Researchers are of great interest to many mountains in Russia. Beluga is one of them. The unusually beautiful mountain attracts not only climbers, but also all connoisseurs of natural beauty. In their shape, the peaks of Mount Belukha resemble two irregular pyramids, between which there is a decrease, the height of the latter is quite large - four thousand meters. In terms of height, Mount Belukha is second only to Klyuchevskaya Sopka. The latter is located in Kamchatka.
Where is Mount Belukha?
The mountain is located in the Altai Republic, more precisely, in the Ust-Koksinsky district. This is the highest peak in Siberia, crowning the Katunsky ridge. The height of Mount Belukha is 4509 m. Its massif rises in the center of the Katunsky ridge, almost at the very border of Russia and Kazakhstan, on the border of the main ridge and its three spurs. Mount Belukha coordinates - 49°4825 s. sh. and 86°3523 E e.
Two Belukha peaks in combination with Korona Altai and Delaunay peaks on the right and left form the Akkem wall, which falls almost vertically towards the Akkem glacier. Knowing where Mount Belukha is located, amateurs and professional climbers come here every year.
Description
The border between Kazakhstan and Russia stretches across the Belukha massif. The full-flowing river Katun originates from its slopes. The description of Belukha Mountain can be found in the advertising booklets of many travel companies. It got its name from the abundant snows that cover Belukha from base to peak.
The mountain has two peaks, which are irregular pyramids in shape. The height of the Western Belukha is 4435 meters, and the pointed Eastern Belukha is even higher - 4509 meters. They fall almost vertically to the Akkemsky glacier and gradually decrease towards the Katunsky glacier (Gebler). Between the two peaks there is a depression called the Beluga Saddle. Its height is four thousand meters. It breaks off to the Akkem glacier, and in the south, to the Katun River, it descends more gently.
The mountain range consists of Upper and Middle Cambrian rocks. Its spurs are outcrops of shales and sandstones. Conglomerates are much less represented. Part of the array consists of typical flysch formations. It should be said about the tectonic instability of this territory, which is evidenced by cracks, faults and overthrusts of rocks. Almost sheer, steep slip zones are typical of the northern slope of the mountain, mainly from the side of the Akkem valley.
Belukha region is located on the border of zones of seven-eight seismic activity. Small earthquakes happen here very often. As a result, the ice shell breaks, collapses and avalanches come down. From the Paleogene erathe territory is experiencing active tectonic uplift, which continues to this day. This was reflected in the relief - throughout the territory it is alpine, high-mountainous, with deep gorges. They are surrounded by vertical alpine ridges of Belukha mountain. Their height is 2500 meters.
The areas of the massif are mainly occupied by talus, moraines and rocks. The slopes are devastated by avalanches and mudflows.
Climate
In the Belukha region, the climate is severe - cold and long winters and rainy short summers. The conditions vary along the belts: from the climate of high glaciers and snow at the top to the climate of the valleys, where the average air temperature in July does not exceed +8.3 °C. At the peaks (platform) +6, 3 °C. Even in summer, on the top of Belukha (altitude 2509 meters), the air temperature can drop to -20 °C.
In January, the air temperature is -48 °C and even in March it remains quite low -5 °C.
Glaciers
One of the main glacial centers of Altai is Mount Belukha. In the river basins associated with it, there are one hundred and sixty-nine glaciers, covering a vast area of one hundred and fifty square kilometers. Half of the glaciers of the Katunsky ridge are located on Belukha.
M. V. Tronov, a well-known Soviet climatologist, singled out the glacial region of the mountain as a separate “type of Belukha glaciers”. Six large glaciers are concentrated in this area. Among them: Small and Big Berel glaciers 8 and 10 km long and 8, 9 and 12.5 km in area2 respectively, glacierSapozhnikova with a length of 10.5 km and an area of 13.2 km2.
All the glaciers located here are quite large: their area ranges from two to ten square kilometers. The ice moves at a speed of thirty to fifty meters per year. The largest was recorded on the Brothers Tronovy glacier. At its foot it reaches one hundred and twenty meters a year. When snow accumulates on steep slopes, avalanches occur.
Rivers
They mainly belong to the basin of the Katun River, which originates on the southern slopes of the Gebler Glacier. Here are the sources of the rivers Akkem, Kucherla, Idegem. The southeastern slope is drained by the Belaya Berel River, which belongs to the Bukhtarma basin.
Water streams originating near the Belukha glaciers form the so-called Altai type of rivers. They are replenished by the melt waters of glaciers. These rivers are characterized by a powerful flow in summer and rather low in the rest of the time. Most of them are fleeting, often forming waterfalls. For example, the picturesque waterfall Rassypnoy is located on the river of the same name, which is the right tributary of the Katun River.
Lakes
In the Belukha region, they are located in trough valleys and deep caravans. They appeared on this territory during the activity of ancient glaciers. The largest of them are Akkemskoye and Kucherlinskoye.
Vegetation
For the Belukhinsky massif, as, indeed, for any mountainous territory, a rather diverse flora is characteristic. According to numerous studies,most of the ridge belongs to the high-mountainous Katunsky region, where the presence of high-mountain and forest formations is noted. The forest belt stretches to heights of two thousand meters in the western part and up to two thousand two hundred meters in the east. It is most developed on the northern macroslope.
In the upper reaches of the Koksu and Katun rivers, the belt is fragmentary. Its lower border is dominated by dark coniferous formations with a predominance of Siberian spruce, Siberian fir, and cedar. Deciduous species are common: mountain ash, Siberian larch, birch. Shrubs are represented by honeysuckle, meadowsweet, caragana. Cedar dominates in the higher zone, and lingonberries and honeysuckle dominate among shrubs. In the uppermost part of the forest zone, round-leaved birch and alpine and subalpine herbs grow. In addition, raspberries and currants are common here.
On the lower border, the subalpine belt is represented by cedar-larch and cedar light forests, with fragments of shrubs and subalpine meadows. The Alpine belt is represented by small-grass, tall-grass, and cobresia meadows. The Belukhinsky massif occupies most of the highlands, so quite rare species that grow in the alpine zone are of interest here: larkspur ukok and aconite not found, rhodiola (four-membered, frosty, pink), Krylov's cinquefoil, more than thirty types of onions (dwarf, Altai and others). Many of them are included in the Red Book of Altai.
Animal world
Red-backed, big-eared and red-gray voles are found on stony placers and yerniks. On the right bank of the Katun, in its sources, liveszokor and Altai mouse. Occasionally, snow leopard, lynx and Siberian ibex visit these places.
The birds are much more diverse. Hunting and commercial species include: tundra and white partridges. From the family of passerines, the Himalayan conjurer, Alpine jackdaw, and chough-tree live here. Much less often in these places you can meet the Siberian mountain finches and a very rare species - juniper grosbeak. The rare species included in the Red Book of Altai include the Altai snowcock, big lentil, golden eagle.
Nature Park
Back in 1978, the leadership of the autonomous region decided to create a natural monument in these places. Its official status was confirmed in 1996 by the Decree of the Government of the Republic of Altai. In June 1997, the first Belukha Nature Park in the republic was founded, covering an area of 131,337 hectares. Since January 2000, Belukha Mountain and the adjacent territories: Kucherlinskoye and Akkemskoye lakes - have been named Belukha National Park.
Interesting facts
A few interesting facts are known about this mountain:
- Mount Belukha was repeatedly depicted on the canvases of N. Roerich and G. Choros-Gurkin;
- for Altai shamanists and Buddhists the mountain is sacred. They believe that here is one of the entrances to the mysterious country of Shambhala and Belovodie;
- esotericists consider Belukha an information pyramid and a place of power;
- the local population has many prohibitions that are associated with the sacred mountain: onslopes, you can not make noise, bring metal objects, hunt;
- as in most other sacred places of Altai, women are not allowed to enter the mountain;
- Belukha can be seen on the coat of arms of the Republic of Altai.
Visiting mode
The most popular tourist route, passing from the village of Tungur to the foot of Belukha Mountain, is located in the border zone, close to the state border of Kazakhstan and Russia. Citizens of Russia wishing to go on it must have a passport with them, travelers from other states - permission, which should be obtained in advance from the republican department of the FSB. It is located in Gorno-Altaysk.
If you plan to visit a five-kilometer zone from the border (for example, to climb Belukha), then permission will be required for all categories of citizens.
