Goh Cheng Leong Chapter 23 – Cool Temperate Continental (Siberian) Climate YouTube Lecture Handouts

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Goh Cheng Leong Chapter 23: Cool Temperate Continental (Siberian) Climate

Illustration: Goh Cheng Leong Chapter 23 – Cool Temperate Continental (Siberian) Climate YouTube Lecture Handouts
Illustration: Goh Cheng Leong Chapter 23 – Cool Temperate Continental (Siberian) Climate YouTube Lecture Handouts
  • Broad E-W spread
  • Merge with Arctic tundra in north and Steppes in south
  • Also called Sub-Arctic – evergreen coniferous – continuous belt in north
  • Called Taiga – Siberia – similar climate in N. Europe, Sweden & Finland
  • Absent in South Hemisphere – narrowness of southern continents in high latitude & strong oceanic influence
  • Coniferous (S. Hemisphere) only in mountain uplands of S. Chile, New Zealand, Tasmania & SE Australia

Climate

  • Cold long winters & cool brief summers
  • Spring & Autumn are transitional
  • Isotherm - 50 for warmest month form poleward boundary of Siberian climate and winter months are below freezing
  • Annual range is 54 [ (Moscow) and 73 Churchill – more northerly position]
  • Due to extreme of temperature called – cold pole of earth
  • N. America – less temperature extreme due to less east west stretch
  • Lowest temperature of world in Verkhoyansk
  • Known for heavy snowfall
  • Frost in Aug-Sept
  • Volga River ice covered for 150 days & further north - Ob, Lena & Yenisey River ice covered for 210 days
  • Winds – Blizzards of Canada & Buran of Europe 50 mph & at - snowflakes in lower atmosphere reduce visibility
  • Siberia is sparsely populated – unbearable conditions

Precipitation

  • 15 - 25 inches of annual precipitation
  • Rainfall well distributed year round
  • Summer maximum from conventional rainfall – interior are heated
  • Winters – snowfall – mean temperature below freezing point
  • Conifers – require little moisture & transpire less are best suited
  • Low temperature, low evaporation & high relative humidity – even small precipitation is good for tree growth
  • Factors affecting Precipitation
    • Altitude
    • Latitude
    • Proximity to poles
    • Exposure to Westerlies
    • Temperate monsoons
    • Penetration to cyclones
  • European USSR – more than 20 inches – due to westerlies and cyclones
  • Poleward & southward – amount decreases (north air is unable to hold moisture) and south has semi-arid steppes
  • Permanent snowfields are absent (as in Alps & Himalayas) due to melting in spring & summer
  • Frozen rivers are thawed causing rise in water level & floods
  • BENEFITS: Snow is poor conductor of heat & protects ground from severe cold above & provide moisture when snow melts in spring
  • When ground is ploughed, acidic podzolic soil is improved & some agriculture is possible

Vegetation

  • Richest source of softwood – conifers – building construction, furniture, paper, pulp, rayon, matches
  • Greatest softwood production – USSR, USA < Canada & Fenoscandian (Finland, Norway, Sweden)
  • Wood pulp production (chemical & mechanical) – USA leads
  • Newsprint – Canada leads (half of total production)
  • Taiga (Siberia) – richest source of temperate softwood
  • Occur in pure strands – good for commercial exploitation
  • 4 main species – Pine (White, red, Scots, Jack & lodge pole) , Fir (Douglas & Balsam) , Spruce & Larch

Coniferous

Uniform, straight, tall, upto 100 feet, towards poles they are spaced and turn to tundra vegetation

2-Year fructification cycle – seeds pollinated in one year and dispersed in next year

Illustration: Coniferous
Illustration: Coniferous
Illustration: Coniferous

No annual replacement of new leaves as in deciduous – same leaves can remain for 5 years

Food stored in trunks and bark is thick to protect trunk from cold

Conical in shape to prevent snow accumulation & provide little grip to winds

Illustration: Coniferous

Leaves are small, thick, leathery and needle-shaped

Illustration: Coniferous

Little undergrowth is seen – acidic podzolic soil with excessive leaching, also due to absence of direct sunlight and short summers

Also seen in mountainous areas in temperate and tropical countries

On very steep slopes – soil is immature and conifers cannot survive

Pine, spruce & fir in north forest while larch in south

Homogenous, saves time and cost in exploitation

Economic Development

  • Many areas are untouched in Canada, E. Europe and Asiatic Russia
  • Lumbering – transported to saw mills
  • Little agriculture – bordering steppes (barley, oats, rye) & root crops like potatoes
  • Samoyeds & Yakuts (Siberia) & Canadians – hunting, fishing & trapping

Trapping

  • Fur-bearing animals (muskrat, ermine, mink, silver fox) – processed for handbags

Silver Fox

Illustration: Silver Fox

Ermine

Illustration: Ermine

Muskrat

Illustration: Ermine

Mink

Illustration: Ermine

Siberia – squirrels, otters, bears, sables, lynx, marten & fox (fur bearing)

When cold is keenest – quality and thickness of fur increases

Most severe winter has finest furs with highest prices

Canada – trappers & hunters have automatic rifles & live in log cabins to track animals

Canada has fur farms for regular supply of furs (now replaced hunting of wild animals in Siberia)

Lumbering

  • Saw-milling – logs processed into timber and plywood
  • Timber is pulped to make wood pulp for paper making and newsprint
Illustration: Lumbering
  • 1βŸ‹4th of world՚s softwood is burnt for as fuel
  • Used as industrial raw material
  • Sweden – matches (major export)
  • By-product of timber – chemically processed articles (rayon, paints, dyes, resins etc.)
Illustration: Lumbering
  • Occurs in winter when sap ceases to flow – felling becomes simpler
  • Snow covered ground makes logging and haulage simple – dragged to rivers and float to saw mills downstream- use cheap HEP for saw mills
  • Northern Sea route links Murmansk & Vladivostok via Arctic Ocean

✍ Manishika