Western Sakhalin Mountains

Western Sakhalin Mountains

 

mountains in the southwestern part of Sakhalin Island (USSR). Length, 650 km; height, up to 1,325 m (Zhuravlev Peak of Mount Vozvrashchenie). They consist of several parallel ridges divided by longitudinal valleys. The main divide is Kamyshovyi Ridge, and south of 48° N lat., luzhno-Kamyshovyi Ridge. The mountains are composed primarily of slate, sandstone, conglomerates, and magmatic rock. There are deposits of hard coal at Lesogorsk, Uglegorsk, and Boshniakovsk. The extinct Ichara and Krasnov volcanoes are located in the area of Cape Lamanon. Mixed forests with a predominance of broad-leaved trees are found on the southwest slopes, heated by the warm Tsushima Current. A spruce and fir taiga with kurile bamboo thickets is found on the other slopes. The mountains are crossed by the luzhno-Sakhalinsk-Kholmsk railway.