What is the "Stone Belt of the Russian Land"? What mountains are called the "Stone Belt of the Russian Land"?

Stone belt of the Russian land - long Mountain massif, "banding" in the direction from the north to the south and visually dividing Europe and Asia. This is the Ural Mountains.

The origin of the name "Ural"

According to scientists, the Ural mountain range has an age of about 600 million years. During these years, slowly, but noticeably, the destruction of the surface of the mountains and the change in contour of the slopes are gradually occurring under the influence of wind, rain, numerous landslides.

The ancient Greeks believed that beyond the Ural mountains is the country of Hyperborea, and the mountains themselves for many centuries have been called differently: Ripheus, Belt of the World, the Stone Belt of the Russian Land.

Russian researchers originally called these mountains simply "a stone". According to one information, the name "Ural" came from the north, from the Mansi language, from other sources - from the Bashkir epic, which tells about the hero of the Ural-batyr, who defended the Bashkir people from enemies. The mountains are also sung by the Bashkirs in songs about the "sacred homeland".

In scientific publications the term "Ural" was firstly voiced in 1750 in the book of the historian G. F. Miller "Description of the Siberian kingdom."

Geographical information

The stone belt of the Russian land is the Ural Mountains, which From the north reach the shores of the Arctic Ocean, and their southern extremity deepens in the steppes of Kazakhstan. The total length of the mountainous Ural massif is more than 2000 km, and its width varies from 45 to 200 km.

In the initial period, the mountains were 6 km high, but gradually, because of the action of volcanoes, earthquakes, formation or destruction of rocks occurred. The last earthquake happened in 2015.

Scientists divide the mountain system of the Urals into 5 geographical zones:

• Polar - contains many so-called "glaciers" (there are 122 pcs.), Which are located on the western slope down from the border of the snow.
• Subpolar - here is the highest peak in the modern Urals - Narodnaya (1894 m).
• The northern zone is a taiga area and a multitude of forest tracts.
• Average - occupies the Ufa plateau, rugged river valleys and mixed forests. In this zone are all major cities (Nizhny Tagil, Yekaterinburg, etc.) with a developed industry.
• The Southern Urals is a zone of transition to the forest-steppe and steppe plains.

The stone belt of the Russian land is an entire ecosystem, which includes many components: climate, relief, flora and fauna, numerous minerals.

Climate

In each natural zone its climate, nature and wildlife. The northern part is the tundra, the southern - the steppe zone. The contrasts between them are especially noticeable in the summer: when in the north of the Urals there are 6-8 degrees of heat, in the south - about 22 degrees.

The winds predominate mainly from the Atlantic, therefore the relief and climate in the European and Asian parts are different:

• The western slopes are more gentle, the climate is humid,
• The eastern side - the mountains steeply descend in the direction of the plain.

The stone belt of the Russian land is a complex chain of mountain ranges lying in parallel, usually 2-3, but in the Southern Urals there are also 4-6 ridges. Between them are the valleys and rivers.

Animal world

The stone belt of the Russian land in its fauna is divided into three main zones:

• Tundra - reindeers, Arctic foxes, mouse-voles, partridges, waterfowl;
• Zone forest - brown bear, glutton, sable, otter, lynx, squirrel, birds (capercaillie and hazel grouse);
• Steppe zone - mostly rodents (gopher, jerboa, marmot, hamster) and predators (wolf, fox, steppe steppe), birds (eagle, lun, kite, falcon, partridge, crane, lark).

Minerals

The stone belt of the Russian land is also called a mineral deposit. This can be explained by the geological history, which has experienced many mountains over the past millennia. Minerals and ore are now placed near the surface. The basis of local metallurgy is ore of ferrous metals (magnetite), as well as non-ferrous, noble and rather rare metals. These include: copper ore, gold and platinum (there are even nuggets up to 10 kg).

Honored glory was won by the Urals as a storehouse of gems and ornamental colored stones (alexandrite, chrysolite, topaz, tourmaline, famous Ural malachite, jasper and marble), from which local craftsmen make fine jewelry.

Mysteries of ancient civilizations

"The stone belt of the Russian land is what?" - this question is asked by tourists and visitors visiting the Ural land. After all, there are many places where adventurers try to unravel the mysteries of ancient peoples.

1. One of the most interesting is the ancient city of Arkaim, opened in 1987 in the Chelyabinsk region by a schoolchild who participated in an archaeological expedition. The age of this object is supposedly 4 millennia.
2. Another mysterious place where there were paranormal phenomena - the Taganay National Park (in translation from the Bashkir - "stand for the moon"). It is a stone ridge 20 km long, consisting of three ridges. They say that in these places there are many amazing events: there are UFOs, they meet a snowman, there are disruptions in the work of technology, people have strange visions.
3. The third mystery is "Ural Stonehenge" - plateau, where there are large stone pillars (80 m), which are considered to be petrified giants.

Modern Attractions

1. Tourists who come to see beautiful views and visit the sights of this region, as a rule, pay attention to monuments marking the border between Europe and Asia. They ask: "What is the Stone Belt of the Russian Land, and why is it the belt?" The answer can be the geographic location of these mountains, which seem to encircle the whole continent of Eurasia. Among historians, there is an opinion that this ridge protected these lands from foreign invaders, of which there were many. Throughout the length of this belt, many monuments have been established. Therefore, the Ural mountains received such a beautiful, poetic name - the Stone Belt of the Russian Land.
2. Ural is very popular among fans of outdoor activities, trekking, river rafting along the rivers of Us and Shchuch'ye, tours on horses, bicycles, in winter - descents on snowboards, sleighs and skis.
3. On the territory of the Ural mountain massif there are many temples and monasteries, in particular the Yekaterinburg Blood Temple, which is part of the museum complex built in memory of the life and death of the Romanov family.
4. The Ural mountains are considered an ideal place for speleologists who visit the famous caves (Kurgurskaya, Divya, Kapova) and the Sikiyaz-Tamak complex.

Conclusion

So, we discussed what geographical object is hidden behind the name of the Stone Belt of the Russian Land. They call such a beautiful epithet Ural. Both locals and visiting tourists are very fond of these mountains for their natural power, greatness and beauty, as well as the wealth that this land gives to its inhabitants and guests.