East Siberian Mountains

• 1. Introduction

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  In the East Siberian Mountains, the Oymyakon Depression has logged temperatures colder than any other inhabited place on Earth. This vast highland runs through Northeast Siberia, bridging the space between the Central Yakutian Lowland and the Bering Strait. It ranks among the largest mountain systems in the Russian Federation, and its territory is counted among the Great Russian Regions. Population density across this immense landscape is extremely low. Magadan, the largest city within the entire system, gives some sense of the scale of this emptiness. What lives in these ranges? What shapes the terrain, and what do the people who have long inhabited these mountains find worth honoring in the landscape itself?

• 2. Spanning an Arc

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  The main group of ranges in the East Siberian Mountains extends for nearly 3,000 km. That distance runs from the Lena River valley to Cape Dezhnyov, at the eastern end of the Chukotka Peninsula. The highland reaches a width of roughly 1,200 km. Separate sections rise both north and south of the Arctic Circle. Near the center of the system, the East Siberian Lowland pushes in from the north and nearly bisects the entire region. The southwestern boundary is not clearly defined; there the East Siberian Mountains blend into the system of the South Siberian Mountains. Five rivers serve as the region's principal waterways. These are the Yana, the Indigirka, the Kolyma, the Anadyr, and the Omolon, a tributary of the Kolyma. Among the many dozens of named ranges within the system are the Chersky Range, the Anadyr Highlands, and the Koryak Mountains.

• 3. Cold and Living Things

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  The Oymyakon Depression lies in the southern part of the East Siberian mountain system, about 3,000 km from the geographic North Pole. The lower elevations of the ranges, as well as the valley floors throughout the system, are largely covered by taiga forest. Rivulets and damp areas at lower altitudes provide a habitat for the Siberian Salamander. This species is known for surviving deep freezes, enduring temperatures as low as -45 degrees Celsius. The system spans three named ecoregions: the Cherskii-Kolyma mountain tundra, the Chukchi Peninsula tundra, and the Northeast Siberian taiga. At the Oymyakon Plateau, one of these lower-altitude zones is also the site of rock formations that the Yakut people hold in particular esteem.

• 4. Kigilyakhs and Yakut Culture

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  At the Kisilyakh Range, and also at the Oymyakon Plateau, rock formations known as kigilyakhs rise from the terrain. In Yakut culture, these structures are highly valued. The Yakuts are among the peoples whose traditions are rooted in this part of Northeast Siberia. The kigilyakhs represent one of the ways the natural world of the East Siberian Mountains has become part of that cultural life. The Moma Range, the Anyuy Range, and the Selennyakh Range are among the many other named ridges that compose the larger system.