Landscape Inversion of the Southwestern Coast of the Sea of Okhotsk

Abstract

We examine the landscape structural features of the Mukhtel lowland and the mountains surrounding it on the southwestern coast of the Sea of Okhotsk. An analysis is made of the main formation factors for modern landscapes and for the structure of vegetation as the main indicator of its spatial organization. The influence of the landscape inversion is determined, which manifests itself in the formation of extensive swamps (mari) within the lowland and forest natural complexes in the lower parts of the slopes of the surrounding mountain ranges. The landscapes of hummocky-swale swamps with subarctic components of the flora in the areas of permafrost stretching along the shore of St. Nicholas Bay (Bugristaya Mar’ stow) and landscapes of abrasion-denudation ledges similar in natural conditions to the landscapes of the mountain tundra in the northern part of the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk have been identified. The description is provided for the altitudinal zonality of landscapes of low mountains and azonal landscapes of river valleys and coastal-marine accumulative landforms. A rare (for the Okhotsk Sea region) combination of diverse landscapes is observed in a small area s well as a sharp difference between plain and low-mountain natural complexes. Characteristic features of the distribution of elementary landscapes depending on the exposure of slopes, topography and soil composition were revealed. The 1:250 000 landscape map has been compiled on the basis of a conjugate analysis of thematic maps displaying the topography, soils and vegetation cover.