East Siberian Mountains

The East Siberian System consists of several separate sections of mountain ranges rising to the north and south of the Arctic Circle. The main group of ranges stretches for a distance of nearly 3,000 kilometres (1,900 mi) from the Lena River valley to Cape Dezhnev, at the eastern end of the Chukotka Peninsula. Although it reaches a width of roughly 1,200 kilometres (750 mi), the highland region is almost cut in half by the East Siberian Lowland that stretches to the north in the central area. To the southwest the boundary is not clearly delimited, as it overlaps with the system of the South Siberian Mountains. Owing to the mountainous terrain, large swathes of the East Siberian system are uninhabited. The largest city is Magadan.[3]

Ranges

• Verkhoyansk Range
  • Kharaulakh Range
  • Kular Range
  • Orulgan Range
  • Ust-Vilyuy Range
  • Sette-Daban
• Suntar-Khayata Range
• Yana-Oymyakon Highlands
  • Elgin Plateau
  • Oymyakon Plateau
  • Yana Plateau
• Kyundyulyun
• Chersky Range
  • Selennyakh Range
  • Moma Range
  • Ulakhan-Chistay Range
  • Angachak Range
  • Arga-Tas
  • Tas-Kystabyt
• Yukaghir Highlands
• Nera Plateau
• Kolyma Mountains
  • Omsukchan Range
• Anadyr Highlands
  • Anadyr Plateau
  • Anyuy Range
  • Ilirney Range
  • Kyrganay Range
  • Chuvanay Range
• Chukotka Mountains
  • Chantal Range
  • Pekulney Range
• Dzhugdzhur Mountains
• Koryak Mountains
  • Rarytkin Range
  • Ukvushvuynen Range

Mountain taiga in the summer. Kyrganay Range.

Winter road near Goltsovoy Mine, Kolyma Range.

The world's lowest temperatures for inhabited places have been recorded in this region. In the south of the East Siberian Mountain System lies the area of the famous Oymyakon Depression, where record low temperatures are registered, even though the region is about 3,000 kilometres (1,900 mi) to the south of the geographic North Pole.[5]

The lower elevations of the ranges, as well as the valleys, are largely covered by taiga.[6] Rivulets and humid areas in lower altitudes of most of the ranges of the system provide a habitat for the Siberian Salamander,[7] a species known for surviving deep freezes —as low as −45 °C (−49 °F).[8]

• Moma Natural Park