The Chukotka Autonomous Region is one of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation . The area of the county is 721 481 km². This is the 7th largest region of the Russian Federation .
Content
Geographical position
The territory of the district is located in the north-east of Russia . It occupies the entire Chukotka Peninsula , a part of the mainland and a number of islands ( Wrangel , Ayon , Ratmanov , etc.).
It is washed by the East Siberian and Chukchi seas of the Arctic Ocean and the Bering Sea of the Pacific Ocean .
The extreme points of Russia are located here: the eastern point is Ratmanov Island , the eastern continental point is Cape Dezhnev . Here are located: the northernmost city of Russia - Pevek and the easternmost - Anadyr , as well as the easternmost permanent settlement - Uelen .
The entire territory of the Chukotka Autonomous Region belongs to the regions of the Far North .
In the south, the district borders on the Kamchatka Territory , and the border coincides with the watershed of the Anadyr River and the rivers of the Sea of Okhotsk basin on the Koryak Highland . In the west and southwest, Chukotka is bordered by Yakutia and the Magadan region . The eastern boundary of the district is the sea state border of Russia with the United States. Through the Bering Strait passes the date line. In Chukotka, near the village of Egvekinot , there is a point of intersection of the dividing lines of the eastern and western hemispheres ( 180th meridian ) with the Arctic Circle .
Climate
Most of the district’s territory is located beyond the Arctic Circle. Therefore, the climate here is harsh, subarctic , on the coasts - sea , in inland areas - continental . Duration of winter up to 10 months.
The average January temperature is from –15 ° C to −39 ° C, July from +5 ° C to +10 ° C. Absolute minimum recorded −61 ° С, absolute maximum +34 ° С. Precipitations are 200–500 mm per year [1] .
Chukotka recorded many climatic records: the minimum of sunshine hours, the smallest radiation balance for these latitudes, the maximum average annual wind speed and the frequency of hurricanes and storms in Russia ( Cape Navarin ) [2] .
The vegetation period in the southern part of the district is 80-100 days.
Permafrost
The eternal (multi-year) permafrost is widespread and is one of the most important landscape features of Chukotka. In most of the territory, the subterranean rocks have a negative temperature all year round, and the water contained in them is in a solid state. In the northern coastal regions of Chukotka, the permafrost is interrupted only under large lakes and under river beds, as well as in zones of intense rock fractures due to increased heat flow. The thickness of the permafrost fluctuates under the influence of various factors in quite considerable limits and reaches 300 m and more. In the arctic tundras, the depth of seasonal thawing in gravelly soils, even on southern slopes, does not exceed 0.8-1.8 m, and under marshes it does not fall below 15-40 cm [3] .
Relief
Chukotka is dominated by mountainous terrain, and only in the coastal part, as well as along river valleys, there are small areas occupied by lowlands, the largest of which is Anadyr . The continental part has a clearly pronounced slope: in the north - to the Arctic Ocean, in the east - to the Pacific Ocean. The mountain landscape is represented in the central part by the high-altitude Anadyr plateau and the Anyuy Highland , over which mountain ranges rise from 1 km in height, as well as the Chukot Highland in the east and the Koryak Highland in the south.
The highest point is the nameless mountain ( Chantalsky Range ) - 1887 m [4] .
Hydrology
The territory of Chukotka is rich in water resources. Over 8,000 rivers more than 10 km in length flow here, most of which are mountainous. The rivers are mainly fed by snow and rain; they are characterized by prolonged freeze-up (7–8 months), high and rapid floods, and uneven runoff. The beds of many rivers are frozen to the bottom with the widespread formation of ice. The opening of rivers is accompanied by congestion due to the later release of rivers from ice in the lower reaches. The main rivers are the Anadyr (with the tributaries of the Main , Belaya , Tanyurer ), Omolon , Velikaya , Amguema , Bolshoi and Malyi Anuy .
Most lakes are of thermokarst origin, only a few are located in the mountainous part of the district. The coastal lakes of the Arctic Ocean are of lagoon origin, as a result of which the water in them is salty. Most of the lakes are flowing, with lowland often overgrown and transformed into bogs. The largest lakes are Krasnoye , Minitsa , Pekulneyskoye , and also the unique Elgygytgyn Lake, the study of which will make it possible to understand what the climate on Earth was thousands of years ago.
A total of 44 open groundwater deposits, of which 19 are used for economic purposes.
Three deposits of geothermal waters with temperatures up to 80 ° C have been explored : Lorinskoe, Chaplinskoe, Dezhnevskoe .
Natural Resources
As of January 1, 2012, 467 mineral deposits were taken into account in the district, including 385 gold deposits, 8 primary gold with associated silver, 11 deposits of complex tin-tungsten ores, 44 placers of gold, 9 complex placers of tin and tungsten, 10 deposits of coal, oil and gas, copper-tin-silver and zeolite deposits, as well as deposits of semi-precious stones [5] .
The most famous deposits are: ore gold - Kupol , Mayskoye , Karalveemskoye , Dvoinoye , Kekura , Valunistoe , Sovinoye ; placer gold - Ichyuveyem , Ryveyemskoe , Pilkhinkul ; ore tin - Pyrkakayskie stockworks , Iultinsky , Valkumeyskoe ; tungsten - Iultinskoe ; Coal - Anadyr lignite , Bering coal , Far , Eldenyr (brown coal); copper - Peschanka ; mercury - Tamvatneyskoe , West Palyanskoe , Fiery .
In the marine sediments of the coastal part of Eastern Chukotka, isolated grains of diamonds were revealed [6] .
Plant and Animal World
Flora
The territory of the district is located in several natural zones, therefore its vegetation cover is very diverse. Over 900 species of higher plants and 400 species of mosses and lichens occur here, and many species are represented only here. About half of the area of Chukotka is occupied by alpine tundra and stony semi-deserts and deserts, with vegetation covering no more than a third of their area. Permafrost does not allow the roots of plants to penetrate to the depth, so the flora growing here has a small height with a poorly developed root system. Most plants creep over the ground, above which flowering stalks rise only for a short time. Dwarf willows and birches, elfin cedar, sedge and cotton grass prevail in the tundra. In the river valleys, light-coniferous forests consisting of Dahurian larches, and even less often relict chozenia- field forests, are rarely encountered [7] .
Fauna
The animal world of Chukotka is also diverse, its peculiarity lies in the fact that many species of the Arctic fauna do not spread further west.
The main symbol of Chukotka is the polar bear , whose population occupies the territory of the Chukchi Sea, the eastern part of the East Siberian Sea and the northern part of the Bering Sea. On Wrangel Island there is a maternity maternity hospital, a unique nature reserve is organized here. Polar bear hunting has been banned since 1956.
There are also brown bear, reindeer, bighorn sheep, sable, lynx, wolf, arctic fox, wolverine, ermine, chipmunk, hare, fox, muskrat, mink, evravka. Musk oxen were bred on Wrangel Island. Large mammals live in the Chukchi seas: whale, walrus, seal, largha, bearded seal. In the marine area there are about 402 species of fish, of which 50 species are commercial. Here there are 4 types of crabs, 4 types of shrimp, 2 types of cephalopods. About 30 species of fish live in the rivers - mainly salmon , whitefish, grayling, chir, burbot.
The avifauna has about 220 species of birds - the murre, guilleas, hawks, gulls, and others, forming numerous bird markets on the coast. Cormorants, geese, swans, ducks, divers, partridges, sandpipers, owls nest in the tundra.
In the summer, there is an abundance of midges .
Nature Conservancy
On the territory of the district there is a state nature reserve Wrangel Island , included in the UNESCO World Heritage List , as well as reserves - Swan, Avtotkul, Ust-Tanyurersky, Chaun Bay . The district has 20 natural monuments (9 botanical, 3 geological, 5 thermal springs, 1 natural-historical and 2 complex). The total area of specially protected natural territories is more than 5 million hectares, which is 7.1% of the area of the district.
Literature
- Yu.N. Golubchikov . Geography of the Chukotka Autonomous Region. M .: DIK, 2004, 320 p. Textbook for secondary schools in the Chukotka region; took first place in the competition of regional textbooks 1990-2005 [8] .
Notes
- ↑ About Chukotka (inaccessible link) . Museum Center "Heritage of Chukotka." The appeal date was July 12, 2013. Archived January 14, 2013.
- Russian Geographical Society
- ↑ Pavlidis Yu. A., Babaev Yu. M., Ionin A. S., Vozovik Yu. I., Dunaev N. N. Features of polar morpholithogenesis on the shelf of the North-East of the USSR. Continental and island shelves. Relief and precipitation. M., "Science", 1981, p. 33-96.
- ↑ Map sheet Q-60-V, VI . Scale: 1: 200,000. 1982 Edition.
- On the development of the mineral resource base and improving the efficiency of resource use in the Chukotka Autonomous Region . chukotnews (March 30, 2012). The appeal date was July 31, 2013. Archived on September 3, 2013.
- ↑ Ore mineral resources of the Russian Arctic (Inaccessible link) . The appeal date is July 12, 2013. Archived on April 29, 2014.
- ↑ Nature of Chukotka
- ↑ Yury Golubchikov | RIA News