Yudoma-Maya Highlands

The area of the Yudoma-Maya and the Aldan highlands, between the basins of the Aldan River and the Yudoma, was uncharted territory well until the 1930s. It was first surveyed in 1934 by geologist Yuri Bilibin (1901—1952) together with mining engineer Evgeny Bobin (1897—1941) in the course of an expedition sent by the government of the USSR. Bilibin and Bobin made a thorough topographic survey of the mountainous regions leading separate research parties. They described the highlands as "a disordered jumble of round hills with soft outlines". ==Geography==

The Yudoma-Maya Highlands lie at the southern end of the Sakha Republic and the western limits of Khabarovsk Krai. They are named after the upper basin of the Maya River, a tributary of the Aldan, and the Yudoma, one of the biggest tributaries of the Maya, The highland area is bound to the west by the Skalisty Range and the Sette-Daban subranges of the Verkhoyansk Range, and to the north by the Suntar-Khayata Range. The highlands reach the valley of the Okhota River to the east, and to the south they are limited by the northern end of the Dzhugdzhur Range. The average heights range between and , the heights increasing towards the south. The highest point is high Shpil Tarbagannakh (Шпиль-Тарбаганнах). Subranges and peaks ;Northern section • Kutelsky Range, highest point • Uemlyakhskі Goltsi, (Уемляхські Гольцы) • Tarbaganakhskі Goltsi, (Тарбаганахські Гольцы) ;Southern section • Chelat Range, highest point • Upper Maya Massif, highest point • Maya Massif, highest point ==Climate==

The highlands have a harsh continental climate. January temperatures range from to . The coldest temperatures recorded reach between and . In summer the average July temperature in the valleys does not exceed . Precipitation is between and per year. Most of the yearly precipitation falls in the second half of summer in the form of rain. ==Flora==

Large swathes of the highlands are covered by taiga up to elevations between and . The areas adjacent to the valleys are covered with larch and pine forests, especially in the southern region. Above there is spruce and birch taiga up to a height of . In the northern parts of the highlands there are thickets of dwarf cedar and mountain tundra above . ==References==