Yudoma-Maya Highlands

Yudoma-Maya Highlands
Юдомо-Майское нагорье Юдома-Маайа хаптал хайалаах сиринэн
View of the Maya River in mid October
Highest point
Peak	Shpil Tarbagannakh
Elevation	2,213 m (7,260 ft)
Coordinates	61°09′18″N 138°27′04″E / 61.15500°N 138.45111°E / 61.15500; 138.45111
Dimensions
Length	500 km (310 mi)
Width	200 km (120 mi)
Geography
Yudoma-Maya Highlands Location in the Far Eastern Federal District, Russia
Country	Russia
Federal subject	Sakha Republic Khabarovsk Krai
Range coordinates	59°0′N 136°0′E / 59.000°N 136.000°E / 59.000; 136.000
Parent range	South Siberian System
Geology
Age of rock	Late Ordovician
Type of rock	Sandstone, clay, shale

The settlement of Allakh-Yun is located in the area of the highlands on the right bank of the Allakh-Yun River.

The area of the Yudoma-Maya and the Aldan 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 regions leading separate research parties. They described the highlands as "a disordered jumble of round hills with soft outlines".

The Yudoma-Maya Highlands lie at the southern end of the Sakha Republic and the western limits of Khabarovsk Krai. They are named after the upper basin of the Maya River, a tributary of the Aldan, and the Yudoma, one of the biggest tributaries of the Maya, The highland area is bound to the west by the Skalisty Range and the Sette-Daban subranges of the Verkhoyansk Range, and to the north by the Suntar-Khayata Range. The highlands reach the valley of the Okhota River to the east, and to the south they are limited by the northern end of the Dzhugdzhur Range. The average heights range between 800 metres (2,600 ft) and 1,200 metres (3,900 ft), the heights increasing towards the south.

The highest point is 2,213 meters (7,260 ft) high Shpil Tarbagannakh (Шпиль-Тарбаганнах).

Subranges and peaks

Northern section

• Kutelsky Range, highest point 1,637 metres (5,371 ft)
• Uemlyakhskі Goltsi, 2,132 metres (6,995 ft) (Уемляхські Гольцы)
• Tarbaganakhskі Goltsi, 2,167 metres (7,110 ft) (Тарбаганахські Гольцы)

Southern section

• Chelat Range, highest point 1,510 metres (4,950 ft)
• Upper Maya Massif, highest point 1,563 metres (5,128 ft)
• Maya Massif, highest point 1,364 metres (4,475 ft)

The highlands have a harsh continental climate. January temperatures range from −34 °C (−29 °F) to −43 °C (−45 °F). The coldest temperatures recorded reach between −58 °C (−72 °F) and −62 °C (−80 °F). In summer the average July temperature in the valleys does not exceed 18 °C (64 °F). Precipitation is between 250 millimeters (9.8 in) and 800 millimeters (31 in) per year. Most of the yearly precipitation falls in the second half of summer in the form of rain.

Large swathes of the highlands are covered by taiga up to elevations between 1,100 metres (3,600 ft) and 1,300 metres (4,300 ft). The areas adjacent to the valleys are covered with larch and pine forests, especially in the southern region. Above 500 metres (1,600 ft) there is spruce and birch taiga up to a height of 1,000 metres (3,300 ft). In the northern parts of the highlands there are thickets of dwarf cedar and mountain tundra above 1,200 metres (3,900 ft).