Mountains description for children. Message about the Caucasus mountains
A report about the Caucasus Mountains, a majestic landmark and highlight of the Caucasus, is presented in this article.
Message about the Caucasus Mountains
Caucasus Mountains geographical location
They are spread between Asia and Europe, the Middle and Near East. The mountains of the Caucasus region are divided into 2 systems - the Lesser and Greater Caucasus. The Greater Caucasus is located almost to Baku from Taman and includes the Western, Central and Eastern Caucasus. But the Lesser Caucasus is a mountain range near the Black Sea. They are located between the Black Sea and Caspian coasts, covering the territories of such countries as South Ossetia, Russia, Abkhazia, Armenia, Georgia, Turkey and Azerbaijan.
Translated, their name means “mountains hold up the sky.” The length of the Caucasus Mountains is 1100 km, and their width is 180 km. The most famous and highest peaks of the system are Mount Elbrus and Kazbek.
How old are the Caucasus Mountains?
The Caucasian mountain system is the same age as the Alps and has a 30-million-year history, inscribed in Greek myths and biblical lines. According to legend, when Noah released a dove from the ark in search of dry land, it brought Noah a twig from the mountains of the Caucasus system. And the myths indicate that Prometheus, the man who gave fire to people, is chained here.
What do the Caucasus Mountains look like?
The mountains are fraught with many unusual things. On their peaks you can find preserved glaciers. Earthquakes are still observed here, since the Caucasus Mountains are young from a geological point of view.
Their appearance is determined by the relief, which is represented by different shapes. Mountain peaks with sharp peaks shot up into the sky. With their outlines, they are similar either to the walls of a castle with towers, or to Egyptian pyramids. In the mountains there are also glaciers, rivers and areas with a surface heavily damaged by wind erosion.
Climate
The climate of the Caucasus mountain system is quite diverse. These places are characterized by pronounced zonality. These mountains are a natural barrier that prevents the movement of air masses, thereby determining the diversity of the climate. The southern and western slopes receive much more precipitation than the northern and eastern slopes. The Caucasus Mountains are located in almost all climatic zones: from humid subtropics with wet and warm winters, dry hot summers to a dry continental climate, turning into semi-desert in the east.
Near the foothills there are snowy, cold winters with dry summers, and the higher you go in the mountains, the lower the temperature. At an altitude of 3.5 thousand km. it reaches -4 0 C.
Flora and fauna
The Caucasus Mountains are inhabited by unique animals. Among them are chamois, wild boars, mountain goats, foxes and bears, the mountain jerboa and ground squirrel, and in remote places bears and leopards live. On the way from the foot to the top, high-mountain meadow grasses and coniferous forests grow, which are “fed” by rivers, lakes, waterfalls, and mineral springs.
- For the first time, a person climbed the highest peak of the Caucasus Mountains system on July 22, 1829.
- There are a lot of species of invertebrate animals in the Caucasus; for example, approximately 1000 species of spiders still live there.
In the Caucasus 6349 species of flowering plants, including 1600 native species.
In the Caucasus many endemic representatives– slightly less than 1,600 species of flora, 32 species of mammals and 3 species of birds.
- Permafrost begins at altitude 3000-3500 m.
We hope that the report about the Caucasus Mountains helped you prepare for the lesson. And you can leave your message about the Caucasus Mountains using the comment form below.
This reference book was published by the French Ministry of War in addition to the “Manual for operations in the mountains of large military formations” that it had previously issued (translation published by Voengiz in 1934). It uses the experience of mountain sports, widely developed in the west and south of Europe, taking into account the issues that may arise for small military units if they operate in high mountain areas.
The large number of practical tips included in the Handbook makes it worthy of attention not only among wide circles of the Red Army, but also among everyone interested in mountain sports.
SECTION ONE Brief description of the mountains
Sections of this page:
DEPARTMENT ONE
11. From an industrial point of view, the stream is a strong vivifying source in the valley, as it is often used as white coal.
Forest zone
12. Above the zone of cultivated fields lies the zone of forests. It begins with bushes, thickets, forest growths and forests of deciduous trees, and continues in the form of coniferous forest (spruce, pine, larch), which becomes more and more rare as the altitude increases. Finally, this strip ends with stunted vegetation - due to a long period of snow drifts.
Pines and larches at altitudes above 2,500 m don't grow.
13. The forest intersects or constant paths, servicing foresters' houses and mountain huts located in clearings, or paths for forest exploitation, which are laid for a short time and can lead military units astray from their path.
Some of these paths, laid out in short and close together meanders, are called in the Alps turnstiles, others, on the contrary, are straightforward and follow the line of greatest steepness of the slope. These are - in most cases - passages for timber removal.
14. In its upper part, the forest zone is connected to the pasture zone through a belt of forest meadows, in which pastures spread under small trees.
Pasture zone
15. Behind the belt of forest meadows follows mountain steppe, alpine vegetation of which, wintering under the snow, is valuable fodder.
In low or most accessible places, this vegetation is mowed and then lowered into the valley or removed on site in covered threshing floor or haylofts. In high places, meadows left untouched provide pasture for herds in good seasons; this is a belt mountain huts. A little higher up, young cows and bulls are found in a semi-wild state, encountering which sometimes poses some danger for single people.
16. In some more barren areas and in higher areas of the pasture zone, there is a mountain sheep, changing its grazing location in accordance with the time of year. Covered sheepfolds are rare here, as the sheep are generally gathered in pens without roofs at night.
17. Such pastures are often called alpine, or mountain; in most cases, the names are given by the rocks commanding them.
18. The pasture area and the rock area sometimes run into each other very steeply covered with grass slopes, most of them very slippery, difficult to pass and dangerous.
Rocks area
19. Rocks in rare cases rise sharply above pastures or forests. At the base of the rock, its fragments accumulate, gradually being torn away from it by wind, snow, rain, thunderstorms and especially frosts and thaws. These piles of more or less large debris go by different names:
25. In the rock area, the only human habitations are shelters created in very ancient times near the most visited passage points, or shelters built by mountaineering societies. The latter are piled up at the highest altitudes above sea level (above 3000); sometimes they are guarded during a good season of the year, but in most cases they are open and entrusted to the guard of those who will occupy them.
Being at the same time the starting base for large ascents, they represent a refuge from fleeting storms and other atmospheric phenomena dangerous at high altitudes.
Zone of firns and glaciers
26. In some areas in areas of high mountains, protected from the sun and often exposed to precipitation, a layer of winter snow lies for a whole year. The accumulation of such snow layers forms constant firns, which, strictly speaking, are eternal snow. The height above sea level from which firns are found varies depending on the latitude and the location of the mountain slopes relative to the sides of the horizon (shadow or sunny side).
Here, due to alternating melting and freezing, the snow acquires significant hardness. In the hottest hours of the day, it only cracks and softens on the surface.
27. When a firn blocks the bed of a stream, the latter goesuges it in the depths; the ice crust on the firn surface becomes thinner and sometimes collapses, forming a depression called letter box.
28. In other areas located on a fairly concave surface, piled snow under the influence of freezing after a thaw turns into glaciers, which can sometimes reach several hundred meters in thickness.
29. The glacier does a lot of work on the rocks in which it is located to erode rocks, throwing rocks broken into pieces forward and to the sides, forming frontal and lateral moraines.
When two glaciers merge due to the connection of two lateral moraines, a central, or median, moraine.
30. The glacier finally carries on its surface debris and small stones falling from the cliffs on its sides.
Sometimes it is covered with them, which increases its melting coefficient. In some cases, a large fragment, having protected the underlying surface from melting, thus ends up on an ice column; it forms what is called glacier table.
31. Since the ice is not plastic enough, the glacier cracks in those places where the bottom of its channel has sharp bends. Cracks form, almost perpendicular to the direction of glacier movement.
Numerous cracks divide the ice into more or less sustainable layers that, under the influence of the sun's rays, often take strange shapes. If the glacier is located on a steep slope, then these layers can collapse and form a kind of avalanche.
The expansion of a glacier that has temporarily shrunk in size causes the formation of longitudinal, or outlying cracks more or less parallel to the direction of glacier movement.
It happens that in some part of the glacier cracks go in all directions; The reason for this phenomenon is the presence of a rocky mound at the bottom of the glacier, which at times exerts pressure on the ice.
Finally, from its very beginning and on the sides, the glacier is often separated from the rocky partition that encloses it, by a wide and deep gap called bergschrund.
In addition to these classically shaped cracks, there are a kind of round deep wells in glaciers, into which water flows in streams from the melting of ice on the surface; they're called glacial mills.
32. The glacier is called hanging, when it ends at a sheer cliff in the rocks; the ice, due to its movement forward, finds itself in a hanging position on the edge of a cliff in the form of “ icefall."
It happens that ice debris again accumulates at the crash site and forms revived glacier.
Passing under the icefall is dangerous; Stopping under it should be avoided.
CHAPTER III
38. During a snowfall, snow saturated with water does not hold; it sticks to shoes, as they say, sticks.
Later he becomes mealy or dusty; its layer becomes thinner, it does not stick, but it no longer sticks.
At low altitudes above sea level, in extreme cold, and at high altitudes, snow immediately falls brittle, dusty, and crystalline; in this state it remains for quite a long time, possessing the above-mentioned characteristic properties.
Under the influence of solar heat, snow may partially melt on the surface during the day; it then becomes heavy and sticks together. Night frosts turn it into crusty snow, and if the icy crust reaches a certain thickness, the snow can support humans and animals.
39. Snow changes its consistency most easily in spring or early summer. It may be so soft or wet that attempts to stand on it will be futile; then they call him rotten; it can also become so hard that it gives the impression of sheet metal so familiar to skiers.
The type of snow is recognized by its color and reflections.
Crusty snow often has a matte appearance and is similar to ivory; dusty snow sparkles in the sun; snow that does not hold is either darker or lighter in appearance, depending on whether there is snow in the neighborhood that does; Summer snow in the mountains shines like polished metal.
40. In some areas characterized by a significant degree of humidity and subject to severe cold, an icy layer, the so-called frost; trees, rocks and the snow itself are covered with a thick layer of foam consisting of hard snow needles with a thickness of 20 to 30 cm, which can cause branches to break and telephone wires to break.
41. If the snow is dusty, then the wind blows it away very easily, piles it up in the depressions of the soil and sticks it in front of obstacles in the form cornices, overhanging some ridges, or collects it waves all the way to the valley.
42. Hasty drifts, which at a significant altitude above sea level can be up to 6–7 thick m, have a significant impact on the lives of living beings.
Valley
43. During the period of snow drifts in the valleys, people live together with domestic animals, using peat or dried cow dung as fuel.
44. Since work in the open air becomes almost impossible, in many places certain handicrafts arise: watchmaking, eyeglass making, toy production, cutting of precious stones, wood carving, etc., or men go to work in the cities, located in the underlying valleys and plains.
However, the development of winter tourism, in particular ski tourism, makes changes in the life of a mountain dweller, who begins to be more willing to leave his corner.
Forest zone
45. Snow remains hidden from the sun in the forest area dusty for many months. Trees contribute to this, which is why there is almost no fear of landslides. The destruction of forests facilitates the work of avalanches, as well as all active forces of erosion.
Pasture area. Avalanches
46. They also wait for the first snowfalls to lower the hay into the valley using light sleds, called mountain sleds in some areas.
Later, the entire pasture is covered with snow, and movement becomes difficult and even dangerous due to avalanches.
47. An avalanche in winter, combined with a fleeting storm, poses the greatest danger to a person trekking in the mountains.
An avalanche is a mass of snow covering a sloping area of terrain and moving under the influence of gravity due to loss of balance caused by various reasons.
On icy slopes of soil, On screes and slopes covered with grass, the snow layer does not hold well.
On a pile of rocks or on the slopes, tree-lined or bushes it holds up well.
A snow drift does not form from snowfall alone; it is the result of successive snowfalls. Since the first layers leveled out the unevenness of the soil, the others lie on a flat surface, which thaws alternating with frosts in most cases made hard and slippery.
Snow layers, gradually overlapping one another, may be in a position of unstable equilibrium.
Avalanches should be feared at all times of the year and everywhere, even on relatively flat slopes.
48. Avalanches fall:
Or under the influence of gravity,
Or from the action of an extraneous cause.
A person or animals moving along the slope of a mountain can separate from the total mass a layer of snow that is in a weakly stable equilibrium, which begins to slide down, having lost its support points.
The fall of a rock or a piece of an overhanging cornice onto a mountain slope also causes an avalanche to move.
Finally, a simple vibration of neighboring layers of air with screams, explosions or even a breath of wind, occurring from the movement of another avalanche may be sufficient to bring down a snow mass that is in a weakly stable equilibrium or has already been shaken due to other reasons.
49. You have to be especially wary of avalanches with each new snowfall.
They occur more often during the hottest hours of the day, when the top layer of snow, having softened, can more easily tear away from the rest of the mass.
50. At high altitudes above sea level at all times of the year there are avalanches of snow in the form of dust; they should be especially feared in those places where the wind deposits this snow in huge quantities, mainly on ice or on icy, bare or grass-covered mountain slopes.
51. Sometimes, when the snow becomes crusty, swelling(the crust is separated from the underlying dusty snow). These swellings, under the influence of external causes, settle, break and begin to move; This - avalanche in the form of snow slabs.
52. All these avalanches have a name winter, or surface, avalanches, since at this time of year the first layer of snow that falls usually sticks to the ground.
53. In spring and early summer (March to June), the soil tends to warm up through the snow layer and reduce its adhesion. Then they can form spring, or ground, avalanches, so called because after they are torn off, bare earth remains. They collapse:
Or in hot hours, during the day, when the lower layers of snow, having melted, seem to lubricate the surface of the soil;
Or at sunset at night, when the water flowing in streams freezes increases in volume and separates the snow mass.
54. When an avalanche collapses, it makes noise, ranging from a slight rustle to a roar, similar to the sound of a large-caliber shell exploding. It causes air movement called the breath of an avalanche, the force of which is proportional to its mass. This breeze alone is capable of uprooting trees, sweeping away rocks and destroying houses. It, spreading its effect to the mountainside opposite to where the avalanche collapses, often causes the movement of another avalanche there, which essentially blocks the first.
55. An avalanche moves, depending on its composition, in the form of dust, a dough-like mass or large fragments shaped like a parallelepiped or spherical. When it stops, the snow masses, gathering in front of the obstacle or the first stopped masses, pile up, and under the influence of pressure, phenomenon of freezing after a thaw: the mass sets and becomes hard as ice, which sometimes makes it extremely difficult to find bodies that it could carry with it.
56. Many of the mountain passes where avalanches occur known. In some areas they are shown on maps; in such cases they are relatively easy to avoid. However, since a piece of terrain is on a slope, shifts can occur everywhere, and the slightest of them can cause death to a person.
57. Knowledge of snow and mountains in winter comes to the aid of a mountain resident, tourist or group leader. However, their instincts can also deceive them; even chamois roll into avalanches.
Safety on the snowy slopes of the mountains is never unconditional, no matter what the time of year or day when the movement occurs.
Rocks area
58. When the rocky slopes are not too steep, the snow evens out sharp ledges in walls and mountain passes and thus makes it easier to move in some places.
Winter frost can also strengthen the walls of passages in loose rocks.
59. In exchange for these minor improvements, many new difficulties and dangers arise in some passages. In the vast majority of cases, snow lies on icy slabs. Then you need to be especially careful about an avalanche. The ridges of the mountains are covered with a pointed canopy of ice and snow, making them impassable. Overhanging eaves pose a risk of collapse.
60. Finally, shelters or shepherd's huts are covered with snow, depriving the climber of any shelter.
Zone of firns and glaciers
61. Firns and glaciers are hidden under the snow. However, the cracks are not completely filled. Under the influence of the wind, small snow cornices are formed at their edges, which are gradually connected to one another with a more or less fragile crust, forming bridge.
62. In spring, snow tends to disappear, and cracks tend to reappear. In some places these cracks contain real snow bridges, which should only be approached with caution.
For these reasons, it is necessary to take precautions when passing through glaciers at all times of the year.
The cracks located below are usually detected by some concavity of the snow sheet, which in the summer takes on a lighter shade compared to the neighboring glacier.
The Ural Mountains are a mountain system located between the West Siberian and East European plains, and represent a kind of border separating Europe from Asia. They were formed by the collision of the African and Eurasian lithospheric plates, as a result of which one of them literally crushed the other. From the point of view of geologists, these mountains arose in a complex way, as they consist of rocks of different ages and types.
With a length of more than 2000 km, the Ural Mountains form the Southern, Northern, Subpolar, Polar and Middle Urals. Because of their length, they were called the Earth Belt in the first mentions of the 11th century. Everywhere you can see crystal clear mountain streams and rivers, which then flow into larger bodies of water. The following large rivers flow there: Kama, Ural, Belaya, Chusovaya and Pechora.
The height of the Ural Mountains does not exceed 1895 meters. Thus, it is medium in level (600-800 m) and the narrowest in width of the ridge. This part is characterized by peaked and sharp shapes with steep slopes and deep valleys. The peak of Pai-Er has the greatest rise (1500 m).
The subpolar zone expands slightly and is considered the highest part of the ridge. The following peaks are located here: Mount Narodnaya (1894 m), which is the highest, Karpinsky (1795 m), Sablya (1425 m) and many other Ural mountains, the average rise of which ranges from 1300 to 1400 meters.
They are also characterized by sharp landforms and large valleys. This part is also notable for the fact that there are several glaciers here, the largest of which stretches almost 1 km in length.
In the northern part, the Ural Mountains, whose height does not exceed 600 meters, are characterized by smoothed and rounded shapes. Some of them, made of crystalline rocks, take on funny shapes under the influence of rain and wind. Closer to the south they become even lower, and in the middle part they take the form of a gentle arc, where the most significant mark (886 m) is occupied by the Kachkanar peak. The relief here is smoothed and more flat.
In the southern zone, the Ural Mountains rise noticeably, forming many parallel ridges. Among the highest points we can note (1638 m) Yamantau and (1586 m) Iremel, the rest are slightly lower (Big Sholom, Nurgush, etc.).
In addition to beautiful mountains and caves, the Urals has a very picturesque, diverse nature, as well as many other attractions. And that is why it is so attractive to many tourists. Here you can choose routes for people of different levels of training - both for beginners and for lovers of extreme travel. In addition to all other advantages, the Ural Mountains are a storehouse of minerals, which include the following: ores of copper, chromium, nickel, titanium; placers of gold, platinum, silver; deposits of coal, gas, oil; precious malachite, diamonds, yam, crystal, amethyst, etc.).
As they say, the only things better than mountains are mountains. And this is true, because their indescribable atmosphere, beauty, harmony, grandeur and clean air inspire and charge with positive, energy and vivid impressions for a long time.
Mountain systems occupy about forty percent of the surface of our planet: they can be seen on every continent, on many islands and on the ocean floor. The fewest ranges are found on the Australian continent, and almost all the mountain ranges of Antarctica are reliably hidden under ice.
Mountains are parts of the earth's crust that, as a result of the movement of tectonic plates, volcanic eruptions, or other processes occurring within the planet, have risen to a significant height and began to rise above the plains. The height of some hills is small and amounts to about three hundred meters, others rise more than eight thousand meters above sea level. The type of mountains is extremely diverse: it can be a single peak, or it can be a long mountain range, which includes hundreds and even thousands of cones.
Considering that the structure of the mountains is ten percent sedimentary, and ninety percent igneous and metamorphic rocks (appearing as a result of changes in the structure of sedimentary and volcanic rocks), geologists often discover mineral deposits inside them and under the mountain.
The mountain relief consists of several parts:
- Mountain (hill) – a low or high cone-shaped mountain, consisting of a peak, slopes and a base (the place where the slopes merge with the surrounding territory);
- Ridges are strongly elongated mountain heights, the slopes of which, on the one hand, are often gentle, and on the other, steep. They are also watersheds because they direct river water flowing downhill from different sides of the slopes in opposite directions. For example, the Rocky Mountains extend from the north to the southeast, and their length is about five thousand kilometers, due to which the Rocky Mountains are a watershed between the basins of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans;
- A saddle is a depression of relief between two hills located near each other, usually the beginning of two valleys that go downhill in different directions;
- A hollow is an open, slightly inclined, downhill depression in the relief, which below, when the slopes merge, forms a drainage line;
- Basin - located below sea level, a cone-shaped depression, which is characterized by a bottom, slopes and an edge line - the place where the slopes meet the surface.
Formation theory
Throughout the history of their development, people have put forward a variety of theories about how exactly the mountains of the world were formed. At first these were myths, legends and tales, then the versions began to be more substantiated. For example, it has been suggested that mountain systems arose due to the movement of matter under the ocean floor, causing the arching of its surface, which causes the heaving of the earth's crust along the margins of the ocean.
This hypothesis did not explain in any way the presence of mountain systems inside the continent. Then they considered the version that the Earth is constantly decreasing in volume, and this happens in leaps and bounds and leads to deformation of the surface, where folds are formed, some of which rise above the surface, and the other goes downhill.
Later, the idea emerged that the mountain system was formed during continental drift. The idea was not bad, but it did not explain the reason for the movement of the continents, so it was forgotten. Instead, another hypothesis arose, suggesting that there are currents inside the Earth that cause the rise and fall (going downhill) of the earth's crust, affecting the topography of the planet. Despite the fact that many people liked the idea, no scientific evidence was found to support it.
The modern hypothesis of the formation of mountains arose in the middle of the last century, when the movement of lithospheric plates was proven, during the collision of which a thinner plate goes under the neighboring one, forming hills on the earth's surface. This theory was combined with previous versions, it explained a lot and was accepted as the main one.
Age of the mountains
Based on the theory of the movement of tectonic plates and soil analyses, it was found that each mountain system was formed at one time. The age of young ranges ranges from 50 to 80 million years, while old mountain systems appeared more than a hundred million years ago (for comparison, the age of our planet is about four and a half billion years).
Young mountain ranges (Rocky Mountains, Himalayas) are interesting because their internal processes are still developing.
For example, due to the constant collision of the Indian and Asian plates, the high mountains of the Himalayas grow by five centimeters per year. This process is always accompanied by earthquakes, and in some cases – volcanic eruptions. A young, growing mountain system is easily recognizable by its sharply defined relief, consisting of alternating peaks and protrusions, the sharp shape of the peaks, and the presence of very steep and high slopes that complicate both the ascent and descent from the mountain.
The ancient mountain system differs from the younger one in that all processes inside it have long ceased, while external processes that cause erosion continue to affect the surface of the Earth. An interesting fact: geologists have discovered more than one area on the plains where there was previously a mountain system, from which only roots remained, securely hidden under a thick layer of sedimentary rocks. The most ancient hills of the Earth were recognized as the remains of mountains that are located in the Hudson Bay area: they appeared almost simultaneously with our planet.
As for the ancient mountains, which time has not erased from the face of the Earth (for example, the Ural or Scandinavian), they can be recognized primarily by their height, not exceeding one and a half thousand meters, gentle slopes, and also by severe erosion. If in young mountains water streams flow in narrow gorges, then the rivers of an old mountain flow along a well-defined wide river valley.
It is not uncommon for older mountain ranges to include younger formations. For example, the Rocky Mountains, which appeared as a result of a tectonic shift from 80 to 50 million years ago, are a young part of the Western Cordillera, which began to form more than 120 million years ago. It should be noted that the Rocky Mountains are still growing, so earthquakes and post-volcanic phenomena are common in the region where they are located.
Types of mountains
The answer to the question of what kinds of mountains there are is not as simple as it seems: mountain ranges differ not only in age, but also in structure, origin, shape, location, height:
- In terms of altitude, low mountains are characterized by heights of up to 800 meters, middle mountains – up to 3 thousand meters and high mountains – more than 3 thousand meters. The height of mountains in some cases can reach incredible proportions. For example, the height of Everest, which for a long period was listed in reference books as the highest mountain in the world, is almost nine kilometers. Recently, this primacy was called into question when a large mountain was discovered at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, exceeding the size of Chomolungma: the height of the inactive Mauna Kea volcano from its base to its summit exceeds ten kilometers.
- By origin - volcanic, tectonic or erosional (erosion of plains by strong river flows, for example, canyons and mesas consisting of limestone, basalt, sandstone).
- At the top, a young high mountain usually has a peak-shaped, pointed shape. The top of the mountain can have a plateau-shaped, dome-shaped or rounded shape, which is typical both for old, heavily destroyed volcanoes and for areas where a large mountain has arisen as a result of the collision of plates.
Zoning
If the hill itself is not high, then the nature of the mountain at its base and at the top is not particularly different. True, this largely depends on which altitudinal group it belongs to. For example, the characteristic of continental-type mountains implies a complete absence of forests.
But when describing the low and middle elevations of the coastal type, one cannot fail to mention the presence of a forest landscape and meadows. If we are talking about a mountain with a height of more than three thousand meters, it is worth considering: in order to climb to its peak, you need to overcome absolutely all the belts of our planet. Therefore, the weather in the mountains differs significantly from the climate of the adjacent plains.
This is explained by the fact that the temperature drops by six degrees with each kilometer traveled. In addition, atmospheric pressure decreases, the level of solar radiation increases and the amount of precipitation changes. Accordingly, such weather in the mountains also affects nature.
Exactly how many zones a high mountain will have depends largely on what climatic zone it is in (mountain ranges near the equator have the largest number of zonal zones). It is also important at what height these zones will be located, how the slopes are located: on the sunny side they are usually lower. Geologists divide altitudinal zones into several parts.
Nival altitude belt
Only a high mountain can boast of having a nival belt: in the tropics it begins at an altitude exceeding 6.5 km above sea level. m., the further north it is, the lower it is located (ascent and descent from the mountain is quite difficult and often fraught with death).
This zone is characterized by the presence of glaciers and eternal snow (the Rocky Mountains or the Himalayas, which include the highest mountain in the world, Everest), while the surface not covered with snow is subject to severe erosion, primarily weathering. The vegetation here is extremely sparse - lichens and a few herbs. There are also few animals: sometimes predators wander here, rodents are found, birds fly in and some types of insects can be seen.
Mountain-tundra altitudinal belt
Winter in the mountain-tundra zone is long, summer is short and cold. Average temperatures do not exceed +9°C. A strong wind constantly blows here, and the soil often freezes (only lichens, mosses, and low shrubs grow). This belt is not typical for all mountains: in warm latitudes it is absent; instead, an alpine or subalpine belt is located at this level.
Alpine altitudinal zone
The alpine belt is typical for mountains of the coastal type, and is almost never found in sharply continental latitudes. In the Himalayas it is located at an altitude exceeding 3.6 kilometers, in the Alps and Andes - 2.2 kilometers. During the short summer period, the meadows bloom profusely here, but winter is long and the slopes are completely covered with snow.
Desert-steppe belt
Characteristic of mountains that are located in desert and semi-desert areas of tropical latitudes and temperate zones. In drier areas it is located above the subalpine zone, in more humid areas it is located above the mountain forest zone. The landscape of this zone is first characterized by the presence of steppe, then semi-desert and desert.
Subalpine altitudinal zone
In this zone, meadows are mixed with small areas of forests. Sometimes geologists combine this zone with the alpine zone and call it the mountain-meadow belt.
Mountain-forest altitudinal belt
The mountain-forest belt is characterized by the presence of forest landscapes, while there is an extremely large amount of vegetation here and all its types largely depend on the latitude where the mountain is located. This belt goes downhill.
Human life in the mountains
Despite the fact that people settle mainly in the lowlands, at the base of the mountain, they long ago learned to benefit from almost the entire mountain surface and learn to make the most of relatively small spaces. For example, in the Alps (the highest mountain is Mont Blanc, 4810 m high), at the foot you can often see vineyards and garden plots, the middle part is sown with agricultural crops, and cattle are grazed in the alpine meadows.
In these same mountains, thanks to a large amount of minerals, salt and precious metals, the mining industry is developed, paper and pulp are harvested from the forest, and hydroelectric power stations were built on the banks of the rivers.
People also actively use the mountains located on the American continent. A striking example is the Rocky Mountains (the largest mountain in the range is Elbert, 4.4 km high). The Rocky Mountains hide in their depths huge reserves of coal, lead, zinc, silver, shale, oil and natural gas. Despite the fact that relatively few people live here (four people per square kilometer, and the population of only a few cities exceeds fifty thousand),
The Rocky Mountains have extremely developed agriculture and forestry industries. Americans and Canadians successfully use mountain lands for grazing livestock and growing crops.
The Rocky Mountains are now an extremely popular destination among tourists: there are a huge number of national parks here, including Yellowstone, famous for its geysers and geothermal springs.
Happy are the people who have had the opportunity to see mountains in their lives. Nature created mountains - huge objects protruding to the surface. But mountains are not always visible to our eyes. Mountain ranges also stretch along the bottom of the oceans. Some peaks of mountain ranges protrude from the water, forming islands. Others, terrestrial, have huge ice caps on themselves and never take them off.
Mountains have always surprised people with their majesty, inaccessibility, and some special beauty. What could be better than the mountains? Only mountains. Mountains form where the earth is unquiet, as scientists say, in tectonically active areas. There are lonely mountains, there are mountain groups, mountain belts.
The best architect in the world is nature itself. She is the one who works to create beauty, including mountain beauty. Nature acts not only as an architect, builder, sculptor, but also as a decorator and illuminator. The light effects observed in the mountains leave no one indifferent. Due to the different geological composition, mountain peaks change their color under the rays of the rising and setting sun.
Where is the sun hiding? Maybe in the mountains? Maybe these are the giants who reliably protect the sun when it rests?
The oldest mountains on earth are several hundred million years old. Once upon a time they were subjected to severe destruction, serious passions were in full swing. But centuries passed, internal movements in them stopped long ago. Examples of old mountains are the Ural mountains. They consist of short, elongated ridges, massifs and ridges. It seems that the mountains of the Urals were created by a sorcerer from an old fairy tale. Or rather, the sorceress is the Mistress of the Copper Mountain. In any case, she most likely also had a hand in creating the amazing mountains of the Urals.
Young mountains, as a rule, are no older than 50 million years. Young mountains are growing and maturing. This is accompanied by earthquakes and volcanic activity. The Alps, Himalayas, Caucasus Mountains are young, they still have to grow up.
The most attractive thing about the mountain is the peak. This is exactly what climbers strive for. Standing at the top, you feel absolutely happy. The whole world is at your feet, and you yourself are much closer to the sun and stars. What are the peaks of the mountains? Peak-shaped, rounded, arched, plateau-shaped.
“The mountain peaks sleep in the darkness of the night...”
Writers, poets, and artists spared no effort in describing the beauty of the mountains. The mountains gave them strength, inspiration, beauty. It is impossible to remain indifferent near the mountains. Mountains stir the soul and make you think about the universe.
Everything connected with mountains has beautiful names - mountain ridge, mountain range, mountain pass. The mountains themselves are beautiful. Solid rocky walls, solemn towers, hanging cornices, mountain ranges carved with cracks - this variety of configurations pleases the eye.