The height of the Sayan mountain is the highest point. Sayans (Sayan Mountains)

Probably, many modern travelers at least once in their lives thought about how high the Sayan Mountains are. Why might this be of interest? As a rule, there are several explanations at once, the most important of which can be considered ordinary curiosity and an unstoppable desire to visit all possible highest points, if not the planet as a whole, then our country at least.

This article is aimed at telling about such an amazing geographical object of our country as the Sayan Mountains. The reader will learn a lot of useful information about this corner of our, by right, vast homeland.

general information

Sayan Mountains, photos of which can be found in almost any guide to the regions Russian Federation, consist of two interlocking mountain systems located in the south of Siberia within the Irkutsk region, Krasnoyarsk Territory, the Republics of Tyva, Khakassia and Buryatia, as well as the northern regions of Mongolia, bordering on the Republics of Tyva and Buryatia.

The mountains are geographically divided into the Western and Eastern Sayan, each of which has a number of its own characteristics.

For example, the western part has leveled and pointed ridges without glaciation, between which intermountain depressions are located. For the eastern part, mid-mountain peaks with glaciers are typical.

The Sayan Mountains have many rivers belonging to the Yenisei basin.

The slopes are covered with mountain taiga, turning into high mountain tundra. Between the mountain systems there are many basins various shapes and depth. One of the most famous is the Minusinsk Basin, which has a large number of archaeological sites. In general, it can be noted that the average amplitude of the heights of the Eastern Sayan Mountains differs significantly from the identical indicator of the western ranges.

Where did the name come from

Scientists claim that these places got their name in honor of the Turkic-speaking tribe of the same name, who lived in Siberia, in the upper reaches of the Yenisei and Oka.

Later, the Sayans united with other mountain tribes and became part of the peoples of the Republic of Tuva. The ethnos itself belonged to the Samoyedic tribes, and its representatives called the mountains "Kogmen", while the Buryats gave them something more difficult for the ear modern man name - "Sardyk".

The Russian Cossacks Tyumenets and Petrov, who visited the patrimony of Altyn-Khan in 1615, spoke about this tribe in their chronicles. Later, in the records of Russian travelers, the mountains were already listed under the name Sayan, the highest point of which, as was later established, is 3491 m.

Features of education

It should be noted that from a geological point of view, these are relatively young mountains, which, according to scientists, appeared about 400 million years ago.

They are formed from ancient rocks, including those of volcanic origin. Before education mountain system there was an ocean, as evidenced by the remains of fossilized algae found.

The formation took place under the influence of climate. During the period of ancient glaciation, the mountains were covered with glaciers, which, moving, changed the earth's surface, forming peaks and gorges with steep slopes. After warming, the glaciers melted, filling numerous basins and depressions in the relief - lakes of glacial origin appeared.

Geographical position

Many believe that the height of the Sayan Mountains is not so significant, and therefore does not deserve special attention. Let's check if this is actually the case by getting to know their geographical features better.

In general, this hill is a continuation of the Altai mountain system, which serves as the border between China and Russia.

Mountains are made up of parallel mountain ranges connected by nodes. The Sayans are connected with the Altai mountain system by the Shabin-Davan ridge. To the north and northwest of it stretches the Kaltanovsky Range, which abuts against the Itemsky Ridge, which stretches from east to southwest from a tributary of the Yenisei. In the south, the Kaltanovsky Range connects with the foothills of the Omaitura. To the east, from the Shabin-Davan ridge, the Sayans are divided into two chains. The northern Sayans are known as Kur-Taiga, and the southern - Tuna-Taiga.

From the northern Sayans in the upper reaches of the Sosnovka and Kyzyn-su rivers, a mountain spur departs, separating the Kantegir and Yenisei rivers. Further through the Yenisei, the Sayan Mountains go in several chains to the northeast.

The majestic Siberian river Yenisei passes through the massif called the Western Sayan, forming many rapids.

On the right bank of the Yenisei, the mountains smoothly pass into the steppes of the Minusinsk district. Parallel chains Saiyan wear different names. The Kyzyrsuk Range closely adjoins the Yenisei, creating a narrow passage with powerful waterfall called the Great Threshold. Then it passes between the rivers Kyzyr-Suka and Bolshoi Oi to the banks of the Yenisei, where the Biryusinsk chain drops to a height of 1600 feet.

In addition to the two branches of the Sayans, they have a mountain range that separates Kizira. Further, the Agul spur goes to the north and north-west and separates the Tagul and Agul rivers.

How the highest myths and legends of the Sayan Mountains were formed

The power of stone blocks, resting almost on the sky itself, has always become an object of inspiration and some respect from the peoples inhabiting these regions. That is why in folklore local residents You can find such a huge number of legends devoted to just this topic. Let's get acquainted with some of them.

In ancient times, the heavenly deity sent his son Geser to earth to fight evil. In those days, all the gods and heroes lived in the mountains, and Geser's throne was on the highest mountain. The heavenly hero cleansed the world of injustice and monsters, accomplished many feats. His warriors were petrified, turning into mountains. Now they are called Sayans, and the highest of them, where his throne was, is Munku-Sardyk. The peaks of the Sayan Mountains have ancient names and are shrouded in myths. On many of them, the so-called “obos”, or places of worship and sacrifice to the gods, are built of stones and logs.

In general, Geser is a mythological hero who is worshiped by almost all the peoples of Central Asia. The legend about this deity contains numerous plot cycles and has about 22,000 lines. The study of the epic has been going on for a hundred years, but there is still no authentic data. Some believe that Geser is a fictional character, while others are of the opinion that the epic is dedicated to Genghis Khan. It is also possible that Geser means the Roman translation of the title "Caesar" (Caesar). The Buryat Gesariada considers the version that the epic appeared before his birth. But most are inclined to believe that the legends about Geser tell about the life of a military leader who lived in the 11th-12th centuries.

Mystery and mystery of the name

The ancestors of modern Tuvans are the Turkic-speaking Soyot tribe, who lived in the past in the mountains in the upper reaches of the Yenisei and Oka rivers. According to ethnographers, "Soyot" refers to the plural of the word "Soyon", and therefore this tribe was also called Soyons. Later the word was modified into Sayany. The tribe called the mountains "Kogmen", which means "heavenly barriers." The Buryats called these mountains "Sardyk", which means "char" in translation.

For the first time, the Russian Cossacks Petrov and Tyumenets, who visited Altyn Khan in 1615, reported about the Sayan Mountains. The first conqueror of the Sayans was Commissar Pesterov, who checked the border lines in the mountains and was in charge of border posts and signs in 1778-1780. Research on the Sayans began in the 19th century.

Geological features

The Western Sayan has a folded structure and is part of the Caledonian belt of the Paleozoic Altai-Sayan region. It stretches from the southwest to the northeast in the form of an ellipse, which is bounded on all sides by faults. Internal structure due to the complex cover-charging type of structure.

If we reveal such a complex and multifaceted issue as the height of the Sayan Mountains, it is impossible not to mention that the mountain system of the western part is divided into several tectonic zones (North Sayan, Central Sayan, Borusskaya and Kurtushubinsky). The North Sayan belt includes Vendian-Cambrian volcanic-sedimentary deposits with a combination of ophiolite rocks in melange zones.

The Kurtushiba and Borussky belts are characterized by Lower Paleozoic quartzites and diabases, as well as argillaceous-siliceous shales and ultramafic rocks. Such rocks belong to complex tectonic-sedimentary mixtures. The Central Sayan belt consists of a complex of volcanic-flyschoid formations of the Early Paleozoic with numerous granite layers. This belt is characterized by tectonic accumulations and uneven changes. sedimentary rocks. Also, sometimes the Dzhebash zone is distinguished separately, which has a more ancient (Riphean) origin, located along the northern part of the Western Sayan. Altered volcanic-flyschoid deposits predominate here.

The Eastern Sayan is divided according to its age. The northeastern part, adjoining the Siberian Platform in the southwest, belongs to the most ancient (Precambrian) type, and the southwestern part to the younger (Caledonian) type. The first consists of altered Precambrian rocks, which include ancient gneisses and amphibolites. The central Derbinsky anticlinorium has a structure of younger rocks - shale, marble and amphibolites. The southwestern part of the Sayan Mountains is composed of volcanic-sedimentary rocks. In the north and west of the Eastern Sayan, orogenic basins are formed, consisting of volcanogenic terrigenous rocks.

Minerals of mountains

Considering in more detail such a concept as height, the Sayan Mountains cannot be represented as an integral geological object. Why? The thing is that their eastern part is longer and higher than the western. For example, the peak of the first part rises above sea level by 3491 m (the highest point of the Sayan Mountains is Munku-Sardyk), while the second part rises only by 3121 m. And the length of the eastern part is almost 400 km more than the western one.

However, despite these differences, the value and importance of this array for the economy of our country is difficult to overestimate. The fact is that the number of useful rocks occurring in their strata is truly impressive.

In the Western Sayans there are deposits of iron, copper, gold, chrysotile asbestos, molybdenum and tungsten ores. The main wealth of the mountain bowels is iron and chrysotile-asbestos. Iron ore belongs to the hydrothermal-metasomatic type associated with gabbroids and granitoids of increased basicity. Chrysotile asbestos is associated with the Lower Cambrian ultramafic rocks.

The Eastern Sayan, the height of which predominates significantly, is known for deposits of gold, iron, aluminum, titanium ores and other rare metals, graphite, mica and magnesite. Iron deposits are represented by ferruginous quartzites, volcanogenic-sedimentary hematite-magnetite and magnetite ores. are represented by bauxites, urtites, and sillimanite-bearing Proterozoic schists. Secondary phosphorites belong to agricultural ores. There are also small deposits of contact-metasomatic phlogopite and pegmatite muscovite. Reserves of quartz, graphite, jade, chrysotile-asbestos, limestone and building materials have been found in the region.

Western Sayans

This territory stretched to the northeast to the Eastern Sayan, from the sources of the Maly Abakan River to the upper reaches of the Kazyr and Uda rivers. The highest point is the Kyzyl-Taiga Range (3120 m), which is part of the Dividing Sayan Range.

The mountain landscape is characterized by alpine relief with steep slopes and extensive stone placers. Mountain peaks in the west they reach heights of up to 3000 m, in the east they decrease to 2000 m. The foot of the slopes is covered with pine deciduous forests, which go higher into the dark coniferous taiga.

The upper tiers at an altitude of 2000 m represent mountain taiga with glacial lakes, cirques and moraines. On the territory of the Western Sayan is the Sayano-Shushensky Reserve.

Eastern Sayans

The peaks of this territory are covered with non-melting snow. The highest point of the Eastern Sayan Mountains and the Sayan Mountains themselves, as mentioned above, is Mount Munku-Sardyk (3490 m), which adjoins the Okinsky plateau. The plain here is covered with alpine meadows, deciduous forests and mountain tundra, there are also desert rocky areas. In the central part, a knot of several ridges is formed, its highest peak (Grandiozny Peak) has a height of 2980 m.

Peak Topographers (3044 m) belongs to the second largest peak. The main glaciers are located in the region of the main peaks. In addition, in the Eastern Sayans there is a "valley of volcanoes" with traces of volcanic activity, which is a volcanic plateau. The last ejections of lava were about 8,000 years ago. In the Eastern Sayans is located the world-famous nature reserve"Pillars".

What to see in Sayan

Taking into account all the facts listed above, it is not surprising that the height of the Sayan Mountains annually attracts such a huge number of travelers from different parts of the globe. Everyone wants to feel like a part of something huge and immense.

However, not only the height attracts here, the Sayans have a unique taiga landscape with glacial lakes, waterfalls and rivers that create unique landscapes.

The Central Sayan Mountains (Tofalaria) are considered the most inaccessible and deserted region of the mountains. Among the taiga of the Western Sayans, the natural "Stone City" is hidden, where the rocks resemble the remains of ancient castles and fortresses. The Eastern Sayan Mountains are known for the Shumak mineral springs and the “Valley of Volcanoes”.

Especially beautiful is the Munku-Sardyk region with the Oka plateau in July, when the mountains are covered with a colorful carpet of poppies, rhododendrons, edelweiss, golden root and other plants. There are many gorges, rivers, lakes and streams, red deer and musk deer are found. The nature of Munku-Sardyk is almost untouched by man. The ridge itself is located on the border between Russia and Mongolia, and visiting this area is possible only with permission from the border guard, otherwise the height of the Sayan Mountains can only bewitch from the outside.

The Sayans are a mountain belt of Siberia. They are divided into two systems: Western and Eastern. At the same time, they are located perpendicular to each other. According to scientists, the Sayans are young mountains, which are no more than 400 million years old. Some of the rocks from which they are formed are of volcanic origin. As a result of the inspection of the site and the excavations, there were suggestions that the ocean was located here earlier. This is evidenced by fossilized algae in the rocks.

Mountains of Russia - Sayans

The climate in the mountains was formed several million years ago and still has not changed. When in the world of "rules" ice Age, Sayans were completely covered with snow. Small valleys and slopes formed next to them, as a rule, due to the fall of fragments. After it started global warming, glaciers, thawing, contributed to the formation of various lakes.

Where are the Sayans? East End reaches the southern coast of Lake Baikal. The mountains are part of the orogenesis belt, which is called the Central Asian. This geological material is considered the oldest in Russia. Also, these mountains are in no way inferior to the Alps: neither in beauty, nor in size, nor in height.

To this day, several peaks of the mountains are covered with ice. Snowfields are also not uncommon, which are accumulations of snow of various sizes in places where the sun's rays do not reach.

The Sayan Mountains on the map of Russia can be seen if you look to the south of Siberia. They are located both on the territory of the Federation and Mongolia. In fact, the Sayan Mountains are two connecting mountain systems that differ in relief and have a clear boundary line. Crossing point - Central Sayans.

Western Sayan

What is the height of this mountain belt? The Sayan Mountains in the west rise to 3,000 meters. Length - 650 km. A neighbor in the southwest is Altai. The ridges of the mountain system are rather steep slopes, rugged relief, a large accumulation of stones.

The western ridges are elongated in a vertical position. In the south-west, the ridge is called Saldzhur, in the center - Sailyg-Khem-Taiga, the zone near the coast of the Yenisei is called Sayanskaya.

Height also affects the diversity of slope relief. The Sayan mountains, for example, near the border of the forest, form a high-mountainous alpine relief. For him, a typical characteristic will be low and steep slopes, deep-bottomed karrs.

The mid-mountain relief prevails in the south and north. The ridges here are flat and gentle. There are also many river valleys around the mountains, which are already overgrown with taiga.

Winter here is frosty, spring comes late. Snowmelt usually occurs at the end of May. Summer does not last long, there are many cold winds blowing. Snowfall was often observed in July-August. There are many earthquakes in September.

Depressions cool faster, so mountains often have a higher temperature than depressions.

Eastern Sayan

What is the height in the east? The Sayan Mountains there reach 3491 m. This system of mountains stretches through Southern Siberia, Krasnoyarsk region, Irkutsk region, Buryatia and Tuva.

The Eastern Sayan begins near the Yenisei and ends at the shores of Lake Baikal. The mountain system is located in a sharply continental climate zone. Winters are constantly frosty and long, while summers are short and cold. In January, the minimum temperature is -25 o C, and in July - +12 o C. Each slope has a different amount of precipitation (from 300 mm to 800 mm per year).

Near the mountains are glaciers and rivers. Lakes were formed as a result of melting ice. A large accumulation of minerals was found near the Tunkinsky Goltsy.

For guard environment created parks and reserves located near the mountains.

Flora and fauna

The Sayan Mountains, photos of which are widely presented in the article, are rich in forests, the predominant trees in which are spruce, cedar, and fir. They are located at an altitude of 1500 m. Often there are deciduous-cedar plantings.

The climate is severe: cold winters, strong winds and cool summers prevail. The relief, as a rule, is rugged, but in some places it is leveled, covered with tundra. In places where there is enough moisture, there are meadows and small shrubs sprout.

Berries also grow here: raspberries, currants, strawberries, wild strawberries and others.

From animals you can often see wolves, bears, elks, squirrels, hares. Woodpeckers, hazel grouses, wood grouses, jays - all these birds are found in the forests located on the slopes.

Rivers and tourism

Sayans - mountains, the map of which fully shows their splendor, attracts tourists. Since the system covers almost all of Siberia, it is hard not to notice it. That is why it is often visited by climbers different countries. The most attractive places (besides the mountains themselves) are small streams, lakes and waterfalls. In these parts wildlife, which suffered little damage from human hands. There are also nature reserves here.

The Sayan Mountains (see photo below) are rich in rivers. They have a mixed diet with a predominance of snow and rain. All of them belong to the Yenisei basin, and their sources are the Big and Small Yenisei. The most striking and can be called Biy-Khem. Its length is 600 km. Due to its picturesque landscapes, it is the most visited and popular in these parts.

Altai are considered one of the most beautiful mountain ranges. This system, in which there are quite high peaks, is divided by rivers and basins. What her and Altai do not differ much from each other, but their height is different. What do you think, which mountain range is higher - Altai or Sayans? We'll talk about this a little later.

Relief and geological feature

The relief that characterizes Altai is rare in mountain systems. Here it is easy to meet screes and landslides, ridges and hills, karlings and carlings, peaks and valleys with hollows.

Scientists claim that they were formed in the Caledonian age. And also in the Mesozoic and experienced a second rise. Several centuries ago, the bottom of the mountains was compressed for natural reasons, thus a mountainous country was formed.

Which mountains are higher: Sayans or Altai?

Western Sayan stretched for 600 km. Its total height is 3976 m. The summit is Mongun-Taiga. The Eastern Sayan occupies much more space, its width reaches 1 thousand km, and its height is 3491 m. Munku-Sardyk is considered the main mountain.

The main ridge of the Western Sayan is the watershed Sayan ridge. Its highest point is considered to be the peak of Kyzyl-Taygu, the height of which reaches 3121 m.

Connecting, all the mountains of the Sayan form a giant complex of "white mountains" and "squirrels". In certain places, "nodes" appear, their centers are Grandiose (height 2982 meters) and Munku-Sardyk.

Mount Belukha is the peak of the Altai Mountains. Here is the beginning The name was formed due to the fact that the mountain is constantly covered with snow: from the very beginning to the end. The border between the Russian Federation and Kazakhstan passes through the Belukha massif.

Belukha is located on Katunsky - 4509 km. More than half of the glaciers of this range are concentrated on it. This means that almost the entire mountain is covered with ice. Winters are cold, summers are short and rainy. In January, the temperature can reach -48 ° C, in March it rises to -5 ° C.

Altai is slightly higher than the Sayan Mountains. This is evidenced by the characteristics of both mountain systems and their central peaks.

From the point of view of geology, the Sayans are very young mountains, they are about 400 million years old. However, they are composed of ancient rocks, including those of volcanic origin. Geobotanical finds indicate that billions of years ago there was an ocean here - petrified ancient algae, which are found quite often, "tell" about this in the fractures of the rocks.

The features of the Sayan relief are determined by the climate that was here many years ago. Then, in the era of ancient glaciation, powerful glaciers covered the mountains. As the glaciers slid down, they "plowed" the earth's surface, creating sharp peaks and deep valleys with wide bottoms and steep slopes. When the climate warmed up, the glaciers began to melt and filled with water numerous depressions and depressions in the relief that formed ancient glaciers - many lakes of glacial origin formed in the mountains.

The Sayans are located in the south of Siberia, northeast of Altai and west of Baikal, on the territory of Russia and Mongolia. In fact, the Sayans are two interlocking mountain systems with different topography and a clearly visible border: the Eastern Sayan and the Western Sayan, which are located almost at right angles to each other. The place of their intersection is called the Central Sayans. The Eastern and Western Sayans form a mountain arc convex to the north.

The Western Sayan stretches for 600 km from the upper reaches of the Small Abakan River to the northeast to the Eastern Sayan - the sources of the Kazyr and Uda rivers. The highest point of the Western Sayan is Mount Kyzyl-Taiga, 3121 m high, which is part of the Dividing Sayan Range.

The characteristic relief of the ridges of the Western Sayan Mountains - steep indented slopes, vast areas of stone placers - is a typical alpine relief. The height of the ridges in the west is up to 2500-3000 m, which decreases to the east to 2000 m. Pine-deciduous forests in the lower parts of the slopes are replaced at an altitude of 800-900 m by dark coniferous taiga, which is replaced above 2000 m by mountain tundra with glacial caravans, moraines, glacial lakes, etc. The unique Sayano-Shushensky Reserve is located in the Western Sayan Mountains.

The ridges of the Eastern Sayans form a system of "squirrels" and "belogoria" - this is the name of the mountains with non-melting snow on the tops. In the central part, several ridges formed a knot, the highest point of which is Grandiose Peak, 2982 m high. translated “eternal” and sardyk, sardak, which means “mountain tops”, “bald mountains”, and is translated as “Eternal char”. The Okinsky Plateau adjoins Mount Munku-Sardyk - beautiful place with a variety of landscapes: larch forests, alpine meadows, mountain tundra and desert rocky areas.

The second highest peak is Topographers Peak, whose height is 3044 m. In the region of the most important peaks of the Eastern Sayan Mountains, there are the main glaciers, of which there are about 100 in the Sayan Mountains. volcanoes" - a kind of gently sloping volcanic plateau. Presumably, the last lava eruptions occurred about 8 thousand years ago - by geological standards, these are very young formations.

Point one. Siberian mountains. Sayans are mountains in Eastern Siberia, in the Russian Federation and partly in neighboring Mongolia. The Sayans are divided into two mountain ranges - the Western Sayan and the Eastern Sayan. Western Sayan is a neighbor Altai mountains, and the Eastern Sayan extends to the east up to Lake Baikal. To the south of the Western Sayan is the Tuva mountain range Tannu-Ola, and from the Eastern Sayan is the Mongolian mountain range Khangai.

Point two. Description of the Saiyan. The maximum height of the mountain in the Sayans reaches 4 thousand meters. On the Western Sayan There are no glaciers, but there are glaciers on the East. The Sayans are mountains overgrown with dense and powerful Siberian coniferous forest, taiga. On the peaks and near them, you can find areas of mountain tundra.

Point three. Sayan fauna. The Sayans are living mountains, home to many Siberian forest animals and birds: wolves, hares, foxes and lynxes, even maral deer and elk, crossbills, hazel grouse and others. Two more typical representatives of the Sayan fauna are squirrels and chipmunks, lovers of pine nuts, which ripen here in abundance in summer. In the Western Sayan, in its hard-to-reach area, there is even Snow Leopard- a rare handsome man of Asia.

Since ancient times, the Sayans have been the patrimony of Siberian hunters and gatherers of wild berries and mushrooms. The Sayan rivers are very rich in tasty and nutritious oily fish, and the Sayan, in turn, can be called mountains with very rich rivers and streams.

Point four. virgin nature. There are many places in the Sayan Mountains where the Siberian forest nature is practically untouched. Glades, taiga lakes, waterfalls, hills in the intermountains, overgrown with mast trees, have been preserved in their original form. coniferous trees. In the Russian Sayans, two reserves have been identified, as well as National parks and preservers. Between the spurs of the Sayans there are many deep basins. The most extensive of them is the Minusinsk steppe, a plain between mountain ranges. It is in the Sayans that the great Siberian river Yenisei originates - in the Eastern Sayan at the peak of Topographers. The main source of the Yenisei is called by the locals Biy-Khem (Big Yenisei).

Sayans, a mountainous country, a vast mountain range in the east in the central part of the Eurasian continent is almost entirely located in the south of Russia and only a small part in the southeast is located on the territory of Mongolia. The Sayans are located in the middle part of the mountains of Southern Siberia. The Sayan Mountains are located between 88° and 104° east longitude, 56° and 50° north latitude.

The Sayans are a vast mountainous country divided into two mountain systems: the Western Sayan and the Eastern Sayan. The Eastern Sayan Mountains spread from the northwest to the southeast adjoining their eastern slopes to the southwestern shores of Lake Baikal.

The mountains of the Western Sayan originate in the west adjoining the eastern mountain slopes of the Altai Mountains and, following in an easterly direction, adjoin the middle part of the western slopes of the Eastern Sayan. At the junction of the Eastern and Western Sayans, an alpine mountain junction is formed with heights of almost 3000 meters. Several rivers originate from the slopes of the mountain junction: Kizir and Kazyr from the western slope; Agul, Tagul, Biryusa (She) and Uda from the northeastern slopes.

The mountain knot is formed by several ridges: the ridge of the Western Sayan Ergak-Targak-Taiga (Tazarama), the ridges of the Eastern Sayan - Kryzhina, Agulskie Belki, Gutarsky, Biryusinsky and Udinsky. In the region of the mountain junction there is the peak of the Triangulators with a height of 2875 meters, as well as several other peaks reaching almost 3000 meters. Mountain ranges are located on the territory of several constituent entities of the Russian Federation: the Krasnoyarsk Territory, the Irkutsk Region, the Republics of Khakassia, Tyva, Buryatia.

From the mountainous expanses of the Sayan originates one of the most big rivers Russia, Eurasia and the world the Yenisei river. In the Sayans, on the northern slopes of the Western Sayan on the Yenisei River, there is one of the largest in the world and in Russia, the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station. The highest peak of the Sayans is located on Mount Munku-Sardyk with a height of 3491 meters.

In the west, the Sayan Mountains are limited by the Altai Mountains, in the east by the waters of the Irkut River (the right tributary of the Angara River), Lake Baikal and the Khamar-Daban ridge. In the south by the Tannu-Ola and Academician Obruchev ridges, in the north-west by the Abakansky ridge. Due to the remoteness and inaccessibility and the harsh climate with long winters, the Sayans are sparsely populated. But despite this, tourism is actively developing in the Sayans. Every year more and more people want to visit and see the untouched natural landscapes of the Sayans.

There are new tourist bases, tourist routes. Also, many make independent small groups of tourist trips.

Sayan Mountains, 360° panorama

In addition to land travel, along tourist routes, water tourism along the Sayan rivers is also actively developing.

Flora Saiyan

Almost everywhere in the Sayans, dark coniferous taiga spruce-cedar-fir forests prevail, rising in the western and central parts to altitudes of 1500-1800 m and more; light larch-cedar forests form the upper border of the forest at altitudes of 2000-2500 m.

Alpine landscapes located above the forest line are distinguished by severe and long winters, short and cool summers, strong winds. It is dominated by both a sharply indented, distinct relief, and leveled watershed spaces covered with shrubs and moss-lichen tundra, alternating with extensive stone placers with almost no vegetation. In more humid areas, subalpine shrubs and meadows are developed, in some places tall grasses.

Red and black currants, blueberries, lingonberries, wild strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries grow from berries in river valleys.

Sayan fauna

The fauna is as rich as the flora due to the inaccessibility and sparsely populated areas. In the taiga and mountains you can see a bear, a wolf, a lynx, a deer, an elk, a musk deer, a squirrel, a chipmunk, a hare. Of the birds, the most numerous are the nutcracker, the jay, and the woodpecker, crossbill, scurry, capercaillie, partridge, hazel grouse are often heard.

Siberian grayling, lenok, a lot of taimen are found in the rivers. Typical representatives of blood-sucking dipteran insects - mosquitoes, midges, biting midges - are not numerous here, and in well-blown river valleys They are not here.

Sayans (orography scheme)

Sayans are the most beautiful mountains, which are an attractive place for horses.

People of the Russian Federation

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The Sayan Mountains is a common name for two mountainous regions in southern Siberia in the Russian Federation: Krasnoyarsk Krai - Irkutsk Oblast, Republic of Khakassia, Tuva, Burdzhatsia and Mongolia, northern regions bordering on the last two regions of Russia.

Western Sayan
The Western Sayan, 650 km long, borders on the southwestern part of Altai. Its main range is the Sayan Range with the highest point of Kyzyl-Taiga (3121 m).

The ridges of the Western Sayan are characterized by steep slopes, a rugged landscape, and vast areas of stone plants - Kurumov-Uronnikov. The height in the west does not exceed 2500-3000 m, they fall to the east by 2000 m.

Eastern Sayan
The Eastern Sayan extends for 1000 km almost at right angles to the west from the northwest to the southeast from the Yenisei to Baikal.

Which mountains are higher: Altai or Sayans?

The reefs in the northwest are a system of "white-blooded" (Manskoye, Kanskoye) and "squirrels", which, after the winter snowy snow on their summits are named after them.

In the central part, in the upper and Kazyrsky Kizir, several reefs of the river form a "knot" with the highest point - on the top of the Great (2982 m). In the southeast are the highest and toughest ranges - the Big Sayan region of Tunka, the Kitoi region, the Kropotkin ridge, etc. This is also the highest point east of Sajan. Mount Munch-Sardyk (3491 m), which is located in the same mountain range and is considered the highest point of the Sayan Mountains.

Location of the Sayan mountain system on the world map

(mountain system boundaries are approximate)

And it serves as a border between Russian and Chinese possessions.

It extends along the southern outskirts of the Yenisei and southwestern parts of the Irkutsk and Trans-Baikal regions. It is a series of parallel mountain ranges connected by high mountain knots. The Sayan mountain range is connected with the Altai by a high mountain knot known as Shabin-davan. Some hills, if they do not cross the snow line, then retain snow for 10.5 months. From the mountain junction, near the sources of the Chakhan, a mountain spur, known as the Kaltanovsky Range, departs to the northern and northwestern directions. At the beginning it is high. But the further to the Sayans, the more it goes down and then rests on the rocky, mountainous Itemsky ridge, stretching from east to southwest and west of the left bank. It got its name from the high, flat-topped hill of Item. The Itemsky ridge runs between the Jaya and Uy rivers. Further to the south, the Kaltanovsky khebet merges with the rocky mountain spur of Omaitura.

From Shabin-Davan mountain district has eastbound. Along this stretch, the Sayan mountain range is divided into two parallel chains. The southern one is called Tuna-taiga by the locals, and the northern Kur-taiga. From this latter, near the sources of the Kyzyn-su and Sosnovka rivers, a low mountain spur separates, extending to the confluence of the Kantegira river with the Yenisei. The spur serves as a watershed, flowing to the right into the Kantegir River and to the left into the Yenisei River.

Having crossed the Yenisei River, the Sayan mountain range stretches to the northeast in several parallel chains. The boundary main chain bears various names: for example, from the right bank of the Yenisei River to the headwaters of the Uk River, the name is Tarkhok-shan. Before the source of the river Kayart, the tributary of the Us river is called Ergik-shan. From here to the source of the Tikhaya River. Then from Mount Kendzhin-davan (where the Us River originates) to the Munku-Sardyk mountain range, Sayan wears local name Ergik-Tarkhok-taiti (toothed, wooded ridge).

The Yenisei River, down from the Kemchik-bom tract, makes its way through a series of almost parallel mountain ranges that form numerous rapids. These mountain ranges imperceptibly merge from the main chain with the elevated Minusinsk district, located on the right side of the Yenisei River. These parallel ranges, whose heights are more or less fixed at some points, have various names. The Kyzyrsuk ridge, approaching the Yenisei, causes the origin of an unusually narrow gorge, compressing the river to 25 sazhens, and forms in its channel a huge waterfall, known as the Big Threshold. Further, between the sources of the Big Oi and Kyzyr-Suka rivers, it stretches to the right bank of the Yenisei. The Biryusinsk chain drops to 4000, 3000, 2500 and at the end passes to heights of no more than 1500 - 1600 feet. In addition to these two mountain spurs, which are more significant in their length, a mountain range departs from the same mountain junction, which serves as a watershed for the Kazyra and Kizira rivers. Then the Agul mountain spur, heading north and northwest, and serving as a watershed between the rivers Agul and Tagul. The height of these two spurs, at the beginning reaching from 4500 to 5600 feet, soon drops to 3800, and then to 2700 feet.

According to the first researcher Saiyan, border commissioner Pesterev, near the source of the Kazyra river rises the pillar-shaped mountain of Epiye, 1800 meters high. 0t of the aforementioned mountain junction, the direction of the Sayan mountain range becomes southeast to the head of the river. Sentsy. Ha all this stretch of the frontier main chain. The mountain passes through this part of the range have the following heights: Mustag (from the headwaters of the Jelomalgo River to the headwaters of the Khamsara River) 6940 feet; Saltysty-art - 7070 feet (1 foot = 0.3 meters); Taurus-davan (in the upper reaches of the Bidikema River, near the boundary marker No. 19) - 6980 feet, finally, Mongol-davan (in the upper reaches of the Tissa River) - 1941 meters. The elevated points of this part of the Sayans are 8410 feet high. Somewhat apart from the main chain, between the upper reaches of the rivers Tissa and Sentsa, there are high bald mountains, for example, Khara-hardyk and Middendorf, which, according to the geologist Yachevsky, who traveled here, have a height of up to 11,000 feet. They are covered with eternal snow and have extensive ones, of which one, descending from the Middendorf char from its northern slope, was called by him the Middendorf glacier.

From Seigen-davan, the boundary chain of the Sayan again goes to the south-east to the Munku-Sardyk mountain range. Here are the passes Tengiz, aka Vostochny (6730 feet) and Uryuk-Davan (6700 feet). This last part of the Sayans, from the Uryuk Pass to the source of the Oka River, is locally called Nukhitu-davana. In this last part, the Sayan mountain range has several difficult passes. These are Gargan (in the upper reaches of the Khare River, up to 7680 feet high) and Yangit-davan (6980 feet). From the top of the river, the main chain of the Sayan mountain range deviates to Lake Kosogola. Here it forms the border between the possessions of Russia and. Here, on the border of two empires, rises the highest point of the Sayan - Mount Munku-Sardyk, the northern slopes of which are within Russia.

Sayan mountain range

Mount Munku-Sardyk rises to 11,452 feet. It is covered with eternal snows. Several glaciers descend from it, with the foot of the glacier on the south side of the mountain at 10,400 feet and the foot of the glacier on the north face at 6,900 feet. Two rivers originate from the Munku-Sardyk massif, serving as the headwaters of the Irkut and Obogol rivers. As well as tributaries of the rivers Khare, Zhekhoy, Oka, Bogute, Khairem and Khairmen. In the upper reaches they represent cascades and waterfalls and carry huge blocks and boulders. In addition to the Munku-Sardyk char, the traveler Yachevsky saw three more snow chars at a close distance from him, not much inferior in height to Munk-Sardyk.

The Sayan mountain range is quite complex. Numerous mountain spurs separate from the main chain in the northwest, north and northeast, gradually leaning towards the left bank of the Angara River and splitting into secondary branches. Of the more significant ranges in their length and height, the Kitoysky, Ida and Kuytun-Khardyksky ridges should be noted. To the southeast of Munku-Sardyk, the Sayan mountain range is divided by the longitudinal valley of the Irkut River into two almost parallel mountain ranges. Of these, the southern one is called Gurbi-davan, and the northeastern one is called the Tunkinsky Range. The direction of the southern border branch of the Sayans to the Tunkinsky boundary marker. Along this stretch, Gurbi-davan also preserves a complex relief. It sends mountain spurs from itself in different directions, branching into numerous secondary branches.

The first explorer of the Sayans was the border commissioner Pesterov, who traveled to the mountains in 1778-80 to study the border line and check the border signs and pillars. His reports are not printed anywhere and are known only from brief extracts. A more detailed and scientific study of the Sayans began in the middle of the 19th century. They were engaged in natural scientists, geologists, topographers and other scientists. These are Schmitt, Radde, Meglitsky, Kryzhin, Chekanovsky, Bobyr, Yachevsky, Krylov and Andreyanov.