| North Baikal Highlands | |
| Other Name: | Северо-Байкальское нагорье / Хойто-Байгалай хадалиг газар |
| Country: | Russia |
| Subdivision2 Type: | Federal subject |
| Subdivision2: | Irkutsk Oblast/ Buryatia |
| Highest: | Inyaptuk Golets |
| Elevation M: | 2514 |
| Coordinates: | 56.4039°N 111.0853°W |
| Length Km: | 400 |
| Width Km: | 150 |
| Range Coordinates: | 57°N 111°W |
| Parent: | South Siberian System |
| Geology: | Metamorphic rocks, granite intrusions |
| Age: | [1] |
| Orogeny: | Alpine orogeny |
| Map: | Russia Buryatia#Russia Irkutsk Oblast |
The North Baikal Highlands (Russian: Северо-Байкальское нагорье; Buriat: Хойто-Байгалай хадалиг газар)[2] are a mountainous area in Eastern Siberia, Russia. Administratively the territory of the uplands is part of Buryatia and Irkutsk Oblast.[3]
The nearest airport is Mama Airport.[3]
Between 1855 and 1858 Ivan Kryzhin (d. 1884) took part in the Eastern Siberian expedition led by Russian astronomer and traveler Ludwig Schwarz. In 1857 he mapped the Kirenga River and, while exploring its right tributary, the Cherepanikha, Kryzhin discovered the formerly unknown Akitkan Range rising above the area of its source.[4]
Between 1909 and 1911 the North Baikal Highlands were explored by Russian geologist Pavel Preobrazhensky (1874 - 1944). He surveyed the river valleys of the area, all of them tributaries of the Lena basin, including the Chechuy, Chaya, the Chuya, Kirenga and its right tributaries, as well as the Mama.[5]
Preobrazhensky's trip very nearly ended in tragedy when his boat crashed and capsized while navigating down the Chaya River. Badly injured and shaken, Pavel and his team almost lost their lives and their valuable equipment sank. Despite the difficulties, Preobrazhensky managed to map the area cutting across several places and outlining the entire North Baikal Highlands. His data revealed that it was a complex system of distinct high massifs, gathered either in small irregular groups or in short ridges, that were separated from each other by deep and narrow valleys. In the western part of the North Baikal mountainous land he mapped for the first time a 175km (109miles) stretch of the Akitkan Range.[6]
The North Baikal Highlands are separated from the Patom Highlands to the northeast by river Vitim, a tributary of the Lena. The highlands stretch southwards to the Upper Angara Range and southeastwards to the Delyun-Uran Range. To the northwest begins the Central Siberian Plateau and to the east the Delyun-Uran Range of the Stanovoy Highlands. The average altitudes range between 1000m (3,000feet) and 1600m (5,200feet) with narrow valleys in between that coincide with tectonic faults across the highlands.[7]
The highest point is 2514m (8,248feet) high Golets Inyaptuk in the southern part,[8] located at 56.4039°N 111.0853°W in the Buryatian zone of the highlands. There are clear traces of ancient glaciation in the uppermost parts of the ranges.[2]
The main subranges are:
The rivers of the North Baikal Highlands belong to the Baikal and Lena basins. Their valleys are deep. The main ones are the 512km (318miles) long Chuya, the 353km (219miles) long Chaya, the 231km (144miles) long Chechuy, the 176km (109miles) long Minya, the 162km (101miles) long Mogol, the 155km (96miles) long Okunayka, the 141km (88miles) long Kutima, the 125km (78miles) long Tyya, the 115km (71miles) long Domugda and the 97km (60miles) long Cherepakhina. The highland area is marked by permafrost.
There are taiga forests of conifers, mostly larch, in the slopes of the mountains. At higher altitudes there is mountain tundra. Further up the mountaintops are either flat or topped by golets-type bare rocky summits.[2]