All about the Arctic deserts. ice desert

Arctic deserts (polar desert, icy desert), a kind of desert with extremely sparse sparse vegetation among the snows and glaciers of the Arctic and Antarctic belts of the Earth. It is distributed over most of Greenland and the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, as well as on other islands of the Arctic Ocean, on the northern coast of Eurasia and on islands near Antarctica.
In the Arctic desert grow small isolated areas with mainly scale mosses and lichens and herbaceous vegetation. They look like a kind of oases among the polar snows and glaciers. In the conditions of the Arctic desert, there are some types of flowering plants: polar poppy, foxtail, buttercup, saxifrage, etc.

Arctic soils are found in the area of polar deserts and semi-deserts under "spots" of vegetation on the islands of the Arctic Ocean and in a narrow strip along the Asian coast of the mainland. Soil processes are poorly developed, and the soil profile is practically not expressed. Rare mosses and lichens practically do not provide “material” for the formation of humus, their humus horizon is rarely thicker than 1 cm. summer period(1–2 months) no more than 0.5 m. Due to insufficient moisture, there is no gleying in Arctic soils, the soils have a neutral acid reaction, sometimes carbonate or even saline. In places, under algae spots, specific “soil-films” are distinguished with subtle signs of soil formation.

Typically, arctic soils consist of a thin (1–3 cm) organogenic horizon and a mineral mass poorly differentiated into horizons, underlain at a depth of 40–50 cm by a permafrost layer. Gleying is weak or absent. Perhaps the presence of carbonates or easily soluble salts. Arctic soils are common on the islands of the Arctic Ocean.

Humus in the upper horizons usually contains a small amount (1-2%), but sometimes reaches large values (up to 6%). Its fall with depth is very sharp. Soil reaction is neutral (pHH2O 6.8-7.4). The sum of exchange bases does not exceed 10-15 meq per 100 g of soil, but the degree of saturation with bases is almost complete - 96-99%. In desert-arctic soils, mobile iron can accumulate in significant amounts.

Arctic soils can be divided into two subtypes: 1) arctic desert and 2) arctic typical humus. The current level of knowledge of these soils allows us to distinguish two types within the first subtype: a) saturated and b) carbonate and saline.
Arctic desert carbonate and saline soils are characteristic of the superarid (precipitation less than 100 mm) and cold parts of the Arctic and the oases of Antarctica. The American scientist J. Tedrow calls these soils polar desert. They are found in the north of Greenland, in the northernmost part of the Canadian Arctic archipelago. These arctic soils are neutral to slightly alkaline and have a salt crust on the surface. Arctic desert saturated soils differ from those described by the absence of new formations of readily soluble salts and carbonates in the upper part of the profile.

Most characteristic features Arctic soils should be considered as follows:

1) the complexity of the soil cover associated with the nature of the microrelief, polygonality;

2) shortening of the profile due to the low intensity of soil-forming processes and shallow seasonal thawing;

3) incompleteness and non-differentiation of the soil profile due to the low intensity of the movement of substances;

4) significant skeletal structure due to the predominance of physical weathering;

5) the absence of gleying associated with big amount precipitation.

Low summer temperatures, scarce flora and a layer of permafrost interfere with the normal soil-forming process. During the season, the thawed layer does not exceed 40 cm. The soil thaws only in the middle of summer, and by the beginning of autumn it freezes again. Waterlogging during the thawing period and summer drying lead to cracking of the soil cover. On greater territory Almost no formed soils are observed in the Arctic, only coarse detrital material in the form of placers.

Antarctic and Arctic desert: soil, soil characteristics and features

Lowlands and their fine-earth soil are the basis of Arctic soils (very thin, without any signs of claying). Arctic ferruginous, slightly acidic, almost neutral soils are brown in color. These soils are complex, associated with microreliefs, soil compositions and vegetation. Scientific citation: “The main specific feature of Arctic soils is that they represent, as it were, a “complex” of soils with a normally developed profile under vegetative sods and with a reduced profile under algal soil films” gives complete description Arctic soils and explains the peculiarities of the flora of this region.

Characteristics of the Arctic Desert

arctic desert- part of the arctic geographic zone, is located in the high latitudes of the Arctic. The zone of the Arctic deserts - the northernmost of the natural zones - is located in the high latitudes of the Arctic. Its southern border is located approximately at the 71st parallel (Wrangel Island). The Arctic desert zone extends to about 81° 45′ N. sh. (islands of the Franz Josef Land archipelago). The zone of the Arctic deserts includes all the islands in the Arctic basin: this is the island of Greenland, the northern part of the Canadian archipelago, the Svalbard archipelago, the islands of the archipelagos of Franz Josef Land, Severnaya Zemlya, New Earth, New Siberian Islands and a narrow strip along the coast of the Arctic Ocean within the Yamal, Gydan, Taimyr, and Chukotka peninsulas). These spaces are covered with glaciers, snow, rubble and rock fragments.

The climate of the Arctic desert

The climate is arctic, with long and severe winters, summers are short and cold. Transitional seasons in the Arctices which desert does not exist. During the polar night - winter, and during the polar day - summer. The polar night lasts 98 days at 75°N. sh., 127 days — by 80°C. sh. Average winter temperatures are -10 to -35°, dropping to -60°. Frost weathering is very intense.

The air temperature in summer is slightly above 0°C. The sky is often overcast with gray clouds, it's raining(often with snow), thick fogs form due to the strong evaporation of water from the surface of the ocean.

Even on the "southern" island of the Arctic desert - Wrangel Island - according to eyewitnesses, there is no autumn, winter comes immediately after the short Arctic summer.

Soils of the Arctic deserts

The wind changes to the north and winter comes overnight.

The Arctic climate is formed not only due to the low temperatures of high latitudes, but also in view of the reflection of heat from the snow and ice crust. And the ice and snow covers last about 300 days a year.

Annual amount precipitation up to 400 mm. Soils are saturated with snow and barely thawed ice.

Vegetablecover

The main difference between the desert and the tundra is that you can live in the tundra, subsisting on its gifts, but this is impossible to do in the Arctic desert. That is why there were no indigenous people on the territory of the Arctic islands.

The territory of the Arctic deserts has open vegetation, which covers about half of the surface. The desert is devoid of trees and shrubs. There are small isolated areas with crustaceous lichens on rocks, mosses, various algae on stony soils and herbaceous vegetation - sedges and grasses. In the conditions of the Arctic desert, there are some types of flowering plants: polar poppy, grits, chickweed, alpine foxtail, arctic pike, bluegrass, buttercup, saxifrage, etc. These islands of vegetation look like oases among endless ice and snow.

The soils are thin, with insular distribution mainly under vegetation. The spaces free from glaciers are bound by permafrost, the thawing depth does not exceed 30-40 cm even under the conditions of the polar day. Soil formation processes are carried out in a thin active layer and are at the initial stage of development.

The upper part of the soil profile is characterized by the accumulation of iron and manganese oxides. Iron-manganese films are formed on rock fragments, which determines the brown color of polar desert soils. In coastal areas saline by the sea, polar-desert solonchak soils are formed.

There are practically no large stones in the Arctic desert. Mostly sand and small flat cobblestones. There are spherical concretions, which consist of silicon and sandstone, from a few centimeters to several meters in diameter. The most famous concretions are spherulites on Champa Island (FJL). Every tourist considers it his duty to take a photo with these balloons.

Animal world

Due to the sparse vegetation animal world Arctic deserts are relatively poor. Terrestrial fauna is poor: Arctic wolf, arctic fox, lemming, Novaya Zemlya deer, in Greenland - musk ox. On the coast you can meet pinnipeds: walruses and seals.

Polar bears are considered the main symbol of the Arctic. They lead a semi-aquatic lifestyle, the key land areas for breeding polar bears are the northern coast of Chukotka, Franz Josef Land, Cape Zhelaniya on Novaya Zemlya. On the territory of the reserve "Wrangel Island" there are about 400 ancestral dens, so it is called the "maternity hospital" of the bear.

The most numerous inhabitants of the harsh northern region are birds. These are guillemots, puffins, eiders, pink gulls, snowy owls, etc. Sea birds nest on the rocky shores in summer, forming "bird colonies". The largest and most diverse seabird colony in the Arctic nests on Rubini Rock, which is located in the ice-free Tikhaya Bay off Hooker Island (FJL). The bird market on this rock has up to 18 thousand guillemots, guillemots, kittiwakes and other sea birds.

What is the soil like in the Arctic deserts?

Arctic soils are well-drained soils of the high Arctic and Antarctic, formed in the conditions of a polar cold dry climate (precipitation 50-200 mm, July temperature is not higher than 5 ° C, average annual temperatures negative - from -14 to -18°C) under a lichen film and cushions of mosses and flowering plants (higher plants on watersheds occupy less than 25% of the surface or they are absent at all) and are characterized by an underdeveloped thin soil profile of the A-C type.

The type of arctic soils was introduced into the taxonomy of Russian soils by E. N. Ivanova. The basis for identifying a special type of soil in the high Arctic was the work of domestic and foreign researchers on the islands of the Arctic Ocean.

In the Antarctic, the vegetation cover is represented only by scale lichens and mosses; in rock crevices and on fine-earth substrates, green and blue-green algae play an important role in the accumulation of organic matter in primitive arctic soils. In the high-latitude Arctic, due to more warm summer and less severe winters, flowering plants appear. However, as in Antarctica, mosses, lichens, and various types of algae play a big role. Vegetation cover is confined to frost cracks, drying cracks and depressions of another genesis. Above 100 m above sea level, vegetation is practically absent. The main types of distribution of plant sod are curtain-cushion and polygonal-mesh. Bare soil occupies from 70 to 95%.

Soils thaw by only 30-40 cm and for a period of about one and a half months. In spring and early summer, the profile of Arctic soils is strongly waterlogged due to stagnant moisture formed during thawing. soil ice above the frozen horizon; in summer, the soil from the surface dries up and cracks due to round-the-clock insolation and strong winds.

Differentiation of Arctic soils by gross chemical composition very weak. Only some accumulation of sesquioxides in the upper part of the profile and a rather high background of iron content can be noted, which is associated with the cryogenic uplift of iron, which is mobilized under conditions of a seasonal change in aerobic and anaerobic conditions. The cryogenic uptake of iron in the soils of the Arctic deserts is better expressed than in any other permafrost soils.

Organic matter in soils in areas with vegetative sod contains from 1 to 4%.

The ratio of humic acid carbon to fulvic acid carbon is about 0.4-0.5, often even less.

The generalized materials of I. S. Mikhailov indicate that Arctic soils, as a rule, have a slightly acidic reaction (pH 6.4-6.8), with depth the acidity decreases even more, sometimes the reaction can even be slightly alkaline. The absorption capacity fluctuates around 12–15 mEq per 100 g of soil at almost complete saturation with bases (96–99%). Sometimes there is a weak removal of calcium, magnesium and sodium, but it is replenished by impulsation of sea salts. As a rule, typical arctic soils do not contain free carbonates, except when soils develop on carbonate rocks.

Arctic soils can be divided into two subtypes: 1) arctic desert and 2) arctic typical humus. The current level of knowledge of these soils allows us to distinguish two types within the first subtype: a) saturated and b) carbonate and saline.

Arctic desert carbonate and saline soils are characteristic of the superarid (precipitation less than 100 mm) and cold parts of the Arctic and the oases of Antarctica. The American scientist J. Tedrow calls these soils polar desert. They are found in the north of Greenland, in the northernmost part of the Canadian Arctic archipelago. These arctic soils are neutral to slightly alkaline and have a salt crust on the surface. Arctic desert saturated soils differ from those described by the absence of new formations of easily soluble salts and carbonates in the upper part of the profile.

Arctic typical humus soils are characterized by a slightly acidic or neutral reaction, have somewhat larger reserves of humus than the soils of the first subtype, are formed under soddy areas of landfills, they do not have salt accumulations. This subtype of arctic soils is predominant in the Soviet Arctic.

The most characteristic features of arctic soils the following should be considered: 1) the complexity of the soil cover associated with the nature of the microrelief, polygonality; 2) shortening of the profile due to the low intensity of soil-forming processes and shallow seasonal thawing; 3) incompleteness and non-differentiation of the soil profile due to the low intensity of the movement of substances; 4) significant skeletal structure due to the predominance of physical weathering; 5) the absence of gleying associated with a small amount of precipitation.

The territories of the Arctic and Antarctic lie outside the limits of human agricultural activity. In the Arctic, these areas can only be used as hunting grounds and reserves for the conservation and maintenance of numbers. rare species animals ( polar bear, musk ox, white Canadian goose, etc.).

arctic desert

Karavaeva.

The development of Arctic soils is influenced by permafrost and permafrost, which thaws only in a short summer period (1.5 ... 2.0 months) to a depth of 30 ... 50 cm, and the temperature of the active layer is close to zero at this time. Permafrost (cryogenic) processes predominate - cracking, freezing, wrestling, due to which fissure polygons are formed on loose rocks and stone hills, rings, bands on stone rocks. Physical weathering dominates, leading to the formation of a coarse clastic, weakly biogenic, weakly leached weathering crust. Geochemical and biochemical weathering is very slow, and from the end of August to the beginning of July it is absent. The soil cover on the watersheds is focal, not continuous - separate areas of Arctic soils against the background of soil films under algae patches (1 ... 2 cm thick).

The soil cover is formed only in areas with fine earth fragmentarily under vegetation that develops selectively in accordance with the conditions of relief, exposure, moisture, and the nature of parent rocks. The soils are characterized by a peculiar polygonality: the soils are broken by vertical frost cracks. The soil profile is shortened (up to 40...50 cm), but its thickness often changes, sometimes with wedging out of individual horizons. Soils (up to 40 cm) are weakly differentiated into horizons, the humus horizon is less than 10 cm. In addition to permafrost phenomena, they are characterized by a low input of organic residues (0.6 t/ha), the absence of an Ao acid litter horizon, an illuvial horizon, and the presence of strong stonyness on the surface. The soil horizons contain a lot of skeletal material. They lack gleying due to low moisture and significant aeration. These soils are characterized by cryogenic accumulation of iron compounds, weak movement of substances along the profile or their absence, high saturation (up to 90%) with bases, weakly acidic, neutral, sometimes slightly alkaline reaction.

In the Arctic zone, a type has been identified - arctic desert soils, which includes two subtypes: desert-arctic and arctic typical soils.

Desert-Arctic soils are common in the northern part of the Arctic zone on leveled areas, often with sandy loam and sandy-rubble deposits under moss-lichen clumps with single specimens of flowering plants. Large areas are under sands, rubble, eluvial and deluvial deposits and stone embankments. Their surface is broken by a system of polygons with cracks up to 20 m.

The thickness of the soil profile is up to 40 cm on average. It has the following structure: A1 - humus horizon 1 ... 2 cm thick, less often up to 4 cm, from dark brown to yellowish-brown in color, sandy or light loamy, with a fragile granular structure, uneven or noticeable transition to the next horizon; A1C - transitional horizon 20 ... 40 cm thick, brown or yellow-brown in color, less often spotty, sandy loam, fragile-small-cloddy or structureless, transition along the thawing boundary; C - frozen soil-forming rock, light brown, sandy loam, dense, gravel.

Humus in horizon A1 contains only 1 ... 2%. Soil reaction is neutral and slightly alkaline (рН 6.8…7.4). The sum of exchangeable bases ranges from 5...10 to 15 mg equiv/100 g of soil. The degree of saturation with bases is 95 ... 100%. The water regime is stagnant (permafrost). At the beginning of summer, when snow and glaciers melt, the soils become waterlogged, and in summer they quickly dry out due to round-the-clock insolation and strong winds.

In depressions with stagnant waters and in areas flooded by the melting flowing waters of snowfields and glaciers, arctic marsh soils are found under moss-grass vegetation. In areas with stagnant waters, gleyed horizons with a heavy granulometric composition are clearly expressed, while in areas flooded by flowing waters, the genetic horizons differ slightly and gleying is absent.

In the mouths of the rivers, marsh solonchaks are developed, and in bird rookeries - biogenic accumulations.

Arctic typical soils are formed on high plateaus, upland watershed elevations, abrasion-accumulative marine terraces, mainly in the south of the Arctic zone, under moss-forb-grass vegetation of frost cracks and drying cracks.

The soil profile is thin - up to 40 ... 50 cm: Ao - moss-lichen litter up to 3 cm thick; A1 - humus horizon up to 10 cm thick, brown-brown, often loamy, fragile granular-cloddy structure, porous, cracked, compacted, the horizon wedges out in the middle of the polygon; the transition is uneven and noticeable; A1C - transitional horizon (30 ... 40 cm) from light brown to brown, loamy, lumpy-nutty, dense, fissured, transition along the thaw boundary; C - frozen soil-forming rock, light brown, often with rock fragments.

Soils have discrete humus horizons. The profile is predominantly uneven in thickness of the A1 horizon, often with humus pockets. In the A1 horizon, the amount of humus sometimes reaches 4–8% and gradually decreases down the profile. The composition of humus is dominated by fulvic acids (Cgc: Cfc = 0.3…0.5). Inactive calcium fulvates and humates predominate, the content of non-hydrolyzable residue is significant. There are few silty particles; they consist mainly of hydromica and amorphous iron compounds. The absorption capacity is less than 20 mg eq/100 g of soil, the soil absorbing complex is saturated with bases. The degree of saturation with bases is high - 90 ... 100%. Mobile iron contains up to 1000 mg equiv/100 g of soil and more, especially on basalts and dolerites.

Plan

1. Location
2. Natural conditions
3. Plant world
4. Birds
5. Animal world
6. Power circuits
7. Population
8. Environmental issues

The zone of the Arctic deserts on the map is highlighted in gray-blue
1. Location of the Arctic desert zone:

Geographical position: Arctic Ocean, northern seas and islands. The seas of the Arctic Ocean are very cold. All year round they are almost completely covered with ice, floating ice floes.
Islands: Franz Josef Land, Novaya Zemlya, Severnaya Zemlya, New Siberian Islands, Wrangel Island.
Seas: Barents Sea, White Sea, Kara Sea, Laptev Sea, East Siberian Sea, Chukchi Sea

Rivers carrying water to the seas of the Arctic Ocean: Pechora, Ob, Yenisei, Lena, Indigirka, Kolyma.

2. Natural conditions

Sun in the Arctic never rises high above the horizon. Its rays skim over the surface of the earth, giving it very little heat. That's why here realm of ice and snow . Long frosty winter 10-11 months, short cool summer. The surface of the ocean is covered with ice 3-5 meters thick or more. Blizzards rage over the ocean, frosts rage. The cold air of this zone is able to spread far to the south. The icy breath of the Arctic is felt throughout Russia. Therefore, the ice zone is often called the “refrigerator” of our country. In winter it's as cold as a freezer. The air temperature drops to -40-50 degrees below zero. In summer, in the ice zone, the temperature rises to +4 degrees above zero. This is also the temperature in the refrigerator, but in the fruit compartment.

Sometimes there is an amazing beauty of the polar lights. The whole sky is sparkling. And the reflection of light everywhere plays on the ice. Masses of light are divided into brilliant multi-colored stripes and intertwined in the most bizarre way, sparkling with unusually clean and bright colors rainbows.

3. Plant world

To the harsh conditions of the Arctic deserts few species of living organisms have adapted . Lichens are found on the stones of the islands, they are very small .. Mosses and polar poppies have also adapted to life on the stones. In the water column, not covered with ice, a large number of plankton and algae, which enrich the water with oxygen and purify it from bacteria. They grow rapidly in the water during the Arctic summer and serve as food for millions of animals, which in turn feed on fish, squid and even giant whales.

4. Birds

Of the animals in these parts most of the birds . In summer, gulls, guillemots, and auks gather on the rocky shores. Noisy gatherings of seabirds on steep rocky shores are called "bird markets". Living in such a cluster, on inaccessible rocks, has its advantages: the birds are well protected from many predators. Here the birds hatch their chicks. Interestingly, guillemots do not build nests, but lay their eggs on bare rock ledges. Why don't eggs roll off rocks? Because they are pear shaped. But in the bird market, guillemots, puffins and kittiwakes have enemies. Large gulls nest near the bazaar - glaucous gulls, long-tailed skuas. These birds have learned to use other people's labor. A skua will take a fish from any bird. He chases and pounces until the bird leaves the fish - and he will pick it up on the fly! For this, the Skua was nicknamed Fomka the Robber.

5. Animal world

Except warm-blooded birds in the ice zone large mammals live .

Feels great here polar bear . White wool helps him to disguise himself and quietly sneak up on the future victim. Thick long hair is lubricated with a fatty substance secreted by the skin glands; it does not get wet in water, and does not freeze in frost. Polar bears travel across the Arctic ice, but they are also excellent swimmers. Polar bears hunt seals near ice holes, waiting for them to emerge for a breath of air. A thick layer of fat, evenly located under the skin, protects against cold weather. In the most severe frosts, polar bears bask in water, the temperature of which is + 2 ° C. When winter comes, bears dig a den in the snow, where they hide from adverse weather conditions (females).

Wandering in search of food wolves, foxes. The arctic fox is also called the polar fox. In winter, its fur becomes white and extremely thick. White color allows the arctic fox to camouflage itself in the snow and hunt with greater ease. It is omnivorous and feeds on birds, crabs or fruits.

Seals and walruses they spend most of their lives in the water, and come out on land for childbearing and molting. On hard ground, they are clumsy due to their sheet-like limbs. Walruses are larger than seals, walruses have tusks. The walrus uses bottom mollusks for food, the seal eats fish. A walrus can rest right in the water, while a seal needs to climb out onto ice floes to rest, where a polar bear can lie in wait for it.

The numerous aquatic animals that live in the ice zone include fish feeding on small crustaceans and algae. In the seas Arctic zone I dwell narwhal, bowhead whale, polar dolphin or beluga whale, killer whale .

6. Food chains that have developed in the Arctic.

1. Algae——> crustaceans——> fish——> birds

2. Algae crustaceans fish birds

seals

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White bears

7. Population

Here liveEskimos, Chukchi, Yakuts . A person is not a native inhabitant of the Arctic, but it has always attracted with its mysteriousness. The Northern Sea Route was laid. Scientific stations operate on the islands and in the ice of the Arctic Ocean. Brave explorers live and work here. They monitor the weather around the clock, day after day, and report it by radio to the mainland. People are engaged in fishing and hunting. But this is not always done intelligently.

8. Environmental issues

Main environmental issues this region are

— climate change and the melting of Arctic ice;
– water pollution northern seas drains of oil and chemical compounds, as well as by sea transport;
— Decrease in the population of arctic animals and change in their habitat.

In general, studies show that temperatures in the Arctic are rising faster than in the rest of the world. According to 2004 data, over the past 30 years, the thickness of the Arctic ice has decreased by half on average. In the 21st century, most of the Arctic waters will be completely ice-free. And by 2070, the Earth may completely lose the northern ice cap

The main sources of pollution are the mining industry and transport, military installations, and the processing industry. Another important problem is the decline in the population of Arctic animals. Every year in early March, seal pups are born. At the age of 3-4 weeks, when small seals cannot hide from danger even in the water, people catch them on the ice by the thousands and kill them for their skins. The main enemy of the fox is man. The arctic fox attracts him with its luxurious fur. Thousands and thousands of these animals are destroyed for the sake of luxurious fur coats. The walrus, the pink gull have become rare, they are listed in the Red Book of Russia.

The boom in commercial fishing and the growing exploitation of oil and gas fields since the second half of the 20th century are seriously threatening resources once considered inexhaustible. People thought about their behavior, took rare animals under protection, limited fishing, created nature reserves.

9. Reserve "Wrangel Island"

Reserve "Wrangel Island" located on two islands: about. Wrangel and about. Herald, it was organized in 1976. Through the whole island from west to east there are three chains of mountains, separated by valleys. She-bears come to Wrangel Island from different parts of the Arctic. Every spring, scientists count up to two hundred lairs on the island in which babies are born. Therefore, the island is called the "maternity hospital" of polar bears. The island is inhabited by the largest of the ungulates of the Arctic - the musk ox, brought to the reserve from America. The reserve has the largest concentration of walruses. A large number of birds come to the island for nesting. In spring, you can meet a rare bird - a pink gull, it is called the firebird of the north. Wrangel Island is the only place where white geese nest.

According to experts from the Wrangel Island Reserve, poachers kill 200-300 polar bears in the Russian Arctic every year.

You may be interested

The Arctic (translated from Greek, bear) is the edge of the northern land, where in summer the sun does not set beyond the sunset line. And in winter, severe frosts reign here, hurricane-force winds that cause strong snowstorms and a polar night that lasts from 98 to 127 days. At the North Pole itself, it lasts six months. And the only sources of light here in winter are the stars, the moon and the twinkling aurora. The Arctic is divided into arctic deserts of the earth, ice and polar. Simply put, on the territory of eternal snow and ice and patches of land with vegetation. The climate of the Arctic deserts, in view of their location in the natural zone, part of the geographical zone adjacent to the Arctic Ocean, is very cold and harsh. That is why they call this region of the Arctic deserts, the zone of eternal snow and ice. The arctic deserts of the earth are nothing but varieties of deserts, with very sparse and poor vegetation, among the ice and snow of the arctic belt of the earth.

Such deserts are distributed almost throughout Greenland, the northern part, most of North America, falling on the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and on a significant part of the islands with complex mountainous terrain, located in the icy ocean and having their own unique climate of the Arctic deserts. The cold climate of the Arctic deserts makes it impossible for vegetation to grow in abundance. Since, in short summers, the air temperature does not rise above 0 ° +5 °, in winter its average weighted temperature ranges from 10-35 °, and in the Greenland and Asian North to -50 °, -60 ° Celsius. Precipitation does not exceed the fallen rate of 200 - 400 millimeters per year. The Arctic deserts of the earth, during short-term snowmelt, have insignificant land areas isolated by snow and ice - polar oases, where lichens, scale mosses and herbaceous vegetation in the form of sedge and simple grasses grow predominantly, up to approximately five tons of green mass per hectare. This is very, very little. But no matter how severe arctic desert climate, nature decreed that during the short cold summer, insignificant stony and swampy areas of soil freed from snow cover with beautiful colors growing here, some types of flowers, such as buttercup, saxifrage, foxtail, polar poppy. Many of these plants, the peoples inhabiting the Far North, are considered medicinal. And for most of the animals common here, sparse vegetation is the main source of food. The almost never changing climate of the Arctic deserts has adapted to itself a small number of animal species that have chosen the territories of the harsh Arctic deserts. Here in this land, you can meet such animals as the polar fox, the "owner" of these glacial places, the polar bear, the Greenland musk bull, the small rodent lemming (pied), often in the summer, you can also see the polar hare, which was initially considered by scientists to be a hare .
The climate of the Arctic deserts, with its severity, did not affect the families of birds living here. Waders, geese, eiders, guillemots, guillemots, glaucous gulls, which from year to year, arriving here, collect their multi-million bird colonies here. And for such mammals as beluga whales, seals, ringed seals, sea seals, walruses, only the climate of the Arctic deserts and their immediate habitat, the Laptev Sea and the Kara Sea, are suitable for living. In the cold, phytoplankton is found in abundance and in sufficient quantities, such fish as nelma, cod, arctic cod, vendace. The Arctic deserts of the land, which polar bears have chosen, have been declared reserves, one of these is called Wrangel Island, the surface area of which is a continuous glacier strewn with broken stone and rubble. The climate of the Arctic deserts owes its formation not only to the low temperature of high latitude, but also to thermal reflection (albedo) during the daytime, from the surface of ice and snow, which is held in the Arctic, all year round. In summer, when the air temperature rises above zero, the effect of thermal reflection leads to a significant evaporation of moisture from the surface of the glaciers, so the sky of the Arctic deserts is almost constantly covered with low-weight lead clouds. It rains constantly, often with snow. Evaporation of water from the ocean opened from the ice contributes to the formation of thick fogs. Not the last influential role on the climate of the Arctic deserts is exerted by the underwater East Greenland Current and the clockwise movement of the ice field in the ocean caused by it with the ongoing removal of drifting ice into the Atlantic Ocean. An exceptionally last and no less important role in the climate of the Arctic deserts is played by permafrost, which fetters the land and waters of the Arctic with centuries of ice. The thickness of the permafrost ice shell ranges from 100 - 150 meters in the area of Franz Josef Land in the northern regions of the Taimyr Peninsula to 500 - 550 meters and over 680 meters on Novaya Zemlya. In some mountainous and elevated places, ice from the mainland, breaking off, slides into the ocean, forming giant floating icebergs. like this naturally, mother herself - nature supports and regulates the harsh climate of the Arctic deserts.

Due to the type of activity, one often has to deal with the fact that the “Internet generation”, having lived to the age of 18, cannot imagine all the diversity of the nature of our planet. For them, trees grow in the taiga, and grass in the tundra, they do not imagine the African savannah and do not know why hard-leaved forests are called hard-leaved.

Let's start our excursion into the diversity of the world from the northernmost natural zone - the zone of the Arctic deserts.

1. The Arctic deserts are shown in gray on the map.

The Arctic desert is the northernmost of the natural zones, characterized by an arctic climate, arctic air masses predominate all year round. The islands of the Arctic Ocean lie in the zone of the Arctic deserts (Greenland, the northern part of the Canadian archipelago, the Svalbard archipelago, Severny Island of Novaya Zemlya, the New Siberian Islands, and a narrow strip along the coast of the Arctic Ocean within the Yamal, Gydansky, Taimyr peninsulas, and further east to Chukotka Peninsula). These spaces are covered with glaciers, snow, rubble and rock fragments.

2. Arctic desert in winter

3. Arctic desert in summer

The climate is extremely harsh. Ice and snow cover lasts almost the whole year. In winter, there is a long polar night here (at 75 ° N, its duration is 98 days, at 80 ° N - 127 days, and in the region of the pole - half a year). Average January temperatures are about -30 (for comparison, in Tomsk the average January temperature is -17), frosts are often below -40. Northeast winds blow almost constantly at a speed of more than 10 m / s, snowstorms are frequent. In February-March, the sun rises from the horizon, and in June, along with the onset of the polar day, spring comes. The snow cover on the well-warmed southern slopes disappears by mid-June. Despite round-the-clock lighting, temperatures rarely rise above +5, soils thaw by several centimeters. average temperature July, the warmest month of the year 0 - +3. In summer, the sky is rarely clear, usually it is covered with clouds, it rains (often with snow), thick fogs form due to the evaporation of water from the surface of the ocean. Precipitation falls mainly in the form of snow. The maximum precipitation occurs in the summer months. There is not much precipitation - about 250 mm / year (for comparison, in Tomsk about 550 mm / year). Almost all moisture remains on the surface, not seeping into the frozen ground and evaporating weakly due to low temperatures and the low position of the sun in the sky.

4. Typical vegetation of the Arctic deserts - mosses and lichens.

The Arctic desert is practically devoid of vegetation: there are no shrubs, lichens and mosses do not form a continuous cover. Soils are thin, arctic desert, with insular distribution, localized under vegetation, which consists mainly of sedges, some grasses, lichens and mosses. Plants rarely reach a height of 10 cm, usually nestled against stones (cold air heats up from the surface of the earth, so plants tend to cling as tightly as possible to relatively warm earth), and grow mainly in depressions, on the southern slopes, on the leeward side of large stones and rocks. The disturbed vegetation cover is restored extremely slowly.

5. Sedge

6. Moss cuckoo flax (right)

6.1. Moss moss lichen (light), lingonberry leaves (lower left). Cowberry leaves are covered with a wax coating that protects them from excessive solar radiation - the polar day can last for many days, weeks and even months.

The fauna is predominantly marine: walrus, seal, in summer there are bird colonies - in summer goose, eider, sandpiper, guillemot, guillemot arrive and nest. Terrestrial fauna is poor: arctic fox, polar bear, lemming.

7. Lemming - a mouse with a very short tail and ears hidden in fur. The shape of her body is spherical, the most favorable for keeping warm - this is the only way to avoid frostbite in the Arctic climate.

9. Lemmings live under snow most of the year.

10.

11. And this is a polar fox - a lemming hunter

12. Arctic fox on the hunt

13. Do you still want to wear a coat with a fox fur collar?

14. The white (polar) bear prefers to live on the coasts. Its main food lives in the waters of the Arctic Ocean.

15. Seal with her cub

16. Walrus

17. Beluga dolphin - an inhabitant of the waters of the Arctic Ocean

The color of the beluga whale is monophonic, it changes with age: newborns are dark blue, after a year they become gray and bluish-gray; individuals older than 3-5 years are pure white (hence the name of the dolphin).

The largest males reach 6 m in length and 2 tons in weight; females are smaller. The head of the beluga whale is small, "lobed", without a beak. The vertebrae on the neck are not fused together, so the beluga whale, unlike most whales, is able to turn its head. The pectoral fins are small and oval in shape. The dorsal fin is absent; hence the Latin name of the genus Delphinapterus - "wingless dolphin". By the way, the fact of education is interesting stable expression"roar beluga" in Russian. It is associated with the loud sounds that the white whale makes. In the 19th century, the names "belukha" and "beluga" were equally used. Currently, "beluga" refers primarily to the name of the beluga fish, and wingless dolphins are called beluga whales.

18.

19.

20. Gaga. The down of this particular bird is considered the best heat-insulating material for winter clothes - it "breathes". In such clothes it is not hot during thaws and not cold during frosts. For many decades, polar explorers' clothing was sewn using eider down. Down is harvested from empty eider nests, each nest contains about 17 grams of down.

21.

22. Kulik

23. Chistik

24. Bird market. Guillemots.

25. Guillemot in flight

26. Bird market.

To be continued.

When you hear the word "desert", what immediately comes to mind? For most people, the desert evokes images of endless sandy expanses, high temperatures, and scrub vegetation. To some extent, this representation is accurate. Many deserts of the world are characterized by a large amount of sand and high temperatures(at least during daylight hours).

However, there are Arctic deserts that are fundamentally different from the rest of the deserts. There is no sand here, and temperatures are often far from hot, but rather sub-zero.

If you know anything about the Arctic, you are probably wondering who came up with the idea to call this region a desert. After all, the Arctic has the Arctic Ocean. However, arctic temperatures are so low that the ocean is almost always covered in ice. Severe frost also means that the air is unable to retain moisture. Thus, the air is dry, as in a classic desert.

Another weighty argument is the insignificant amount of precipitation in the form of rain or snow. In fact, the Arctic receives about the same amount of rainfall as the Sahara. All of the above factors have led to the emergence of the concept of "arctic or cold desert".

Natural conditions of the Arctic desert zone

For determining natural conditions arctic desert, below is a brief description of and a table of the main factors (geographical position, relief, soil, climate, Natural resources, flora and fauna) that influence the lives of people in this natural area.

Geographical position

Arctic desert on the map of the main natural areas of the world

Legend:

Arctic deserts

The natural zone of the Arctic desert is located above 75 ° north latitude and is adjacent to the North Pole of the Earth. She covers total area more than 100 thousand km². The Arctic Desert covers Greenland, the North Pole and several islands, many of which are inhabited by humans and animals.

Relief

The relief of the Arctic desert consists of various physical features: mountains, glaciers and flat areas.

Mountains: the arctic desert contains mountainous regions where a cold and dry climate prevails. In appearance, some of the region's mountains resemble mountains in Central America.

Glaciers: due to extremely low temperatures, the arctic desert is replete with numerous glaciers of various shapes and sizes.

Flat areas: make up the bulk of the region's territory and have a distinct patterned texture, which is the result of cycles of melting and freezing water.

If you watched the series "Game of Thrones", then the lands beyond the Wall give general idea what the arctic desert looks like. These scenes were filmed in Iceland, which is not officially part of the Arctic desert, but has a superficial resemblance to it.

Soils

In the main part of the territories of the natural zone of the Arctic desert, the soils remain frozen for most of the year. The permafrost reaches 600-1000 m deep and makes it difficult to drain water. In summer, the surface of the Arctic desert is covered with lakes from the melt water of the upper soil layer. Crushed stone and rocks, due to the movement of glaciers, are scattered throughout the natural zone.

The soil horizon of the Arctic deserts is very thin, poor in nutrients, and also includes a lot of sand. In warmer areas, there are soil types containing little organic matter, and capable of supporting the growth of small shrubs, algae, fungi and mosses. One such soil type is brown soils.

Climate

The climate of the natural zone of the Arctic desert is characterized by a long, very cold winter and short cool summers. During the cold months (typically December to January), temperatures can drop as low as -50°C. During the warmer months (typically July), temperatures can rise to +10°C. However, over many months, average temperatures range from -20° to 0°C.

The arctic desert receives very little rainfall. The average annual rainfall is below 250 mm. Precipitation, as a rule, falls in the form of snow and light drizzle, more often in the warm season.

During the summer months, the sun does not set at all in the Arctic desert. In fact, for 60 days, the sun is above the horizon around the clock.

Animals and plants

In total, about 700 plant species and about 120 animal species are found in the natural zone of the Arctic deserts. Flora and fauna have adapted to survive and even thrive in such extreme conditions. Plants were able to adapt to nutrient-poor soils, low temperatures environment and low rainfall. , as a rule, have a thick layer of fat and thick wool to protect from the cold. They breed during the short summer and often hibernate or migrate during the winter. The birds usually fly south during the cold winter months.

Only about 5% of the territories of the natural zone of the Arctic desert has vegetation cover. Although this is not surprising, given the status of the desert. Most plant life consists of the following plants: lichens, mosses and algae, which can survive in the extreme conditions of the Arctic.

Every year (especially in the warm season), some types of low (from 5 to 100 cm) shrub plants bloom. They typically include sedges, liverworts, herbs and different kinds colors.

Animal life in the Arctic desert is very diverse. There are numerous mammals, birds, fish and insects. All these animals are adapted to extremely low temperatures. Here are some examples of animals from the natural zone of the Arctic deserts:

Mammals: arctic foxes, polar bears, wolves, squirrels, hares, arctic voles, lemmings, reindeer, seals, walruses and whales.
Birds: crows, falcons, loons, sandpipers, snipes, terns and various types of gulls. Most of these birds are migratory (i.e. spend only part of their life cycle in the Arctic wilderness).
Fish: trout, salmon, flounder and cod.
Insects:

Natural resources

The Arctic includes significant reserves (oil, gas, minerals, fresh water and commercial fish species). also in last years tourist interest in this region has increased significantly, which also provides additional economic benefits.

The pristine and vast deserts of the Arctic play an important role in the conservation of biodiversity due to the growing human presence, as well as the fragmentation of vital habitats. The Arctic deserts are particularly susceptible to land cover depletion and habitat disturbance for the region's rare animals. The Arctic also contains 20% of the world's fresh water.

Table of the natural zone of the Arctic deserts

Geographical position

Relief and soil

Climate

Flora and fauna

Natural resources

Arctic regions located above 75° north latitude and receiving low rainfall (less than 250 mm per year).

The relief is mostly flat, but sometimes there are mountainous areas.

Soils are very poor in organic nutrient, and also remain frozen for most of the year.

The climate is dry and cold. Average temperatures range from 0° to -20° C. In winter, the air temperature can drop below -50° C, and in summer it can rise to +10° C.

Animals

mammals: polar foxes, polar bears, wolves, reindeer, hares, squirrels, voles, lemmings, walruses, seals and whales;

birds: crows, falcons, loons, sandpipers, snipes, terns and gulls;

fish: trout, salmon, flounder and cod;

insects: grasshoppers, arctic bumblebees, mosquitoes, moths, midges and flies.

Plants

shrubs, grasses, lichens, mosses and algae.

oil, gas, minerals, fresh water, commercial fish species.

Peoples and cultures

The most numerous inhabitants of the Arctic deserts are the Inuit. If the word "Inuit" is not clear to you, then most likely you have heard of the Eskimos.

The Inuit have adapted their lives to the difficult conditions of the Arctic wilderness. As a rule, there are practically no building materials in the Arctic. The Eskimos build snow huts called igloos. In the summer, when the Igloo is melted, they live in tents made from animal skins and bones.

Given the extreme conditions of the desert, the Inuit do not grow crops or vegetables. They eat mainly meat and fish. Thus, their main food sources are fishing, as well as hunting for seals, walruses and whales.

For transportation, the Inuit usually use dog sleds. Sleighs are made of skins and bones. They are pulled by strong, hardy, sledding breeds of dogs (huskies, malmutes, samoyeds). When moving through the water, they use kayaks or umiaks. Kayaks are small boats suitable for carrying one or two people. Umiaks are large enough to carry several people, dogs, and supplies.

Eskimo communities are found in various parts of the Arctic desert and. In Greenland, they are known as Iñupiat or Yup'ik. In Russia they are called Eskimos. Regardless of the name or geographical location, the Inuit speak the same language Inuktitut. They also have similar cultural traditions and way of life.

Significance for a person

In recent years, the Arctic wilderness has experienced an increase in tourism. Visitors to the cold desert come here for the unique ecosystem and mesmerizing snowy landscapes. Lakes, rivers, streams and mountains provide additional leisure activities for tourists from all over the world. Some recreational activities include sea cruises, boating, sport fishing, mountain climbing, hunting trips, white water rafting, hiking, dog sledding, skiing, snowshoeing, and more. The non-setting sun during the arctic summer is another reason for the interest of tourists who visit the arctic desert for this surreal phenomenon. Visitors also experience Inuit culture and life by visiting their settlements. The Arctic Desert, being the planet's polar region, plays a key role in regulating the Earth's climate.

Environmental threats

The population of people in the natural zone of the Arctic desert and adjacent areas is quite low. The most pronounced threat comes from exploration and extraction of mineral deposits. Global warming also has negative impact on the Arctic desert environment, upsetting the delicate balance of this ecosystem. As the planet's temperature rises, it heats up and melts, releasing carbon from the soil into the atmosphere, which accelerates the processes of climate change. Due to global warming melt polar ice, which contributes to sea level rise and increases the threat of flooding of the planet's coastal regions. Melting ice caps also threaten polar bears. They need ice to hunt, and melting ice cuts and fragments their hunting grounds. In addition, orphaned cubs have even lower survival rates because they are left to fend for themselves.

Protection of the Arctic deserts

To protect the natural zone of the Arctic deserts, it is necessary to provide assistance, cooperation, coordination and interaction between states with the participation of communities of the indigenous peoples of the Arctic on issues of sustainable development and environmental protection of the region.

The main goals of Arctic desert conservation include:

Preservation of the rich biodiversity of the region;
Sustainable use of renewable natural resources;
Reduce pollution and wasteful consumption.

To achieve these goals, it is necessary to focus international attention on the following problematic aspects:

Marine environment;
Fresh water;
biodiversity;
Changing of the climate;
Pollution;
Oil and gas.

Only the political will and interaction of states can give positive result in the struggle for the conservation of both the natural zone of the Arctic desert and the nature of the world as a whole.