The Chersky Range (, ) is a chain of

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...

s in northeastern

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

between the

Yana River The Yana ( rus, Я́на, p=ˈjanə; sah, Дьааҥы, ''Caañı'') is a river in Sakha in Russia, located between the Lena to the west and the Indigirka to the east. Course It is long, and its drainage basin covers . Including its longest ...

and the

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

. Administratively the area of the range belongs to the

Sakha Republic Sakha, officially the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia),, is the largest republic of Russia, located in the Russian Far East, along the Arctic Ocean, with a population of roughly 1 million. Sakha comprises half of the area of its governing Far Eas ...

, although a small section in the east is within

Magadan Oblast Magadan Oblast ( rus, Магаданская область, r=Magadanskaya oblast, p=məgɐˈdanskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ) is a federal subject (an oblast) of Russia. It is geographically located in the Far East region of the country, and is adminis ...

. The highest peak in the range is tall Peak Pobeda, part of the

Ulakhan-Chistay Range The Ulakhan-Chistay Range (russian: Улахан-Чистай; sah, Улахан Чыыстай сис) is a range of mountains in far North-eastern Russia. Administratively the range is part of the Sakha Republic of the Russian Federation.''Ula ...

. The range also includes important places of traditional

Yakut culture The Yakuts, or the Sakha ( sah, саха, ; , ), are a Turkic ethnic group who mainly live in the Republic of Sakha in the Russian Federation, with some extending to the Amur, Magadan, Sakhalin regions, and the Taymyr and Evenk Distric ...

, such as Ynnakh Mountain ''(Mat'-Gora)'' and

kigilyakh Kigilyakh or kisiliyakh ( rus, кигиляхи; sah, киһилээх, meaning "stone person") are tall, pillar-like natural rock formations looking like tall monoliths standing more or less isolated. Usually they are composed of granite or s ...

rock formations. The

Moma Natural Park Moma Natural Park or Moma Nature Park (russian: Момский природный парк, ''Momsky Pryrodny Park''; sah, Аан Айылгы, ''Aan Aiylgy'') is a protected area of the Momsko-Chersk Region of Yakutia in the upper part of the Mo ...

is a

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

located in the southern zone of the range.

History

At some time between 1633 and 1642 Poznik Ivanov ascended a tributary of the lower Lena, crossed the Verkhoyansk Range to the upper Yana and then crossed the Chersky Range to the

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

. The range was sighted in 1926 by Sergei Obruchev (

Vladimir Obruchev Vladimir Afanasyevich Obruchev (russian: Влади́мир Афана́сьевич О́бручев; , Klepenino near Rzhev, Tver Oblast, Russian Empire – June 19, 1956, Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Моск� ...

's son) and named by the

Russian Geographical Society The Russian Geographical Society (russian: Ру́сское географи́ческое о́бщество «РГО»), or RGO, is a learned society based in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It promotes geography, exploration and nature protection wi ...

after the Polish explorer and geographer Ivan Chersky (or Jan Czerski).

Geography

The geographic boundaries of the mountain system are the Yana—Oymyakon Highlands in the southwest, the

Upper Kolyma Highlands The Upper Kolyma Highlands ( rus, Верхнеколымское нагорье) is a highland area in Magadan Oblast, Far Eastern Federal District, Russia. The biggest town in the highlands is Susuman. There are large deposits of gold, tin and ...

in the southeast and the Momo-Selennyakh Depression in the northeast.

Subranges

The system of the Chersky Range comprises a number of subranges running generally from northwest to southeast, including the following: Between the Yana and Indigirka rivers: *

Burkat Range Burkat (; german: Borchersdorf) is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Działdowo, within Działdowo County, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, in northern Poland. It lies approximately north-west of Działdowo and south of the regional ...

, highest point *

Khadaranya Range The Khadaranya Range ( rus, Хадаранья; sah, Хадаранньа)Аркадий Андреев, ''Горы Якутии'' (Arkady Andreyev, ''Mountains of Yakutia'') p. 18 is a mountain range in the Verkhoyansk District, Sakha Republic ...

, highest point *

Ymiysky Range The Ymiysky Range ( rus, Ымыйский кряж;Аркадий Андреев, ''Горы Якутии'' (Arkady Andreyev, ''Mountains of Yakutia'') p. 28 sah, Ымый томтороот) is a mountain range in the Verkhoyansk District, Sak ...

, highest point *

Kisilyakh Range The Kisilyakh Range ( rus, Кисиляхский хребет; sah, Киһилээх) is a mountain range in the Sakha Republic, Far Eastern Federal District, Russia. The nearest city is Batagay, and the nearest airport Batagay Airport. The mo ...

, highest point , by river Adycha * Tas-Khayakhtakh, highest point * Kurundya Range, highest point * Dogdo Range, highest point * Chemalgin Range, highest point *

Yana-Oymyakon Highlands The Yana-Oymyakon Highlands ( rus, Яно-Оймяконское нагорье; sah, Дьааҥы хаптал хайалара), also known as Oymyakon Highlands ( rus, Оймяконское нагорье),Soviet General Topographic Maps P-5 ...

Elgi Plateau The Elgi Plateau ( rus, Эльгинское плоскогорье;Soviet General Topographic Maps P-54-V,VI sah, Эльгэ хаптал хайалаах сир) is a plateau in the Sakha Republic, Far Eastern Federal District, Russian Federa ...

(Эльгинское плоскогорье), highest point **

Oymyakon Plateau The Oymyakon Plateau ( rus, Оймяконское плоскогорье, sah, Өймөкөөн үрдэлэ) is a mountain plateau in the Sakha Republic, Far Eastern Federal District, Russia. The plateau is in the area of the famous Oymyako ...

, highest point **

Yana Plateau The Yana Plateau ( rus, Янское плоскогорье, sah, Дьааҥы хаптал хайалара) is a mountain plateau in the Sakha Republic, Far Eastern Federal District, Russia.Google Earth The plateau lies in an uninhabited area ...

, highest point **

Tirekhtyakh Range The Tirekhtyakh Range ( rus, Тирехтяхский хребет; sah, Тирэхтээх) is a mountain range in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia), Far Eastern Federal District, Russia. The nearest city is Batagay to the north of the range. The ...

and

Nelgesin Range The Nelgesin Range ( rus, Нельгесинский хребет) is a mountain range in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia), Far Eastern Federal District, Russia. The nearest city is Batagay to the north of the range. The nearest airport is Batagay ...

, between the Adycha and Sartang rivers In the upper Kolyma river basin: *

Ulakhan-Chistay The Ulakhan-Chistay Range (russian: Улахан-Чистай; sah, Улахан Чыыстай сис) is a range of mountains in far North-eastern Russia. Administratively the range is part of the Sakha Republic of the Russian Federation.''Ul ...

, highest point , near the southern end * Okhandya Range, highest point , the highest point of

. * Cherge Range, highest point * Angachak Range, highest point * Arga-Tas, highest point Between the Chibagalakh and Adycha rivers *

Chibagalakh Range The Chibagalakh Range ( rus, Чибагала̀хский хребет; sah, Чыбаҕалаах) is a mountain range in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia), Far Eastern Federal District, Russia. Despite the beauty of its landscapes the range is rare ...

, highest point * Borong Range, highest point (between the

Charky The Charky (russian: Чаркы; sah, Чаркы), also known as Muolakaan (Муолакаан), is a river in the Republic of Sakha in Russia. It is a right hand tributary of the Adycha, of the Yana basin. It is long, with a drainage basin of ...

and the Adycha) * Porozhny Range, highest point *

Silyap Range The Silyap Range ( rus, Силяпский хребет; sah, Силэп) is a mountain range in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia), Far Eastern Federal District, Russia. The nearest city is Ust-Nera. Geography The Silyap Range rises in the central ar ...

, highest point Mount Chyon (Гора Чён) Between the Indigirka and the

Nera Nera may refer to: People * Nera Smajic (born 1984), Bosnian-born Swedish footballer * Nera Stipičević (born 1983), Croatian actress * Nera White (1935–2016), American basketball player * André António Ribeiro Novais (born 1988), Portugue ...

rivers: *

Tas-Kystabyt The Tas-Kystabyt ( rus, Тас-Кыстабыт, sah, Таас Кыстаабыт) is a mountain range in the Sakha Republic and Magadan Oblast, Far Eastern Federal District, Russia. It is also known as "хребе́т Са́рычева" —Sa ...

, highest point * Khalkansky Range, highest point , a southern prolongation of Tas-Kystabyt Northeastern outliers In some works, a few roughly parallel ranges located off the main system to the northeast, such as the Kyun-Tas Range (highest point ), the

Selennyakh Range The Selennyakh Range (russian: Селенняхский хребет, ''Selennyakhsky Khrebet''; sah, Силээннээх) is a range of mountains in far North-eastern Russia. Administratively the range is part of the Sakha Republic of the Russ ...

(highest point highest point

Saltag-Tas Saltag-Tas (russian: link=no, Салтага-Тас) is a mountain in the Ust-Yansky District, Sakha Republic (Yakutia), Russia. At it is the highest mountain in the Selennyakh Range, part of the wider Chersky Range (Momsko-Chersk Region), East ...

(), and the adjacent

Moma Range The Moma Range (russian: Момский хребет, ''Momsky Khrebet''; sah, Муома сиһэ) is a range of mountains in far North-eastern Russia. Administratively the range is part of the Sakha Republic of the Russian Federation.''Momsky ...

(highest point ) with the Moma-Selennyakh Depression running along their western side, are included in the Chersky mountain system. Other ranges of the system include the Irgichin Range, Inyalin Range, Volchan Range, Silen Range, Onel Range,

Polyarny Range Polyarny (masculine), Polyarnaya (feminine), or Polyarnoye (neuter) may refer to: * Polyarny (inhabited locality) (''Polyarnaya'', ''Polyarnoye''), several inhabited localities in Russia *Polyarny District (1927–1960), a former district of Murmans ...

, Nendelgin Range, among others.

Hydrography

The Chersky System includes three main river basins: *Yana River - covering the western and northwestern parts of the mountain system. It includes rivers

Oldzho The Oldzho ( rus, Ольджо; sah, Олдьо), also known as Oldyo (Ольдё) or Olduo (Олдьуо), is a river in the Verkhoyansk District, Sakha Republic, Russia. It is a right tributary of the Yana. The length of the river is and t ...

and Adycha with its tributaries

Tuostakh , name_native = , name_native_lang = Yakut , image = Kisilyakh Mountains - ONC C-6.jpg , image_size = , image_caption = Map section showing part of the course of the Tuostakh in the lower center , ...

and

. *Indigirka River, covering the northeastern, central and southwestern parts of the system, with rivers

Selennyakh The Selennyakh Range (russian: Селенняхский хребет, ''Selennyakhsky Khrebet''; sah, Силээннээх) is a range of mountains in far North-eastern Russia. Administratively the range is part of the Sakha Republic of the Rus ...

Moma Moma may refer to: People * Moma Clarke (1869–1958), British journalist * Moma Marković (1912–1992), Serbian politician * Momčilo Rajin (born 1954), Serbian art and music critic, theorist and historian, artist and publisher Places ; Ang ...

and

among others. *Kolyma River, covering the eastern, southeastern and southern parts of the system, with rivers

Zyryanka Zyryanka (russian: Зыря́нка; sah, Зырянка) is an urban locality (an urban-type settlement) and the administrative center of Verkhnekolymsky District in the Sakha Republic, Russia, on the left bank of the Kolyma River. As of the ...

, Rassokha, Omulyovka, Yasachnaya,

Taskan The Taskan ( rus, Таскан) is a river in the Susuman and Yagodninsky districts of Magadan Oblast, Russia. It is a left hand tributary of the Kolyma. Its length is , with a drainage basin of . The Taskan was first mapped in the 19th centur ...

Debin Debin ( rus, Де́бин, p=ˈdʲebʲɪn) is an urban locality (an urban-type settlement) in Yagodninsky District of Magadan Oblast, Russia. Population: Geography upstream is Sinegorye and the Kolyma dam. History Debin was founded in 1935 w ...

and

Byoryolyokh The Byoryolyokh (russian: Бёрёлёх,Черского хребет (в Якутской АССР и Магаданской обл.)

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

There are also small lakes in the swampy valleys of some rivers, as well as lakes of

glacial A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate betw ...

origin, such as

Emanda Lake Emanda ( or Эманджа, sah, Эмандьа, ''Emanca'') is a freshwater lake in Tomponsky District, Sakha Republic, Russia. The lake is located in a desolate area where there is no permanent population and few visitors. There are burbot ...

and Tabanda

Tectonics

The range lies on the boundary between the

Eurasian Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago ...

and

North American North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Ca ...

tectonic plate Plate tectonics (from the la, label=Late Latin, tectonicus, from the grc, τεκτονικός, lit=pertaining to building) is the generally accepted scientific theory that considers the Earth's lithosphere to comprise a number of large te ...

s. The precise nature of the boundary between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates in the area of the Chersky Range is still not fully understood and is the subject of ongoing research. By the 1980s, the Chersky Range was considered mostly a zone of continental

rift In geology, a rift is a linear zone where the lithosphere is being pulled apart and is an example of extensional tectonics. Typical rift features are a central linear downfaulted depression, called a graben, or more commonly a half-grabe ...

ing where the crust was spreading apart. However, the current view is that the Chersky Range is mostly an active

suture zone In structural geology, a suture is a joining together along a major fault zone, of separate terranes, tectonic units that have different plate tectonic, metamorphic and paleogeographic histories. The suture is often represented on the surface by ...

, a continental

convergent plate boundary A convergent boundary (also known as a destructive boundary) is an area on Earth where two or more lithospheric plates collide. One plate eventually slides beneath the other, a process known as subduction. The subduction zone can be defined by a ...

, where compression is occurring as the two plates press against each other.''The Physical Geography of Northern Eurasia'', ed. Maria Shahgedanova, published by Oxford University Press 2003
/ref> There is thought to be a point in the Chersky Range where the extensional forces coming from the north change to the compressional forces noted throughout most of the range. The Chersky Range is also thought to include a geologic

triple junction A triple junction is the point where the boundaries of three tectonic plates meet. At the triple junction each of the three boundaries will be one of three types – a ridge (R), trench (T) or transform fault (F) – and triple junctions can b ...

where the

Ulakhan Fault The Ulakhan Fault is a left-lateral moving transform fault that runs along the boundary between two tectonic plates in northeast Asia, the North American Plate, and the Okhotsk Plate. It runs from a triple junction in the Chersky Range in the west ...

intersects the suture zone. Whatever the exact nature of the regional tectonics, the Chersky Range is a seismically active zone. It connects in the north with the landward extension of the Laptev Sea Rift, itself a continental extension of the Mid-Arctic

Gakkel Ridge The Gakkel Ridge (formerly known as the Nansen Cordillera and Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge) is a mid-oceanic ridge, a divergent tectonic plate boundary between the North American Plate and the Eurasian Plate. It is located in the Eurasian Basin of the ...

Climate

The Chersky mountains, along with the neighboring

Verkhoyansk Range The Verkhoyansk Range (russian: Верхоянский хребет, ''Verkhojanskiy Khrebet''; sah, Үөһээ Дьааҥы сис хайата, ''Üöhee Chaangy sis khaĭata'') is a mountain range in the Sakha Republic, Russia near the settle ...

, have a moderating effect on the climate of Siberia. The ridges obstruct west-moving air flows, decreasing the amount of snowfall in the plains to the west.

References

External links

*{{commons category-inline
Oymyakon Ring Structure in the North-Eastern Siberia
Plate tectonics Tourist attractions in the Sakha Republic East Siberian Mountains

History

Geography

Subranges

Hydrography

Tectonics

Climate

See also

References

External links