The Upper Kolyma Highlands ( rus, Верхнеколымское нагорье) is a highland area in

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 ...

Far Eastern Federal District The Far Eastern Federal District (russian: Дальневосто́чный федера́льный о́круг, ''Dalnevostochny federalny okrug'') is the largest of the federal districts of Russia, eight federal districts of Russia but t ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. The biggest town in the highlands is Susuman.Верхнеколымское нагорье
/ref> There are large deposits of gold, tin and rare metals in the Upper Kolyma Highlands. The area is relatively less desolate than other mountainous zones of Northeastern Siberia, such as the

Yukaghir Highlands The Yukaghir Highlands ( rus, Юкагирское нагорье) are a mountainous area in the Sakha Republic and Magadan Oblast, Far Eastern Federal District, Russia. The area is named after the Yukaghir people. Geography The Yukaghir High ...

or the

Nera Plateau The Nera Plateau ( rus, Нерское плоскогорье, sah, Ньара хаптал хайалаах сирэ) is a mountain plateau in the southeastern Sakha Republic ( Oymyakon District) and the northwestern end of Magadan Oblast ( S ...

. However, some of the mining operations were deemed unprofitable following the

collapse of the USSR The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

and certain settlements of the Susumansky District lost population. Only a residual population remains in Shiroky, Kholodny and

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

. Other places such as Belichan and

Kadykchan Kadykchan (russian: Кадыкча́н) is a depopulated urban locality (a work settlement) in Susumansky District of Magadan Oblast, Russia. It is located in the Upper Kolyma Highlands, in the basin of the Ayan-Yuryakh River, northwest of ...

have become

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...

s. The

R504 Kolyma Highway The R504 Kolyma Highway (russian: Федеральная автомобильная дорога «Колыма», ''Federal'naya Avtomobil'naya Doroga «Kolyma»,'' "Federal Automobile Highway 'Kolyma'"), part of the M56 route, is a road throu ...

crosses the southern part of the highlands.

Geography

The Upper Kolyma Highlands are located in the upper course of the

Kolyma Kolyma (russian: Колыма́, ) is a region located in the Russian Far East. It is bounded to the north by the East Siberian Sea and the Arctic Ocean, and by the Sea of Okhotsk to the south. The region gets its name from the Kolyma River an ...

. They are bound in the west by the

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 ...

and

Suntar-Khayata Suntar-Khayata Range (russian: Сунтар-Хаята, sah, Сунтаар Хайата) is a granite mountain range rising along the border of the Sakha Republic in the north with Amur Oblast and Khabarovsk Krai in the south. The R504 Kolyma ...

ranges and to the east by the Seymchan- Buyunda Depression to the north and the Ola river basin to the south, with the

Maymandzhin Range The Maymandzhin Range ( rus, Майманджинский хребет) is a mountain range in Magadan Oblast, Far Eastern Federal District, Russia.Google Earth

stretching in between. To the northwest lies the

and in the north the highlands merge with the southernmost chains of the

Chersky Range The Chersky Range (, ) is a chain of mountains in northeastern Siberia between the Yana River and the Indigirka River. Administratively the area of the range belongs to the Sakha Republic, although a small section in the east is within Magadan O ...

. The Seimkan Mountains and the Igandzha Massif rise to the south, among other minor ranges. The ranges are generally smooth, although some ridges display alpine characteristics. The higher elevations of the ridges are between and .Верхнеколымское нагорье
''

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 ...

'' in 30 vols. — Ch. ed.

A.M. Prokhorov Alexander Mikhailovich Prokhorov (born Alexander Michael Prochoroff, russian: Алекса́ндр Миха́йлович Про́хоров; 11 July 1916 – 8 January 2002) was an Australian-born Soviet-Russian physicist known ...

. - 3rd ed. - M. Soviet Encyclopedia, 1969-1978.(in Russian) The highest point is high Gora Snezhnaya. Another important summit is high Pik Aborigen, both in the Angachak Range.

Google Earth Google Earth is a computer program that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satellite images, aerial photography, and geog ...

The main rivers in the highlands are part of the upper basin of the Kolyma River, including rivers

Ayan-Yuryakh The Ayan-Yuryakh is a river in the Magadan Oblast of Russia. It is a left tributary of the Kolyma river, which forms at the confluence of the Ayan-Yuryakh and the Kulu. Course The source of the river is in the Khalkan Range. The river flows ...

and Kulu, as well as the Buyunda,

Bakhapcha The Bakhapcha (russian: Бахапча; also ''"Бохапча"'') is a river in Magadan Oblast, Russia. It has a length of and a drainage basin of . The Bakhapcha is a right tributary of the upper course of the Kolyma. The nearest village is Sin ...

—with the

Maltan The Maltan (russian: Малтан) is a river in Magadan Oblast, Russia. It has a length of and a drainage basin of . The Maltan is the longest tributary of the Bakhapcha, of the Kolyma basin. The river flows across an uninhabited area, the near ...

Byoryolyokh The Byoryolyokh (russian: Бёрёлёх,Tenka, among others. There are

mineral water Mineral water is water from a mineral spring that contains various minerals, such as salts and sulfur compounds. Mineral water may usually be still or sparkling (carbonated/effervescent) according to the presence or absence of added gases. Tra ...

springs.

Flora

The valleys of the rivers and their slopes are overgrown with sparse forests of

Siberian larch ''Larix sibirica'', the Siberian larch or Russian larch, is a frost-hardy tree native to western Russia, from close to the Finnish border east to the Yenisei valley in central Siberia, where it hybridises with the Dahurian larch ''L. gmelinii'' ...

and

dwarf cedar ''Pinus sibirica'', or Siberian pine, in the family Pinaceae is a species of pine tree that occurs in Siberia from 58°E in the Ural Mountains east to 126°E in the Stanovoy Range in southern Sakha Republic, and from Igarka at 68°N in the lower ...

. At higher elevations there is

mountain tundra Alpine tundra is a type of natural region or biome that does not contain trees because it is at high elevation, with an associated harsh climate. As the latitude of a location approaches the poles, the threshold elevation for alpine tundra gets ...

up to heights of to .

References

External links

*{{commons category-inline
Верхнеколымское нагорье 2021Ranges of Russia
Mountain ranges of Magadan Oblast East Siberian Mountains

Geography

Flora

See also

References

External links