endogenous processes. The Urals are dominated by erosive terrain, which is dominated by river valleys. In the most high parts mountains, char processes are active (frost weathering, solifluction) leading to scatterings of stones ( stone seas and rivers). The cloak of debris reaches up to 5 m in thickness. The western slope and the Cis-Ural region are characterized by karst landforms (caves - Kungurskaya, Divya, Kapova, etc., funnels, etc.). Glacial forms in the Urals are very rare; they are found only in the most elevated areas of the Polar and Subpolar Urals, where there is modern glaciation.

Climate and surface waters.

The climate of the Urals, compared to the climate of the Russian Plain, is more continental. Moreover, due to the significant extent of the Urals in the meridional direction, large climatic differences are observed between the north and south of this region. mountainous country. In the north the climate is subarctic (up to Arctic Circle), and moderate in the rest of the territory. Due to the low altitude of the mountains, the Urals do not have their own special mountain climate. But the Urals act as a barrier to the movement of western winds. Climatic differences between north and south are especially pronounced in summer; July temperatures vary from +6˚C to +22˚C, respectively. In winter, temperatures vary less. The north of the Urals in winter comes under the influence of cyclonic activity. Cyclones carry with North Atlantic warmer and more humid air. Pai Khoi is at the junction of the influence of the cold Kara Sea and the relatively warm Barents Sea. Lowest average temperature January in the Polar Urals -22˚C. To the south, the Urals in winter are influenced by continental air masses The Asian maximum, so January temperatures here are also low, down to -18˚C. The western slope and the Urals are more humid than the eastern slope. On the western slope there is 200 m more precipitation than on the eastern slope. Largest quantity precipitation falls on the western slopes of the Polar - Northern Urals, over 1000 mm. To the south their number decreases to 600-800 mm. In the Trans-Ural region, precipitation decreases to 450-500 mm. In winter, snow cover is established, in the Cis-Ural region its thickness is up to 90 cm, in the mountains of the western slope up to 2 meters. At the same time, in the south of the Trans-Urals, the snow cover height is only 30-40 cm. In winter, temperature inversions are observed in the intermountain basins.

The rivers of the Urals belong to the basins of the Pechora, Volga, Ural and Ob, respectively the Barents, Caspian and Kara seas. The amount of river flow in the Urals is greater than on the adjacent plains. The rivers of the western slope are richer in water than the eastern one. They account for up to 75% of the total annual flow of the Urals. Snow feeding predominates (up to 70%), rain feeding makes up almost 25%, the rest is The groundwater. Lakes in the Urals are unevenly distributed. Their greatest number is in the eastern foothills of the Northern and Southern Urals, where they predominate tectonic lakes. Karst lakes are typical in the Cis-Ural region, and suffosion lakes are characteristic on the Trans-Ural Plateau. There are few large lakes, most deep lake in the Polar Urals - Bolshoye Shchuchye (depth up to 136 m), it is glacial-tectonic. There are many reservoirs and ponds in the Urals. Modern glaciation is developed in the Polar and Subpolar Urals, where the snow line lies at an altitude of about 1000 m.

Soils, flora and fauna.

The soils of the foothills are similar to the zonal soils of the adjacent plains. In the north, tundra-gley soils predominate; to the south, podzolic soils are common; and even further south, soddy-podzolic soils are common. In the Cis-Ural region to the south of Perm, gray forest soils appear, which turn into chernozems to the south. Chestnut soils appear in the southeast of the Trans-Urals. Mountain soil types are developed in the mountains, all of which are saturated with clastic material. These are mountain tundra, mountain forest (podzolic, etc.), mountain chernozems.

The vegetation of the Urals is quite diverse. There are up to 1,600 plant species in the flora of the Urals. But endemics make up only 5%. The poverty of endemics is explained by the middle position of the mountains on the mainland. Thus, many Siberian species crossed the Urals, and the western border of their range runs along the Russian Plain. In the far north of the Urals, tundras extend from the foothills to the peaks. Near the Arctic Circle, the tundra turns into a high-altitude zone, and sparse forests develop at the foot, which rise up to 300 m. The most common type of vegetation in the Urals are forests; they stretch from the Arctic Circle south to the city of Yekaterinburg. Coniferous forests of spruce, fir, and cedar predominate, but on the eastern slopes there is a large proportion of pine. Larch is sometimes found. South of 58˚N. broad-leaved species are added to coniferous species: linden, elm, maple. On the western slopes of the Southern Urals, forests become broad-leaved, with linden predominating. But these forests occupy no more than 5% of the forested area in the Urals. Small-leaved forests of birch and aspen are much more widely represented. They are distributed throughout the Urals. The upper limit of the forest in the Northern Urals reaches 500-600 m, and in the Southern Urals – up to 1200 m. Above the forests lie mountain tundra, mountain meadows and the alpine belt. Forest-steppe appears fragmentarily in the foothills of the Middle Urals (Krasnoufimsk). In the Southern Urals, the forest-steppe approaches the foot of the mountains. The extreme south of the country is occupied by steppes, with thickets of shrubs of caragana, spirea, cherry, etc.

The fauna consists of tundra, forest and steppe species common on the neighboring plains. There are no real mountain species within the Ural country. In the north the typical species are lemmings, arctic foxes, snowy owl, peregrine falcon, buzzard, partridge, snow buntings, Lapland plantain, golden plover, etc. The forests are inhabited by elk, brown bear, wolverine, lynx, sable, marten, wolf, chipmunk, squirrel, hare, hazel grouse, wood grouse, black grouse, nutcrackers, woodpeckers, tits, nuthatch, various owls (eagle owl, etc.); in the summer, warblers, redstarts, cuckoos, thrushes, etc. arrive. Rodents are numerous in the steppes: marmots (baibak), ground squirrels, hamsters, hamsters, and polecats. Birds include the steppe eagle, golden eagle, steppe harrier, buzzard, kite, kestrel, larks, wheatear, etc.