What is the "Stone belt of the Russian land"? What mountains are called the "Stone belt of the Russian land"?

The stone belt of the Russian land is long mountain range, "girdling" in the direction from north to south and visually separating Europe and Asia. This is the Ural Mountains.

The origin of the name "Ural"

According to scientists, the Ural Mountains is about 600 million years old. Over the years, slow but noticeable destruction of the mountain surface and a change in the contour of the slopes under the influence of wind, rain, and numerous landslides gradually occur.

The ancient Greeks believed that the country of Hyperborea is located behind the Ural Mountains, and the mountains themselves over the past many centuries have been called differently: Riphean, Belt of the world, Stone belt of the Russian land.

Russian researchers initially called these mountains simply "stone." According to some reports, the name "Ural" came from the north, from the Mansi language, according to others - from the Bashkir epos, telling about the hero of the Ural-Batyr, who defended the Bashkir people from enemies. The mountains themselves are also sung by the Bashkirs in songs about the “sacred Motherland”.

In scientific publications, the term "Ural" was first voiced in 1750 in the book by the historian G. F. Miller, "Description of the Siberian Kingdom."

Geographical Information

The stone belt of the Russian land is the Ural Mountains, which from the north they reach the shores of the Arctic Ocean, and their southern extremity deepens in the steppes of Kazakhstan. The total length of the Ural mountain massif is more than 2000 km, and its width varies from 45 to 200 km.

In the initial period, the mountains were 6 km high, but gradually, due to the action of volcanoes, earthquakes, the formation or destruction of rocks took place. The last earthquake happened in 2015.

Scientists divide the mountain system of the Urals into 5 geographical zones:

• Polar - contains many so-called "glaciers" (there are 122), which are located on the western slope down from the border of snow.
• Subpolar - here is the highest peak in the modern Urals - the city of Narodnaya (1894 m).
• The northern zone is a taiga region and many forests.
• Medium - occupies the Ufa plateau, cut by river valleys and mixed forests. All large cities (Nizhny Tagil, Yekaterinburg , etc.) with developed industry are located in this zone.
• Southern Urals - zone of transition to the forest-steppe and steppe plains.

The stone belt of the Russian land is an entire ecosystem, which includes many components: climate, relief, flora and fauna, numerous minerals.

Climate

Each natural zone has its own climate, nature and wildlife. The northern part is the tundra, the southern part is the steppe zone. The contrasts between them are especially sharply noticeable in the summer: when it is 6-8 degrees Celsius in the north of the Urals, then about 22 in the South.

The winds dominate mainly from the Atlantic, because the relief and climate in the European half and the Asian are different:

• the western slopes are more gentle, the climate is humid,
• east side - the mountains descend steeply in the direction of the plain.

The stone belt of the Russian land is a complex chain of mountain ranges lying in parallel, usually 2-3, but in the Southern Urals there are 4-6 ridges. Between them are valleys and rivers.

Animal world

The stone belt of the Russian land by its fauna is divided into three main zones:

• tundra - reindeer, arctic foxes, field mice, partridges, waterfowl;
• forest zone - brown bear, wolverine, sable, otter, lynx, squirrel, birds (capercaillie and hazel grouse);
• steppe zone - mainly rodents (ground squirrel, jerboa, groundhog, hamster) and predators (wolf, fox, steppe polecat), birds (eagle, harrier, kite, falcon, partridge, crane, lark).

Minerals

The stone belt of the Russian land is also called the storehouse of minerals. This can be explained by the geological history, which survived a lot over the past millennia of the existence of mountains. Minerals and ore are now located close to the surface. The basis of local metallurgy is ferrous metal ores (magnetites), as well as non-ferrous, noble and rather rare metals. These include: copper ore, gold and platinum (even nuggets up to 10 kg are found).

The Urals have earned deserved fame as a storehouse of gems and ornamental colored stones (alexandrite, chrysolite, topazes, tourmalines, the famous Ural malachites, jasper and marble), from which local craftsmen make wonderful jewelry.

The mysteries of ancient civilizations

"The stone belt of the Russian land - what is this?" - such a question is asked by tourists and visitors visiting the Ural land. After all, there are many places where adventurers try to unravel the secrets of ancient peoples.

1. One of the most interesting is the ancient city of Arkaim, discovered in 1987 in the Chelyabinsk region by a schoolboy who participated in an archaeological expedition. The age of this object is supposedly 4 millennia.
2. Another mysterious place where the paranormal events took place is Taganay National Park (translated from Bashkir - “stand for the moon”). This is a stone ridge 20 km long, consisting of three ridges. They say that many amazing events are happening in these places: UFOs appear, they meet a snowman, there are interruptions in the work of technology, people have strange visions.
3. The third riddle - "Ural Stonehenge" - a plateau where there are large stone pillars (80 m), which are considered petrified giants.

Modern attractions

1. Tourists who come to see beautiful views and visit the sights of this region, as a rule, pay attention to the monuments marking the border between Europe and Asia. They ask: "What is the" Stone belt of the Russian land ", and why exactly the belt?" The answer can be the very geographical location of these mountains, which seem to encircle the entire continent of Eurasia. Among historians, there is an opinion that this ridge protected these lands from foreign invaders, of which there were many. Throughout the length of this belt there are many monuments. That's why the Ural Mountains got such a beautiful, poetic name - the Stone belt of the Russian land.
2. The Urals are especially popular with outdoor enthusiasts; there are trekking, river rafting on the Usa and Shchuchye rivers, horse and bicycle tours, and in winter snowboarding, sledding and skiing.
3. On the territory of the Ural Mountains there are many temples and monasteries, in particular the Yekaterinburg Church on the Blood, which is part of the museum complex, built in memory of the life and death of the family of the Romanov tsars.
4. The Ural Mountains are considered an ideal place for cavers who visit the famous caves (Kurgurskaya, Divya, Kapova) and the Sikiyaz-Tamak complex.

Conclusion

So, we discussed which geographical object is hidden behind the name Stone belt of the Russian land. Ural is called such a beautiful epithet. Both locals and visiting tourists are very fond of these mountains for their natural power, grandeur and beauty, as well as the wealth that this land gives to its residents and guests.