Where is the Aldan Highlands and what is it? It is to these questions that you can get answers if you familiarize yourself with the material presented in this article.
Geographical position
On the territory of the modern Republic of Sakha there is a highland called Aldan. This landform is an average elevation. If you look at the map, it is located on the northern outskirts of the Stanovoi Range, between two large rivers of Siberia - Uchura and Olekma.
Characteristic
The Aldan Highlands is a tectonic shield of the Precambrian period. It is located on the Siberian platform. The structure of the tectonic shield consists mainly of Proterozoic schists and gneisses. Formations of a crystalline basement, which are represented by gneisses, quartzites, and marbles, come to the surface almost everywhere throughout the highland. These crystalline rocks overlap with layers of fine granite. It is worth noting that each of them was formed in different geological periods.
Aldan Highlands has smooth, smooth slopes. Only its northern side is prone to a small basement.
Relief features
The relief of the Aldan Highlands is represented by low table-stepped hills. Their average height is 800-1200 m. The highest point is a mountain, which has no name, with a height of 2306 m. Ancient volcanic activity had a great influence on the formation of a stepped relief of the highlands. The fact that volcanoes often erupted in this place is indicated by the remaining traces of their activity.
Orographically, the highlands are stretched in the latitudinal direction. Along its entire length, there are lines of tectonic faults of the platform, in which river valleys are located.
Minerals of the Aldan Highlands
The terrain of this highland is poorly studied. The harsh climate and permafrost zones become an obstacle to this. But despite this, in the last century, rich mineral deposits were found in this territory. Now the Aldan Highlands is a place that is a "gold mine" for Yakutia. In the 20s. of the last century, quite by accident, the Yakut hunter found gold near a stream. As it turned out later, these are the largest gold ore basins of the Russian Federation.
In addition to these deposits, copper and iron ores, mica, and rock crystal have been explored and mined at present. Also, the Aldan Highlands are rich in coal deposits. Its deposits are located on the southern slope. However, coal mining is difficult due to weather conditions.