Putorana Plateau


Putorana Plateau

 

the highest and most strongly dissected massif of the Central Siberian Plateau. The Putorana Plateau is located in northwestern Krasnoiarsk Krai, RSFSR, along the upper course of the Piasina and Kheta rivers and in the basin of the right tributaries of the Nizhniaia Tunguska River. In the west and north, the plateau rises as a steep terrace above the adjacent lowlands. There are elevations to 1,701 m. The relief is a combination of leveled plateaus, flat-topped mo-nadnocks, and deep valleys (to 500–800 m). Many of the valleys are occupied by lakes (Lake Lama, Lake Keta, and others).

In the northwest to an elevation of 300–350 m and in the south to an elevation of 500 m there are larch and fir forests. Larch forests also cover the eastern part of the plateau, giving way to open larch woodlands as the elevations increase. At elevations of 500–700 m there is shrub tundra, and in the broad watershed areas there is rock and lichen tundra.