Severo-Baikal Highland

a highland northeast of Lake Baikal in the Buriat ASSR and Irkutsk Oblast, RSFSR. The highland is bounded on the south by the Verkhneangarsk Ridge; in the northwest it drops off along an escarpment measuring 1,000–1,200 m high to the Middle Siberian Plateau. It is separated from the Patom Highland in the northeast by the Vi-tim River valley. The highland comprises a system of flat-topped ranges, with elevations of 1,100–1,600 m. The highest point is Mount Iniaptuk (2,578 m). The ranges are separated by narrow valleys, which run along tectonic faults. The highland is composed of metamorphic Precambrian and Lower Paleozoic rocks with granite intrusions. The highest ranges carry traces of glaciation. The valley bottoms and lower slopes of the ranges are covered with coniferous and larch forests on thin, gravelly soils, while higher elevations have mountain tundra. There are mica deposits.