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Show Brief Description of Observation Site The town of Kirovsk is situated to the south of Mount Chibin on an ice moraine of the Quaternary Period. North of the moraine stretches the vast valley containing Big Vudyavr Lake, 310 meters above sea level. The city and the valley are encircled by mountains. On the west rises Mount Vudyavrkhor; to the north, the ramifications of this mountain. Kukisvumkhor and the Apatit rise to the south; and to the northeast, Mount Aykuayventchorr. The mountains present a wide massif rising 900- 1000 meters above sea level, divided by valleys into a line of separate hills. Characteristic of the Chibin landscape are flat- topped mountains with rocky sides, abrupt near the top and more gradual on the lower slopes, giving the valleys a trough- like appearance. Waste cirques on the upper slopes sometimes open into long and narrow loge- like^ valleys ( gullies). Similar gullies^ extend down slopes where there are no cirques or where they are only slightly marked. On the sloping hills, lower down where the gullies end, rocky sedimentation cones can be observed. The mountain slopes are covered with fir, pine and birch to an elevation of 400 meters. Above this level is found a band of climbing fir and birch. The top of the slopes is covered with moss and lichen. The proximity of the ice- free Beringov Sea greatly influences the climate of Chibin. In spite of the location of these mountains one degree north of the Arctic Circle, winter temperatures vary between - 5° and - 10° ( C) and very seldom drop below - 25°. Winter thaws are neither great nor of long duration. The average yearly air temperature is 00 C. On the mountain tops temperature inversions are frequent in winter; it is often 10" C warmer at the high elevations than in the valleys. Winter cloudiness averages 80- 90%; clear skies are an exception. A low cloud cover prevails. The average wind velocity in the valleys is 3- 4 m/ sec; on the mountain tops it is much greater, often violent here when it is still in the valleys. Wind storms are frequent and are often of 2- 3 day's duration. In winter the storms generally last 500- 700 hours, occurring most often at temperatures of from 0° to - 10° C, but occasionally at temperatures up to + 2° C. A stable snow cover is formed in October or at the beginning of November and reaches its maximum thickness during the last ten days of March or at the beginning of April. Thawing begins in April and the snow disappears in 2- 4 weeks. Only in the forests does the snow cover lie in patches until June. The 1, 2) The various types of waste hollows on mountain slopes are fannels, cari, transformed cari, and cirques. Different types of narrow depressions cutting slopes vertically are generally referred to as loges or lotky. Since great detail is unneeded in this work, we shall use this simplified terminology. ( The term " gulley" will be used as the English equivalent throughout this publication, - ed.) - 1- |
