This chapter discusses the montane environments of Northern Russia including the Khibin
mountains, the Putorana plateau, the vast mountainous countries of north-eastern Asia, and
the Urals. The latter is an interzonal meridional cordillera which cuts across the
continent from the Arctic coast to Kazakhstan, marking a boundary between Europe and Asia.
These montane regions were grouped together because, with the partial exception of the
Urals, they are located in cold environments. Since geomorphological processes, ecological
communities, and natural environmental change are strongly controlled by climate, these
regions have much in common despite being located at a great distance from each other.
Thus, most of these mountains were repeatedly glaciated in the Quaternary; extensive frost
weathering, glaciers and perennial snow packs are typical features of a modern alpine
landscape from the Kola peninsula to the Sea of Okhotsk; and models of vertical vegetation
zonation are relatively simple. However, different geological histories and orography as
well as only broad similarities between climates have resulted in a unique evolution and
character of each region. Following a brief introduction to the characteristics of each
region, its tectonics, Quaternary environmental change, modern climate, cryogenic
phenomena and glaciation, and models of altitudinal zonation are discussed. Much attention
is given to glacial history because the contemporary 'minimalist' view advocates the
dispersal of ice from the montane centres in contrast to the 'maximalist' hypothesis of
the Panarctic ice sheet which was popular in the 1960s — 1970s. These hypotheses are
discussed above, which also provides a correlation of glacial events. The monograph
Montane Glaciation in Northern Eurasia in the Holocene (Solomina, 1999) is recommended for
a more detailed discussion. For the explanation of terms associated with permafrost and
cryogenic processes, the reader is referred to one of the above sections. Human activities
have had a strong impact on the environments of the Khibins, western Putorana, and
especially the Urals. These issues are discussed in other chapters in this volume to which
references are made.
The detail of discussion varies because of the different geographical scales involved.
Thus, although more attention is given to the vast and extremely diverse mountainous
chains and highlands of the north-east, it is evident that despite the enormous effort put
into the research of these remote and hostile environments our knowledge still remains
imperfect and the sheer size of the region does not allow an in-depth discussion.