Ural Mountains

a mountain range in the W Russian Federation, extending N and S from the Arctic Ocean to near the Caspian Sea, forming a natural boundary between Europe and Asia. Highest peak, Mt. Narodnaya, 6214 ft. (1894 m). Also called Urals.

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Mountain range, Russia and Kazakhstan.

Generally held to constitute the boundary between Europe and Asia, the range extends south for 1,640 mi (2,640 km) from the Kara Sea to the Ural River. The mountains average 3,000–4,000 ft (915–1,220 m) in elevation; the highest peak is Mount Narodnaya at 6,217 ft (1,895 m). The Middle Urals contain one of the largest industrial regions of Russia, producing metal goods, chemicals, and machinery; that region developed rapidly during World War II (1939–45), when many industrial plants were moved from the western part of the Soviet Union to prevent their destruction by the Germans.

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▪ mountains, Eurasia

Introduction

also called  the Urals,  Russian  Uralsky Khrebet,  or  Ural,  

 mountain range forming a rugged spine in west-central Russia and the major part of the traditional physiographic boundary between Europe and Asia. Extending some 1,550 miles (2,500 kilometres) from the bend of the Ural River in the south to the low, severely eroded Pay-Khoy Ridge, which forms a 250-mile (400-kilometre) fingerlike extension to the northern tip of the Urals proper, the mountains constitute the major portion of the Uralian orogenic belt, which stretches 2,175 miles from the Aral Sea to the northernmost tip of Novaya Zemlya. The Mughalzhar Hills, themselves part of the Uralian orogenic belt, are a broad, arrowhead-shaped southern extension in northwestern Kazakhstan that form the divide between the Caspian and Aral basins. The north–south course of the Urals is relatively narrow, varying from about 20 to 90 miles in width, but it cuts across the vast latitudinal landscape regions of the Eurasian landmass, from Arctic waste to semidesert; the Urals also are part of a highly developed industrial complex closely tied to the mineral-rich Siberian region, and are the home of peoples with roots reaching deep into history.

Physical features

Physiography

 The Urals divide into five sections. The northernmost Polar Urals extend some 240 miles from Mount Konstantinov Kamen in the northeast to the Khulga River in the southeast; most mountains rise to 3,300–3,600 feet (1,000–1,100 metres) above sea level, although the highest peak, Mount Payer, reaches 4,829 feet. The next stretch, the Nether-Polar Urals, extends for more than 140 miles south to the Shchugor River. This section contains the highest peaks of the entire range, including Mount Narodnaya (Narodnaya, Mount) (6,217 feet [1,895 metres]) and Mount Karpinsk (6,161 feet). These first two sections are typically Alpine and are strewn with glaciers and heavily marked by permafrost. Farther south come the Northern Urals, which stretch for more than 340 miles to the Usa River in the south; most mountains top 3,300 feet, and the highest peak, Mount Telpos-Iz, rises to 5,305 feet. Many of the summits are flattened, the remnants of ancient peneplains (eroded surfaces of large area and slight relief) uplifted by geologically recent tectonic movements. In the north, intensive weathering has resulted in vast “seas of stone” on mountain slopes and summits. The lower Central Urals, extending more than 200 miles to the Ufa River, rarely exceed 1,600 feet, though the highest peak, Mount Sredny Baseg, rises to 3,261 feet. The summits are smooth, with isolated residual outcrops. The last portion, the Southern Urals, extends some 340 miles to the westward bend of the Ural River and consists of several parallel ridges rising to 3,900 feet and culminating in Mount Yamantau, 5,380 feet; the section terminates in the wide uplands (less than 2,000 feet) of the Mughalzhar Hills.

      The rock composition helps shape the topography: the high ranges and low, broad-topped ridges consist of quartzites, schists, and gabbro, all weather-resistant. Buttes are frequent, and there are north–south troughs of limestone, nearly all containing river valleys. Karst topography is highly developed on the western slopes of the Urals, with many caves, basins, and underground streams. The eastern slopes, on the other hand, have fewer karst formations; instead, rocky outliers rise above the flattened surfaces. Broad foothills, reduced to peneplain, adjoin the Central and Southern Urals on the east.

Geology

      The Urals date from the structural upheavals of the Hercynian orogeny (about 250 million years ago). About 280 million years ago there arose a high mountainous region, which was eroded to a peneplain. Alpine folding resulted in new mountains, the most marked upheaval being that of the Nether-Polar Urals. In the watershed region lies the Ural-Tau Anticlinorium (a rock formation of arches and troughs, itself forming an arch), the largest in the Urals, and in the Southern Urals, west of it, is the Bashkir Anticlinorium. Both are composed of layers (sometimes four miles thick) of ancient metamorphic (heat-altered) rocks—gneisses (metamorphic rocks separable into thin plates), quartzites, and schists—that are between 570 and 395 million years old.

      The western slope of the Urals is composed of middle Paleozoic sedimentary rocks (sandstones and limestones) that are about 350 million years old. In many places it descends in terraces to the Cis-Ural depression (west of the Urals), to which much of the eroded matter was carried during the late Paleozoic (about 300 million years ago). Found there are widespread karst (a starkly eroded limestone region) and gypsum, with large caverns and subterranean streams. On the eastern slope, volcanic layers alternate with sedimentary strata, all dating from middle Paleozoic times. These rocks compose the Tagil-Magnitogorsk Synclinorium (a group of rock arches and troughs, itself forming a trough), the largest in the Urals. In the Central and Southern Urals the eastern slope blends into broad peneplained foothills, where there are frequent outcrops of granite and often fantastically shaped buttes. To the north the peneplain is buried under the loose, easily pulverized deposits of the West Siberian Plain.

Drainage

      The rivers flowing down from the Urals drain into either the Arctic Ocean or the Caspian Sea. The Pechora River, which drains the western slope of the Polar, Nether-Polar, and part of the Northern Urals, empties into the Barents Sea. Its largest tributaries are the Ilych, Shchugor, and Usa. Almost all the rivers of the eastern slope belong to the Ob River system, emptying into the Kara Sea. The largest are the Tobol, the Iset, the Tura, the Tavda, the Severnaya (Northern) Sosva, and the Lyapin. The Kama (Kama River) (a tributary of the Volga) and the Ural rivers (Ural River) belong to the drainage basin of the Caspian Sea. The Kama collects water from a large area of the western slope: the Vishera, Chusovaya, and Belaya all empty into it. The Ural River, with its tributary the Sakmara, flows along the Southern Urals.

      The location and character of the Urals' rivers and lakes are closely connected with the topography and climate. In their upper reaches many rivers flow slowly through the mountains in wide, longitudinal troughs. Later they change to a latitudinal direction, cut through the ridges in narrow valleys, and descend to the plains, particularly in the Northern and Southern Urals. The main watershed does not correspond with the highest ridges everywhere. The Chusovaya and Ufa rivers of the Central and Southern Urals, which later join the Volga drainage basin, have their sources on the eastern slope.

      The rivers on the western slope carry more water than those of the east, particularly in the Northern and Nether-Polar Urals; the slowest rate of flow is on the eastern slope of the Southern Urals, reflecting intense evaporation as well as low precipitation. In winter the rivers freeze for five months in the south and for seven months in the north.

      There are many lakes, especially on the eastern slope of the Southern and Central Urals. The largest are Uvildy, Itkul, Turgoyak, and Tavatuy. On the western slope are many small karst lakes. In the Polar Urals, lakes occur in glacial valleys, the deepest of them being Lake Bolshoye Shchuchye, at 446 feet deep. Medicinal muds are common in a number of the lakes, such as Moltayevo, and spas and sanatoriums have been established.

Climate

      The climate is of the continental type, marked by temperature extremes that become increasingly evident both from north to south and from west to east. The Pay-Khoy Range and the Polar Urals enjoy the moderating influence of the Arctic and the North Atlantic oceans, particularly in winter. In the Mughalzhar Hills and the Southern Urals there are summer winds of hot, dry air from Central Asia. Winds are for the most part westerly and bring precipitation from the Atlantic Ocean. In spite of their low elevation, the mountains exert a considerable influence on the moisture distribution, and the western slope receives more moisture than the eastern. Precipitation is particularly heavy on the western slope of the Nether-Polar and Northern Urals, as high as 40 inches (1,000 millimetres). Northward and southward precipitation diminishes to about 18 inches. On the eastern slope there is less moisture (about 12 inches) and snow. Annual snow depth on the western slope averages 35 inches and on the eastern, 18 inches. Maximum precipitation occurs in the summer, for the cold, dry air of the Siberian anticyclone is powerful in winter. The eastern slope is particularly chilled, and winter lasts longer than summer throughout the Urals. In January the average temperature in the north is -6° F (-21° C), and in the south the average is 5° F (-15° C). Average temperatures in July vary more, between 50° F (10° C) in the north and 72° F (22° C) in the south.

Plant life

      The Urals pass through several vegetation zones, with the northern tundra giving way to vast mixed forests, while still farther south is the steppe, culminating in semidesert around the Mughalzhar Hills. Feather grass and meadows predominate on the chernozems (black earth) and dark chestnut soils (a characteristic steppe soil). Other characteristic growths are clover, fescue (a pasture grass), and timothy (a grass grown for hay). South of the Ural River the steppes give way to wormwood and semidesert growths on light chestnut soils (again typical steppe soil), which are highly saline in places.

      The forest landscapes of the Urals are varied. The more humid western foothills of the Southern Urals are covered mostly by mixed forests growing on a gray mountain-forest type of soil. There, such broad-leaved species as oak, small-leaf linden, and elm are mixed with Siberian fir and Siberian spruce. The broad-leaved forests extend to 2,100 feet, above which conifers appear. On the eastern slope there are no broad-leaved trees except the linden, and magnificent pine forests with some larches are widespread.

      Farther to the north, in the Central Urals, boreal forests (taiga) of spruce, fir, pine, and larch grow on the mountain, podzolic soils. In the more northerly regions, dark conifers are common, and, in the Northern Urals, the Siberian cedar is widespread. There forests climb to 2,800 feet or so, above which is a narrow belt of larch and birch, trailing off to mountain tundra. In the Nether-Polar and Polar Urals the forest yields to mountain tundra at elevations as low as 1,300 feet. Whereas moss tundra is generally found on the more humid western slope, lichen tundra is common on the eastern. There are numerous sphagnum moss marshes on both slopes. Only brushwood and moss–lichen tundra grows on the Pay-Khoy Ridge.

Animal life

      There are no specifically mountain animals in the Urals, primarily because of the low elevations and easy accessibility, and fauna differs little from that of the adjacent areas of eastern Europe and western Siberia. The most valuable animal of the tundra is the Arctic fox. Ob lemmings, snowy owls, tundra partridge, and reindeer are other inhabitants, though the latter are few. Many wild ducks, geese, and swans breed there in summer. But the richest and most varied fauna in the Urals, including the brown bear, lynx, wolverine, and elk, are found in the forested zones. Some have valuable furs: the sable (in the north), ermine, fox, marten (in the south), Siberian weasel, and squirrel. In the taiga there are such birds as the wood grouse, black grouse, capercaillie (another member of the grouse family), cuckoo, and hazel hen (a woodland grouse). In the mixed, broad-leaved forests of the Southern Urals' western slopes live roe deer, badgers, and polecats, as well as many birds typical of the European part of Russia, such as the nightingale and oriole. The commonest animals of the steppe and semidesert regions are rodents, including susliks (a type of ground squirrel), jerboas (a social, nocturnal, jumping rodent), and other agricultural pests. Reptiles include the common adder and grass snake. The rivers and lakes of the Northern Urals abound in fish, the most valuable being the nelma (a species related to the whitefish), common salmon, grayling, and sea trout. Farther south, in the densely populated and industrial regions, animal life is less abundant.

      The vigorous economic development and growth in population that occurred in the Urals in the 20th century altered considerably the chain's landscape and the abundance of wildlife. Conservation measures during the Soviet period included establishing national nature preserves such as Pechoro-Ilych in the Northern Urals, Basegi and Visim in the Central Urals, and Ilmen and Bashkir in the Southern Urals.

People

      Human habitation of the Urals dates to the distant past. The Nenets are a Samoyed people of the Pay-Khoy region, and their language belongs to the Samoyedic group of languages, which is widespread throughout northern Siberia. Farther south live the Komi, Mansi, and Khanty (Khanty and Mansi), who speak a tongue belonging to the Ugric group of the Finno-Ugric languages. The most numerous indigenous group, the Bashkir, long settled in the Southern Urals, speak a tongue related to the Turkic group. Some Kazakhs (Kazakh) live in the Mughalzhar Hills of Kazakhstan. Most of these formerly nomadic peoples are now settled. The Nenets, Komi, Mansi, and Khanty are virtually the only inhabitants in the highest parts of the Urals, especially in the north, where they have preserved their traditional ways of life—raising reindeer, hunting, and fishing. The Bashkir are excellent horse breeders. The indigenous peoples, however, now constitute only about one-fifth of the total population of the Urals; the great majority are Russians. The Russian population is concentrated primarily in the Central and Southern Urals, and most people live in cities—notably Yekaterinburg (formerly Sverdlovsk), Chelyabinsk, Perm, and Ufa—and work in industries. Agricultural populations predominate in the steppe region of the Southern Urals, where conditions are favourable for wheat, potatoes, and other crops.

Economy

      The Urals are extremely rich in mineral resources, with variations on the eastern and western slopes according to geologic structure. Ore deposits, for example, notably magnetite, predominate on the eastern slope, where contact (the surface where two different rock types join) deposits are found, as at Vysokogorsk and Mount Blagodat, as well as magmatic deposits (formed from liquid rock), as at Kachkanar. Some of the ore deposits, such as the magnetite ores at Magnitogorsk, are exhausted or nearly depleted. Sedimentary deposits are of less importance. Some ores contain alloying metals—vanadium, a gray-white resistant element, and titanium—as impurities. The largest copper ore deposits are at Gay and Sibay, and nickel ores are found at Ufaley. There are also large deposits of bauxite, chromite, gold, and platinum.

      Among the nonmetallic mineral resources of the eastern slope are asbestos, talc, fireclay, and abrasives. Gems and semiprecious stones have long been known: they include amethyst, topaz, and emerald. Among the western deposits are beds of potassium salts on the upper Kama River and petroleum and natural gas deposits in the Ishimbay and Krasnokamsk areas. Bituminous coal and lignite are mined on both slopes. The largest deposit is the Pechora bituminous coalfield in the north.

      The vast forests of the Urals are also of great economic importance: not only do they yield valuable wood, but they also regulate the flow of the rivers and shelter many of the valuable fur animals. Agriculture is significant mainly in the eastern steppe region of the Southern Urals. Much of the land there has been plowed for cultivation, and in large areas wheat, buckwheat, millet, potatoes, and vegetables are grown.

      Because of its wealth of mineral resources, the leading industries in the Urals are mining, metallurgy, machine building, and chemicals. Of national importance are the metallurgical plants at Magnitogorsk, Chelyabinsk, and Nizhny Tagil; chemical plants at Perm, Ufa, and Orenburg; and large-scale engineering at Yekaterinburg.

      Following World War II the Soviet Union established a plutonium-producing facility in the Southern Urals near what is now Ozersk, Russia. It produced its first plutonium in 1949 and continued production until 1990. During the first decade of its operation, the plant dumped large amounts of radioactive waste into the Techa River and the nearby Lake Karachay. A number of serious accidents at the plant caused the release of additional radioactive material into the environment; for example, in 1957 the explosion of a storage tank resulted in the contamination of 9,000 square miles (23,000 square kilometres) of land. Consequently, the inhabitants of the region have suffered increased rates of cancer and other major health problems.

Study and exploration

      The existence of the Riphean and Hyperborean mountains at the eastern fringe of Europe in antiquity was regarded as being more mythical than real. Not until the 10th century AD does the first mention of the Urals occur, in Arabic sources. At the end of the 11th century the Russians discovered the northernmost part of the Urals, but they did not complete the discovery of the entire range until the beginning of the 17th century, when the mineral wealth of the Urals was discovered. The first geographic survey of the chain was made in the early 18th century by the Russian historian and geographer Vasily N. Tatishchev (Tatishchev, Vasily Nikitich), who undertook the survey for Peter I the Great. Systematic extraction of iron and copper ore also began at that time, and the Urals rapidly became one of the largest industrial regions of Russia.

      The first serious scientific study of the Urals was made in 1770–71. Scholars studying the Urals during the 19th century included several Russian scientists, such as the geologist A.D. Karpinsky, the botanist P.N. Krylov, and the zoologist L.P. Sabaneev, and also such prominent foreign scholars as the German naturalist Alexander von Humboldt (Humboldt, Alexander von) and the English geologist Sir Roderick Murchison (Murchison, Sir Roderick Impey), who compiled the first geologic map of the Urals in 1841. Much work was done in the Soviet period on geologic structure and associated mineral resources.

Yevgeny V. Yastrebov Thomas M. Poulsen

Additional Reading

Sources on the Urals in Western languages are relatively scarce. I.V. Komar and A.G. Chikishev (eds.), Ural i Priural'e (1968), is a comprehensive survey of relief, geology, climate, drainage, soils, flora, and fauna of the region, with data on natural resources and economic development. A.A. Makunina, Landshafty Urala (1974), deals specifically with the geomorphology of the region. L.N. Koriakova and A.V. Epimakhov, The Urals and Western Siberia in the Bronze and Iron Ages (2007), offers an archaeological perspective. James R. Harris, The Great Urals:Regionalism and the Evolution of the Soviet System (1999); and David Holloway, Stalin and the Bomb: The Soviet Union and Atomic Energy, 1939–1956 (1994), treat industrialization and the development of nuclear power in the Soviet era. Igor Linkov and Richard Wilson (eds.), Air Pollution in the Ural Mountains: Environmental, Health, and Policy Aspects (1998), examines important ecological and social issues.Thomas M. Poulsen

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