North Siberian Lowland

(also Taimyr Lowland), a low-lying plain between the lower courses of the Enisei and Olenek rivers in Krasnoiarsk Krai and the Yakut ASSR. The lowland is 1,400 km long and has widths to 600 km. Flat-topped ridges, which extend east-northeast and have elevations to 200–300 m, rise sharply above broad, marshy depressions, dotted with cave-in lakes. The lowland is composed primarily of marine and glacial deposits, which overlie sandstones and argillaceous schists. Permafrost is found throughout the lowland.

The climate is subarctic continental. Winters are cold and long (seven to eight months), and summers are cool and short. The average January temperature is - 30°C in the west and -35° to -37°C in the east; the average July temperature is 6–10°C. The lowland is covered with snow for approximately 265 days. Annual precipitation is 250–300 mm.

The North Siberian Lowland is crossed by the Piasina, Tai-myra, Kheta, and Kotui rivers, which give rise to the Khatanga, Popigai, and Anabar rivers. The lowland abounds in lakes, the largest of which is Lake Taimyr. Lichen tundras predominate in the north, brush tundras in the south, and forest-tundra along the southern margin. Thin forests in the west consist of Siberian larch, while the Dahurian larch predominates in the east. Bog and gley bog soils with a weakly developed humus layer predominate. The lowland has deposits of petroleum, gas, and, in the Taimyr basin, hard coal.