What is the height of Mount Caucasus. Big caucasus

Candidate of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences I. SHERBA

In the footsteps of the past

The phrase "Great Caucasus" is usually associated with the idea of ​​sparkling snowy peaks and alpine meadows. And it seems that this has always been the case, but this is not true.

Walking along the upper Kislovodsk park and admiring the view of the vast pre-Elbrus plateau, an attentive person cannot help but notice the cliffs along the paths. The rocks that make up these cliffs are richly saturated with shells of sea mollusks, and therefore, the sea once splashed on the site of the Caucasus Mountains. But that was over 10 million years ago.

Not even archaeologists, but paleontologists operate with similar time categories: they determine the age of the rock depending on whose fossilized remains (dinosaurs, mammoths or, for example, trilobites) were found in it. At the same time, time is divided into geological eras - Paleozoic, Mesozoic, Cenozoic, as well as into periods - Jurassic, Cretaceous, Tertiary, Quaternary, each of which has its own eras and centuries. It is this relative chronology that geologists use, although the absolute age of the rock is also known - it is determined by the decay of the radioactive elements contained in it.

By analyzing the distribution of rocks that make up the mountains, foothills, and intermountain valleys, it is possible to reconstruct the entire paleography of this area over millions of years. Such an excursion into the depths of centuries makes it possible to trace both temporal and territorial changes in both sedimentary rocks and tectonic structures, and fauna, the different groups of which are characterized by different ecological niches.

It turns out that only 12 million years ago (Chokrak time, the middle of the second Cenozoic epoch from the bottom), in the place of the current southern slope of the Greater Caucasus, there was a deep-sea trough, left over from an even more ancient marginal sea. The Bolshekavkaz Sea was part of the paleoocean Tethys - such a name was given to it by geologists after the ancient Greek goddess of the water elements. This ocean once stretched from the modern shores of the Atlantic Ocean to Indochina - through the Mediterranean, Asia Minor and Central Asia and the Himalayas - and separated two large continents - Eurasia in the north and Gondwana in the south.

Over the past 250 million years, the continents have gradually moved closer to each other, thereby reducing the water space between them. And as a result, by the middle of the Jurassic period (about 165 million years ago), the marginal sea of ​​the Greater Caucasus turned out to be cut off from the Tethys Ocean with the help of one of these fragments - the Transcaucasian. It was an island arc, consisting of fragments of pre-existing mountains (partially with volcanoes) and located within the present Transcaucasia and the eastern part of the Black Sea. The sea itself, paradoxical as it may seem, was absent there, but, on the contrary, there was some land rise, periodically washed away by water. And it was just then (Paleozoic and the beginning of the Mesozoic), when there was a deep sea on the site of the Greater Caucasus.

The axial deep-water trough of this sea stretched along the southern slope of the modern mountains and went in the east through the Caspian Sea to the western Kopetdag, and in the west - to the southern coast of Crimea. The northern coast of the Tethys Ocean was located somewhere near Ankara and Lake Sevan. But at the end of the Cretaceous period (65-70 million years ago), the island arc separating them split and shifted to the region of the Lesser Caucasus. A deep-water East Black Sea depression arose, stretching eastward to the borders of Adzharia and southern Georgia - up to Tbilisi.

The axial and highest zone of the modern Greater Caucasus belonged to the steep continental (Eurasian) slope of the marginal sea. Its slope was, apparently, approximately the same as that of modern continental slopes (3-6 o), due to which the sediments brought from the continent in the form of sand and clay did not linger on it and were carried away to the foot. However, in narrow submarine canyons they occasionally survived, and in the southeastern Caucasus - on the traverse of the Apsheron Peninsula - they can now be observed in some places.

On the more gently sloping areas, the opposite is true: along with calmly settling silts (the so-called “banal” sediments), other rocks brought by turbidity and mud-stone flows were periodically deposited. The results of the rhythmic alternation of both can be seen, for example, over the beach at the southern end of Anapa Bay. The cliff located above a narrow strip of this beach consists of thin (less than half a meter) layers of dark clays, interspersed with thicker (up to two meters) layers of sandstones with irregular - tangled and twisted, broken in places - layering, due to their sedimentation from a moving mud mass.

In the era of active tectonic movements accompanied by earthquakes, ancient landslides were also not uncommon, the consequences of which - in their most beautiful form - can still be observed when descending from the Cross Pass along the Zhinvali reservoir.

At the beginning of the Paleogene (about 60 million years ago), at the foot of the continental slope of the marginal sea of ​​the Greater Caucasus, unicellular foraminiferal animals with a sandy shell settled. It is these representatives of the vast group of foraminifers that usually inhabit areas of hydrogen sulfide contamination, mainly at a depth of at least two kilometers. The discovery of their remains in the corresponding layers allows, firstly, to determine the depth of this part of the basin, and secondly, to assert that at the beginning of the Paleogene the basin was contaminated with hydrogen sulfide (similar to the modern Black Sea). However, episodes of hydrogen sulfide contamination were repeated in the Greater Caucasus basin repeatedly, it reached its greatest extent 20-30 million years ago, when it captured not only the basin, but also the shelves.

During the Paleogene, an intensive convergence of Eurasia and Afroarabia continued, the entire space between which was subjected to gradual compression, and the sediments of the former seas were crushed into folds.

Land barriers were formed along the borders of the continents, the outlines of the ocean came closer to the modern contours of the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean. And yet, small shelf seas (including the former marginal seas) remained covered significant areas of the present land. As early as 12 million years ago, the Greater Caucasian marginal sea was partially preserved, and its width was four times greater than the modern width of the southern slope of the mountains. The depth of this sea in the axial part reached 500 m, and its shallowest part (the shelf with a depth not exceeding 200 m) was located in the region of the northern slope of the Greater Caucasus. The northern boundary of the sea extended almost to that strip of lakes that now stretches between the Azov and Caspian Seas, forming the so-called Kuma-Manych Depression.

From the side of the Russian Plain, the Don and the Paleo-Seversky Donets flowed into the sea, bringing into it a huge amount of sand and clay. Carried by undercurrents along the bottom, they settled along its steep ledges in the form of cones, and it was these cones that eventually became oil collectors in the North Caucasus. And, in particular, the huge Grozny field.

In the south, the basin of the Greater Caucasus was limited at that time by the mountains of the Lesser Caucasus and Talysh, giving it the appearance of being inside a continental sea. Between these mountains, which began to grow as early as 30 million years ago, there was a narrow strait, and through it the basin was connected to the shelf seas of the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean.

The most significant uplift, and even with a dissected relief, was located at that time on the North Caucasian shelf - south of modern Stavropol. Merging with the small islands of the Subcaucasian archipelago, this uplift formed something like a transverse bridge inside the basin. She, apparently, took advantage of the aardvark pigs that came from Africa then: recently, their remains were discovered south of Stavropol.

And about 5 million years ago, the growth of mountains began in the Greater Caucasus, and at first it was most intense within the former shelf. It is the central part of the Greater Caucasus (the region of Elbrus, Kazbek), which was included in mountain building earlier than others, and became the highest in this region. But even then, the Greater Caucasus towered like an island among the seas and lakes that washed it - some of them still had time to catch primitive man.

Geographical position. On a huge isthmus between the Black and Caspian Seas, from the Taman Peninsula to the Apsheron Peninsula, the majestic mountains of the Greater Caucasus are located.

North Caucasus- this is the southernmost part of the Russian territory. The border of the Russian Federation with the countries of Transcaucasia passes along the ridges of the Main, or Dividing, Caucasian Range.

The Caucasus is separated from the Russian Plain by the Kuma-Manych depression, on the site of which a sea strait existed in the Middle Quaternary.

The North Caucasus is an area located on the border of the temperate and subtropical zones.

The epithet "most-most" is often applied to the nature of this territory. Latitudinal zonality is replaced here by vertical zonality. For an inhabitant of the plains, the mountains of the Caucasus are a vivid example of the “multi-story ™” of nature.

Remember where and what is the name of the extreme southern point of Russia.

Features of the nature of the North Caucasus. The Caucasus is a young mountain structure, formed during the period of Alpine folding. The Caucasus includes: Ciscaucasia, Greater Caucasus and Transcaucasia. Only Ciscaucasia and the northern slopes of the Greater Caucasus belong to Russia.

Rice. 92. Orographic scheme of the Caucasus

Often the Greater Caucasus is presented as a single ridge. In fact, it is a system of mountain ranges. From the Black Sea coast to Mount Elbrus is the Western Caucasus, from Elbrus to Kazbek - the Central Caucasus, east of Kazbek to the Caspian Sea - the Eastern Caucasus. In the longitudinal direction, an axial zone is distinguished, occupied by the Vodorazdelny (Main) and Lateral ridges.

The northern slopes of the Greater Caucasus form the Skalisty and Pastbishny ranges. They have a cuesta structure - these are ridges, in which one slope is gentle, and the other is abruptly ending. The reason for the formation of kuest is the interbedding of layers composed of rocks of different hardness.

The chains of the Western Caucasus begin near the Taman Peninsula. At first, these are not even mountains, but hills with soft outlines. They rise as you move east. Mountains Fisht (2867 m) and Oshten (2808 m) - the highest parts of the Western Caucasus - are covered with snowfields and glaciers.

The highest and most grandiose part of the entire mountain system is the Central Caucasus. Here, even the passes reach a height of 3000 m, only one pass - Krestovy on the Georgian Military Highway - lies at an altitude of 2379 m.

In the Central Caucasus there are the highest peaks - the two-headed Elbrus, an extinct volcano, the highest peak in Russia (5642 m), and Kazbek (5033 m).

The eastern part of the Greater Caucasus is mainly the numerous ridges of the mountainous Dagestan (in translation - the Country of Mountains).

Rice. 93. Mount Elbrus

Various tectonic structures took part in the structure of the North Caucasus. In the south there are folded-block mountains and foothills of the Greater Caucasus. It is part of the Alpine geosynclinal zone.

The fluctuations of the earth's crust were accompanied by bending of the earth's layers, their extensions, faults, ruptures. Magma poured out to the surface along the cracks that formed from great depths, which led to the formation of numerous ore deposits.

Uplifts in recent geological periods - Neogene and Quaternary - have turned the Greater Caucasus into a mountainous country. The rise in the axial part of the Greater Caucasus was accompanied by an intensive subsidence of earth layers along the edges of the emerging mountain range. This led to the formation of foothill troughs: in the west of the Indolo-Kuban and in the east of the Terek-Caspian.

The complex history of the geological development of the region is the reason for the richness of the bowels of the Caucasus in various minerals. The main wealth of Ciscaucasia is the oil and gas field. Polymetallic ores, tungsten, copper, mercury, and molybdenum are mined in the central part of the Greater Caucasus.

In the mountains and foothills of the North Caucasus, many mineral springs have been discovered, near which resorts have been created that have long gained worldwide fame - Kislovodsk, Mineralnye Vody, Pyatigorsk, Essentuki, Zheleznovodsk, Matsesta. The springs are diverse in chemical composition, in temperature, and extremely useful.

Rice. 94. Geological structure of the North Caucasus

The geographical position of the North Caucasus in the south of the temperate zone determines its mild, warm climate, transitional from temperate to subtropical. Here is a parallel 45 ° N. sh., that is, this territory is equidistant from both the equator and the pole. This situation determines the amount of solar heat received: in summer 17-18 kcal per square centimeter, which is 1.5 times more than the European part of Russia receives on average. With the exception of the highlands, the climate in the North Caucasus is mild and warm; on the plains, the average temperature in July exceeds 20 ° C everywhere, and summer lasts from 4.5 to 5.5 months. Average January temperatures range from -10 to +6°C, and winter lasts only two to three months. The city of Sochi is located in the North Caucasus, where the warmest winter in Russia is with a January temperature of +6.1 ° С.

On the map, determine whether there are any obstacles in the foothills of the North Caucasus in the way of arctic air masses, tropical. What atmospheric fronts pass near this area? Analyze on maps how precipitation is distributed in the North Caucasus, explain the reasons for this distribution.

The abundance of heat and light allows the vegetation of the North Caucasus to develop in the north of the region for seven months, in Ciscaucasia - eight, and on the Black Sea coast, south of Gelendzhik - up to 11 months. This means that with the appropriate selection of crops, two crops per year can be obtained here.

The North Caucasus is distinguished by a very complex circulation of various air masses. Various air masses can penetrate into this area.

The main source of moisture for the North Caucasus is the Atlantic Ocean. Therefore, the western regions of the North Caucasus are characterized by a large amount of precipitation. The annual amount of precipitation in the foothill areas in the west is 380-520 mm, and in the east, in the Caspian Sea, - 220-250 mm. Therefore, in the east of the region there are often droughts and dry winds. However, they are often accompanied by dusty, or black, storms. Storms occur in the spring, when the top layers of dry soil, still loosely held together by newly emerged plants, are blown away by strong winds. A cloud of dust rises into the air, covering the sky and the sun.

Measures to combat black storms are properly planned forest shelterbelts and high agricultural technology. However, until now, due to black storms, it is necessary to re-sow (re-sow) several tens of thousands of hectares, from which the most fertile soil layer is demolished during dust storms.

The climate of the highlands very different from the plains and foothills. The first main difference is that much more precipitation falls in the mountains: at an altitude of 2000 m - 2500-2600 mm per year. This is due to the fact that the mountains trap air masses, forcing them to rise up. At the same time, the air cools and gives off its moisture.

The second difference in the climate of the highlands is a decrease in the duration of the warm season due to a decrease in air temperature with height. Already at an altitude of 2700 m on the northern slopes and at an altitude of 3800 m in the Central Caucasus there is a snow line, or the border of "eternal ice". At an altitude of over 4000 m, even in July, positive temperatures are very rare.

Remember how much the air temperature decreases when you rise for every 100 m. Calculate how much the air will cool when you rise to a height of 4000 m, if its temperature at the earth's surface is +20 ° С. What happens to the moisture in the air?

In the mountains of the Western Caucasus, due to the abundance of precipitation during the winter, a four-five-meter layer of snow accumulates, and in the mountain valleys, where it is blown away by the wind, up to 10-12 m. The abundance of snow in winter leads to the formation of snow avalanches. Sometimes one awkward movement, even a sharp sound, is enough for a thousand-ton mass of snow to fly down a steep ledge, destroying everything in its path.

Explain why there are practically no avalanches in the mountains of the Eastern Caucasus.

Think about what differences will be observed in the change of altitudinal zones on the western and eastern slopes.

The third difference of the alpine climate is its amazing diversity from place to place in connection with the height of the mountains, the exposure of the slope, proximity or distance from the sea.

The fourth difference is the peculiarity of atmospheric circulation. Cooled air from the highlands rushes down the comparatively narrow intermountain valleys. For every 100 m lowered, the air heats up by about 1°C. Descending from a height of 2500 m, it heats up by 25 ° C and becomes warm, even hot. This is how the local wind - foehn is formed. Hair dryers are especially frequent in spring, when the intensity of the general circulation of air masses increases sharply. Unlike a foehn, when masses of dense cold air invade, a bora is formed (from the Greek boreas - north, north wind), a strong cold downward wind. Flowing over low ridges into an area with warmer rarefied air, it heats up relatively little and “falls” down the leeward slope at high speed. Bora is observed mainly in winter, where the mountain range borders on the sea or a vast body of water. The Novorossiysk Bora is widely known (Fig. 95). And yet, the leading factor in climate formation in the mountains, which greatly affects all other components of nature, is the height, which leads to vertical zonality of both climate and natural zones.

Rice. 95. Scheme of formation of the Novorossiysk bora

The rivers of the North Caucasus are numerous and, like the relief and climate, are clearly divided into flat and mountainous. Stormy mountain rivers are especially numerous, the main source of food for which is snow and glaciers during the melting period. The largest rivers are the Kuban and the Terek with their numerous tributaries, as well as the Bolshoy Egorlyk and Kalaus, which originate in the Stavropol Upland. In the lower reaches of the Kuban and the Terek there are floodplains - vast swampy areas covered with reeds and reeds.

Rice. 96. Altitudinal zonality of the Greater Caucasus

The wealth of the Caucasus is fertile soil. In the western part of Ciscaucasia, chernozems predominate, and in the eastern, more arid part, chestnut soils. The soils of the Black Sea coast are intensively used for orchards, berry fields, and vineyards. The northernmost tea plantations in the world are located in the Sochi region.

In the mountains of the Greater Caucasus, altitudinal zonation is clearly expressed. The lower belt is occupied by broad-leaved forests dominated by oak. Above are beech forests, which with height pass first into mixed, and then into spruce-fir forests. The upper border of the forest is located at an altitude of 2000-2200 m. Behind it, on mountain-meadow soils, there are lush subalpine meadows with thickets of Caucasian rhododendron. They pass into short-grass alpine meadows, followed by the highest belt of snowfields and glaciers.

Questions and tasks

1. On the example of the North Caucasus, show the influence of the geographical location of the territory on the features of its nature.
2. Tell us about the formation of the modern relief of the Greater Caucasus.
3. On the contour map, mark the main geographical features of the area, mineral deposits.
4. Give a description of the climate of the Greater Caucasus, explain how the climate of the foothills differs from the highlands.

Candidate of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences I. SHERBA

In the footsteps of the past

Geochronology of the Earth for the last 200 million years.

The cliffs of the Pre-Elbrus plateau are saturated with shells of sea mollusks.

In the first half of the Jurassic (about 100 million years ago), the Greater Caucasian Marginal Sea was part of the Tethys Ocean.

The Caspian-Black Sea region during the Paleogene (about 70 million years ago).

12 million years ago on the North Caucasian shelf there was a transverse barrier from the islands of the Subcaucasian archipelago.

Ancient landslides near the Zhinvali reservoir.

It was in such sandy slopes in the North Caucasus that oil accumulated for centuries, gradually forming deposits like Groznensky.

The phrase "Great Caucasus" is usually associated with the idea of ​​sparkling snowy peaks and alpine meadows. And it seems that this has always been the case, but this is not true.

Walking along the upper Kislovodsk park and admiring the view of the vast pre-Elbrus plateau, an attentive person cannot help but notice the cliffs along the paths. The rocks that make up these cliffs are richly saturated with shells of sea mollusks, and therefore, the sea once splashed on the site of the Caucasus Mountains. But that was over 10 million years ago.

Not even archaeologists, but paleontologists operate with similar time categories: they determine the age of the rock depending on whose fossilized remains (dinosaurs, mammoths or, for example, trilobites) were found in it. At the same time, time is divided into geological eras - Paleozoic, Mesozoic, Cenozoic, as well as into periods - Jurassic, Cretaceous, Tertiary, Quaternary, each of which has its own eras and centuries. It is this relative chronology that geologists use, although the absolute age of the rock is also known - it is determined by the decay of the radioactive elements contained in it.

By analyzing the distribution of rocks that make up the mountains, foothills, and intermountain valleys, it is possible to reconstruct the entire paleography of this area over millions of years. Such an excursion into the depths of centuries makes it possible to trace both temporal and territorial changes in both sedimentary rocks and tectonic structures, and fauna, the different groups of which are characterized by different ecological niches.

It turns out that only 12 million years ago (Chokrak time, the middle of the second Cenozoic epoch from the bottom), in the place of the current southern slope of the Greater Caucasus, there was a deep-sea trough, left over from an even more ancient marginal sea. The Bolshekavkaz Sea was part of the paleoocean Tethys - such a name was given to it by geologists after the ancient Greek goddess of the water elements. This ocean once stretched from the modern shores of the Atlantic Ocean to Indochina - through the Mediterranean, Asia Minor and Central Asia and the Himalayas - and separated two large continents - Eurasia in the north and Gondwana in the south.

Over the past 250 million years, the continents have gradually moved closer to each other, thereby reducing the water space between them. And as a result, by the middle of the Jurassic period (about 165 million years ago), the marginal sea of ​​the Greater Caucasus turned out to be cut off from the Tethys Ocean with the help of one of these fragments - the Transcaucasian. It was an island arc, consisting of fragments of pre-existing mountains (partially with volcanoes) and located within the present Transcaucasia and the eastern part of the Black Sea. The sea itself, paradoxical as it may seem, was absent there, but, on the contrary, there was some land rise, periodically washed away by water. And it was just then (Paleozoic and the beginning of the Mesozoic), when there was a deep sea on the site of the Greater Caucasus.

The axial deep-water trough of this sea stretched along the southern slope of the modern mountains and went in the east through the Caspian Sea to the western Kopetdag, and in the west - to the southern coast of Crimea. The northern coast of the Tethys Ocean was located somewhere near Ankara and Lake Sevan. But at the end of the Cretaceous period (65-70 million years ago), the island arc separating them split and shifted to the region of the Lesser Caucasus. A deep-water East Black Sea depression arose, stretching eastward to the borders of Adzharia and southern Georgia - up to Tbilisi.

The axial and highest zone of the modern Greater Caucasus belonged to the steep continental (Eurasian) slope of the marginal sea. Its slope was, apparently, approximately the same as that of modern continental slopes (3-6 o), because of which the sediments brought from the continent in the form of sand and clay did not linger on it and were carried away to the foot. However, in narrow submarine canyons they occasionally survived, and in the southeastern Caucasus - on the traverse of the Apsheron Peninsula - they can now be observed in some places.

On the more gently sloping areas, the opposite is true: along with calmly settling silts (the so-called “banal” sediments), other rocks brought by turbidity and mud-stone flows were periodically deposited. The results of the rhythmic alternation of both can be seen, for example, over the beach at the southern end of Anapa Bay. The cliff located above a narrow strip of this beach consists of thin (less than half a meter) layers of dark clays, interspersed with thicker (up to two meters) layers of sandstones with irregular - tangled and twisted, broken in places - layering, due to their sedimentation from a moving mud mass.

In the era of active tectonic movements accompanied by earthquakes, ancient landslides were also not uncommon, the consequences of which - in their most beautiful form - can still be observed when descending from the Cross Pass along the Zhinvali reservoir.

At the beginning of the Paleogene (about 60 million years ago), at the foot of the continental slope of the marginal sea of ​​the Greater Caucasus, unicellular foraminiferal animals with a sandy shell settled. It is these representatives of the vast group of foraminifers that usually inhabit areas of hydrogen sulfide contamination, mainly at a depth of at least two kilometers. The discovery of their remains in the corresponding layers allows, firstly, to determine the depth of this part of the basin, and secondly, to assert that at the beginning of the Paleogene the basin was contaminated with hydrogen sulfide (similar to the modern Black Sea). However, episodes of hydrogen sulfide contamination were repeated in the Greater Caucasus basin repeatedly, it reached its greatest extent 20-30 million years ago, when it captured not only the basin, but also the shelves.

During the Paleogene, an intensive convergence of Eurasia and Afroarabia continued, the entire space between which was subjected to gradual compression, and the sediments of the former seas were crushed into folds.

Land barriers were formed along the borders of the continents, the outlines of the ocean came closer to the modern contours of the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean. And yet, small shelf seas (including the former marginal seas) remained covered significant areas of the present land. As early as 12 million years ago, the Greater Caucasian marginal sea was partially preserved, and its width was four times greater than the modern width of the southern slope of the mountains. The depth of this sea in the axial part reached 500 m, and its shallowest part (the shelf with a depth not exceeding 200 m) was located in the region of the northern slope of the Greater Caucasus. The northern boundary of the sea extended almost to that strip of lakes that now stretches between the Azov and Caspian Seas, forming the so-called Kuma-Manych Depression.

From the side of the Russian Plain, the Don and the Paleo-Seversky Donets flowed into the sea, bringing into it a huge amount of sand and clay. Carried by undercurrents along the bottom, they settled along its steep ledges in the form of cones, and it was these cones that eventually became oil collectors in the North Caucasus. And, in particular, the huge Grozny field.

In the south, the basin of the Greater Caucasus was limited at that time by the mountains of the Lesser Caucasus and Talysh, giving it the appearance of being inside a continental sea. Between these mountains, which began to grow as early as 30 million years ago, there was a narrow strait, and through it the basin was connected to the shelf seas of the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean.

The most significant uplift, and even with a dissected relief, was located at that time on the North Caucasian shelf - south of modern Stavropol. Merging with the small islands of the Subcaucasian archipelago, this uplift formed something like a transverse bridge inside the basin. She, apparently, took advantage of the aardvark pigs that came from Africa then: recently, their remains were discovered south of Stavropol.

And about 5 million years ago, the growth of mountains began in the Greater Caucasus, and at first it was most intense within the former shelf. It is the central part of the Greater Caucasus (the region of Elbrus, Kazbek), which was included in mountain building earlier than others, and became the highest in this region. But even then, the Greater Caucasus towered like an island among the seas and lakes that washed it - some of them still had time to catch primitive man.

Greater Caucasus- a mountain system between the Black and Caspian Seas. It extends for more than 1100 km from the northwest to the southeast, from the Anapa region and the Taman Peninsula to the Absheron Peninsula on the Caspian coast, near Baku. The highest peak is Elbrus (5642 m).

The state border of the Russian Federation with Abkhazia, Georgia, South Ossetia and Azerbaijan passes through the Greater Caucasus.

Scheme of the ridges of the Greater Caucasus. Volcanoes are marked with red circles.

The Greater Caucasus, together with the Lesser Caucasus, makes up the Caucasus Mountains and is separated from the latter by the Colchis and Kura-Araks lowlands and the Kura valley in the middle reaches between them.

The Greater Caucasus reaches its maximum width in the Elbrus region (up to 180 km). In the axial part is located the Main Caucasian (or Dividing) Range, to the north of which a number of parallel ranges (mountain ranges) extend - the Side Range, the Rocky Range, etc.

Parts and districts

View from Ushba to Elbrus. Photo by O. Fomichev.

Traditionally, the Greater Caucasus is divided into 3 parts:

Table 1. The peaks of the Caucasus are higher than 4700 m (bold font indicates the height according to the topographic map at a scale of 1:50000).

Climate

Rest in the Adish Icefall. Photo by A. Lebedev (1989)

The climatic features of the Greater Caucasus are determined by the altitudinal zonality and the rotation of the mountain barrier formed by it at a certain angle to the western moisture-bearing air flows - the Atlantic cyclones and the Mediterranean western air currents of the middle layers of the troposphere. This rotation has a decisive influence on the distribution of precipitation.

The wettest is the western part of the southern slope, where more than 2500 mm of precipitation falls annually in the highlands. The record amount of precipitation falls on the Achishkho ridge near Krasnaya Polyana - 3200 mm per year, this is the wettest place in Russia. Winter snow cover in the area of ​​the meteorological station Achishkho reaches 5-7 meters!

Glaciation is especially significant in the Central Caucasus and in the eastern part of the Western Caucasus. In the Eastern Caucasus, small glaciers are found only in individual high mountain nodes.

Here is a detailed map of the Caucasus Mountains with the names of cities and towns in Russian. Move the map by holding it with the left mouse button. You can move around the map by clicking on one of the four arrows in the upper left corner.

You can change the scale using the scale on the right side of the map or by turning the mouse wheel.

What country is the Caucasus Mountains in?

Caucasian Mountain is located in Russia. This is a wonderful, beautiful place, with its own history and traditions. Coordinates of the Caucasus Mountains: northern latitude and eastern longitude (show on a large map).

virtual walk

The figurine of a "little man" above the scale will help you take a virtual tour of the cities of the Caucasus Mountains. By pressing and holding the left mouse button, drag it to any place on the map and you will go for a walk, while inscriptions with the approximate address of the area will appear in the upper left corner. Choose the direction of movement by clicking on the arrows in the center of the screen. The "Satellite" option at the top left allows you to see the relief image of the surface. In the "Map" mode, you will get the opportunity to get acquainted in detail with the roads of the Caucasus Mountains and the main attractions.

antiqus classicus

Caspian mountains

Caspian mountains
• and gate (Greek Κασπία ὄρη, lat. Caspii monies).
• 1. Panic mountains between Armenia and Albania on the one hand and Media on the other (now Qaradagh, Siah-Koh, i.e. Black and Talysh mountains). In a broad sense, this name means the entire chain of mountains south of the river. Arak (from the Kotur River to the Caspian Sea). Here were the so-called.

Caspian Gate (Caspiapila), a narrow mountain pass 8 Roman miles long and one chariot wide (now the Chamar pass between Narsa-Koh and Siah-Koh). This was the only way from Northwest Asia to the northeastern part of the Persian state, because the Persians blocked this passage with iron gates, which were guarded by guards (claustra Caspiarum).

The Caucasus Mountains are a mountain system between the Black and Caspian Seas.

It is divided into two mountain systems: the Greater Caucasus and the Lesser Caucasus.
The Caucasus is often divided into the North Caucasus and Transcaucasia, the border between which is drawn along the Main, or Watershed, ridge of the Greater Caucasus, which occupies a central position in the mountain system.

The most famous peaks are Mt. Elbrus (5642 m) and Mt.

Kazbek (5033 m) is covered with eternal snow and glaciers.

From the northern foot of the Greater Caucasus to the Kuma-Manych depression, Ciscaucasia extends with vast plains and uplands. To the south of the Greater Caucasus are the Colchis and Kura-Araks lowlands, the Inner Kartli plain and the Alazan-Avtoran valley [the Kura depression, within which the Alazan-Avtoran valley and the Kura-Araks lowland are located]. In the southeastern part of the Caucasus - the Talysh mountains (up to 2492 m high) with the adjacent Lankaran lowland. In the middle and in the west of the southern part of the Caucasus is the Transcaucasian Highlands, which consists of the ranges of the Lesser Caucasus and the Armenian Highlands (Aragats, 4090 m).
The Lesser Caucasus is connected to the Greater Caucasus by the Likhi Ridge, in the west it is separated from it by the Colchis Lowland, in the east by the Kura Depression. The length is about 600 km, the height is up to 3724 m.

Mountains near Sochi - Aishkho (2391 m), Aibga (2509 m), Chigush (3238 m), Pseashkho and others.

Location of the mountain system of the Caucasus Mountains on the world map

(mountain system boundaries are approximate)

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Caucasian mountains or Caucasus- a mountain system between the Black and Caspian Seas with an area of ​​\u200b\u200b~ 477488 m².

The Caucasus is divided into two mountain systems: the Greater Caucasus and the Lesser Caucasus, very often the mountain system is divided into Ciscaucasia (Northern Caucasus), Greater Caucasus and Transcaucasia (South Caucasus). Along the crest of the Main Range, the state border of the Russian Federation with the countries of Transcaucasia passes.

highest peaks

The largest mountain peaks of the Caucasus Mountains (indicators of various sources may vary).

Climate

The climate of the Caucasus is warm and mild, with the exception of the highlands: at an altitude of 3800 m, the border of "eternal ice" passes. In the mountains and foothills there is a large amount of precipitation.

Flora and fauna

The vegetation of the Caucasus is rich in species composition and diversity: oriental beech, Caucasian hornbeam, Caucasian linden, noble chestnut, boxwood, cherry laurel, Pontic rhododendron, some species of oak and maple, wild persimmon, as well as subtropical tea bush and citrus.

In the Caucasus, there are brown Caucasian bears, lynxes, forest cats, foxes, badgers, martens, deer, roe deer, wild boars, bison, chamois, mountain goats (tours), small rodents (forest dormouse, field voles). Birds: magpies, thrushes, cuckoos, jays, wagtails, woodpeckers, owls, owls, starlings, crows, goldfinches, kingfishers, tits, Caucasian black grouse and mountain turkeys, golden eagles and lambs.

Population

More than 50 peoples live in the Caucasus (for example: Avars, Circassians, Chechens, Georgians, Lezgins, Karachais, etc.) which are designated as Caucasian peoples. They speak Caucasian, Indo-European, as well as Altaic languages. Largest cities: Sochi, Tbilisi, Yerevan, Vladikavkaz, Grozny, etc.

Tourism and rest

The Caucasus is visited for recreational purposes: there are many sea resorts on the shores of the Black Sea, the North Caucasus is popular for its balneological resorts.

Rivers of the Caucasus

The rivers originating in the Caucasus belong to the basins of the Black, Caspian and Azov Seas.

• swell
• Kodori
• Ingur (Enguri)
• Rioni
• Kuban
• Podkumok
• Araks
• Liakhva (Big Liakhvi)
• Samur
• Sulak
• Avar Koysu
• andean koisu
• Terek
• Sunzha
• Argun
• Malka (Kura)
• Baksan
• Chegem
• Cherek

Countries and Regions

The following countries and regions are located in the Caucasus.

• Azerbaijan
• Armenia
• Georgia
• Russia: Adygea, Dagestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia, Krasnodar Territory, North Ossetia-Alania, Stavropol Territory, Chechnya

In addition to these countries and regions, there are partially recognized republics in the Caucasus: Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Nagorno-Karabakh.

The largest cities of the Caucasus

• Vladikavkaz
• Gelendzhik
• Hot key
• Grozny
• Derbent
• Yerevan
• Essentuki
• Zheleznovodsk
• Zugdidi
• Kislovodsk
• Kutaisi
• Krasnodar
• Maykop
• Makhachkala
• Mineral water
• Nazran
• Nalchik
• Novorossiysk
• Pyatigorsk
• Stavropol
• Stepanakert
• Sukhum
• Tbilisi
• Tuapse
• Tskhinvali
• Cherkessk

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Where is it located and how to get there

The address: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Russia