Koshkulak (Koškulak, Khoshkhulak, Khoshkulakh, Kashkulak, Kushkulak) is a mountain range in

Shirinsky district Shirinsky District (russian: Шири́нский райо́н; Khakas: , ''Sıra aymağı'') is an administrativeLaw #20 and municipalLaw #63 district (raion), one of the eight in the Republic of Khakassia, Russia. It is located in the north of t ...

Khakassia Khakassia (russian: Хакасия; kjh, Хакасия, Хакас Чирі, ''Khakasiya'', ''Khakas Çiri''), officially the Republic of Khakassia (russian: Республика Хакасия, r=Respublika Khakasiya, ; kjh, Хакас Рес ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. West of the village Shira and south of the village Topanov .

Etymology

The etymology of the naming is controversial. It is believed to be derived from words meaning kjh, xoc, links=https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/xoc, lit=pair, couple, one of a couple or to join, unite, translit=, label=Khakass and kjh, xulax, lit=ear, translit=qolaq. Meaning "pair, couple, one of a couple" or "to join, unite" probable of Turkic etymology from Proto-Turkic "*Koĺ" can be found with similar meaning in Yakut: xos 'double; again', Turkmen: ''goš'' 'a couple of oxen', ''goš -'' 'to add'. Meaning "ear" has probable Altaic etymology from Proto-Turkic: *Kul-kak.

} , - , colspan="2" , Tatar: quš , - , colspan="2" , Karakhanid/Middle Turkic/Uighur/Kirghiz/Karaim/Salar: qoš , - , colspan="2" , Uzbek: qọš , - , colspan="2" , Kazakh/Noghai/Karakalpak: qos , - !pair, couple, one of a couple !to join, unite , - , Middle Turkic: qoš , Old Turkic/Old UyghurOyrat/Tuva/Balkar/Gagauz/Kumyk:: qoš , - , Sary-Yughur: qos , Turkish: koš , - , , Azerbaidzhan: goš , - , , Chuvash: xoš , - , , Tofalar: qo'š , - , , Bashkir: quš

} , - , Old Turkic/Orkhon/Old Uyghur: qulqaq , - , Karakhanid: qulaq,qulqaq, qulxaq, qulaq, qulɣaq , - , Turkish: kulak , - , Tatar: qolaq , - , Middle Turkic/Sangl.: qulaq, qulaɣ , - , Uzbek: qulɔq, , - , Uighur/Sary-Yughur/Shor/OyratHalaj/Tuva/Tofalar/Kirghiz/Kazakh/Nogha/Balkari/Gagauz/ Karakalpak/Kumyk: qulaq , - , Yakut/Dolgan: kulgāk , - , Bashkir: qolaq , - , Karaim: qulax , - , Salar: gulaχ

Description

The mountain is a

natural monument A natural monument is a natural or natural/cultural feature of outstanding or unique value because of its inherent rarity, representative of aesthetic qualities or cultural significance. Under World Commission on Protected Areas guidelines, na ...

landscape complex of republican significance. It includes cedar forests (an isolated

cedar Cedar may refer to: Trees and plants *''Cedrus'', common English name cedar, an Old-World genus of coniferous trees in the plant family Pinaceae *Cedar (plant), a list of trees and plants known as cedar Places United States * Cedar, Arizona * ...

plantation in the low-mountain belt of the

Kuznetsk Alatau Kuznetsk Alatau (russian: Кузнецкий Алатау) is a mountain range in southern Siberia, Russia. The range rises in the Altai-Sayan region of the South Siberian Mountains, northwest of Mongolia. The Siberian Railway skirts the north ...

) and in the southwestern part of the slope the Koshkulak

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

long and deep. The place of cult rites of the

Khakas The Khakas (also spelled Khakass; Khakas: , ''khakas'', , ''tadar'', , ''khakastar'', , ''tadarlar'') are a Turkic indigenous people of Siberia, who live in the republic of Khakassia, Russia. They speak the Khakas language. The Khakhassian ...

. The mountain is one of the main peaks of the right bank of the

Bely Iyus River russian: Белый Июс, lit=White Iyus, translit=Bely Iyus, name_etymology=khj, country=Russia, region=Khakassia, state_type=Federal subject, pushpin_map=Russia_Khakassia#Russia, fetchwikidata=Bely_Iyus_River, tributaries_left=Kizilka, Malaya S ...

in the area from the confluence of the Kharatas River into it. The main mountain range has an area of 5 hectares. Height of . For those looking from north to south, the mountain has the shape of a semi-oval with three prominent

butte __NOTOC__ In geomorphology, a butte () is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from a French word me ...

s at the top. From above, the massif looks like the letter S (due to the opposite streambed of the Glukhoi River (east of the central ridge) and Izvestkovy (Peshcherny) (west of the central ridge). A rocky belt stretches along the top,

s up to 18 m.

Climate

The climate is sharply continental. Due to the penetration of moist air masses through the lower northern part of the

, an increased amount of precipitation in the warm period and a heavy snow cover in winter, which contributes to low soil freezing.Ilinykh N. I. Soils of the Kuznetsk Alatau. Krasnoyarsk, 1967 In summer and autumn, the mountain is often hidden by clouds, there is more precipitation than in the area around the massif. Average annual temperature approximately −1°С. As a rule, the temperature in the belt above 1000 m is always lower by 3-5 degrees.

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

climate type: Dfc : Subarctic climate.

Vegetation

Vegetation depends on the

altitudinal zonation Altitudinal zonation (or elevational zonation) in mountainous regions describes the natural layering of ecosystems that occurs at distinct elevations due to varying environmental conditions. Temperature, humidity, soil composition, and solar r ...

. On top the vegetation is represented by dwarf shrubs,

forests, moss in bare places,

lingonberries ''Vaccinium vitis-idaea'', the lingonberry, partridgeberry, mountain cranberry or cowberry, is a small evergreen shrub in the heath family Ericaceae, that bears edible fruit. It is native to boreal forest and Arctic tundra throughout the Norther ...

, blueberries. The middle and lower parts of the massif are represented by three geographical and climate variants of the subtaiga flora: perhumid (according to Thornthwaite, the most humid type of climate with a humidity index of +100 or more), humid and semi-humid. Humid and semi-humid variants are most widespread, characterized by light-coniferous and small-leaved forests of

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accepts ...

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

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains ...

aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species; some, but not all, are classified by botanists in the section ''Populus'', of the '' Populus'' genus. Species These species are called aspens: *'' Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (Chin ...

(for humid ones) and light-coniferous forests of

with an admixture of pine and birch (for semi-humid ones). The ecological and cenotic composition of the subordinate stages is represented by

boreal forest Taiga (; rus, тайга́, p=tɐjˈɡa; relates to Mongolic and Turkic languages), generally referred to in North America as a boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruc ...

and meadow mesophytes and mesohygrophytes, a significant number of

nemoral In general ''nemoral'' means "pertaining to groves or woodland". Its origin is related to the Latin word "''nemus''" (stem: "''nemor-''"), meaning a grove of trees. It is especially used to label a type of biome (vegetation zone), which is in t ...

species. Species saturation is from 60 to 40. In general, the vegetation belongs to the boreal-forest area. Represented by dark and light coniferous vegetation in the upper zone (above 1000 m) and mixed forests. The mixed zone is dominated by the black forest type (large-grass,

fern A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes exce ...

, reed-large-grass group), above 800–900 m - green moss. Recently, due to an increase in the amount of precipitation, the border of the mixed dark coniferous forest has shifted and reaches 700–800 m.

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

grows everywhere.

Geology

The mountain range of volcanic origin belongs to the Kuznetsk-Alatau geological region (Kuznetsk-Alatau folded cover system) and, according to remote sensing data, it is composed of

carbonate A carbonate is a salt of carbonic acid (H2CO3), characterized by the presence of the carbonate ion, a polyatomic ion with the formula . The word ''carbonate'' may also refer to a carbonate ester, an organic compound containing the carbonate ...

terrigenous In oceanography, terrigenous sediments are those derived from the erosion of rocks on land; that is, they are derived from ''terrestrial'' (as opposed to marine) environments. Consisting of sand, mud, and silt carried to sea by rivers, their ...

and volcanogenic formations of the metallogenetic periods of the early

Late Proterozoic The Neoproterozoic Era is the unit of geologic time from 1 billion to 538.8 million years ago. It is the last era of the Precambrian Supereon and the Proterozoic Eon; it is subdivided into the Tonian, Cryogenian, and Ediacaran periods. It is prec ...

and Early

Paleozoic The Paleozoic (or Palaeozoic) Era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. The name ''Paleozoic'' ( ;) was coined by the British geologist Adam Sedgwick in 1838 by combining the Greek words ''palaiós'' (, "old") and ' ...

stages and

granitoid A granitoid is a generic term for a diverse category of coarse-grained igneous rocks that consist predominantly of quartz, plagioclase, and alkali feldspar. Granitoids range from plagioclase-rich tonalites to alkali-rich syenites and from quartz- ...

Bely Iyus russian: Белый Июс, lit=White Iyus, translit=Bely Iyus, name_etymology=khj, country=Russia, region=Khakassia, state_type=Federal subject, pushpin_map=Russia_Khakassia#Russia, fetchwikidata=Bely_Iyus_River, tributaries_left=Kizilka, Malaya S ...

river ledges and Batenevsky ledges. From the south, the mountain is composed of the Tunguzhul - Efremkinskaya sequence of formations (Tunguzhulskaya, Kolodzhulskaya, Efremkinskaya formations), which include gray, light gray, clayey and sandy

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

s, siltstones,

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

s, gravelstones, horizons of conglomerates,

tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock ...

s, lavas of

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

s, less often

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

s ( over 1200 m). The region of the Tunguzhul - Efremkin formations is abundant with diverse forms of fossil

trilobite Trilobites (; meaning "three lobes") are extinct marine arthropods that form the class Trilobita. Trilobites form one of the earliest-known groups of arthropods. The first appearance of trilobites in the fossil record defines the base of the ...

s. The core of the mountain consists of the Lower Devonian Lokhkovian stages, represented by the Tei - Koshkulak group of suites, composed of

lava Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or un ...

s, tuffs,

trachydacite Trachyte () is an extrusive igneous rock composed mostly of alkali feldspar. It is usually light-colored and aphanitic (fine-grained), with minor amounts of mafic minerals, and is formed by the rapid cooling of lava enriched with silica and alk ...

s and trachyrhyolites, less often trachyleucobasalts, trachyandesitebasalts and trachyandesites. Explosive

breccia Breccia () is a rock composed of large angular broken fragments of minerals or rocks cemented together by a fine-grained matrix. The word has its origins in the Italian language, in which it means "rubble". A breccia may have a variety of ...

s, and

conglomerates (600–800 m) are also included. To the north, the spurs of the mountain are composed of Lower Devonian intrusive formations of the Devonian system of the system. Yulinsky complex (complex of the Yulinskaya suites). It is represented by syenites, granosyenites, monzonites, moderately alkaline granites, granodiorites. Deposits of

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

- molybdenum

ore Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically containing metals, that can be mined, treated and sold at a profit.Encyclopædia Britannica. "Ore". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 7 Apr ...

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

rare metal Precious metals are rare, naturally occurring metallic chemical elements of high economic value. Chemically, the precious metals tend to be less reactive than most elements (see noble metal). They are usually ductile and have a high lustr ...

and rare earth mineralization are possible. The Koshkulak Formation is also distinguished, characterized by the complexity of

coarse-grained Granularity (also called graininess), the condition of existing in granules or grains, refers to the extent to which a material or system is composed of distinguishable pieces. It can either refer to the extent to which a larger entity is sub ...

s of

s and

trachybasalt Trachybasalt is a volcanic rock with a composition between trachyte and basalt. It resembles basalt but has a high content of alkali metal oxides. Minerals in trachybasalt include alkali feldspar, calcic plagioclase, olivine, clinopyroxene and li ...

s, basalts, trachybasalts, and

trachyandesite Trachyandesite is an extrusive igneous rock with a composition between trachyte and andesite. It has little or no free quartz, but is dominated by sodic plagioclase and alkali feldspar. It is formed from the cooling of lava enriched in alka ...

s. The section is crowned with

trachyte Trachyte () is an extrusive igneous rock composed mostly of alkali feldspar. It is usually light-colored and aphanitic (fine-grained), with minor amounts of mafic minerals, and is formed by the rapid cooling of lava enriched with silica and al ...

s and trachyrhyolites (up to 40 m). The thickness of the suite is 340 m. It rests on the carbonate and intrusive rocks of the Riphean and Cambrian and is overlain by the Lower Devonian Matarak suite. The age of the

s of the Koshkulak paleogene volcano is 464 ± 11 million years (based on the isochronous rubidium-strontium Rb-Sr geochronological method).

Paleomagnetic Paleomagnetism (or palaeomagnetismsee ), is the study of magnetic fields recorded in rocks, sediment, or archeological materials. Geophysicists who specialize in paleomagnetism are called ''paleomagnetists.'' Certain magnetic minerals in roc ...

studies have established that the coordinates of the "Koshkulak" paleopole correspond to the position of the

Ordovician The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years from the end of the Cambrian Period million years ago (Mya) to the start of the Silurian Period Mya. T ...

paleopole for Siberia. In the section of the Koshkulak Formation (500 m), there is a successive change from bottom to top of

basalts,

s and trachyandesites, trachytes and trachyrhyolites. The suite with angular unconformity, erosion, and conglomerates at the base overlies the deposits of the Bezymyannaya and Efremkinskaya suites of the Early-Middle ( Amga Stage) Cambrian. Interlayers and lenses of conglomerates, red-colored cross-bedded

s are confined to its lower part. Tectonic Plate: Eurasian Plate

Paleontology

Paleontological Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of foss ...

research of Koshkulak began in

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

by Ivankin G.A., associate professor of the General Geology Department. This area is unique for

paleontological Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of foss ...

studies of

s, due to the abundance and diversity of forms of trilobite

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

s and their

ontogenetic Ontogeny (also ontogenesis) is the origination and development of an organism (both physical and psychological, e.g., moral development), usually from the time of fertilization of the egg to adult. The term can also be used to refer to the st ...

development of

forms, common not only in

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, 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 ...

, but throughout the globe. Many

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

forms such as Koschkulaspis procera, Binodaspina cf. remota, Botomellina cylindrical, Binodaspina lata, Aldonellus lepidus, Binodaspis patula, etc.Koptev II, Ananiev Yu. S. Guide to the stratigraphy of the area of the educational geological polygon of Siberian Universities. - Tomsk: TPU Publishing House, 2006. - 24 p. The Koshkulak section is characterized by accessibility, good exposure and distinct stratigraphy.

Trilobite Trilobites (; meaning "three lobes") are extinct marine arthropods that form the class Trilobita. Trilobites form one of the earliest-known groups of arthropods. The first appearance of trilobites in the fossil record defines the base of the ...

s Rondocephalus, Lenaspis, Bathyuriscellus, Binodaspis, Bulaiaspis, Tungusella were found in the Kolodzhul Formation. The trilobite Chondranomocare was found in the Bezymyannaya Formation of Koshkulak mountain.

Paradoxides ''Paradoxides'' is a genus of large to very large trilobite found throughout the world during the Middle Cambrian period. One record-breaking specimen of ''Paradoxides davidis'', described by John William Salter in 1863, is . The cephalon was s ...

, Kooteniella, Erbia, Chondranomocare, Koptura,

Kootenia ''Kootenia'' is a genus of trilobites of the family Dorypygidae. 118 specimens of ''Kootenia'' are known from the Greater Phyllopod bed, where they comprise 0.22% of the community. Its major characteristics are that of the closely related ''Olen ...

, and Granularia were found only in the Sladkokor'evskaya Formation of Koshkulak section.

Rivers and streams

The river Tyurim, river Kolodzhul, river Glukhoy (a tributary of the Kolodzhul) originate from the foot of the Koshkulak mountain.

Literature

* Ananiev, V. A. Geological natural monuments of the Shirinsky district of Khakassia / V. A. Ananiev // Questions of Geology of Siberia. - Tomsk, 1994. - Issue. 3. - S. 188-192 * Askanakova O. Yu. Cambrian trilobites of the Koshkulak section (Republic of Khakassia) / PROBLEMS OF GEOLOGY AND EXPLOITATION OF THE SUBSOIL, Ed. TPTU * Koptev, I. I. Section of the Lower and Middle Cambrian deposits of the area of Mount Koshkulak (eastern slope of the Kuznetsk Alatau) / I. I. Koptev // Proceedings / Institute of Geology and Geophysics Sib. Department of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. - 1983. - Issue. 548: Biostratigraphy and fauna of the boundary deposits of the Lower and Middle Cambrian of Siberia. - S. 82-90. — Bibliography: p. 90. * Nomokonov, V. E. On the Cambrian stratigraphy of the area of Mount Koshkulak (right bank of the Belyiyus River, Kuznetsky Alatau) / V. E. Nomokonov // Izv. Volume. polytechnic in-ta. - 1964. - T. 127, issue. 2. - S. 15-19. — Bibliography: p. 18-19 (4 titles). * Lipishanov A.P., Perfilova O.Yu., Sidoras S.D. New data on the age of volcanogenic deposits of the Koshkulak Formation in the Kuznetsk Alatau // Geology and minerals of the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Republic of Khakassia, no. 3. - Krasnoyarsk, 1996, p. 37-39. * Perfilova O. Yu., Mikhailenko V. V., Koptev I. I., Sidoras S. D. Koshkulak standard of the Ordovician volcano-plutonic association (Kuznetsk Alatau). - Krasnoyarsk: RIC KNIIGiMS, 1999. 159 p. * Ivankin G. A., Nomokonov V. E. Geological structure and minerals of sheets N-45-60-B and N-45-72-A. Report of the Koshkulak PSP on the geological survey at a scale of 1:50,000 for 1960-1963. - Krasnoyarsk: TFGI, 1965. * State report "On the state of the natural environment of the Republic of Khakassia in 1998" (The same, 1999, 2000, 2001). * Encyclopedia of the Republic of Khakassia: n 2 volumes/ Government of the Rep. Khakassia; cientific-ed. Council.: V. A. Kuzmin (prev.) and others - Abakan: Polikor, 2007. Vol. 1: - H - 2007. - 430, p. : ill., portr. — Bibliographer. at the end of words. Art. S. 148.

References

Mountain ranges Mountain ranges of Russia Landforms of Siberia Landforms of Khakassia South Siberian Mountains Paleogene volcanoes