Ural Mountains

I

Introduction

Ural Mountains (Russian, Ural'skiye Gory), mountain chain, Russia and Kazakhstan, extending about 2,410 km (1,500 mi) from its northern boundary at the Arctic Ocean to its southern limits at the Caspian Sea. The Urals are usually taken as the line separating the continents of Europe and Asia. To the west lies European Russia, and to the east Siberia.

II

Geological Formation and Structure

Geologically, the Urals are the worn-down stumps of an ancient range that rose towards the end of the Palaeozoic era (the Permian Period), 250 million years ago, at about the same time as the Appalachians. The divisions of the range reflect distinct episodes in this ancient upheaval, which squeezed thick sedimentary rock layers into large northern-southern trending folds, then faulted and intruded them with a variety of igneous rocks.

III

Topography

The chain is divided roughly into four main divisions: the Polar (Russian, Polyarnyy Ural), Northern (Severnny Ural), Central (Sredny Ural), and Southern (Yuzhnyy Ural) Urals.

A

Polar and Northern Urals

The Polar Urals (above latitude 64° North) are treeless arctic tundra. The Northern Urals (latitude 64° North to latitude 61° North) constitute a distinct craggy, treeless, narrow range with crests averaging 305 to 460 m (1,000 to 1,500 ft) in height. This range contains the highest Ural crest, Gora Narodnaya (1,894 m/6,214 ft). Other Northern peaks include Sablya, Telpos-Iz, and Isherim. The only trees in the area are sparse growths of larch. Numerous plateaux, characterized by broad, flat, marshy valleys, extend in a south-western direction from the southern limits of the Northern Urals.