Aldan Highlands
{{Short description|Mountain range in Russia}}
{{Infobox mountain
| name=Aldan Highlands
| other_name= Алданское нагорье / Алдан үрдэлэ
| photo= Озеро Большое Токо.jpg
| photo_caption= View of Lake Bolshoye Toko
| country= Russia
| subdivision1_type=Federal subject
| subdivision1= Sakha Republic
| highest= Mount Ningam
| elevation_m= 2306
| coordinates=
| length_km= 600
| width_km= 300
| area_km2=
| range_coordinates= {{coord|57|0|N|128|0|E|type:mountain|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| range_coordinates_ref=
| parent= South Siberian System
| geology= {{enum|Gneiss|slate|Granulite|amphibolite}}
| age= {{enum|Precambrian{{cite book | chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/3-540-27946-6_14 | doi=10.1007/3-540-27946-6_14 | chapter=The tectonics and metallogeny of the Precambrian of the Aldan-Stanovoy Shield | title=Mineral Deposit Research: Meeting the Global Challenge | date=2005 | last1=Smelov | first1=A. P. | last2=Timofeev | first2=V. F. | pages=53–56 | isbn=978-3-540-27945-7 }}|Late Archaean}}
| orogeny=
| map= Russia Sakha Republic
| map_caption= Location in the Sakha Republic, Russia
| easiest_route= from Aldan
}}
The Aldan Highlands, or Aldan Plateau ({{lang-rus|Алданское нагорье|r=Aldanskoye Nagorye}}; {{langx|sah|Алдан үрдэлэ}})[http://elibrary.sgu.ru/uch_lit/573.pdf Геоморфология России (Geomorphology of Russia)] are a mountainous area in the Sakha Republic, Far Eastern Federal District, Russia. Aldan town and Tommot are located in the northern area of the highlands and Chulman in the south.Google Earth
The Olyokma Nature Reserve is a protected area located on the northwestern side, partly within the neighboring Lena Plateau.{{cite web|title=Olyokma Zapovednik (Official Site)|url=http://olekminskiy.ru/|publisher=Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (Russia)|language=ru|access-date=15 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130522192055/http://olekminskiy.ru/|archive-date=22 May 2013|url-status=dead}}
History
The area of the Aldan and the Yudoma-Maya highlands, between the basins of the Aldan River and the Yudoma, was uncharted territory well until the 1930s. It was first surveyed in 1934 by geologist Yuri Bilibin (1901—1952) together with mining engineer Evgeny Bobin (1897—1941) in the course of an expedition sent by the government of the USSR. Bilibin and Bobin made a thorough topographic survey of the mountainous region leading separate research parties.[http://geoman.ru/books/item/f00/s00/z0000095/st052.shtml Essays on the History of Geographical Discoveries] (in Russian)
Geography
The Aldan Highlands are located at the southern end of the Sakha Republic, between the Aldan River and the Uchur River, a right tributary of the Aldan. The Aldan partly crosses the uplands in the north, in the same manner as the Amga River in the west. The highlands are limited by the Stanovoy Range to the southwest, and by its Toko-Stanovik subrange to the south and southeast. In the west the Olyokma River marks the limit, beyond which lies the Olyokma-Chara Plateau. The Dzhugdzhur Range rises to the east of the highlands.[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Operational_Navigation_Chart_D-7%2C_6th_edition.jpg URSS 1,000,000 scale Operational Navigation Chart; Sheet D-7][https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Operational_Navigation_Chart_D-8,_4th_edition.jpg URSS 1,000,000 scale Operational Navigation Chart; Sheet D-8][http://djugdjur.ru/ekoturizm/pamyatniki-prirodyi-kraevogo-znacheniya/b-toko-i-xrebet-tokinskij.html Озеро Большое Токо и Хребет Токинский]
The highest point of the Aldan Highlands is Mount Ningam (Гора Нингам), a {{convert|2287|m|ft}} high peak located in the southern part, rising above the basin of the Gonam River, a left tributary of the Uchur.[http://karta-russia.ru/saha-yakutiya_gornyy_gora-ningam/ Гора Нингам - карта] The same mountain is {{convert|2306|m|ft}} high according to other sources.
=Subranges=
The system of the Aldan Highlands comprises a number of subranges where mountains are generally of middle height and their relief usually smooth. The highest point is an unnamed {{convert|2306|m|abbr=on}} summit. The ranges within the uplands include the following:Oleg Leonidovič Kryžanovskij, A Checklist of the Ground-beetles of Russia and Adjacent Lands. p. 15
- Western Yangi Range, highest point Mount Evota {{convert|1603|m|ft}}
- Sunnagyn Range (Aldan-Uchur), highest point {{convert|2246|m|ft}}
- Ket-Kap Range, highest point {{convert|1493|m|ft}}
- Tommot Range, highest point {{convert|1616|m|ft}}
=Hydrography=
Besides the Aldan and the Amga, the rivers of the highlands include the Buotama, the Amedichi, the Elkon, the Ulu, the Bolshoy Nimnyr, the Yungyuele, the Timpton and the Tuolba.[http://bse.sci-lib.com/article010545.html Алданское нагорье] / Great Russian Encyclopedia; in 35 vol.] / Ch. ed. Yu.S. Osipov, Great Russian Encyclopedia, 2004—2017.
| valign="top" |
Geology
The highlands are composed of Archean crystalline slates and gneisses. The Aldan Highlands coincide geographically with the Aldan Shield, a geological region that is an exposed part of the Siberian Craton. Together with the Anabar Shield further to the northwest, the Aldan Shield is one of the main features of the craton.{{cite journal | url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0301926898000576 | doi=10.1016/S0301-9268(98)00057-6 | title=Archean crustal evolution of the Aldan Shield, Siberia: Geochemical and isotopic constraints | journal=Precambrian Research | date=31 August 1998 | volume=91 | issue=3 | pages=333–363 | last1=Jahn | first1=B. -M | last2=Gruau | first2=G. | last3=Capdevila | first3=R. | last4=Cornichet | first4=J. | last5=Nemchin | first5=A. | last6=Pidgeon | first6=R. | last7=Rudnik | first7=V. A. | bibcode=1998PreR...91..333J }}
Flora
See also
References
{{Reflist}}