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"BLUE CRADLE" OF RUSSIA

Дата публикации: 08 сентября 2018
Автор(ы): Nadezhda FYODOROVA, Galina ZHEREBKOVA, Tatyana KERRO
Публикатор: Шамолдин Алексей Аркадьевич
Рубрика: RUSSIA (TOPICS)
Номер публикации: №1536414607


Nadezhda FYODOROVA, Galina ZHEREBKOVA, Tatyana KERRO, (c)

By Nadezhda FYODOROVA, chief forest ranger, Valdai National Park, Galina ZHEREBKOVA, Tatyana KERRO, senior state inspectors of the same park

North-Eastern Russia has been called the "lake country" from time immemorial-there are tens of thousands of lakes there to this day. Numerous ridges and forest-covered hills exist side by side with morainic plains, "studded" with boulders; peat bogs and marshes are interchanged with sandstones. The "gem" of this picturesque area-arched Valdai Elevation-really "blue cradle" of Russia. It is "littered" with lakes, covered with a dense network of rivers, whose waters are running into the Baltic, Black and Caspian Seas. This is a magnificent diversified corner of Nature called also "Russian Switzerland". Valdai National Park occupies its central part, founded in May 17, 1990. Scattered here are 76 lakes (total area of water surface makes up 14,704.5 hectares) and about 600 historical cultural monuments. This territory has no analogs in our country according to its aesthetic and recreational potential.

Valdai national park is situated in the south-eastern part of the Novgorod Region on the area of 1,585 km 2 , with its length from the north to the south making 105 km, and from the south to the east-45 km. The territory is characterized by a complex relief; it represents the edge zone of Valdai glaciation.

Mighty Valdai glacier, approaching from the Scandinavian side some 70-11 thous. years ago, evened out previous elevations, filled deep depressions with sediments, formed new hills and ridges, mainly of round form, often with flat peaks. Their relative height-from 20 to 60 m (with slopes of 15-20 and over). The highest points are - mountains Ryzhokha (296 m) and Orekhovna (288 m). Maximal abso-

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lute marks (in Valdai area) reach 300 m. At some points one can meet fluvioglacial and lake- glacial plains among hilly-morainic relief. Their surface is wavy or flat, in some places-marshy.

Such relief created conditions for the formation of an extremely complex soil cover. Mainly these are morainic sediments: boulder loam and sandy loam, fluvioglacial sands with gravel and pebble, lake-gracial sedimentation-sand and clay.

Medium loams predominate, primarily carbonaceous, but at present leached to the depth of 1.5 m. This process is less evident in the northern part of the park.

Sandy and sandy loam sediments occupy about 30 percent of the area in some parts, however, they are often observed in the form of big massifs.

The area of the park's location is characterized by moderately continental and unstable weather due to frequent change of Atlantic and Arctic air masses. Average annual quantity of precipitation (660-683 mm) greatly exceeds vaporization, and it serves as a main source of feeding rivers and lakes.

The park's territory represents a system of spillways of lakes Borovno, Valdaiskoye, Uzhin, Шуе, northern part of Seliger and river Polomet, stretching along dividing axial part of Valdai Elevation. The valley of the latter abounds in springs having valuable medicinal properties. River drainage has not been subjected to artificial regulation, therefore it serves as the oldest base for experimental hydrological field studies (from 1936).

The most important lakes are Valdaiskoye and Uzhin. Lake Velye basin had undergone the least anthropogenic loads. In 1944 after construction of a solid dam on Yavon river, running from it, it interflowed with Ukleinskoye lake. Four small rivers and 11 streams run into it. Drainage of lake Velye gets into Lake Shlino, which nourishes the Volga system.

A unique pond Borovno is located in the northern part, surrounded by the

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Bainevsky forest massif. Together they make up one of the corners of the park closed to the public.

These areas are surrounded by stretches of rivers Valdaika and Shegrinka from the east, and up- stream of the Polomet from the west. Picturesque preserve "Polomet Valley" serves as western gates to the park.

The northern part of Gremyachaya river together with Korotsky preserve, as well as village of Varnitsy, where salty medicinal waters come to the surface, are of great recreational value.

The lakes are mainly of glacial origin with high banks, irregular bank line, multitude of islands, uneven bottom relief. The depth of small lakes makes

up less than 3-4 m, of big ones-10 m, deeper lakes are of rare occurrence (the deepest one is 60 m). The bottom of big ponds, as a rule, is rocky or sandy, while that of small ones is covered with a thick layer of organic ooze.

There are lakes of karst origin- Gorodno, Streglino. They are characterized by rather strong variability of the volume of aquatic mass, which is connected with periodic discharge of water into karst caverns or underground rivers.

The peculiarity of local rivers-high spring water, low water in winter and summer periods, interrupted by rain floods (1-2 times per season). Their effluents are frequently confined to drainage hollows of glacial waters and ancient valleys. Rapids and rifts are also frequent in valley floors. In places river valleys cut in into bedrocks of

Devonian period, where multitude of source outlets can be pointed out, including saline ones possessing medicinal properties, mineral mud not infrequently met nearby.

Rivers and lakes are characterized by rich ichthiofauna-about 45 types of fish, including such valuable ones as trout, grayling, whitefish, carp, smelt, pike perch, ripus, burbot, eel, pike, etc.

Everywhere one can come across marches, like small patches-15-20 hectares. Only in the valleys of the Polomet and Yavon big massifs are located: Sinyukha (140 hectares), Gagarino tract (390), Kikino (240), Bolshoye Gagarye (168), Verevkino (90 hectares).

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If aquatic surface of the park makes up 9 percent, marshes-3 percent, forests-83 percent. By zoning our park's territory belongs to the border of podzolic southern taiga and conifer-ous- broad-leaf forests with all the characteristic peculiarities. This unique "creation" of Nature represents an enormous area of ecologically pure massifs of natural forests in the whole of European Russia. There grow about 60 types of trees and 700 grass plants, twenty of which have been entered into the Red Data Book.

Climatic conditions on the territory of Valdai Elevation are favorable for pine, spruce, birch, aspen, grey alder, etc. Besides, the forests are rich in mushrooms and berries. Over 20 types of animals live here (moose, bear, wolf, boar, fox, hare, lynx, roe deer, many for animals, etc.) and more than 150 types of birds (among them wood grouse, black grouse, hazel grouse, thrush, woodpecker, etc.).

The town of Valdai is an administrative and recreational-economic center of the Valdai National Park; it was founded in 1495. There is still preserved a relict grove with enormous 300-year spruces near it. A lake of the same name is situated at its foot. Islands stretched along like a chain divide it into 2 pools: Valdaisky and Dolgoborodsky.

Facing the town, on the Selvitsky Island, is the Iversky Bogoroditsky Svyatozersky men's monastery now active, built in the middle of the 17th century. The highest point of the island is crowned by the first stone building-five-domed cathedral with a round gallery-a grandious Dormition Cathedral. In 1666-1702 there were built on the island Church of the Epiphany with a refectory, bell tower, Patriarch's (Mikhailovskaya) tower, over-the-gate church of the Archangel Mikhail and a number of other structures.

Опубликовано на Порталусе 08 сентября 2018 года

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