Sections: Geography

Methods and forms of educational activity:

Goals and objectives of the lesson:

• To study the main features of the geographical position of the Altai Territory.
• Introduce the concept of geographical local history as an integral part of geography.
• Develop the ability to characterize geographical position. Develop skills and abilities to work with a map, table.
• To consolidate the skills of schoolchildren to calculate geographical coordinates.
• To promote the formation of skills to independently apply previously acquired theoretical knowledge.
• Cultivate feelings of love native land and pride in her.

Basic knowledge and skills. The concept of "geographical position", features of the geographical position of Russia, the ability to determine the geographical coordinates of objects on the map and calculate the distance in degrees and kilometers along the parallel and meridians.

Practical work: Determination of the geographical coordinates of the extreme points of the region and the extent from north to south and from west to east in degrees and kilometers. Drawing on the contour map of the extreme points of the region, the borders of the region, the boundaries of the regions. Designation of neighboring territories.

Equipment: political and administrative map of Russia, physical map of the Altai Territory, atlas of the Altai Territory, photographs with views of the natural objects of the region.

Lesson plan:

1. Characteristics of the geographical location of the region, the borders of the Altai Territory.
2. Administrative-territorial division of the region.
3. Practical work No. 1. Filling in contour maps.
4. Lesson results.

During the classes

I. Organizational moment.

II. Exploring a new topic.

1. Introductory speech of the teacher. Photos with nature views of the Altai Territory. (Attachment 1)

"I love and know. I know and love.
And the more I love, the better I know."
Yuri Konstantinovich Efremov.

"Our nature is a storehouse of riches and beauty.
In this pantry Altai is a special expensive box.
V. Peskov.

"Are we in Siberia? One can hardly believe this charm. The most beautiful climate, the most pleasant location, irrigated by the majestic, proud, calm Ob. This region is one of the most blessed not only in Siberia, but in all of Russia."

So he wrote in a letter to his daughter M.M. Speransky - Governor-General of Siberia, while in Barnaul in August 1820.

"A huge, beautiful land with the sunny name of Altai, which combined the experience and wisdom of many peoples and cultures. This is a land of courageous people and fantastic opportunities, which means that it is simply doomed to prosperity"

A.A. Surikov.

Altai region It was formed on September 28, 1937. In 1991, the Gorno-Altai Republic (since 1992 - the Republic of Altai) separated from its composition. Our region - the Altai Territory - is located in the center of the largest continent of the Earth - Eurasia. The very name "Altai" comes from the Turkic-Mongolian dialect and means "Golden Mountains". The Altai land is beautiful, its landscapes, vegetation, fauna are diverse, the region is rich in minerals, monuments of nature and the history of mankind.

But there is a wonderful corner in the very south of the Altai Territory, where, as if surprisingly, unique beauties are collected in a multitude. Altai Krai is located in the center of the largest continent of the Earth - Eurasia. Within its borders, the southeastern outskirts of the West Siberian Plain and the highest and most significant part of the Altai mountain region were located.

The traveler will find here the mirror-like expanse of emerald lakes and vast expanses of now plowed steppes, birch copses pleasing to the eye, forests of pine, larch, and cedar. A dense network of rivers cut through our lands.

Large stocks natural resources, Altai grain field, developed economy - the basis of the well-deserved fame and fame of the region. Astronauts and writers, noble landowners and gardeners, artists, doctors, teachers came out of the vastness of Altai into a big life. In the difficult years of the war, our fellow countrymen stood shoulder to shoulder in combat formation and bravely defended their homeland from enemy hordes.

Altai is an important economic region of Russia with a diverse agriculture and a large variety of industries.

Altai - birch groves with cuckoo tears in the vicinity of his native village, mysterious tracts with wolf tracks, pegs with thickets of bird cherry and viburnum, strawberry glades, winding rivers, beaver huts along their banks, the smells of taiga and meadow grasses.

There are many picturesque places in Altai - Lake Teletskoye and Karakol lakes, Chuysky tract and the wayward Katun river, mountain gorges and Belukha covered with glaciers:

This country is unspeakable - the Altai Mountains. Primordial and untouched nature, harsh climate and places where Almaty apples grow and bear fruit, majestic mountains and clear lakes, turbulent mountain rivers and alpine meadows. And blue - blue in dozens of shades. The amazing beauty of the nature of the Altai Mountains. Probably, for this surprise, tourists go to the mountains, sail along stormy rivers on rafts and catamarans, climb steep cliffs and descend into the narrow mountains of caves.

Altai is also famous for its ancient history, its revolutionary, military and labor traditions. Here partisans heroically fought against Kolchak during the civil war, the first communes were created on the Altai land. During the Great Patriotic War, thousands of Altai residents fought on the fronts, and in the rear, its wonderful workers brought victory closer.

Now Altai is a major tourist area, which annually attracts thousands of travelers. Many people come from abroad to see with their own eyes all this beauty, which cannot be described in words, conveyed by gestures, or captured in photographs. It needs to be seen, it needs to be felt and experienced. Interest in Altai is growing every year. The region has a great tourism future.

2. Characteristics of the geographical location of the region.

1. Introduction of the concept of "geographic local history" (Appendix 2).
2. A conversation about how the Altai Territory looks on the map of the country, what are its dimensions. (Appendix 3).
3. Features of the geographical position of the region (analysis of the political and administrative map of the Altai Territory, Appendix 4 and 5):

a) comparison by area with other states

b) length from north to south, from west to east, length of the border, types of borders (work with the atlas of the Altai Territory, notes in a notebook)

c) border territories (work with the atlas)

d) positive and negative features of the region's EGP (work with the table).

Table No. 1

Assessment of the EGP of the Altai Territory

3. Administrative and territorial division of the region (work with the political and administrative map of the Altai Territory).

Determine how many districts are included in the region?

Locate the area where you live on the map.

What districts of the Altai Territory borders Pavlovsky district?

What natural and economic district of the Altai Territory includes the Pavlovsky district?

Name and show on the map the cities of the Altai Territory?

III. Consolidation.

1. Rabat with maps and atlases. Conversation. [Map of the Altai Territory, Pavlovsky District on the map of the Altai Territory]

• find the Altai Territory on the map of Russia;
• name and show on the map with which subjects Russian Federation borders the Altai Territory;
• determine the distance to the nearest sea;

2. Practical work. In the course of explaining the new material, students simultaneously work on the contour map of the Altai Territory (Appendix 6).

Task 1. Circle the borders of the Altai Territory in red.

Task 2. Mark the extreme points with an asterisk, determine and sign their geographical coordinates.

Sign the names of the border regions of the Russian Federation and independent states with which our region borders.

Task 4. Determine the length in degrees and kilometers from north to south, from west to east.

Maximum length:

• from north to south about 500 km.
• from west to east about 560 km.

To test the assimilation of new material, you can offer to answer the questions of the test.

Geography of the region

1. What does the word "Altai" mean? (The word "Altai" of Mongolian origin means "gold-bearing").

2. What is the area of ​​the Altai Territory? (167.85 thousand square kilometers).

3. Name the capital of the Altai Territory. (Barnaul).

4. How many cities are there in the Altai Territory? (12 - Barnaul, Biysk, Novoaltaysk, Rubtsovsk, Belokurikha, Slavgorod, Kamen-on-Obi, Zarinsk, Aleysk, Yarovoe, Zmeinogorsk, Gornyak).

5. How many administrative districts are there in the Altai Territory? (60).

6. What is the population of the Altai Territory. (2562 thousand people - 2003).

7. Name the border areas. (Novosibirsk, Kemerovo regions; Kazakhstan: Pavlodar, Semipalatinsk, East Kazakhstan regions, Altai Republic).

8. What states can be located on the territory of the Altai Territory taken together? (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Portugal).

9. What are the health resorts of the Altai Territory that are of national importance? (Belokurikha, Yarovoe).

10. What is the approximate length of the city of Biysk along the rivers Biya and Ob? (40 km).

11. What is the confluence of the three major rivers of the Altai Territory? (c. Odintsovka).

12. What are the rivers of the Altai Territory that do not have a runoff into the ocean? (R. Kulunda, R. Burla).

13. What are the major lakes of our region? (Kulunda, Kuchukskoe, Gorkoe).

14. On what rivers of the Altai Territory is water tourism carried out? (R. Peschanka, R. Biya, R. Katun).

15. An All-Russian tourist and entertainment complex will be created in the Altai Territory. In what region and in what village will it be built? (c. Solonovka - Smolensk region).

IV. Outcome. Conclusions.

1. Guys, what new did you learn in today's lesson? (Student answers)
2. Show on the map what objects were mentioned in the lesson? (Students show geographical objects).

V. Homework.

Review study material. Prepare a description of the geographical location of the Pavlovsk region.

Latitude: 48°18′09″ N
Longitude: 89°30′56″ E
Altitude above sea level: 2139 m

Coordinates of Altai in decimal degrees

Latitude: 48.3027200°
Longitude: 89.5155700°

Altai coordinates in degrees and decimal minutes

Latitude: 48°18.1632′ N
Longitude: 89°30.9342′ E

All coordinates are given in the world coordinate system WGS 84.
WGS 84 is used in the global positioning and navigation satellite system GPS.
Coordinates (latitude and longitude) determine the position of a point on the Earth's surface. The coordinates are angular quantities. The canonical representation of coordinates is degrees (°), minutes (′), and seconds (″). In GPS systems, the representation of coordinates in degrees and decimal minutes either in decimal degrees.
Latitude takes values ​​from −90° to 90°. 0° - latitude of the equator; −90° - latitude South Pole; 90° is the latitude of the North Pole. Positive values ​​correspond to north latitude (points north of the equator, abbreviated N or N); negative - southern latitude (points south of the equator, abbreviated S or S).
Longitude is measured from the prime meridian (IERS Reference Meridian in the WGS 84 system) and takes values ​​from −180° to 180°. Positive values ​​correspond to east longitude (abbreviated east or E); negative - west longitude (abbreviated W or W).
Height above sea level shows the height of the relative sea level point. We use a digital elevation model

Objective: the formation of skills to determine the geographical position of mountains, plains and their height; development of skills to determine geographical coordinates.

Task 1. Compare the geographical location of objects and fill in table 8.

Table 8

Geolocation plan	Geographic feature (mountains, plains)
	Ural mountains	West Siberian Plain
1. On what continent and in what part of it is	Eurasia, Russia	Eurasia, Russia
2. Position in relation to other gographic objects	in the west of the West Siberian Plain	East of the Ural Mountains
3. Direction and extent	length 2200 km, S-NE
4. Average height	800 m	100 m
5. Geographical coordinates highest points	Narodnaya, 1895 m, 65 N 60 E	-

Task 2. Using the maps of the atlas, characterize the indicated landforms and fill in table 9.

Table 9

The name of the mountains, plains	The position of mountains and plains in relation to other geographical features	Direction and extent	Geographic coordinates and absolute heights of mountain peaks and hills
Caucasus	SW		Elbrus 5642 m 43 N, 42 E
Altai	on South		Belukha 4506 50 N, 85 E
Ural mountains	in the east of the Caucasus and the East European Plain, in the west of Altai, the West Siberian Plain and the Central Siberian Plateau		Narodnaya 1895 65 N, 60 E
the East European Plain	NE from the Caucasus, west from the rest		1200 m Khibiny 68 N, 33 E
West Siberian Plain	in the east of the Ural Mountains and the East European Plain. NE of the Caucasus, west of the Central Siberian Plateau, NE of Altai		-
Central Siberian Plateau	in the east - NE		Plutorana Plateau 1701 m 69 N, 96 E

The greatness and beauty of Mount Belakh has long attracted tourists, climbers who are eager to climb, hunters for impressive photos of the mountain, artists, geographers, researchers from different countries.

The first scientist who studied the roots of the name of Belukha Mountain was Sapozhnikov. He claimed that the name "Belukha" came from the large amount of snow on the mountain.

Mount Belukha also has other names, ancient Turkic: Kadyn-Bazhi, is interpreted as a mountain located at the source of the Katun River, Ak-Suru is translated as majestic, Musdutuu is a mountain of ice, Uch-Ayry is a mountain branched in three directions. All these names characterize this peak in different ways.

Location and relief

Mount Belukha rises above all the mountains of Altai and Siberia, its height is 4506 m. The geographical coordinates of Belukha are 49.8 degrees north latitude and 86.59 degrees east longitude. Mount Belukha is visible on the map as the highest mountain belonging to the Katunsky ridge, stretching in the middle of Altai.

Photo: GoraBeluha by Elgin Yuri

The top of Kadyn-Bazhi is located at the intersection of three branches of the elevated section of the main ridge, which separates the water basins. The peak is located at approximately the same distance from the shores of the three oceans, it is the central mountain of a huge mainland. Mount Belukha is a huge powerful mountain range.

The mountain is 200 meters higher than the neighboring mountain ranges. In terms of area, the Belukha massif overtakes Tabyn-Bogdo-Ola, located between Russia and Mongolia. Mount Belukha combines the branches of the Katunsky ridge, while destroying their parallel arrangement around the Katun. The ridges of the watershed in the form of wings line up in height from Argut and Katun to the top of Kadyn-Bazhi.

Hydrology

The river network that covers and surrounds the Katun Range includes the valley of the great Katun River, which stretches through the entire Altai, flowing into it on the right Argut and Kok-su. Most of the river flows flow into the Katun, which takes its source from the Gebler glacier. Immediately begin: Kucherla, Akkem, Idygem. The waters of the Belaya Berel gather in the southeast of the Belukha slope and feed the Bukhtarma River.

The rivers flowing from the Belukha glaciers are included in the river type characteristic of Altai. The food of these rivers is glacial, and only to some extent - rain. The maximum fullness of the river is reached in the summer, at other times of the year it is lower. Mountain rivers have a strong current and sometimes create a fall of water.

A beautiful waterfall called Rossypnaya on the river, also named and flowing into the Katun on the right. The lakes of the Belukha region, as a rule, are cirque or are located in trough valleys. They occurred as a result of ancient glacial activity. The largest among them are Bolshoe Kucherlinskoe and Nizhnee Akkemskoe.

Geology, tectonics and the origin of the mountain

Mount Belukha is composed of Middle and Upper Cambrian rocks. Many spurs are represented by shale and sandstone outcrops. Conglomerates are present to a lesser extent.

The territory of the massif experiences constant shifts in the earth's crust, this is evidenced by the presence of faults, numerous ruptures and shifts in rocks. The Belukha slope facing Akkem has steep and sliding zones. The Belukha region is characterized by seismic activity up to 7-8 points.

Small earthquakes occur here almost constantly. As a result, collapses and avalanches are frequent, as well as violations of the integrity of the ice cover. Since the Paleogene and Neogene times, the area has been subject to constant and intense uplift, which continues to the present day.

The uplift significantly affected the relief - the mountains here are all high, belong to the Quaternary type of folding, there are depressions between the mountains, and the surrounding ridges have risen 2.5 km in height. On the area of ​​the massif there are rocky and scree surfaces and glacial deposits. The integrity of the slopes is broken under the influence of frequent mudflows and convergence of snow masses.

Climate

The climatic conditions of the Belukha region are unfavorable for life, characterized by a long winter period with low temperatures and a cool, short summer, during which it rains.

The climate varies depending on the mountain zone, from the temperate climate of the valleys located on the high altitude to the nival regions of the mountain peaks. Weather observations are carried out from two points Akkem and Karatyurek at altitudes of 2050 and 2600.

The July temperature in the valley where the forest zone ends is 8.3 C, and on the peaks in the form of a plateau 6.3 C. In summer it is often -20 C at the top. The winter January temperature reaches -21.2 C. It is cold here and in March to -4 C. There are temperature inversions. Typical rainfall for these stations is 512-533 mm.

Snow begins to fall at an altitude of 3 to 3.2 km above sea level. The nival belt of Belukha has more than 1000 mm of precipitation per year. The winds characteristic of the mountains blow here, as well as foehns - warm winds from the mountains.

Belukha glaciers

Belukhinsky district has 169 glaciers occupying the massif. Their total area is 150 square kilometers. Half of all glaciers of the Katunsky ridge are present here, and this is 60% of the entire area of ​​its ice shell.

M.V. Tronov identified the glaciers of this mountain as a specific type, the features of which are: the location of feeding places at high altitude, the high angle of inclination of glacial flows, the position of the lower edges at low altitude in river valleys, and pressing close to the surfaces of the mountains.

In these places there are 6 huge glaciers, among which there is one named after Sapozhnikov, he is also the largest in Altai, the length is 10.5 kilometers, the surface area is 13.2 square kilometers. Among the glacial masses of Belukha, there are no significant differences between the northern and southern slopes, as in other glacial regions.

The reason for this feature is that in the south there is more precipitation and melting occurs faster than on the shaded and dry northern slope. The ice is moving average speed 30 to 50 meters per year. The highest speed was recorded on the Gromov Brothers glacier, at the lower edge of the ice movement it reaches 120 meters per year. On Mount Belukha, avalanches often descend due to accumulating snow in rather steep areas.

Vegetation

The Belukhinsky massif has a wide variety of vegetation, like other mountainous areas. The main section of the ridge, belonging to the Katunsky high-mountainous region, has a variety of forests.

The forest zone reaches a height of 2 kilometers, on the western and eastern slopes up to 2.2 kilometers, and acquires greater development on the northern slope. The eastern zone of the southern slope has a fragmented forest belt.

On the lower implicit border there are dark coniferous forests dominated by spruce and Siberian fir, as well as cedar. There are larch and trees shedding their leaves - birch and mountain ash. Among shrubs - meadowsweet, honeysuckle, caragana. The higher, the more common cedar.

Altai Krai is located in the south of Western Siberia. The average length of the territory from north to south is 360 km, from west to east - 585 km. It borders: in the south and southeast - with Kazakhstan, in the southwest - with the Republic of Altai, in the west and northwest - with Kemerovo region, in the north - with the Novosibirsk region.

The territory of the region belongs to two physical countries - the West Siberian Plain and Altai - Sayan. The mountainous part covers the plain from the eastern and southern sides - the Salair ridge and the foothills of Altai. The western and central parts are predominantly flat in nature - the Ob plateau, the Biysko-Chumysh upland, the Kulunda steppe. Almost all natural zones of Russia are present in the region - steppe and forest-steppe, taiga and mountains. The flat part of the region is characterized by the development of steppe and forest-steppe natural zones, with ribbon forests, a developed girder-ravine network, lakes and pegs. The highest point - 2490 meters, does not yet have an official name on the map and is located at the head of the Kumir River on the Korgon Range.

The water resources of the Altai Territory are represented by surface and ground waters. The largest rivers (out of 17 thousand) are the Ob, Biya, Katun, Chumysh, Aley and Charysh. Of the 13 thousand lakes, the largest is Lake Kulunda, its area is 728 square meters. km. The main water artery of the region is the Ob River, 493 km long within the region, formed from the confluence of the Biya and Katun rivers. The Ob basin occupies 70% of the region's territory.

Plants. Of the 3000 plant species growing in Western Siberia, in the Altai Territory there are 1954 species of higher vascular plants belonging to 112 families and 617 genera. The region's flora includes 32 relict species. These are Siberian linden, European hoof, fragrant bedstraw, giant fescue, Siberian brunner, floating salvinia, water chestnut and others. Of the almost 2,000 species of vascular plants found in the Altai Territory, 144 species are included in the Red Book. These species are rare, endemic, reducing their range, as well as relict. Species richness flora The region is due to the variety of natural and climatic conditions.

According to preliminary estimates, the region is characterized by more than 100 species of lichens, 80 species of bryophytes, and about 50 species of macromycete fungi. Among these objects there are rare ones included in the Red Book of Russia.

About 100 species of mammals, more than 320 species of birds, 7 species of reptiles, 6 species of invertebrates live in the region. Mammals are represented mainly by insectivores and rodents (eared hedgehog, jerboas) and bats (there are 9 species of them, including the pointed-eared bat included in the Red Book of Russia). 2 representatives of the mustelid family entered here - an otter and a bandage.

ALTAI (from the Turkic-Mongolian "altan" - golden), a mountain system in Asia, in southern Siberia and in Central Asia, on the territory of Russia (Republic of Altai, Republic of Tyva, Altai Territory), Mongolia, Kazakhstan and China.

It is elongated in latitude from 81 to 106 ° east longitude, in longitude - from 42 to 52 ° north latitude. It extends from the northwest to the southeast for more than 2000 km. It consists of high mountains (the highest point is Mount Belukha, 4506 m) and mid-mountain ranges and intermountain basins separating them.

In the north and northwest it borders on the West Siberian Plain, in the northeast - on the Western Sayan and the mountains of South Tuva, in the east - on the Valley of the Big Lakes, in the southeast - on the Gobi Desert, in the south - on the Dzungarian Plain, in the west The valley of the Irtysh river is separated from the Kazakh uplands. Altai is a watershed between the basin of the Arctic Ocean and the endorheic region of Central Asia.

Orographically, the Gobi Altai, the Mongolian Altai and the Altai proper, or the Russian Altai, are distinguished. The latter is often identified with the concept of "Altai" and is part of the sub-latitudinal mountainous country of Southern Siberia mountains, forming a western ending with a latitude of over 400 km, from north to south - about 300 km (see map).

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Relief.

The relief of the Russian Altai was formed as a result of a long-term impact of exogenous processes on the growing uplift and is characterized by a wide variety of forms. Most of the ridges of the northwestern or sublatitudinal strike form a fan, diverging in a westerly direction.

The exceptions are the ridges of the northern submeridional orientation and the southern periphery. There are a number of vast plateaus (Ukok, etc.), highlands (Chulyshmanskoe, etc.) and mountain ranges (Mongun-Taiga, etc.), as well as large intermountain basins occupied by steppes (Chuiskaya, Kuraiskaya, Uimonskaya, Abaiskaya, Kanskaya, etc. .).

High mountain ranges and massifs are located mainly in the east and southeast. Ridges rise above 4000 m: Katunsky (up to 4506 m), Sailyugem (up to 3499 m), Severo-Chuysky (up to 4177 m). The ridges are significant in height: South Chuisky (up to 3936 m), Southern Altai (up to 3483 m), Chikhachev (up to 4029 m), Tsagan-Shibetu (up to 3496 m) and Shapshalsky (up to 3608 m). The isolated Mongun-Taiga massif (3970 m) is distinguished by high-mountain relief.

The highlands are characterized by peaked ridges, steep (20-50° and more) slopes and wide valley bottoms filled with moraine or occupied by glaciers. The landslide-scree slopes are widely developed, formed by intensively proceeding gravitational processes. Glacial landforms are widespread: cirques, glacial cirques, troughs, carlings, moraine ridges and ridges. The mid-mountain and low-mountain ranges are located mainly in the west and north of Altai.

Among them, the most significant are: Terektinsky (up to 2926 m), Aigulaksky (up to 2752 m), Iolgo (up to 2618 m), Listvyaga (up to 2577 m), Narymsky (up to 2533 m) and Baschelaksky (up to 2423 m) ridges.

In the middle mountains, alpine relief features are found fragmentarily. Wide massive interfluves with flattened and plateau-like peaks dominate, where cryogenic processes are developed, leading to the formation of kurums and altiplanation. There are karst landforms. River valleys are often narrow steep gorges and canyons 500-1000 meters deep. The peripheral low mountains of Altai are characterized by a relatively shallow depth of dissection (up to 500 m) and gentle slopes. The valleys are wide, flat-bottomed, with a well-defined complex of terraces.

Fragments of ancient leveling surfaces have been preserved on the flat tops. The bottoms of the basins are occupied by sloping plains of proluvial origin and by moraine amphitheatres, bordering the ends of the trough valleys. In the east of Altai, the bottoms of the basins are complicated by thermokarst forms.

Geological structure and minerals.

Altai is located within the Paleozoic Altai-Sayan folded region of the Ural-Okhotsk mobile belt; is a complex folded system formed by Precambrian and Paleozoic strata, intensively deployed in the Caledonian epoch of tectogenesis and the Hercynian epoch of tectogenesis. In the post-Paleozoic time, mountain-folded structures were destroyed and turned into a denudation plain (peneplain).

By features geological structure and the age of the final folding, the Caledonian Gorny Altai in the northwest (occupies about 4/5 of the entire territory) and the Hercynian Rudny Altai in the southwest and south are distinguished. The anticlinoria of Gorny Altai (Kholzunsko-Chuysky, Talitsky, etc.) are mainly composed of the Upper Cambrian-Lower Ordovician flyschoid terrigenous series, overlying Vendian-Lower Cambrian ophiolites, siliceous schist formations, and presumably Precambrian metamorphites, which in some places protrude to the surface.

Superimposed depressions and grabens (the largest one is the Korgon one) are filled with molasses from the Middle Ordovician-Lower Silurian and early Devonian. The deposits are intruded by Late Devonian granites. Within Rudny Altai, which has a Caledonian basement, rocks of the Middle Devonian-Early Carboniferous volcano-plutonic association and Late Paleozoic granitoids are widespread.

In the Oligocene-Quaternary, Altai experienced uplift associated with regional compression of the earth's crust, caused by the convergence of the lithospheric microplates limiting it (Dzhungar, Tuva-Mongolian).

The formation of the mountain structure proceeded according to the type of a large arch, which at the last stages of development was deformed by a system of ruptures, as a result of which a series of block morphostructures in the form of high ridges and depressions separating them formed in the central and southern parts. Instrumental observations record vertical movements of the earth's crust, the speed of which reaches several centimeters per year. Uplifts occur unevenly, are accompanied by overthrusts, which causes the asymmetry of the ridges.

Altai is one of the most seismically active inland regions of the world.

One of the largest seismic catastrophes (9-10 points) occurred in the high-mountainous Kosh-Agach region on September 27, 2003. Traces of ancient catastrophes (paleoseismodislocations) are known.

The main wealth of the interior of Altai is the deposits of precious metals and pyrites of lead-zinc-copper-barite ores (Korbalikhinskoye, Zyryanovskoye, etc.), which form the polymetallic belt of Rudny Altai. In Gorny Altai there are deposits of mercury, gold, iron, tungsten-molybdenum ores.

The deposits of ornamental stones and marble have long been known. There are thermal mineral springs: Abakan Arzhan, Belokurihinskiye and others. The climate of Altai is continental in the foothills, sharply continental in the inner and eastern parts, which is determined by the position in temperate latitudes and a significant distance from the oceans.

The winter is severe and long (from 5 months in the foothills to 10 months in the highlands), which is facilitated by the influence of the Asian anticyclone. average temperature January is (in the foothills) from -15 to -20°С; in the northeast it is somewhat higher and on the shores of Lake Teletskoye it reaches -9.2°С; in basins where temperature inversions are common, it drops to -31.7°C.

The recorded minimum temperature is -60°С (in the Chuya steppe). Strong cooling is associated with the widespread development of permafrost, the thickness of which in some places is up to several hundred meters. Summer is relatively short (up to 4 months), but warm. The average July temperature ranges from 22°C (in the foothills) to 6°C in the highlands; in the basins and southern foothills it is possible to rise to 35-40°С and more.

The values ​​of 14-18°С are typical for the middle and low mountains. The frost-free period at an altitude of up to 1000 meters does not exceed 90 days, above 2000 m it is practically absent. Precipitation is associated mainly with western moisture-bearing flows and is distributed extremely unevenly over the territory and over the seasons. The exposure asymmetry is clearly expressed, in which the windward slopes of the ridges, especially the western periphery, receive significantly more precipitation than the inner basins.

Thus, in the highlands of the Katun and South Chuya ranges, up to 2000 mm of precipitation or more falls annually, while the Kurai and Chui steppes are one of the most arid places in Russia (up to 100 mm of precipitation per year). The lack of moisture in the basins is also explained by the drying effect of mountain-valley winds - foehns, especially in winter and autumn.

In the low and middle mountains, an average of 700-900 mm of precipitation falls annually. The maximum precipitation occurs in summer. The thickness of the snow cover in the northern and western regions and in the highlands reaches 60-90 cm or more, in the hollows - less than 10 cm, and in years with little snow, a stable cover is practically not formed.

Over 1500 glaciers with a total area of ​​about 910 km2 are known in the Altai Mountains. They are most common in the Katunsky, South and North Chuysky ridges. The largest glaciers are Taldurinsky, Aktru (Akturi) and Maashey (Mashey), which are 7-12 km long.

Katun river.

Altai. Teletskoye lake.

Rivers and lakes. Altai is dissected by a dense network (several tens of thousands) of mountain rivers, which, according to their diet, belong to the Altai type: they feed on melted snow waters and summer rains; characterized by a long spring flood.

Most of the rivers belong to the Ob basin, both of its sources - Katun and Biya - are located in Altai and are its main water arteries. The western spurs are drained by the right tributaries of the Irtysh River, among which the Bukhtarma River stands out. The rivers of the northeastern part of Altai (Abakan, etc.) have a drain into the Yenisei River valley, the southeastern outskirts belong to the drainless region of Central Asia.

The total number of lakes in Altai is over 7000, with a total area of ​​over 1000 km2; the largest are Markakol and Lake Teletskoye. Many small (usually 1-3 km2 or less) ancient glacial lakes often fill picturesque deep trough valleys.

In the north of Altai there are karst lakes.

Landscape types. In Altai, the altitudinal zonality of landscapes is well expressed. In the lower landscape belt there are steppes, in the north mainly meadows, with areas of forest-steppes. In the south, the steppes form a wide belt, rising to a height of 1000 meters or more, and in some places have the features of deserts, turning into semi-deserts.

Of the mountain-steppe animals, ground squirrels, voles, hamsters, and badgers are common; from birds - steppe eagle, coccyx, kestrel. The appearance of the steppes in the intermountain basins is similar. The dzeren antelope, the Mongolian marmot, the cat's manul, and others are found there. Leached and podzolized chernozems are developed in the steppe lowlands, and peculiar dry-steppe chestnut and dark chestnut soils are found in the basins.

The insignificant forest-steppe belt is associated with the exposure asymmetry of moisture and illumination, when larch (less often birch, aspen or pine) grows on the northern slopes of the low mountains, and meadow steppes grow on the southern slopes.

The forest belt prevails in the Altai mountains. Mountain taiga forests dominate here: dark coniferous, so-called black taiga from fir, spruce and Siberian cedar pine (or “cedar”), and light coniferous from larch and Scotch pine.

Among the inhabitants of mountain forests, taiga animals are typical - bear, lynx, Siberian weasel, squirrel, musk deer, maral, etc.; from birds - capercaillie, hazel grouse, nutcracker, woodpeckers, crossbills. The black taiga on deep podzolic or brown forest soils rich in humus is widespread in the western foothills and in the northeast.

Fir forests tend to the middle part of the mountain slopes, cedar taiga - to the upper parts. In dark coniferous forests, the herbaceous layer is made up of large-herb and tall-herb species; the undergrowth is often absent or consists of ground cover (mosses, lichens), to which shrub and shrub layers are added. Larch forests occupy significant areas in the basin of the middle reaches of the Katun River, on the Terektinsky and Kurai Ranges. Pine forests, often of a park type, are distributed mainly along the valleys of the Katun and Chulyshman rivers.

In the light coniferous forests, the grass-shrub layer is diverse. Gray forest soils above 1700 m turn into forest-tundra and mountain-tundra. The upper limit of the forest in height ranges from 1600 to 2400 m; sparse taiga grows here with well-developed tall grasses, shrubs and grass-shrub layers. Above - cedar and larch light forests, alternating with thickets of shrubs (dwarf birches) and subalpine meadows.

Among the shrubs dominate birch round-leaved, willow, juniper, Kuril tea. Tall grass meadows contain many valuable species: maral root, hellebore Lobel, blueberries, bergenia, etc. Alpine meadows, common in the highlands of the western and central regions of Altai, alternate with patches of moss-lichen cover or stony placers. There are formations of large-grass, small-grass, grass-sedge and cobresia meadows.

The highlands also feature landscapes of subalpine meadows, mountain tundra, rocks, stony placers, glaciers and eternal snows. Most of the highlands are occupied by mountain tundra, which are not distinguished by a wide variety of species. There are meadow, moss-lichen, shrub and rocky tundras. Above 3000 meters there is a nival-glacial belt.

Of the animals of the alpine belt, the Altai pika, mountain goat, snow leopard, and reindeer are characteristic. A special type of intrazonal landscapes of Altai are swamps, which are distributed almost everywhere on flat interfluves and plateaus.

Specially protected natural areas. 5 objects of Altai (Altai Reserve, a protective strip around Teletskoye Lake, Katunsky Reserve, Belukha Nature Park and Ukok Quiet Zone), called the Golden Mountains of Altai, have been included in the World Heritage List since 1998.

Natural landscapes and individual natural monuments are also protected in the Markakol Reserve. A number of reserves have been created.

For the economy of Altai, see the articles Altai Territory, Altai (Republic of Altai) and Tuva.

History of discovery and research.

General characteristics of the Altai relief

First Scientific research The nature of Altai dates back to the 1st half of the 18th century, when ore deposits were discovered in the west and the first copper smelters were built. Russian settlers, mostly runaway factory and state peasants, appeared in the north of Altai in the middle of the 18th century. The first Russian settlements, including those of the Old Believers, began to appear in the 1750-70s, mainly along the valleys of the middle course of the rivers. In the 19th century, the upper reaches of the rivers began to be settled, mainly by Kazakh nomads from China and Kazakhstan.

In 1826, K. F. Ledebur studied the flora of Altai. In 1828 alluvial deposits of gold were discovered. In the first half of the 19th century, geological research was carried out by P. A. Chikhachev (1842), G. E. Shchurovsky (1844) and engineers of the mining department. In the 2nd half of the 19th century, numerous expeditions worked in Altai, including the Russian Geographical Societies, the Academy of Sciences, which included V. A. Obruchev, V. V. Sapozhnikov, who studied modern glaciation and the vegetation cover of Altai for a number of years .

Since the 1920s, a systematic study of the nature of Altai has been carried out: large-scale topography, and geological surveys, as well as the study of various natural resources in connection with the development of mining, hydropower and agriculture.

Lit.: Kuminova A.

B. Vegetation cover of Altai. Novosib., 1960; Mikhailov N.I. Mountains of Southern Siberia. M., 1961; Gvozdetsky N.A., Golubchikov Yu.N. Mountains. M., 1987.

S. A. Bulanov.

Geographical position of Altai

The Republic of Altai is located at the crossroads of two main regions: Western Siberia and Central Asia, which is located almost in the center of the Russian Federation, and also borders three neighboring countries: Mongolia in the south and China in the southwest of Kazakhstan. This situation determines the economic and climatic conditions in the region.

Geography of the Altai Territory

In the written sources of the ancient Indians, this area is called the "handle of the earth", indeed, the region is located at an equal distance from the four oceans and is located in the same latitudes as Astana and Lvov.
Distance from the sea and oceans and location in the northern temperate zone are characteristics of the geographic location of the region.

As for the size of the territory, the republic ranks third in the Russian Federation, occupying more than 90 thousand square kilometers of land or 1.2 percent of the country's territory. There are mountain-steppe, alpine and mountain forest landscapes in the region.
The Altai Mountains include the ridges that form the watershed of the Irtysh and Yenisei rivers, as well as the area of ​​zero discharge in the rivers of Central Asia. Most high mountains- Katun reaches a height of 3-4 thousand meters and is covered with glaciers. Among the mountains, the narrow and wide river valleys of the Intermountain are hollow, the air is largely formed by ridges, and the delay of cyclones, which limit the sudden change in temperature in the valleys.
More than half of the region's territory is occupied by forests, which are an important mechanism for cleaning the air on the planet, and, in particular, valuable cedar forests make up about one third of the total area.
Pools of a thousand lakes, the largest of which is Lake Teletskoye, one of the largest in Russia and is considered a symbol of Altai.

On many smaller rivers, snow-capped glaciers and summer rains are also the region's topography and climate, giving way to mountain bases and patches on a winding path.

The same rivers are the cause of annual floods in the republic.
Due to the unusual situation in the region and the presence of mountainous areas, there are many, even contrasting, climatic conditions in the region. They affect the remote Atlantic and the central parts of Russia. In the Altai Mountains, almost all climatic zones from the tundra to the subtropics. The temperature and humidity in adjacent valleys can vary greatly. In general, the region is characterized by long, cold and snowy winters followed by short and warm, sometimes hot summers.
The characteristic geographical position has formed interesting natural complexes with unique flora and fauna.

Part of the land is reserved for specially protected natural areas - Reserve Altai and Katunsky, as well as nature reserves, natural parks and natural monuments. Five lists are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.