The Central Siberian Plateau (russian: Среднесибирское плоскогорье, Srednesibirskoye ploskogorye; sah, Орто Сибиир хаптал хайалаах сирэ) is a vast mountainous area in Siberia, one of the Great Russian Regions.

Geography

The plateau occupies a great part of central Siberia between the Yenisei and Lena rivers. It is located in the

Siberian Platform Siberia, also known as Angaraland (or simply Angara) and Angarida, is an ancient craton in the heart of Siberia. Today forming the Central Siberian Plateau, it was an independent continent before the Permian period. The Verkhoyansk Sea, a passive ...

and extends over an area of , between the Yenisei in the west and the Central Yakutian Lowland in the east. To the south it is bound by the

Altai Mountains The Altai Mountains (), also spelled Altay Mountains, are a mountain range in Central Asia, Central and East Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan converge, and where the rivers Irtysh and Ob River, Ob have their headwaters. The m ...

, Salair Ridge, Kuznetsk Alatau, the Eastern and Western Sayan Mountains and other mountains of Tuva, as well as the North Baikal Highlands and

Baikal Mountains The Baikal Mountains or Baikal Range (russian: Байкальский хребет, ''Bajkaljskij hrebet''; bua, Байгалай дабаан, ''Baigalai dabaan'') are a mountain range that rises steeply over the northwestern shore of Lake Bai ...

. To the north of the plateau lie the

North Siberian Lowland The North Siberian Lowland (russian: Северо-Сибирская низменность; sah, Хотугу Сибиир намтала), also known as Taymyr Lowland (Таймырская низменность), is a plain with a relatively ...

and to the east the plateau gives way to the Central Yakutian Lowland and the Lena Plateau.Среднесибирское плоскогорье (Central Siberian Plateau)
/ Great Russian Encyclopedia; in 35 vol.] / Ch. ed. Yu.S. Osipov . - M .:

Great Russian Encyclopedia The ''Great Russian Encyclopedia'' (GRE; russian: Большая российская энциклопедия, БРЭ, transliterated as ''Bolshaya rossiyskaya entsiklopediya'' or academically as ''Bolšaja rossijskaja enciklopedija'') is a u ...

, 2004—2017. The surface of the Central Siberian Plateau is characterized by the alternation of wide plateaus and ridges, some of the latter sharply jagged. The Central Siberian Plateau covers one-third of Siberia.

Subplateaus and subranges

The system of the Central Siberian Plateau comprises a number of smaller plateaus and subranges, including, among others, the following: *

Putorana Plateau The Putorana Plateau () or the Putorana Mountains is a mountainous area in the Russian Federation. It is a large massif or plateau crossed by mountain ranges. The nearest large settlement is Norilsk, where foreign travel is restricted. The cit ...

, the northwesternmost, highest point

Mount Kamen Kamen (russian: Камень), at is the highest mountain in the Putorana Plateau, Russia. See also *List of mountains in Russia References External linksThe highest peaks in RussiaKamen Kamen () is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, i ...

(highest of the plateau system) *

Anabar Plateau The Anabar Plateau ( rus, Анабарское плато) is a mountain plateau in Krasnoyarsk Krai and the Sakha Republic (Yakutia), Siberia, Russia. The plateau is in a latitude dominated by permafrost. The permafrost thickness under the Anab ...

at the northern end, highest point *

Vilyuy Plateau The Vilyuy Plateau ( rus, Вилюйское плато) is a mountain plateau in Krasnoyarsk Krai and the Sakha Republic (Yakutia), Siberia, Russia. It is a part of the Central Siberian Plateau and it is made up mainly of the upper course section ...

, highest point * Syverma Plateau, highest point

Nakson Nakson (russian: link=no, гора Наксон) is a mountain in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. At is the highest mountain in the Syverma Plateau, part of the Central Siberian Plateau.

, * Tunguska Plateau, highest point * Lena Plateau, highest point * Lena-Angara Plateau, highest point

Namai Namai (russian: Намай) is a mountain in the Lena-Angara Plateau, Irkutsk Oblast, Russian Federation. Geography This high summit is the highest point of the Lena-Angara Plateau, part of the Central Siberian Plateau mountain system. It ri ...

, * Yenisei Range, highest point * Angara Range, highest point

Climate

The climate is continental with short warm summers and long and severely cold winters. Most of the territory is covered with

conifer Conifers are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single ...

forests ( larch is especially abundant). The plateau's major river is the Lower Tunguska. Known geologically as the Siberian Traps,

mineral resources Natural resources are resources that are drawn from nature and used with few modifications. This includes the sources of valued characteristics such as commercial and industrial use, aesthetic value, scientific interest and cultural value. O ...

here are very rich and include coal,

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...

, gold, platinum, diamonds and natural gas.

References

External links

*
The Demise of the Siberian Plume№1 Travel Guide
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