Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Living in a 'Refrigerator'!

Living in Siberia is synonymous with living in a refrigerator! The by far most common climate in Siberia is continental subarctic, with the annual average temperature about −5 °C (23 °F) and roughly −25 °C (−13 °F) average in January and +17 °C (62.6 °F) in July, although this varies considerably, with July average about 10 °C at the taiga - tundra ecotone. 
Russia vegetation.png
    polar desert      tundra      alpine tundra      taiga      montane forest
     temperate broadleaf forest      temperate steppe      dry steppe



The Siberian Traps was formed by one of the largest known volcanic events of the last 500 million years of Earth's geological history. The event continued for a million years and is considered the likely cause of the "Great Dying" about 250 million years ago, which is estimated to have killed 90% of species existing at the time.






Siberia (Russian: Сибирьtr. Sibir' [sʲɪˈbirʲ]  ) is a vast region, constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union (USSR) from its beginning, as the preceding Russian Empire conquered it in the 16th century.
Encompassing much of the Eurasian Steppe, the territory of Siberia extends eastward from the Ural Mountains to the watershed between Pacific and Arctic drainage basins, and southward from the Arctic Ocean to the hills of north-central Kazakhstan and the national borders of both Mongolia and China. It makes up about 77% of Russia's territory (13.1 million square kilometres), but has only 25% of Russia's population (36 million people).


With an area of 13.1 million km² (5.1 million square miles), Siberia makes up roughly 77% of the total area of Russia. Major geographical zones include the West Siberian Plain and the Central Siberian Plateau. Siberia covers almost 10% of Earth's land surface (14,894,000 km²).




]Climate data for Novosibirsk, Siberia's largest city
MonthJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecYear
Average high °C (°F)-12.2
(10)
-10.3
(13.5)
-2.6
(27.3)
8.1
(46.6)
17.5
(63.5)
24.0
(75.2)
25.7
(78.3)
22.2
(72)
16.6
(61.9)
6.8
(44.2)
-2.9
(26.8)
-8.9
(16)
7.0
(44.6)
Daily mean °C (°F)-16.2
(2.8)
-14.7
(5.5)
-7.2
(19)
3.2
(37.8)
11.6
(52.9)
18.2
(64.8)
20.2
(68.4)
17.0
(62.6)
11.5
(52.7)
3.4
(38.1)
-6.0
(21.2)
-12.7
(9.1)
2.4
(36.3)
Average low °C (°F)-20.1
(-4.2)
-19.1
(-2.4)
-11.8
(10.8)
-1.7
(28.9)
5.6
(42.1)
12.3
(54.1)
14.7
(58.5)
11.7
(53.1)
6.4
(43.5)
0.0
(32)
-9.1
(15.6)
-16.4
(2.5)
-2.3
(27.9)
Precipitation mm (inches)19
(0.75)
14
(0.55)
15
(0.59)
24
(0.94)
36
(1.42)
58
(2.28)
72
(2.83)
66
(2.6)
44
(1.73)
38
(1.5)
32
(1.26)
24
(0.94)
442
(17.4)







Siberia is extraordinarily rich in minerals, containing ores of almost all economically valuable metals—largely because of the absence of Quaternary glaciation outside highland areas. It has some of the world's largest deposits of nickel, gold, lead, coal, molybdenum, gypsum, diamonds, silver and zinc, as well as extensive unexploited resources of oil and natural gas. The Khanty-Mansiysk region is home to 70% of Russia's developed oil fields. Russia contains about 40% of the world's known resources of nickel at the Norilsk deposit in Siberia. Norilsk Nickel is the world's biggest nickel and palladium producer.






Siberian beauties




The Tower of Ostorg, 17th century Russian Fort
Novosibirsk, the largest city of Siberia

Lakes and rivers

  • Anabar River
  • Angara River
  • Indigirka River
  • Irtysh River
  • Kolyma River
  • Lake Baikal
  • Lena River
  • Lower Tunguska River
  • Novosibirsk Reservoir
  • Ob River
  • Popigay River
  • Stony Tunguska River
  • Upper Angara River
  • Uvs Nuur
  • Yana River
  • Yenisei River

Mountain ranges

  • Altai Mountains
  • Anadyr Range
  • Baikal Mountains
  • Chamar-Daban
  • Chersky Range
  • Dzhugdzhur Mountains
  • Gydan Mountains
  • Koryak Mountains
  • Sayan Mountains
  • Tannu-Ola Mountains
  • Ural Mountains
  • Verkhoyansk Mountains
  • Yablonoi Mountains

Grasslands

  • Ukok Plateau — part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site




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