© OCR - A. V. Belikovich, A. V. Galanin, O. M. Afonina, and I. I. Makarova Published according to the text: Belikovich A.V., Galanin A.V., Afonina O.M., Makarova I.I. Flora of specially protected territories of Chukotka. Vladivostok: BSI FEB RAN, 2006. 260 p.
Regional geological and water monuments of nature
Geological monument of nature "ANYUYSKY"
The monument is located in the eastern part of the Bilibinsky district, the area of the Monni River (the basin of the Bolshoi Anyui River). The area is 10.5 thousand hectares. The monument is an extinct conical trachybasaltic stratovolcano of the Holocene age with a diameter of 480 m and its surroundings, the height of which is 90-120 meters. A fissure lava flow 56 km long is associated with it (Fig. 23). Monument of natural disasters. The last volcanic eruption, according to geological data (Ustiev, 1961), occurred about 500 years ago. The highest point of the volcano crater is 1100 m, the base of the crater is at an altitude of 600 m. Erupted lava flows stretch down the northern slope in a narrow strip, and then spread widely to the west for more than 30 km along the ancient valley. Directly from the south, Mount Vulkannaya adjoins the volcano - the highest elevation in a small massif composed of acidic crystalline rocks.
There is only one work on the vegetation cover of the monument (Petrovsky, Plieva, 1984). The area is distinguished by its forest-tundra character, since the territory of the protected area is located in the contact zone of larch sparse forests penetrating along the valleys of the right tributaries of the river. Big Anyui to the middle part of the Anyui Range, with mountain tundra dominating most of the range. The main types of ecosystems found here are as follows:
summit surfaces of mountains, low ridges and individual hills with patchy and patchy dryad tundras;
stony placers with open vegetation groups and lichen-moss tundras;
southern slopes of mountains with rubbly spotted and continuous dryad-forb tundras;
northern slopes of mountains with shrub and shrub-moss-lichen tundras;
cedar and dwarf thickets along mountain slopes with alder forests along runoff hollows;
slopes of narrow river valleys. Ustiev and its tributaries with larch woodlands;
complexes of herbaceous alder and willow forests around lakes formed as a result of springing by frozen lava flows of surface water runoff;
brook complexes of willow and shrub larch forests along streams and rivers;
floodplain terraces. Ustiev with shrubs, meadows and swamps;
river floodplain Ustiev with chozen, willow and pebble.
Notes: From a botanical point of view, it is most interesting to compare the composition of the flora in lava flows and in areas where there are no igneous rocks. Specific flora is confined to the substrates formed as a result of a volcanic eruption. These are 28 pioneer species of colonization of volcanic lavas and tuffs (13% of the total number of identified species). These are mainly mountain arctic and arctoalpine species, as well as several hypoarcto-mountainous species. In the lower parts of the cone, where significant accumulations of snow form in winter, Delphinium chamissonis, Papaver microcarpum, Saxifraga hyperborea are noted in a noticeable abundance. Hierochloe alpina, Luzula confusa, Saxifraga punctata are very common on lava flows, while Poa glauca, Dicentra peregrina, Ermania parryoides, and Artemisia glomerata are constantly found on tuff screes along the slopes of the cone. Other pioneer species: Trisetum spicatum, Poa pseudoabbreviata, Festuca brachyphylla, Luzula confuse, Salix phlebophylla, Silene stenophylla, Minuartia rubella, Thalictrum alpinum, Cardamine bellidifolia, Draba lonchocarpa, Saxifraga funstonii, S. nivalis, Oxytropis czukotica, Diapensia obovata, Androsace ochotensis , Artemisia furcata, Crepis chrysantha, Dryopteris fragrans, Rhodiola atropurpurea. This composition of species can be considered random and due to the introduction of seeds from neighboring plots.
plant communities(Petrovsky, Plieva, 1984):
16% - open vegetation groups on scree slopes of the volcano (Diapensia obovata, Saxifraga funstonii, Androsace ochotensis);
27% - pioneer vegetation of lava flows (Hierochloe alpina, Luzula confusa, Saxifraga punctata);
5% - combinations of rubbly spotted and clump dryad, forb-dryad tundras (Dryas puntata, Carex rupestris, Potentilla uniflora, Minuartia rubella, Salix phlebophylla, Silene stenophylla, Anemone sibirica) on the top surfaces of mountains, low ridges, dry slopes;
1% - combinations of open vegetation groups and lichen-moss tundras (Woodsia ilvensis, Potentilla anachoretica, Potentilla elegans, Carex podocarpa, Lloydia serotina) on rocks and stony placers of slopes;
14% - combinations of shrub-moss-lichen and sedge-forb tundras (Cassiope tetragona, Minuartia macrocarpa, Diapensia obovata, Ledum decumbens, Novosieversia glacialis, Parrya nudicaulis, Saxifraga nelsoniana, Carex lugens, Valeriana capitata, Saussurea tilesii) on the northern slopes and shrubs - forb tundra (Vaccinium uliginosum, Empetrum subholarcticum, Arctous alpina, Dianthus repens, Dracocephalum palmatum, Arenaria capillaris) on the southern slopes;
9% - combinations of dwarf pine thickets, larch subalpine sparse with dwarf elfin forests on mountain slopes and alder thickets with dwarf pine (Pinus pumila, Alnus fruticosa, Betula middendorffii, Lycopodium pungens, Vaccinium vitis-idaea, V. uliginosum subsp. microphyllum, Arctous alpina, Orthilia obtusata, Polygonum tripterocarpum) along damp runoff troughs on slopes;
15% - larch woodlands and sparse forests (Larix cajanderi, Betula exilis, Ledum decumbens, Pyrola grandiflora, Salix saxatilis, Pedicularis labradorica, Calamagrostis neglecta, Arctagrostis arundinacea) along the sides of the narrow valleys of the river protected from the winds. Ustiev and its tributaries;
3% - combinations of herbaceous alder and willow forests (Alnus fruticosa, Salix boganidensis, S. anadyrensis, S. pulchra) around lakes formed as a result of damming of surface water runoff by frozen lava flows;
1% - combinations of wet meadows, sedge and sphagnum bogs (Arctophila fulva, Rubus chamaemorus, Salix fuscescens) in thermokarst ditches and subsidence;
1% - combinations of shrubs, willows and meadows (Spiraea stevenii, Pentaphylloides fruticosa, Rosa acicularis, Carex melanocarpa) on dry areas of floodplain terraces;
3% - combinations of swampy shrubs, sedge and sedge-shrub-sphagnum bogs (Carex rotundata, C. stans, C. appendiculata, Eriophorum polystachion, E. russeolum, Chamaedaphne calyculata, Tofieldia pusilla) along the depressions of the floodplain terraces;
4% - brook complexes of willows and shrub larch forests (Salix pulchra, S. krylovii, S. hastata, Ribes triste) along streams and upper reaches of rivers;
1% - floodplain complexes of willows, chozen forests and meadows along riverbed alluviums (Chosenia arbutifolia, Salix alaxensis, S. schwerinii, S. anadyrensis, Pulsatilla dahurica, Chamerion latifolium, Artemisia borealis) on the river. Ustiev.
Biodiversity: in the flora of protected areas there are 218 species of vascular plants (Petrovsky, Plieva, 1984).
Protected species: rare plant species in the territory of the protected area are not observed.
Geological monument of nature "KEKUR"
Plant communities of protected areas(Galanin A.V. Geobotanical descriptions (12) of the area of the village of Apapelgino for 1974. Archive of the BSI FEB RAS, unpublished data):
70% - complexes of tuberous dwarf shrubs, willows, cassiopeia moss-lichen tundras (Betula exilis, Ledum decumbens, Salix pulchra, S. sphenophylla, S. reticulata, S. reptans, Carex lugens, Vaccinium vitis-idaea, Arctous alpina, Empetrum subholarcticum, Eriophorum vaginatum, Senecio atropurpureus, Petasites frigidus, Parrya nudicaulis, Luzula nivalis, Cassiope tetragona);
30% - complexes of tussock sedge-cotton grass, sedge-shrub tundras (Betula exilis, Ledum decumbens, Salix fuscescens, Polygonum tripterocarpum, Carex lugens, C. stans, Vaccinium vitis-idaea, Eriophorum vaginatum, E. polystachion, Calamagrostis holmii, Arctagrostis latifolia , Valeriana capitata).
Biodiversity: according to expert data, more than 60 species of vascular plants grow on the territory of protected areas (see descriptions).
Geological monument of nature "ELGYGYTGYN LAKE"
 | Rice. 25. Geological monument of nature "Lake Elgygytgyn". The monument is located in the northern part of the Anadyr region along the border with the Chaun region at an altitude of about 500 m above sea level. sea, coordinates 67°29"32"N. 172°04"33" W. The area is 350 ha. The basin of the lake has a regular rounded shape with a diameter of about 17 km. Its formation occurred in the latest stage of the geological history of the Anadyr Plateau, approximately 3 - 5 million years ago (Bely, 1993). The site itself includes the lake itself as a unique geological object (Fig. 25), the origin of which (meteorite crater or endogenous explosion) is the subject of discussion (Bely, 1982). The fauna of the vicinity of the lake is represented by species of large land mammals typical of Chukotka, including the population of the bighorn sheep, which is listed in the Red Book of Russia (Vaskovskii et al., 1988; Zheleznov, 1994). Of the birds, a number of “Red Book” species have been noted here (Nature of the Lake Depression ..., 1993). The ichthyocenosis of the lake is extremely poor, but is unique in its endemism and relict character (Chereshnev and Skopets, 1993). Three species of charr live in the lake, including two endemic ones. On the shore of the lake there are archaeological sites (sites of ancient people). The maximum depth in the center of the lake is 169 m. |
According to the latest research by scientists, the lake is of global importance. The proposed object was included in the order of the Government of the Russian Federation dated 23.04.94. No. 572-r "On the formation of new specially protected areas Russian Federation in 1994-2005" under the name of the Elgygytgynsky National Park. The feasibility study was developed by the Research Center "Chukotka" FEB RAS (Belikovich, Galanin, 1994).
The vegetation of the monument has been studied well (Kozhevnikov, 1978, 1985, 1993; Belikovich, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1994; Belikovich, Galanin, 1989, 1992).
Type of ecosystems of protected areas - typical hypoarctic tundras in the zone of southern hypoarctic tundras. The main ecosystems are associated with abiotic differences in the environment:
flat mountain tops and upland terraces with cryogenic relief and windblown clump and spotted tundras;
moderately steep solifluction slopes with sinter hillocks and characteristic banded shrub (most often dryad) tundras;
slightly sloping solifluction terraces, wide runoff hollows on the slopes, with peaty-humus substrate and complexes of meadows and tubercular shrub tundras;
gentle plumes of slopes and saddles with close permafrost and marshy sedge and hummocky cottongrass tundras, fragments of moss swamps;
nival ecotopes in places of snowfields in slope bends, ledges of terraces, erosion troughs, floodplain terraces of streams, alluvial fans;
pebbles of the ancient valley of the river. Enmyvaam with sparse herb communities and silty channels;
floodplains of streams with fragments of willows and sparse grass meadows.
Notes: The lake has a cooling effect on the surrounding vegetation, in connection with which the participation of steppe groups and meadows in the vegetation cover is reduced. On the eastern shore of the lake, there is the “Pink Rocks” tract, which is an elongated rock mass composed of andesites interspersed with plagioclase and labradorite. Relic plant species Pulsatilla multifida subsp. nutalliana, Carex supina subsp. spaniocarpa. The only stepoid in the area was also found here - between steep rocks on a steep crumbling rubble area. In addition to the above species, Artemisia kruhseana, Poa glauca, Potentilla stipularis, P. nivea, P. arenosa, Carex rupestris, Antennaria monocephala, Trisetum molle, Dryas punctata, Selaginella sibirica, Saxifraga funstonii, Androsace septentrionalis, Festuca brachyphylla, Polemonium boreale, Myosotis asiatica, Arnica iljinii.
In the region of the lake Elgygytgyn, despite its continental position, has enhanced oceanic signs of vegetation, which proves the ratio of continental and oceanic elements of flora and vegetation (Kozhevnikov, 1979, p. 118). This is confirmed by other observations: finds in the surface layers of soil trunks of large willows, which are currently absent here, geomorphological changes over the past 100 years according to the descriptions of early researchers. The increase in the oceanic climate in the lake area and the corresponding change in the vegetation cover is due to the elevation of the area above sea level.
plant communities(Kozhevnikov, 1993, Belikovich, 1988; area after: Belikovich, Galanin, 1989):
15% - combinations of patchy and patchy dryad-lichen, forb-dryad, cobresia tundras (Salix phlebophylla, Pedicularis lanata, Artemisia furcata, Potentilla elegans, Eritrichium aretioides, Minuartia arctica, Potentilla uniflora, Arenaria capillaris, Poa pseudoabbreviata, Cardamine bellidifoserpyllifolia , Kobresia myosuroides, Crepis nana) on horizontal rocky surfaces - flat mountain tops, upland terraces, tuff screes;
20% - combinations of spotted shrubby, dryad-forb, cassiopeia moss-lichen tundras (Cassiope tetragona, Rhododendron parvifolium, Senecio resedifolus, Ermania parryoides, Silene stenophylla, Dryas octopetala, Crepis nana, Potentilla elegans, Androsace ochotensis) of gentle and medium steep slopes ;
9% - combinations of meadows and tubercular shrub tundras (Artemisia arctica, Aconitum delphinipholium, Arctagrostis arundinacea, Carex podocarpa, Festuca altaica, Luzula multiflora, Senecio tundricola, Thalictrum alpinum, Veratrum oxysepalum) on slightly sloping solifluction terraces, wide runoff troughs on slopes, areas plumes with a humus substrate;
40% - combinations of sedge-cotton grass-shrub tussock tundra and sedge moss bogs (Eriophorum vaginatum, E. callitrix, E. polystachion, Pedicularis pennellii, P. albolabiata, Carex rotundata, C. lugens, Salix fuscescens, S. reticulata, Senecio atropurpureus , Ledum decuumbens, Andromeda polifolia, Vaccinium uliginosum, V. minus) along gentle trails of slopes, on saddles, upland terraces and the old lacustrine terrace of the lake;
1% - combinations of forb, dryad tundras, including stepoids (Potentilla stipularis, Artemisia kruhseana, Myosotis asiatica, Saxifraga eschscholtzii, Papaver lapponicum, Senecio jacuticus, Woodsia ilvensis, Dianthus repens) of rocky ledges along the sides of valleys and mountain slopes;
9% - combinations of nival cassiopeia-moss, willow and snowy sparse grass tundras (Salix polaris, Cassiope tetragona, Carex tripartita, Phippsia algida, Koenigia islandica, Saxifraga hyperborea, Eritrichium villosum, Primula tschuktschorum, Hierochloe pauciflora) in places of snowfields in slope bends, ledges terraces, erosional hollows, non-floodplain terraces of streams, alluvial cones;
1% - forb meadows (Arctagrostis latifolia, Carex misandra, C. atrofusca, Saxifraga cernua, Ranunculus affinis, Anemone sibirica, Polygonum viviparum, Valeriana capitata) on ground squirrels;
3% - combinations of hairy meadows, clumps of willows, moss sedge, grassy and wet silty sparse grass communities (Androsace ochotensis, Empetrum subholarcticum, Salix tschuktschorum, S. saxatilis, Pleuropogon sabinii, Polemonium boreale, Beckwithia chamissonis, Saussurea tilesii, Lagotis minor, Pedicularis hirsuta ) on the pebbles of the ancient valley of the river. Enmyvaam;
2% - combinations of willow and sparse grass meadow fragments (Salix alaxensis, S. krylovii, Deschampsia borealis, Chamerion latifolium, Equisetum variegatum, Stellaria fischerana, Potentilla hyparctica, Eutrema edwardsii, Cardamine blaisdellii, Trollius membranostylus, Polemonium acutiflorum, Parnassia kotzebuei, Polemonium acutiflorum, Parnassia kotzebuei, Polemonium acutiflorum, Parnassia kotzebuei, Polemonium acutiflorum along the floodplains of the streams.
Biodiversity: The flora of the region includes 249 species (Kozhevnikov, 1978; Belikovich, 1990).
Protected species: Over 100 species of the region are rare or found singly. Koeleria asiatica, Carex amblyorhyncha, C. holostoma, Tofieldia pusilla, Saxifraga setigera, Trollius chartosepalus, Corydalis arctica, Astragalus tugarinovii can be considered rare species. Festuca baffinensis, which is extremely sporadically found in Chukotka, is common here - around the lake it grows in places where andesitic tuffs come out, on dry rubble chicken tundra, grows luxuriantly near remnant rocks, on ground squirrels (Yurtsev et al., 1973). Most of the flora of the site is represented by species that took part in transcontinental migrations through Beringia in the Pleistocene. Endemes and species listed in the Red Book of the RSFSR are not registered in the area.
Water monument of nature "ACCHEN"
 | Rice. 26. Water monument of nature "Lake Achchen". It is located in the southern part of the Providensky district, on the coast of the Gulf of Anadyr, 50 km from the village of Nunlingran (Fig. 26). The area is 9 thousand hectares. The monument is a unique lake - a spawning place for valuable species of fish, including sockeye salmon, chinook salmon, pink salmon, loaches, vendace (by its size, fat content and fatness, the vendace of the lake is a unique form not found in any reservoir of Chukotka and Kolyma). Lake Achchen is a lagoon-type lake. It is a laced sea lagoon, separated from the sea by a sand and pebble bridge, desalinated by numerous small streams and rivers flowing into the lake. The greatest depth of the lake is 27 m. |
In the southern part, the sea comes close to the lake. It is separated by a pebble spit 150 m wide at its narrowest point. This spit is low relative to the water level in the lake and the sea, and during the period of maximum water levels in the lake and strong storms on the narrowest section of the pebble spit, sea water surges, overflowing through the spit, fall into the lake . From the south, the lake is connected to the sea by a channel 1 km long.
The protected area is located in the subzone of the northern (typical) hypoarctic tundra. Main ecosystems: mountain slopes with patchy, patchy and full-cover tundras; runoff hollows with complexes of nival tundras and lawns; valleys of streams and small rivers with sparse grass meadows, willow forests, lawns and nival tundras; the lower parts of the slopes of the mountains with trains with tubercular and hummocky sedge-cotton grass tundras; marine pebbly spit separating a lagoon-type lake from Anadyr Bay, with complexes of halophytic sparse grass meadows and leimus meadows in a wide part.
Plant communities of protected areas(according to preliminary and archival data):
24% - combinations of sparse clump, clump and spotted forb, shrub tundras (Dryas punctata, Salix sphenophylla, Festuca brachyphylla, F. brevissima, Carex misandra, Minuartia biflora, M. arctica, Anemone sibirica, Cardamine bellidifolia, Saxifraga serpyllifolia, S. flagellaris subsp . setigera, Potentilla elegans) on the near-top parts of the slopes;
1% - steppe forb, dryad-forb and fescue-kobresia tundras (Dryas punctata, Festuca altaica, Kobresia simpliciuscula, Carex melanocarpa, Claytonia arctica, Arenaria capillaries, Silene acaulis, S. stenophylla, Erysimum pallasii, Ermania parryoides, Saxifraga funstonii) southern heated convex sections of slopes and terraces;
32% - combinations of whole-cover shrub, dryad, dryad-sedge moss-lichen tundras (Dryas punctata, Salix arctica, S. phlebophylla, Betula exilis, Vaccinium uliginosum, V. vitis-idaea, Arctous alpina, Carex scirpoidea, Luzula tundricola, Thalictrum alpinum , Parrya nudicaulis, Acomastylis glacialis, Arctous erythrocarpa, Oxygraphis glacialis) along the slopes of different exposures;
4% - combinations of nival forb, forb-sedge-moss and willow-moss tundras and lawns (Salix polaris, S. reticulata, S. phlebophylla, S. chamissonis, Carex podocarpa, Oxyria dygina, Koenigia islandica, Ranunculus nivalis, R. pygmaeus , R. sulphureus, Poa malacantha, P. paucispicula, Phippsia algida, Luzula unalashkensis, Dodecatheon frigidum) along erosion ravines, hollows, small streams, under ledges of upland terraces;
2% - combinations of sparse grass meadows, willows, lawns and nival willow tundras (Salix alaxensis, S. glauca, S. pulchra, S. nummularia, Spiraea stevenii, Allium shoenoprasum, Lloydia serotina, Leymus interior, Arctagrostis arundinacea, Festuca altaica, Pleuropogon sabinei , Veratrum oxysepalum, Rumex acetosa subsp. pseudoxyria, Polygonum tripterocarpum, Anemone richardsonii, Rubus arcticus, Lagotis minor) in the valleys of streams and small rivers;
31% - tuberculate shrub-forb moss-lichen tundras (Salix pulchra, S. saxatilis, S. reptans, Betula exilis, Carex lugens, Alopecurus alpinus, Arctagrostis latifolia, Eriophorum vaginatum, Tofieldia coccinea, T. pusilla, Polygonum ellipticum, Clalytonia acutifolia ) lower parts of mountain slopes and trails of slopes;
35% - combinations of tussock shrub-cotton grass-sedge tundras, marshy sedge-moss tundras and sedge bogs (Salix fuscescens, Eriophorum polystachion, E. medium, E. russeolum, E. triste, Pedicularis oederi, P. pennelii, Carex rariflora, C . rotundata, Ranunculus pallasii) along flat areas of terraces and trails of mountain slopes;
2% - combinations of moss forb and shrub tundras (Petasites frigidus, Phippsia algida, Empetrum subholarcticum, Salix rotundifolia, Carex glareosa, Salix ovalifolia, S. glauca, S. alaxensis) along the banks and old lacustrine pebbles;
2% - halophytic sparse grass and shiksha-leimus meadows (Arctopoa eminens, Leymus villosissimus, Empetrum subholarcticum, Deshampsia paramushirensis, Puccinellia phryganodes) on a pebbly spit;
2% - halophytic shiksha-grass-forb marsh tundras (Salix ovalifolia, Calamagrostis deschampsioides, Puccinellia angustata, Silene acaulis, Armeria arctica) in wide parts of the pebble spit.
Biodiversity: about 270 species of vascular plants have been identified in the area.
Protected species: On a lake Locations of a rare species of moss Leptopterigynandrum austro-alpinum are known in Achchen. It is a rocky and tundra moss with a disjunctive range, growing on rather wet surfaces of limestone rocks and on gravelly substrates in mountain tundras. A rare species of large-seeded drema Gastrolychnis macrosperma, club moss Lycopodium clavatum subsp. monostachyon, arctic reed grass Calamagrostis arctica, and Pleuropogon sabinii, rare for the Bering Sea coast (Yurtsev et al., 1975b). Also recorded are Maksimovich’s reed Scirpus maximowiczii, found on wet spotted and small sedge tundras of mountain saddles, cobresia Kobresia sibirica, K. simpliciuscula, and green grasshopper Coeloglossum viride from the fam. Orchids (Yurtsev et al., 1973a).
5 rare species of mosses were found in the protected areas: Encalypta vulgaris, Kiaeria starkei, Leptopterigynandrum austro-alpinum, Racomitrium afoninae, Seligeria polaris.
Water monument of nature "RAUCHUAGYTGYN"
 | Rice. 27. Water monument of nature "Lake Rauchuagytgyn". It is located in the southern part of the Chaunsky district, in the upper reaches of the Rauchua River, not far from the village of Baranikha (Fig. 27). Area 573 ha. The monument is a unique lake of moraine genesis with its surroundings. The terrain is sharply dissected, rocky. Classical glacial trough valleys, glacial moraine and hydroglacial formations are typical. The lake is located at an altitude of 593 m. The length of the lake is 4.3 km, the width is 1.8 km, the depth is 15-20 m. The lake is flowing. The flow of the Rauchua River is regulated. The lake area is characterized by an inversion of air temperature in winter (an increase in air temperature with altitude). The lake was formed as a result of the damming of the valley by moraine deposits. The confinement of the lake to the junction of the volcanogenic belt with mesozoids gives the area a colorful multi-colored hue. Wild deer, bighorn sheep, brown bear, wolverine, etc. live in the vicinity of the lake. The vegetation of the river basin. Rauchua was studied in detail by A.V. Galanin (1977, 1989, 2005), there are data on floristic finds (Yurtsev et al., 1973a). The protected area belongs to the Western Chukotka district of the Continental Chukotka subprovince of the Arctic floristic region, the subzone of the southern hypoarctic tundra (Yurtsev, 1973). The area is located 70 km southwest of the southern tip of the Chaun Bay and is characterized by a moderately dissected mountainous terrain. Separate mountain ranges exceed 1300 m above sea level and have alpine-type features. Most of the hills are 600–1100 m high with flat tops and heavily terraced slopes. The peaks of neighboring hills are connected with each other by saddles in chains and large massifs, which are interspersed with wide mountain ravines. Numerous streams and rivers usually dry up in the second half of summer. |
The slopes of the hills quite sharply turn into extensive loamy plumes. In places where the slope - plume there are leveled areas - subslope terraces, which, despite good drainage, are intensively moistened due to the inflow of groundwater from the slope of the hill. On the plumes there are gravel ridges 2 to 10 m wide and up to 0.6 m high, oriented down the slope, and in some places, usually in the middle and lower parts, there are wide (up to 20–30 m) trough-shaped runoff hollows. Some of the highest peaks have remnants, near which a large amount of coarse clastic material is observed. On the steep slopes of the hills, rubble and stony screes are quite common. The area as a whole is dominated by acidic sedimentary and igneous rocks: granitoids, sandstones, and shales. Basic rocks are absent here. In the valley of the river flowing out of the lake, floodplain terraces are well expressed, turning into a floodplain with numerous swamps and lakes.
The main types of protected area ecosystems are as follows: peaks, near-top ridges and parts of steep southern slopes and upland terraces with clump and fragmentary gravel tundra; convex sections of mountain slopes of hills of southern exposure with steppe tundras; extensive upland terraces and slopes of northern exposure with whole-cover shrub moss-lichen tundras; slopes and upland terraces at an altitude of 700–900 m a.s.l. seas with patchy forb-shrub moss-lichen tundras; runoff hollows on slope plumes with tussocky sedge-cotton grass tundras in combination with low-growing willows; nival tundras and lawns along streams, places of snowfields, narrow erosive; above-floodplain terraces of the river and fragments of the lakeside terrace with dwarf birch, sedge-moss tundras, polygonal swamps with bulgunnyakhs; old pebbles of vast floodplain terraces of the river. Rauchua with dwarf shrubs, patchy and patchy forb-shrub tundras; floodplain complexes of sparse-grass meadows on pebbles and reed meadows on silted sand deposits in the floodplain of the river. Rauchua in the place where it flows out of the lake.
Notes: Not far from the protected area is the border between the basins of the Kolyma, Anadyr and rivers flowing into the Arctic Ocean. The vegetation cover of the lake area is the southern variant of the subzone of the southern hyporactic tundra, which will be replaced by forest tundra literally in a couple of tens of kilometers (Petrovsky, Plieva, 1988, 2000). In this regard, many boreal species have been recorded in the flora of protected areas. These species are found mainly in swamps, willow forests, and partially in floodplain-above-floodplain ecotopes. In floodplains and on floodplain terraces of the river. Rauchua found fragments of reed meadows - full-fledged boreal meadows, located here at the northern limit of their distribution.
Plant communities of protected areas(Galanin, 1977):
19% - combinations of clump and fragmentary forb-dwarf shrub gravelly, clump and spotted forb-lichen and dryad-lichen tundras (Dryas punctata, Salix phlebophylla, S. tschuktschorum, Viccinium vitis-idaea, Crepis chrysantha, Silene stenophylla, Oxytropis czukotica, Artemisia furcata , Arnica frigida, Ermania parryoides, Selaginella sibirica, Polygonum laxmanii, Potentilla uniflora, Festuca brachyphylla, Arctous alpina, Hierochloe alpina, Anemone sibirica) on the tops and near-top parts of steep slopes, screes of southern and southwestern exposure and upland terraces;
3% - combinations of clump and fragmentary forb-dwarf shrub gravelly, forb-lichen steppe tundras (Dracocephalum palmatum, Dianthus repens, Erysimum pallasii, Festuca auriculata, Potentilla nivea, Dryas punctata, Minuartia rubella, Carex rupestris, C. obtusata, C. pediformis, Androsace bungeana, Silene repens, Thymus oxyodonthus, Potentilla arenosa, Draba cinerea) on convex mountain slopes of southern exposure hills;
15% - combinations of forb-shrub and willow moss-lichen tundras (Salix pulchra, S. tschuktschorum Arctagrostis latifolia, Carex lugens, Ledum decumbens, Vaccinium uliginosum, Betula exilis, Eriophorum vaginatum, E. brachyantherum, Gentiana glauca, Senecio frigidus, Pedicularis lapponica , P. oederi) extensive upland terraces and slopes of northern and northeastern exposure;
15% - combinations of spotted forb-shrub moss-lichen and lichen tundras (Betula exilis, Ledum decumbens, Salix sphenophylla, S. phlebophylla, Carex lugens, Pedicularis amoena, Anemone sibirica, Polygonum ellipticum, P. tripterocarpum, Androsace ochotensis, Vacsumcinium uligino, Cassiope tetragona, Poa alpigena, P. malacantha, Deschampsia brevifolia, Pedicularis adamsii, Gentiana algida, Saxifraga nivalis, S. foliolosa, Petasites glacialis, Saussurea tilesii, Oxygraphis glacialis) on slopes and upland terraces at an altitude of 700–900 m a.s.l. seas;
12% - combinations of raw forb-shrub eutrophic, willow-sedge-moss and forb-shrub moss tundras (Salix saxatilis, S. reticulata, Rhododendron parvifolium, Andromeda polipholia, Parrya nudicaulis, Claytonia acutifolia, Polygonum ellipticum, Luzulagotis nivalis, Lagotis minor, Carex lugens, C. misandra, C. algida, C. williamsii, Pedicularis oederi, Thalictrum alpinum, Saxifraga hirculus, S. hieracifolia, Chrysosplenium alternifolium, Melandrium apetalum, Thalictrum minus, Juncus biglumis, Corydalis arctica, Tofieldia coccinea) on subslope terraces and alluvial fans and along inter-ridge depressions of hill slope plumes;
18% - combinations of tussocky sedge-cotton grass-shrub, sedge-cotton grass-forb tundra and low-growing willow forests (Eriophorum vaginatum, E. polystachion, E. russeolum, E. medium, Rubus chamaemorus, Carex lugens, C. stans, Calamagrostis holmii, Arctagrostis latifolia, Salix pulchra, S. fuscescens, S. saxatilis, S. krylovii, Betula exilis, Senecio atripurpureus, Ledum decumbens, Saxifraga hieracifolia) along runoff troughs on plumes of mountain slopes;
8% - combinations of nival tundra, lawns, brook mixed grass shrubs and mixed grass and moss shrub tundra (Salix pulchra, S. krylovii, Betula exilis, Ledum decumbens, Rosa acicularis, Saxifraga nelsoniana, S. cernua, Ranunculus grayi, Polygonum tripterocarpum, Veratrum oxysepalum , Polemonium boreale, Gentiana glauca, Anemone richardsonii, Rubus arcticus, Artemisia arctica, Whilhelmsia physodes, Hupperzia selago) along streams, nival niches and narrow erosional ravines (Oxyria digyna, Ranunculus pygmaeus, Carex podocarpa, C. tripartita, Diapensia obovata, Saxifraga oppositifolia, Artemisia arctica, Anemone richardsonii);
1% - xeromesophilic and mesophilic meadows on ground squirrels (Rosa acicularis, Hierochloe alpina, Festuca altaica, Arctagrostis latifolia, Calamagrostis lapponica, Artemisia arctica, Pulsatilla multifida, Drococephalum palmatum, Chamerion angustifolium, Veratrum oxysepalum, Valeriana sppitata, Delincarpholia chamissonis) in the lower part of slopes and plumes;
1% - combinations of dwarf birch and sedge-moss tundras (Betula exilis, Salix pulchra, S. fuscescens, Empetrum subholarcticum, Vaccinium uliginosum, V. vitis-idaea, Polygonum tripterocarpum, Valeriana capitata, Petasites frigidus, Carex lugens, C. stans, Eriophorum vaginatum, Poa arctica, Rubus chamaemorus, Saxifraga hirculus, Chamaedaphne calyculata, Senecio atripurpureus) on terraces above the floodplain of small streams and fragments of a lakeside terrace;
4% - combinations of sedge-cotton grass shrub polygonal bogs with bulgunyakhs (Carex stans, Eriophorum polystachyon, E. russeolum, E. medium, Salix fuscescens, S. myrtilloides, Saxifraga cernua, Comarum palustre, Andromeda polifolia, Ledum decumbens, Oxycoccus microcarpus, Vaccinium uliginosum, Rubus chamaemorus, Hierochloe pauciflora, Carex chordorrhiza, C. rariflora, C. rotundata, Smilacina trifolia, Drosera rotundifolia, Pinguicula villosa) on the floodplain terrace of the river. Rauchua and lakeside terraces;
2% - dwarf shrub blueberry tundra on convex areas and patchy and patchy mixed herb-shrub tundra on old pebbles (Vaccinium uliginosum, Betula exilis, Salix pulchra, Pentaphylloides fruticosa, Empetrum subholarcticum, Pulsatilla multifida, Luzula sibirica, Antennaria villifera) (Festuca altaica acicularis, Arnica iljinii, Hedysarum hedysaroides, Festuca brachyphylla, Salix phlebophylla, Crepis chrysantha, Androsace ochotensis, Silene repens, Thymus oxyodonthus, Potentilla nivea, P. stipularis) of the extensive floodplain terraces of the river. Rauchua;
2% - floodplain complexes of sparse grass meadows on pebbles and reed grass meadows on silty sand drifts (Calamagrostis purpurea, Festuca rubra, F. cryophila, Chamerion latifolium, Artemisia borealis, A. tilesii, Tanacetum boreale, Potentilla stipularis, Rumex graminifolius, Stellaria fischeriana, Leymus interior, Galium verum, Allium schoenoprasum, Helictotrichon dahuricum, Alopecurus glaucus) and fragments of floodplain willows (Salix krylovii, S. hastata, S. lanata, S. pulchra, S. alaxensis, Pentaphyloides fruticosa, Galium boreale, Equisetum arvense) p. Rauchua in the place where it flows out of the lake.
Biodiversity: About 320 species have been recorded in the area (Yurtsev et al., 1973a; Galanin, 1977).
Protected species: Many rare boreal species are found in the area, for example, foxtail Alopecurus aequalis, Siberian juniper Juniperus sibirica, sedge Carex appendiculata and nosy C. rostrata (Yurtsev et al., 1973). In eutrophic bogs, there is a boreal relic of the three-leaved smilacina Smilacina trifolia, on old pebbles of the Dahurian oatmeal Helictotrichon dahuricum, and in the rubbly tundra on the tops of the mountains, the grapevines Botrychium lunaria, B. boreale grow extremely rarely. Artemisia flava, a rare species found only in the east of Chukotka, was found here (Yurtsev et al., 1973a). Other rare species include Carex holostoma and C. irrigua sedges.
- Burpala alkaline massif
- Yoko-Dovyren gabbro-peridotite complex
- Sections of the Akitkan Proterozoic Series along the Goudzhekit and Kunerma rivers
- Ophiolite massif of Cape Thin
- Botovskaya cave
- Thermal spring Khakusy
- Kotelnikovsky source of thermal siliceous waters
- Allinskie springs of thermal fresh waters
- Seismotectonic structure of Shartle
- Insky rock garden
- Bodies of holy bearers of the Svyatoy Nos Peninsula
- Cheremkhoskoye coal deposit
- Cretaceous-Paleogene weathering crust of Sarayskaya Bay
- rift basin
- Paleozoic complexes of the Olkhon region and the islands
- Goryachinsky thermal spring
- Location of the Jurassic continental biota of Ust-Baley
- Tazheran alkaline massif
- Marakta source of mineral waters
- Weathering remnants and deposits of pebbles in Peschanaya Bay
- Calcite Cave
- Diaphtorites of the Zyrkuzun loop
- Metasomatic complexes of Belaya Vyemka
- Slyudyansky mining area
- Location of rare minerals Utochkina Pad
- Ermakovskoe fluorite-phenacite-bertrandite deposit
- Tankhoy system of seismic dislocations
- Seismogenic structure Snezhnaya
- Location of the remains of the Pliocene Urunga
- Location of early Jurassic insects Novospasskoye
- Active volcano Shiveluch
- Active volcano Klyuchevskaya Sopka
- Active volcano Bezymyanny
- Cinder cones of the Great Fissure Tolbachik Eruption
- Active volcano Ichinskaya Sopka
- Active volcano Kronotskaya Sopka
- Volcano Khangar
- Volcanic ultramafic complex of the Valagin ridge
- Active volcano Kikhpinych
- Uzon volcano caldera
- Active volcano Krasheninnikov
- Active Volcano Bolshoi Semyachik
- Valley of Geysers14 Maly Semyachik active volcano
- Active volcano Karymskaya Sopka
- Active volcano Avachinskaya Sopka
- Active volcano Gorely
- Active volcano Sopka Opala
The national heritage of any state is a lot, including a variety of monuments: historical, cultural, archaeological, natural. Among the latter are separate objects of animate and inanimate nature, whose scientific, educational, historical, memorial or cultural and aesthetic significance is so great that it forces the state and the population to ensure their safety in order to pass on from generation to generation. The monuments of inanimate nature include geological objects.
Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 900 dated December 26, 2001 for the first time established that the protection of geological objects of scientific, cultural, aesthetic and other significance should be carried out within the framework of the previously adopted Federal Law “On Specially Protected Natural Territories” No. 33-FZ dated March 14. 1995.
Like specially protected natural areas, geological objects can be of federal, regional and local importance and protected, respectively, at the federal, regional and local levels.
Along with this, a small part of the country's geological objects is currently protected not as natural areas, but as cultural monuments (some caves, ancient mines), as well as museums-reserves (for example, the Marcial Waters museum-reserve in), which, like specially protected natural areas, are also ranked according to their significance (federal, regional and local significance).
The rank of geological objects protected and proposed for protection is not legally regulated and is determined solely by their scientific, cultural and aesthetic significance. According to these criteria, global, supra-regional, regional and local ranks of geological objects are distinguished. Only geological objects of global and supra-regional rank, protected and proposed for protection, are placed on the map.
Geological objects of global rank include objects that characterize the general patterns of development of planetary shells and the main inhomogeneities of the Earth, as well as unique on a global scale. Geological objects of supra-regional rank include objects that reflect the patterns of development of individual continents, oceans, as well as unique ones on a supra-regional scale.
In recent years, a set of geological objects that have scientific, historical, cultural or aesthetic significance is called the geological heritage. The division of the geological heritage into types is carried out, as a rule, according to the subject principle.
Stratigraphic type - stratotypes, stratotype localities, reference sections of stratigraphic units of different ranks, as well as sections that characterize significant intervals of a geological section in a continuous occurrence.
Paleontological type - locations of the remains of ancient organisms or traces of their life, outstanding in terms of diversity, rarity and (or) degree of preservation of fossils.
Mineralogical type - localities with a wide variety of minerals, objects of concentration of various mineralogical and crystallographic rarities, as well as areas of modern mineral formation.
Ore-litho-petrological type - outcrops (massifs) of characteristic or rare rocks and ores with clear signs of their composition, structure and texture, as well as other clear evidence of their formation processes.
Radiogeological type - geological objects characterized by high natural radioactivity.
Neotectonic type - areas of manifestation of the newest.
Paleotectonic type - areas of the earth's crust, clearly reflecting in well-exposed sections the results of the manifestation of tectonic processes of the geological past.
Structural-geological type - traces of manifestations of various kinds of tectonic dislocations.
Cosmogenic type - areas of influence of cosmic impact events on the day surface and interior, as well as sections with interlayers of impact origin.
Geothermal type - objects with pronounced geothermal anomalies.
Facies-paleogeographic type - geological objects that make it possible to reconstruct facies and paleogeographic conditions of sediment accumulation.
Geocryological type - subsoil areas containing fossil ice and (or) permafrost rocks.
Technogenic type - mine workings, their dumps and artificial reservoirs, on which geological processes caused by technogenesis take place.
Historical-geological type - objects of fundamental geological research, as well as mine workings of historical significance.
Most geological sites of scientific, historical, cultural or aesthetic significance correspond to more than one type of geological heritage. Characteristic, for example, are combinations of stratigraphic, paleontological and facies-paleogeographic types, ore-litho-petrological and mineralogical types, neotectonic and geomorphological types of geological heritage, etc. Geological objects of this kind with the manifestation of several different types of heritage are called polytype. With a certain degree of conditionality, one of the types represented on a polytype geological object can be considered dominant.
The highest level of protection of geological objects is the world level, which is determined by their location within the World Heritage Sites (WHR) protected in accordance with the UNESCO “Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage” (1972), ratified by the USSR in 1988. Such objects on the territory There are nine in Russia: the Curonian Spit (together with), the Western Caucasus, the Virgin Komi Forests, the Golden Mountains of Altai, the Ubsunur Hollow (together with), Lake Baikal, Ostrov, the Volcanoes of Kamchatka and the Central Sikhote-Alin.
The Curonian Spit is located near the southern coast opposite the city and is a continuous strip of sand dunes 0.3-1 km wide, up to 68 m high, and up to 70 km long along the peninsula. The spit is accumulative, created by eolian and wave-cutting activity. In terms of the scale of manifestation of accumulative activity, the Curonian Spit has no analogues in Northern Europe.
The Western Caucasus is located in the upper reaches of the Malaya Laba and Belaya rivers and is an area of development of exceptionally picturesque landforms created by alpine folding: pointed rocks, deep gorges, trough valleys, moraines, tarns, lakes, etc. The wide distribution of limestones led to the development of karst landforms, such as funnels, caves, wells and mines with underground rivers, lakes and waterfalls. Yes, total length underground passages in the northern part of the Fisht massif, composed of Late Callovian-Tithonian bioherm limestones, exceeds 15 km. In the sources of the Thach River there is a rich accumulation of Middle-Late Triassic ammonites, reaching 1 m in diameter.
The virgin Komi forests occupy the western slopes of the Northern and Subpolar Urals, where mainly stratigraphic objects of great scientific importance are represented. Of greatest interest is the almost continuous section of the Upper Ordovician-Upper Permian on the Kozhym River. A number of Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, and Permian stratotypes are described here. The remains of a diverse fauna of good preservation are represented by trilobites, conodonts, brachiopods, crinoids, bivalves, foraminifers, ostracods, and fish. The rich Early Carboniferous complex of ammonoids presented here has also gained worldwide fame. On the Kozhym River, in the form of a giant tectonic breccia with blocks up to 50-70 m in diameter, a horizon of sediment slippage from the Silurian to the Permian along the underlying Ordovician rocks is also exposed. Of the stratigraphic objects of great interest are the Yareneisky (Limbeko-Yu) section of the Upper Ordovician-Lower Silurian, the Syvyusky section of the Upper Silurian-Lower Devonian and the West Syvyusky section of the Upper Devonian, rich in diverse faunal remains, the Ordovician-Silurian reef complexes on the Balbanyu River and the Upper Mesozoic Rocks Reef on the river Kozhym.
The Golden Mountains of Altai are an area of development of a pronounced alpine relief. Mount Belukha (4506 m) is the highest peak Altai. is considered as the second deepest (340 m) in Russia continental rift basin filled with fresh water. The lake area is characterized by modern tectonic activity. In the spurs of the Sailyugem Ridge, in the upper reaches of the Kalguta River, Devonian volcanic rocks of all depth facies are developed. There is also a deposit of rare metal ores and a dike complex (kalgutites) with a high content of rare alkalis.
The Ubsunur basin is located on both sides of the Mongolian-Russian border on the territory adjacent to the lake Uvs-Nur (Uvs Nuur). The basin is a neotectonic Paleogene-Pliocene graben with absolute elevations of 750 - 1500 m. The length of the basin from west to east is 600 km, from north to south - 160 km, the sides are usually steep, limited by the latest faults. A thick sequence of Paleogene-Pliocene deposits was formed in the basin, including eolian sands in the southeastern part. From paleontological objects, the locations of fossils of the Paleogene (bones of fish, turtles, reptiles and mollusks) and Neogene (rhinos, ostriches, giraffes, monkeys), characteristic of a warm climate, are known. Of interest is also the Mongun-Taiginsky Devonian granitoid massif, which is a large isometric batholith with small satellite intrusions located along its periphery.
Lake Baikal is the world's largest continental rift basin filled with fresh water. Its depth is 1637 m. The bottom sediments of Lake Baikal contain information about the climatic changes in the region over the past 5 million years. Lake Baikal and the adjacent territory are distinguished by an amazing abundance and variety of geological “sights”. Among them, the Slyudyansky mining region and the Tazheransky alkaline massif are of the greatest interest. The Slyudyansky mining region is one of the oldest mining regions in Russia, known since the 18th century, thanks to the deposits of giant-crystalline phlogopite, lapis lazuli, scapolite, amazonite and the purest wollastonite in the world. In total, more than 100 minerals have been described in the region, many of which form crystals that are unique in size and shape. The Tazheran alkaline massif is known for its unique mineralization associated with skarns and pegmatites. In a small area not exceeding one square kilometer, 150 minerals have been described, among which are blue diopside, red clinozoisite, purple scapolite, blue calcite, amazonite, corundum, beryl, etc.
Wrangel Island is located on the border of the East Siberian and. Of the geological objects, the most interesting are the Perkatkun rock crystal deposit and the location of the mammoth fauna of the Academy Tundra. The Perkatkunskoye deposit is located in the basin of the middle reaches of the Mamontovaya River, where rock crystals up to 13 cm long are found among the Paleozoic deposits. According to radiocarbon data, the age of tusks and other bone remains of mammoths is 3700–7710 years. A new dwarf subspecies of the mammoth Mammuthus primigenius vrangeliensis is described for the first time on this material. Apparently, Wrangel Island was the last refuge of mammoths who still lived on Earth 3700 years ago.
Volcanoes of Kamchatka are located in the junction zone of the Pacific and Eurasian tectonic plates characterized by active volcanism. There are 30 active, more than 160 extinct volcanoes, more than 150 thermal and mineral springs. Numerous geysers, hot crater lakes, underwater hydrotherms and other manifestations of post-volcanic activity are common. The following volcanoes are of greatest interest: Ichinskaya Sopka, Kronotskaya Sopka, Krasheninnikova, Kikhpinych, Bolshoy Semyachik, Avachinskaya Sopka, Mutnovskaya Sopka, Ksudach and Zheltovskaya Sopka.
Among the volcanic edifices, the New Tolbachik Volcanoes, which formed quite recently, during a unique fissure eruption in 1975–1976, deserve special mention. As a result of the eruption, a chain of cinder cones appeared, surrounded by basalt lava flows over an area of about 50 km2. Now the volcanoes are calm, and the whole surrounding area is a real volcanic desert.
Among the most significant geological objects, in addition to volcanoes, on the peninsula are the famous Valley of Geysers and the caldera of the Uzon volcano, where modern hydrothermal-metasomatic changes in rocks are observed and mercury-tin-arsenic mineralization with native sulfur is formed.
The Central Sikhote-Alin is a complex territory. In scientific terms, two geological objects are of the greatest interest - the Silver and Sikhote-Alin paleovolcanoes. Paleovolcano Serebryany, located in the center of the Serebryany volcano-tectonic structure, is a polygenic stratovolcano of Danish age. In the modern relief, it is expressed in the form of an eroded paleovolcano root, which forms an array of granodiorite porphyries. The Sikhote-Alin meteorite craters represent an ellipse of dispersion of a unique iron meteor shower that occurred on February 12, 1947. The dispersion ellipse includes more than 100 craters created by meteorite fragments with a diameter of 0.5 to 28 m.
There are many unusual intrusions in our country, also unique geological monuments. For example, the ring massif Konder in the Far East. On a satellite image, it looks like a meteorite crater, although its nature is completely different. Ultramafic alkaline rocks of various composition were intruded here in concentric layers.
Most of the deposits of jewelry, ornamental, collection and rare minerals and rocks are also included in the monuments of inanimate nature. Among them, a special place is occupied by the Lilac stone deposit in. This is the only deposit of charoite in the world, and the taiga river Chara gave its name to this amazing stone. Products made of charoite with a thick lilac color are very famous. Worthy of mention are emeralds and other precious stones of the Aduisko-Murzinskaya zone in the Urals, rare and collectible minerals of the Ilmensky mountains of the Urals, the Khibiny and Lovozero massifs on. The amber deposit on the coast of the Baltic Sea near Kaliningrad is also unique, which has no equal in the world. Already in ancient times, amber came from here to the countries of the Mediterranean. In many museums around the world, one can admire samples of amber from the Primorsky deposit with inclusions of insects and other organisms embalmed in this fossil resin.
On the territory of Russia there are many interesting manifestations of karst, primarily caves. Surprisingly beautiful Kungur ice cave in the Urals. Sintered ice stalactites and stalagmites formed in its grottoes.
Significant areas in the north of Russia are occupied by permafrost. In the coastal cliffs of the northern seas and rivers from the delta of the Lena River to the Kolyma River, giant ice veins stand out among the loess strata. They contain tusks, bones, and sometimes whole carcasses of mammoths and other fossil animals. Some of the sections of the loess-ice strata have been studied in detail and belong to the monuments of the geological past of world significance. Another amazing phenomenon associated with permafrost processes is icing - thick ice covers in river valleys that persist throughout the summer in verdant thickets.
A special place among the geological monuments is occupied by sections of rocks, which served as the basis for the identification of new stratigraphic units and became monuments of world significance. These are sections of the Riphean, the Permian system in the Cis-Urals and the Lower Cambrian on the Lena River. The sections of the Carboniferous near Moscow are unique (the names of their stages and horizons include such settlements as Podolsk, Myachkovo, Gzhel, etc.).
It is proposed as a geological monument of nature of the world rank of complex type. The facility is located 156 km from Yekaterinburg.
The deposit as the Mariinsky mine was discovered back in 1833 by the peasant Karelin, but active exploration and development began only in the late 40s. this century. The ore field of the emerald mines is located in the lateral exocontact of the vast, deeply eroded Adui massif of biotite and two-mica granites. The massif is part of a large belt of orogenic granite intrusions associated with the East Ural uplift.
Granites cut through a complex complex of metamorphic and intrusive rocks: Upper Ordovician amphibolites and amphibole schists, Lower Silurian carbonaceous-siliceous schists and ultramafic rocks, serpentinites and talc schists that arose after them, diorites, quartz diorites and diorite porphyrites of the Middle Carboniferous.
The endocontact and near exocontact zones of the Adui massif include columbite-beryl pegmatites (partially emerald-bearing), and at some distance there are emerald-beryl deposits associated with greisens. They are characterized by host rocks of ultramafic composition, which determined the development of a specific greisen facies - phlogopite mica, the appearance of emeralds and alexandrite colored with chromium borrowed from host rocks.
The ore bodies are represented by beryl-plagioclase veins and vein-metasomatic zones with emeralds. The veins fill discontinuous cracks in rigid blocks of competent rocks (diorites, serpentinites), have a predominantly sublatitudinal strike with a gentle dip.
Their thickness reaches 2-3 m. The main minerals are: oligoclase-andesine, albite, quartz, muscovite, beryl (including in the form of transparent crystals and druze), Be-margarite, fluorite, apatite (crystals up to 5-6 cm), molybdenite sockets. The zonal structure of the veins is characteristic.
Veinlet-metasomatic ore zones have a maximum thickness of 5-10 m and are located in tectonically weakened areas. As a result of intensive crushing and crushing, they acquired a lenticular-block internal structure. Blocks ("nodules") consist mainly of phlogopite mica, including fragments of boudinated veins and veinlets of beryl-plagioclase, beryl-muscovite, and other compositions. It is in the zones that crystals of emerald, chrysoberyl (including alexandrite), and phenakite are concentrated. A single find of bromellite is known.
Additional mineralogical interest to the deposit is given by the intensive development of the post-ore hydrothermal stage, during which the partial decomposition and dissolution of beryl and plagioclase and the redeposition of beryllium in the form of a complex of secondary minerals occur. Beautiful brushes, druses, spherulites and individual crystals of bertrandite, bavenite, euclase, occasionally behoite crystallize in cracks and leaching cavities, accompanied by segregations of late fluorite, adularia, biotite, analcime, corundophyllite, sericite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite and other minerals.
The List of World Heritage Sites includes geological monuments of nature, striking in their grandeur and power of the processes taking place in its depths, as well as creating the face of the planet.
The most vivid impressions are given by mountains, rocks of unusual shapes, individual Mountain peaks. In ancient times, they were considered sacred; there were places of worship for the gods, personifying the forces of nature. Indians and aborigines carefully preserved the original landscapes. The volcanic peaks of Popokatepetl and, Vesuvius and the Hawaiian volcanoes, Kamchatka volcanoes amaze not only with the beauty of their outlines, but also with the unbridled, unpredictable eruptions. The Heritage List includes volcanoes from almost all continents. The list also includes natural monuments that amaze people with their unusualness and pristine beauty. These are different types of sea coasts, river deltas, sections of river valleys with gorges and canyons, waterfalls, mountain peaks, karst landscapes, glaciers. Breathtaking beauty, extraordinary landscapes attract thousands of tourists, and therefore require protection. How many visitors can this or that landscape "withstand" - natural or man-made, anthropogenic? For example, the Valley of Geysers can only "accept" about 2,000 people a year. And the beauties of the man-made cityscapes of Paris and London, St. Petersburg and Moscow are admired by millions of tourists every year.
Active volcanoes Mauna Loa and Kilauea are located on the Hawaiian Islands in the territory of the National Park, included in the Heritage List. Lava flows rush to the water, pour into the waters of the ocean, forming a new bottom and new shores. Steam envelops hot lava tongues. The rock melted in the Kilauea crater erupts from the volcanic crater at regular intervals.
Above the crater, lava fountains rise for tens and hundreds of meters. The landscape on the slopes of the volcano is very changeable, and the vegetation is forced to adapt to new conditions. As a rule, there are geysers near volcanoes. Geysers in Kamchatka were included in the World Heritage List in 1997.
Grandiose canyons were created by water, making its way along the ground, and colliding with unyielding mountains, it descended from them in waterfalls, where “hard rocks”, the most durable rocks, formed steps in the riverbeds from which the water stream falls. The most impressive places of canyon gorges and picturesque waterfalls are included in the Heritage List as treasures of mankind. In North America, the most majestic, as well as the well-deserved fame of Niagara Falls.
The rocky step is furrowed with crevasses, its jagged edges crushing streams of water. Rainbows are born in drops of spray, swirls over a waterfall. At low water, the dense curtain of water breaks into hundreds of separate water streams. On both banks of the waterfall, on an area of 2400 km2, there are nature reserves. Their ecological systems are distinguished, according to scientists, by the greatest diversity. The Grand Canyon is located in Arizona. Its length along the Colorado River is 350 km, its width approaches 30 km. It took the river millions of years to create it. Water, or rather, sand, pebbles, which the river carried, cut the rocks of the heaving Kaibab plateau. The tributaries of the Colorado River also worked hard and dissected the once flat plain, raised by the movements of the earth's crust to a height of more than 2 km. Standing on the edge of the canyon and looking into its depths, you realize the greatness of nature and the power of its internal forces. After all, the depth of the canyon exceeds 1.5 km. In the canyon, the river uncovered the most ancient rocks of the planet - granites and crystalline schists. Their age is over 2 billion years. The geological record of the Earth is, as it were, cut by a river for reading. Sandstones and carbonate rocks were formed on the site of a warm sea that occupied this territory about 250 million years ago. The forces of nature have been doing their work for millions of years to create such beauty. The Grand Canyon is on the World Heritage List as the deepest canyon in the world. The Grand Canyon is constantly changing: the dam, built in 1964, does not hold back the pressure of the Colorado River, and terrifying blows fall on the walls of the canyon, as a result of which the slopes crumble and the bottom is covered with fragments.
The Indians, who lived in the canyon 3-4 thousand years ago, left traces of their stay in the caves and passed on the knowledge about this natural phenomenon to the Europeans. In 1857, the first attempt was made to pass it by boat. It ended in failure, I had to move along its banks. Today, thousands of tourists venture through the Grand Canyon. On rafts and catamarans, they plunge into whirlpools, rush along the rapids, where protruding rocks try to block the flow of water. Boats spin wildly in whirlpools. Jets of water wash over the madmen. The daredevils are probably visited by the thought of the vicissitudes of life, and only a lucky chance and experienced instructors in water tourism do not let them die. But now the thresholds are behind, and at a halt they see the beauty of the rocks, unusual sculptures created by the wind, sun, rains, and in the quiet thickets of tamarisk, herons calmly fish, birds of prey circle in the sky, looking for prey.
It is far from always possible for a river to create valleys, leaving in the channel only the teeth of hard rocks that form rapids. The hardness and inflexibility of the rock can leave a step in the river valley, from which the water makes a roaring jump, flying tens of meters. The most famous is Niagara Falls, located on the border and. But the most abundant waterfall in the world is located in the south, on the border and. It's on the Zambezi River, opened to Europeans by David Livingstone, Scottish explorer and a traveler in 1855. At a distance of less than 2 km, it is divided by islands into 5 waterfalls. From the eastern step, waterfalls follow one after another: Rainbow, then Horseshoe, then the main waterfall - Victoria, which is divided into separate powerful jets, and finally. Damn ledge, next to which there is a monument to D., the first European to cross Africa from ocean to ocean. The ledge of the waterfall is gradually shifting. Since the settlement of Africa, the waterfall has moved upstream more than 10 km. During the rainy season, through several branches, through which the water rushes down, into a narrow crevice about 50 m wide, 34,000 m3 of water passes. During the dry period (in August), water consumption decreases by almost 20 times. The highest fall height at the Rainbow waterfall is 107 m. The locals called the waterfall "Thundering Smoke".
Worthy of mention is the giant waterfall -. Its name is translated from the language of the Indians as " big water". Contemplating this miracle of nature, A. E. Roosevelt, the wife of the President of the United States, made a comparison not in favor of Niagara, saying: "Our Niagara looks like a kitchen faucet." And she was probably right. On the border of three states -, and, where the Iguazu River flows into the Parana River, a horseshoe wall of rumbling water unfolded at the mouth of the Parana tributary. The height of the fall is about 80 m. The mass of water falls down into dozens of clefts located along rock cracks. A huge cloud of water spray and mist over the falls provide moisture to the lush vegetation. On the rocks - mosses and ferns, on small ledges - the most delicate orchids. Hundreds of species of various trees. Begonias and bromeliads wrap around tree branches. Motley butterflies of fantastic colors flutter over the vegetative splendor. The swallows that live near the waterfall rush over the jets of water, disappearing in its spray and again soaring up above the waterfall.
Of course, there are waterfalls in other places on the planet - in the Yosemite Valley, in the Yellowstone National Park in the United States, in Canaima National Park. The highest waterfall - (1076 m - the fall of the jet) San Angelo - is located in South America.
Video source: AirPano.ru
But water not only sharpens the stone, it also dissolves it. Limestones, dolomites, gypsum, rock salt are subject to dissolution. Penetrating into the depths of the massif composed of these rocks, water, century after century, for millennia and even millions of years, has been doing its work, imperceptible at first glance, dissolving the rock. In the place of cracks, through which water seeped or ran in streams, vertical and horizontal voids and passages appear in the dungeons, through which water penetrates into the depths of the rocks. These can be primary cracks located along the occurrence of rocks, or cracks that arose during the movement of blocks of the earth's crust, which violated the solidity of the rocks. Crumpled into folds and broken by cracks mountain ranges, composed of soluble rocks and generated by active movements of the earth's crust, are exposed to groundwater. Mammoth Cave in Kentucky (USA) is the largest in the world. Under the Mammut Cave plateau there is an extensive system of grottoes, tunnels and failures from which underground waterfalls fall. Some grottoes are very impressive in size, their height reaches 40 m, and the halls can accommodate thousands of people. The length of the passages of this kingdom of darkness, the refuge of bats and shining sinter formations, approaches 320 km, but the estimated length of the passages that have not yet been examined is one and a half times greater than the known one. The total length of the caves is approximately 800 km. The biologist discovered here up to 200 species of living organisms. Cave complexes are well known in Europe. On the border of Slovakia, there is a whole complex of caves included in the World Heritage List. The Dobshinskaya Ice Cave and the shining greenish-blue color of the Okhtinskaya Cave with streaks of the mineral aragonite on the vaults and walls are also attached to them today. Bizarre dendritic twigs, similar to corals, decorate the already extraordinarily beautiful caves.
Unusual and stone sculptures have attracted people since ancient times. In Australia and North America, landscapes of destroyed mountains, single and rocky massifs of remnants stand out. In Australia, this is Villandra, where archaeologists discovered burials dating back 30 thousand years in the remnant massifs. Traces of "productive activity" of Paleolithic man were also found here. Thus, the area in the southeast of New South Wales was settled soon after the appearance of the first people on the Australian continent. Ayers Rock is a sacred place for the Australian Aborigines. Here, the rocks, red from iron oxides, mysteriously light up at sunset, and the remnant massifs rise above the plain. From here you have a beautiful view of the endless Australian desert. Aborigines who have worshiped this rock for thousands of years see it as a sleeping whale, which was created from sand dunes by one of the progenitors. Many legends are dedicated to these rocks. On the slopes of the mountain and in the caves there are rock paintings that require protection both from natural factors, fluctuations in temperature and humidity, and from tourists. Today, thousands of tourists flock here from all over the world. But the world fame of the miracle mountain is not enough that it brought to the natives. Only in 1985, an agreement between the government and the indigenous population managed to delineate the rights to own the sacred territory.
Underground erosion has created caves in the rock masses that hide the ritual drawings of the Australian Aborigines. 30 km from Ayers Rock, the residual massifs of Olga lie in ruins. These are 36 hills that have risen to a height of over 1000 m. Huge lizards and poisonous snakes protect the peace of these places.
Canada is famous for the parks included in the World Heritage List. In the southwestern part of the province of Alberta, on the banks of the Red Deer River, the remains of a dinosaur skeleton were found in exposed rock masses, bizarre rocks made of Cretaceous sandstone. Many people now arrange dinosaur parks, but only a park in the Canadian province of Alberta in the middle of the prairies shows visitors "toy" giants. Archaeological excavations are underway here, thanks to which they became known interesting facts ancient history. Skeletons recovered from under the sandy clay stones of the times ancient man are kept in many natural history museums around the world.
In the valley of the Red Deer River, which crosses this area, the remains of 40 species of dinosaurs were found. Among them - saber-toothed. But the park is interesting not only for the remains of extinct animals. Deer live here, pronghorns are the fastest of all in America. More than 150 species of birds enliven the protected area with their singing.
In the same area, in the spurs of the mountains of the Alberta plateau, a sandstone cliff about 20 m high has been preserved. Indian hunters drove bison to it, from where they fell into the abyss. Here, nearby, butchered carcasses. This reserve is named so: "The abyss where the bison break." People came to these places about 6 thousand years ago.
Canada abounds in mountainous landscapes with beautiful lakes and mountain peaks. Some of them are included in the Heritage List.
