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SOVIET BLOC INTERNATIONAL GEOPHYSICAL YEAR INFORMATION

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CIA-RDP82-00141R000200030001-9
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RIPPUB
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K
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22
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November 9, 2016
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January 13, 1999
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1
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Publication Date: 
February 21, 1958
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REPORT
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504 I ET BLtM~ I NTERNAT I ANAL GEOPHYSICAL YEAR'INFOR"RT'lo 1 OF - Appro R"Er, ORD COPY PB 131632-2 SOVIET BLOC INTERNATIONAL GEOPHYSICAL YEAR INFOR1 TION February 21, 1958 U. S. DEPARTMENT OF COIVlMERCE Office of Technical Services Washington 25, D. C. Published Weekly from February 14, 1958 to January 2, 1959. Subscription Price $1.0.00 for the Series. Approved For Release 1999/09/08 : CIA-RDP82-00141ROO0200030001-9 Approved For Release 1999/09/08 : CIA-RDP82-00141R000200030001-9 PLEASE NOTE This report presents unevaluated information on Soviet Bloc International Geophysical Year activi- ties selected from foreign-language publications as indicated in parentheses. It is published as an aid to United States Government research. SOVIET BLOC IPPR NATIONAL GEOPHYSICAL YEAR INFORMATION Table of Contents I. General II. Rockets and Artificial Earth Satellites III. Upper Atmosphere IV. Meteorology V. Oceanography VI. Latitude VII. Seismology VIII. Glaciology IX. Geomagnetism X. Antarctic Approved For Release 1999/09/08 : CIA-RDP82-00141R000200030001-9 Approved For Release 1999/09/08 : CIA-RDP82-00141R000200030001-9 rt' Soviets Continue to Popularize the IGY for the Masses Mezhdunarodnyy Geofizicheskiy God (International Geophysical Year) by V. P. Tsesevich, published by Gostekhizdat, was to have been released during the fourth quarter of 1957, according to an announcement in a so- viet book catalogue. The purpose of' the book, as stated in the announce- ment, is to present in simple, readable form to a wide audience of readers the problems facing scientists during the IGY and how they will be solved. (Sovetskiye Knigi, No 163, 1957) p 32) Polish Participation in IGY Program An abstract of a Polish article describes measures undertaken by the IGY Committee under the Polish Academy of Sciences for the organization of the investigations which must be conducted by the Poles. The basic problems which will be studied during the IGY are listed. The Commission on Astronomy, Geodesy, and Gravity will investigate changes of geograph- ical latitude and longitude associated with the shifting of the poles and irregularities of the earth's rotation. The Meteorological Commis- sion will study the over-all circulation of the atmosphere and the energy balance system of the earth-atmosphere, and will conduct radiosonde mees- urements of the temperature, pressure, and moisture content of the air, and of the wind up to 30 kilometers. This commission will conduct oceano- graphic investigations of the dynamic processes in the Bay of Danzig and in the southern part of the Baltic Sea. The commission's studies on magnetism, atmospheric electricity, and the ionosphere will include varia- tions of the Earth's magnetic field and the electromagnetic phenomena in the Earth's atmosphere. In the field of seismology, the Commission on Seismology will be interested chiefly in the study of earthquakes in Poland and adjacent territories. The investigation of solar activity is of major importance to the 11cliophysics Commission. A subcommission on the organization of Polish expeditions was formed. A map showing the arrangement of the network of Polish geophysical stations was given. (Problemy, Issue 12, No 7, 1956, pp lr(9-4d0 [from Referativnyy Zhurnal -- Geofizika, No 3, Mar 57, Abstract No 1629, by I. N. Leonardova]) Approved For Release 1999/09/08 : CIA-RDP82-00141R000200030001-9 Approved For Release 1999/09/08 : CIA-RDP82-00141R000200030001-9 Soviets Distribute Preliminary Report on Sputnik I According, to a 22 January 1958 press item, a preliminary scientific report on launching of satellites had been prepared and was being sent to IGY organizations in accordance with the obligations assLuned by the Soviet Committee for the Conduct of the IGY. The press item observed that on 11. January Sputnik I had ceased exist- once and in 3 months had made approximately 1,11.00 revolutions around the Earth and had traveled 60 million kilometers. As told to a Taos correspondent by the Soviet Committee for the Conduct of the IGY, the calculations of Soviet scientists on the life- time of the satellite were completely confirmed. Careful observations of the flight, the use of methods developed by Soviet mathematicians and of the high-speed electronic computer made it possible to accurately pre- dict the ephemeris of the satellite at any given moment. Observations made during the flight of Sputnik I made it possible to collect valuable scientific material on the density of the upper lay- ers of the atmosphere, the structure of the ionosphere, and other geo- physical phenomena. Signals of the satellite on the 15-meter band were received at a very great distance exceeding, by far, the range of direct visibility and in a number of cases reached a distance to 10,000 kilo- meters. Investigations of the satellite signal.: revealed that in certain layers of the ionosphere peculiar waveguides facilitating radiowave pro- pagation to ,;:L-eat distances were formed. It was established that meteor danger was in reality less than pre- viously supposed. The satellite passed through meteor showers and, in spite of this, survived without injury over a long period of time. The temperature conditions which a satellite is subjected to were revealed. The first results of obser?rat:ions of the flight of Sputnik I made it pos- sible to :naive the parameters and orbit of Sputnik II more precise. The Soviet IGY Cannittee took measures to provide complete informa- tion to scientists and a wide circles of people of all countries on the most important features of the experiment conducted with Sputnik I. Before the launching of the satellite, numerous articles, in which methods of investigations used in the flight of the satellite and the appropriate instruments were described in detail, appeared in scientific journals. In radio amateur journals data describing radio receiving de- vices for reception of satellite signals were given in advance. Instruc- tions on optical observations were given in astronomical publications. Approved For Release 1999/09/08 : CIA-RDP82-00141R000200030001-9 'p Approved ElOr Release 199,9/09/108 ? CiA-RDP82h00141R00020.0030001-9 ~e pro em:3 invo vecl in laune ng a sate. e were discussed in the Soviet popular and scientific press. This made it possib:Le to organize observations of the satellite throughout the country. Much assistance in the collection of data, on Sputnik's flight were given by observation stations and radio amateurs of many countries. Many hundredo of letters and telegrams with reports on observations conducted were received by the Soviet IGY Committee: Valuable information was presented by c ientists of Czechoslovakia, China, Poland, East Germany, and other People's Democracies. Observatories and stations in Ireland, England, and some Latin Amer- ican countries reported their observations. The press item concludes with the observation that only casual re- ports were received from the US, where there are a great number of ob- servation stations. (Moscow, Izvestiya, 22 Jan 58) Soviet Film on Sputniks I and II A short newspaper notice indicates that Moscow cinematographers have made a documentary entitled "First Soviet Earth Satellites." The film is directed by M. Slavinskaya and N. Chigorin and is based on a script by A. Sazonov. The first part of the movie acquaints one with the his- tory of the mastery of the Cosmos by science. (Moscow, Izvestiya, 19 Dec 57) Soviets Translate and Publish Brochure of US Satellite Articles A. Buyanov, an engineer, has reviewed a Soviet brochure of translated US articles on the artificial earth satellite. The 75-page brochure, entitled Iskusstvennyy sputnik Zemli (Artificial Earth Satellite), was published by the "Sovetskoye Radio" Publishing House in 1957 and sells for 2 rubles 25 kopecks. Titles of the individual articles are given, but tl aithcc's az not idr tii'Sed: the review says only that these articles were papers read by US scientists before an audience of 2,000 radio engineers. Yu. S. HIilebtsevich edited the brochure, which the reviewer says is of great interest for the Soviet reader. (Tekhnika-Molodezhi, No 9, Sep 57, pp 38-39) W Approved For Release 1999/09/08 : CIA-RDP82-00141R000200030001-9 Approved For Release 1999/09/08 : CIA-RDP82-00141R000200030001-9 China Set, U1 I.2 flatej.l.ito Observation StatJ.onc Under the sponuorship of the Academia Sinica Sciences, according to a Peiping newspaper, 12 observation stations for the tracking of the So- viet earth satel.l:Ltc are now 'bein3 established in various areas through- out China, :LncJ.udin; Peiping, Nanking, Lan-chow, F un-ruing, Lhasa, Wuhan, Cii'anC-ch'un, Canton, Sian, Ururuchi, Tientsin, and ShanL;ha:L. A total of .1-20 wide-field (12 degrees) telescopes for use in the observation stations rrill be supplied by the USSR. Radio sets capable of receiving signals at frequencies of 20-1E0 rnebacycies arc now being installed in the various u LaL' ioria . (Peiping, 1`uangr-rnirig Jih-pao, 1E Nov 5'( ) Approved For Release 1999/09/08 : CIA-RDP82-00141R000200030001-9 Approved For Release 1999/09/08 : CIA-RDP82-00141R000200030001-9 III . UPPER AT'MOS P tE First Results of Radar Observations of Meteor Activity Reported G. A. Nasyrov of the Institute of Physics and Geophysics of the Academy of Sciences Turkmen SSR submitted a report on 7 December. 1957 on radar determinations of meteor activity from July to September 1957 in Ashkhabad which indicates that a total of 1,760 reflections were re- corded during this period. Nasyrov's report follows In connection with the beginning of the IGY, the Astrophysics Lab- oratory of the Institute of Physics and Geophysics of the Academy of Sciences Turkmen SSR began the systematic registration of meteor activity according to the IGY program on a 4.2-meter wave length. The antenna used is a wave duct and is permanently directed toward the west. Maximum power is 80 kilowatts at a frequency of 50 pulses per second. The receive- transmit antenna consists of seven elements inclined at a 22.5 degree angle to the horizontal plane and located at a height of two wave lengths (at a height of three wave lengths until 18 July 1957). The station is equipped with automatic control, an automatic calibrator, and a separate photograph- ing device, which records meteor radio echoes and their duplication, thus ensuring their reliable selection from among the usual disturbances. Re- cording is made on a movie film by which slant range scanning is fixed through every 50 kilometers to distances of 350 kilometers and time mark- ers are placed on the movie film simultaneously. In addition, another instrument, the "artificial meteor," makes it possible for the operator to calibrate the duration of the reflection each time. The photographing device and the "artificial meteor" were made at Kharkov Polytechnic In- stitute under the supervision of B. L. Kashcheyev. RF-3 film was used. The station is organized under the general direction of I. S. Astapovich, and A. T. Belous, Yu. L. Truttse, A. Kh. Khanberdyyev, Yu. Rodin, 0. Ovezgel'dyyev, M. I. Kalyakina, Yu. N. Inozemtsev, and G. A. Nasyrov took part in the work. The processed negatives showed that for 630 hours and 13 minutes of observations, 1,760 reflections ("radio meteors") were recorded. Of these, 247 were obtained from 1 to 17 July 1957 at an antenna height of 3 wave lengths and 1,513 were obtained thereafter at an antenna height of 2 wave lengths. The average hourly number by the month, beginning at 0001-0100 Z and each hour thereafter to 2300-2400 Z, are given as follows (numbers In parentheses indicate data from insufficient number of hours of opera- t10 n) : July --2.0, 3.0, 3.6, 3.2, 3.6, 4.0, 3.9, 2.4, 0.8, 1.0, 2.1, 1.7, 2,9, 2.7, 3.0, 2.8, 2.4, 2.0, 1.7, 4.0, 2.2, 2.7, 1.4, 2.1; average a 2.49, V. = 445. -5- Approved For Release 1999/09/08 : CIA-RDP82-00141R000200030001-9 August -- 7.6, 4.1, 4.9, 3.2, 490, 4.1, 5.5, 4.3, 3.7, 4.7, 3.4, 3.0, 5.3, 5.0, 4.9, 4.5, 3.9, 3.8, 3.6, 6.0, 5.8, 4.5, 2.8, 6.2; average 11.44, n _ 843. September --2.1, 1.1, 2.0, 1.8, 2.0, 2.1, 1.9, 1.6, (2.9), (5.5), (2.0), 2.0, (1.3), 1.0, (2.3), (1.7), 0.8, 1.6, 2.1, 1.7, 1.6, 1.0, 2.2, 1.8; average = 1.84, n a 252. The greatest number of meteors were observed in August. A more detailed analysis of data shows that the maximum occurred during 10-15 Au- gust 1;57, which can be attributed to the Perseids. The diurnal var- iation curve shows a minimum at about 1400 local solar time and a maximum in the morning and evening hours. Distribution according to slant range ::s given as follows: Range (kilometers) No of Radio Meters 6o 4 6o-go 46 90-120 85 120-150 154 150-180 312 180-210 228 210-240 227 240-270 173 270-300 138 300-330 108 330 44 1,519 Within the 55- to 100 kilometers range the mode drops to an alti- tude of 85-90 kilometers. Taking as an average H = 87, we find that the angle of inclination i of the antenna corresponds with the maximum of the slant range r z H cosec t = 87 x 2.61 = 227 kilometers. Approved For Release 1999/09/08 : CIA-RDP82-00141R000200030001-9 ApoffiGNTor Release 1999/09/08: CIA-RDP82-00141 R000200030001-9 A total of 1,433 (94.6% of the radio reflections were of less than one second duration, 66 (4.46) of approximately one second duration, and 15 (1.0;6) of considerably more than one second duration. (Izvestiya Aka- demii Nauk Turkmenskoy SSR, No 6, Nov-Dec 57, p 100) New Soviet Astronomical Equipment Includes Use of TV Telescope A TV telescope capable of magnifying the diameter of the lunar disk to 6 meters is among the astronomical equipment designed and in use at the Main Astronomical Observatory at Pulkovo during the IGY. An ordinary tele- scope with a focal length of 20 meters which can be increased to 50 and even 100 meters by changing one of the mirrors in the optical system is used in conjunction with a TV camera. In addition to the increased mag- nification achieved by modifying the optical system, the electrical sys- tem also makes it possible to magnify the image even more. This new combination of telescope and TV camera makes it possible to obtain distinct pictures of stars, planets, comets, nebulae and to sharply increase their luminosity on a TV screen. Astronomers have al- ready taken several tens of photographs of the Moon, and several double stars of the eighth and ninth magnitude have been photographed. Mars will be photographed during the time of its regular opposition this year in an attempt to solve the age-old argument on the existence of so-called Martian canals. The TV telescope, which was designed by N. F. Kuprevich, a senior scientific associate at the observatory, is temporarily set up on a bal- cony of the main building of the observatory. A special pavilion will soon be constructed for it. A special pavilion has already been constructed on Pulkovo heights for another also entirely original instrument, the Leningrad Zenith Tele- scope (ZTL-180). This telescope has an objective lens diameter of 180 millimeters an6 a focal length of 2,360 millimeters. It is the largest telescope of its kind in the world and is being used in the study of the movement of the Earth's poles during the IGY. The ZTL-180 Tias constructed in Leningrad according to the technical specifications de?reloped by V. I. Sakharov and I. F. Korbut, scientific associates of the observatory. To protect the telescope from the heat of summer, the pavilion in which the telescope is located is insulated. The inside is covered with a cork layer and the outside is painted with an aluminum paint which reflects solar radiation. 0. Karyshev, who describes the TV and zenith telescopes in a news- paper article, also points out that cameras are used for recording the results of observations and that such instruments now are set up at Moscow, Kitab, Irkutsk, and other stations in the USSR. (Leningradskaya Pravda, 8 Jan 58) Approved For Release 1999/09/08 : CIA-RDP82-00141R000200030001-9 Approved For Release 1999/09/08 : CIA-RDP82-00141R000200030001-9 IV. 1,TETTOROLOCY rv'eteorologicnl Stations in China China has some 1.000 meteorological observatories ::.nd stations distrib- uted in the various areas throughout the nation. This number is more than 20 times that of the preliberation period. (Shih-chia-chuang Jih-pao,, 6 Sep 57) CPYRGHT Vityaz' Plumbs Pacific Depths CPYRGHT J. E'cvlov, `first mate fbr political affairs aboard the Soviet expeditionary ship Vityaz' of the institute of Oceanology of the Academy of Sciences USSR, reports on the progress of its voyage in the Pacific. In a radiogram he re- ports that the ship has traveled thousands of miles. during which valuable scientific discoveries were made and parts of the ICY program were success- fully fulfilled. At the time of the report, the ship was completing its trip from New Zealand to the Tonga Islands. The Tonga depression, little studied heretofore, was explored in De- cember. Geological, biological, and other investigations were conducted here. Interesting soil samples were obtained at depths of 8 kilometers. Using a self-recording instrument, a record depth of 10,800 kilometers was registered here. Cameras were used in photographing the ocean bottom at great depths. Gwmer .14, of 10,000 meters the camera automatically recorded the bottom topography. I(Leningradskaya Pravda, 3, 16 Jan 56) CPYRGHT First Chinese Oceanogr,7phic Research Ship Launched China's first oceanographic research ship, the SS Chin-sheng (Golden Star), was to leave the Shanghai Chung-hua Shipyard on 6 June 1957 and go to Tsing- tao, according to a Shanghai newspaper. Approved For Release 1999/09/08 : CIA-RDP82-00141R000200030001-9 Approved For Release 1999/09/08 : CIA-RDP82-00141R000200030001-9 The vessel, a converted ocean-going tug, has a displacement of 1,500 tons and can travel at a speed of 13 nautical miles an hour. There are six research laboratories on the vessel. On arrival at Tsingtao, the vessel was to be equipped with various types of research instruments by the Marine Bio- logical Research Unit of the Academia Sinica in the Tsingtao area. The ship was then to start its scientific expedition. (Shanghai, F.sin-wen Jih-pao, 7 Jun 57, P 1) The Hsin-hua News Agency reported that the SS Chin-sheng would conduct its scientific expedition in China's territorial waters under the direction of the marine biological laboratory in Tsingtao and that it would investi- gate the physical and biological conditions of the'ocean and collect data on marine resources. (Peiping, Hsin-hua News Agency release, 7 Jun 57) Soviet Oceanographic Research Team in Tsingtao A Chinese newspaper reported on 28 December 1957 that the Soviet ocean- ographic ship Pao-shih 'Gem) and medium-sized trawler No 4347 carrying a Soviet oceanographic research team including a total of 49 members headed by Vishinskiy, chief of t,.ie Laboratory of Surface Layer Fish, Pacific Ocean Scientific Research Institute of the Fishing Economy and Oceanography of the USSR, arrived in Tsingtao the previous week. Accompanying the team was Kim Tok-kyong, chief of the Western Sea Marine Production Institute, North Korea. According to the paper, the team will cooperate with the Chinese scien- tists in making a scientific study of the marine biology, ocean physics, and marine chemistry of both the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea. The paper added that the present oceanographic expedition is based on an agreement signed between China, the USSR, North Korea, and North Vietnam during a con- ference concerning technical cooperation in connection with the work of fish- ery, oceanography, and limnology in the western Pacific area in 1956 and proposals of a 21-point technical cooperation agreement reached during the second conference in Moscow in August 1957. Also among the famous USSR scientists in the team were Kaganovskaya, chief of the Laboratory of Bottom Layer Fish, Pacific Ocean Scientific Re- search Institute of the Fishing Economy and Oceanography of the USSR, and Biryulin, chief of the Laboratory of Oceanography and Hydrology of the same institute. (Peiping, Koang-ming Jih-pao, 28 Dec 57) Approved For Release 1999/09/08 : CIA-RDP82-00141R000200030001-9 Approved For Release 1999/09/08 : CIA-RDP82-00141R000200030001-9 VI. LATITUDE Soviets Aid Chinese in Setting Up Latitude Station Some time ago a group of Soviet scientists headed by A. A. Mikhaylov, Corresponding Member of the Academy of Sciences USSR, visited China, where they assisted Chinese astronomers in selecting Tientsin as a site for making latitude obser. irations . Later, a zenith telescope was sent to Tientsin from Leningrad. Chao I-sing, a Chinese professor, and his assistants then visited Pulkovo, where the Main Astronomical Observatory of the Academy of Sci- ences USSR is located, and acquainted themselves with the methods of making latitude observations., (Leningradskaya Pravda, 8 Jan 58) Lhasa Observatory Uses Chinese-Made Equipment A Lhasa newspaper article titled "On the Work of the Lhasa Observa- tory," by Hsi Ping-chih and Chou Chin-ping, gives the following infor- mation. All recording apparatuses used in the Lhasa observatory are of Chi- nese make. They have all been manufactured in the Chinese plants since the liberation. To register the shocks and motions of earthquakes, the Model-51 seismograph, designed and produced by Li Shan-pang, a seismolo- gist and a research fellow of the Geophysics Research Institute of the Academia Sinica, is now being used. The Kirnos seismograph, copied after a Soviet model by the Chinese last year, is also being used. The per- formance of the latter is considered to be very satisfactory; it gives accurate recordings of earthquakes in all directions. To study geo- magnetism, two sets of recording equipment (one for recording at normal speed and the other at higher speed) were installed in the observatory. These are Chinese-made, but are copies of Danish geomagnetic recording equipment. In the past, there were no systematic and scientific materials on geomagnetism and seismology available in Tibet. Some 20 years ago, however, geomagnetic survey work was done in the areas of Lhasa, Zhi- katse, and Ya-tung by a German. His study lacked materials concerning periodic geomagnetic changes of the areas. Therefore, the distribution, changes, and characteristics of geomagnetism in the Tibetan plateau were not made known. With the establishment of the Lhasa observatory, it is expected that more information along this line will soon be made known to the world. (Lhasa, Tibet Jih-pao, 14 Aug 57) Approved For Release 1999/09/08 : CIA-RDP82-00141R000200030001-9 Approved For Release 1999/09/08 : CIA-RDP82-00141R000200030001-9 VIII. GLACIOLOGY :ovicL? Preparations for IGY Investigations in Suntar-Khayata Mountain Range_ The following is a complete translation of the article, "Preparation for Investigations in the Suntar-Khayata Mountain Region," by N. A. Grave; The study of areas of cooling in the Earth's sphere (the cryosphere) in the polar and high-mountain regions enters in the IGY program of ocicntific investigations. Glaciers, frozen ground, and rocks are basic objectives in the study of the cryosphere. The occurrence and development of these formations depend on the special features of certain geophysical processes which are Jointly dependent on the transfer of heat between the Earth's crust, atmo- sphere, and lithosphere. Investigations of both the cryosphere phenomena and their specific processes, conducted periodically and simultaneously in various sections of the Earth's sphere and under various physicogeographica and geological conditions, will make it possible to explain not only the direction and intensity of changes in separate elements of the cryosphere according to time and area, but also to establish the reasons for these changes . In accordance with decision by the Presidium of the Academy of Sciences USSR, a glaciological and geocryological (permafrost) station is being organized in the high-mountain region of Yakutsk by the Northeast Branch of the Institute of Frost Studies imeni V. A. Obruchev, Academy of Sciences USSR. In connection with this, a reconnaissance expedition of the Academy of Sciences USSR had visited the Suntar-Khayata Mountain Range in 1956. The investigations proposed for this region are of great scien- tific interest. A high-mountain meteorological station has already been constructed in this region by the Kolyma Administration of the Hydrometeor- ological Service USSR. The Suntar-Khayata Mountain Range attracted the attention of scien- tists by its unique combination of physicogeographical and geological con- ditions. The geographical contrasts and abundance of cryospheric phenomena and formations concentrated in a comparatively small area give this moun- tain region a special natural appearance. The Suntar-Khayata Mountain Range, appearing as a southern spur of the Verkhoyansk Mountains, represents an independent mountain group form- ing the watershed for the Indigirka and Aldan basins and the rivers which flow into the Sea of Okhotsk. It consists of sharply defined Alpine-type mountains extending in a 150-kilometer belt from the northwest to the south- east with a width reaching 50 kilometer. Absolute heights of the mountain range reach 2,500 to 2,800 meters and the highest point in the northern section of the range has an altitude of 2,959 meters. Approved For Release 1999/09/08 : CIA-RDP82-00141R000200030001-9 Approved For Release 1999/09/08 : CIA-RDP82-00141R000200030001-9 Thie, ranL,o In i;hst oro(rr?aephlrre'1 dividing line for air masses of Pacific 0(`,N L11 W* P1 r.c~rt i n:trtitz ).. Ot' I.t in. ,1.lonf; with the I3uorclal htakiy Mountains located fitrthcr north, t. h. ;:unt;per-i;1i+a,ycat?~ Mountain Range is the hole region of it ilrnif lcant cont,ornporary L la's iret ion in the, central-continental portion of northerni t; Ara 1u . Around lheu cwnteru or t{luciation, at the sources of rivers flowing down the aoturtuin ranx,,e and at. an altitude of about 1,300 meters, are located, ttit^k trn.r.lt.tyear it., ,nyere. (le fields) which are associated with they emertcnck- or oubtr:.rranean waters, The surfaces of the river benches and morainic .it!:nUt :ire ~,?ovrrrecl with a clenati network of frost clefts. The location of the t,1,rr,Lr:rt3 and ice fic,lda and also a sketch of the moun- tain range orthography i. given in Figure 1. (not reproduced here]. The Svntar-.JUtayata Mountain Range is lo-ated 150 kilometer from the 0ymyakorisk Platelau in whot:?e depr~:s_sior,.u have been registered the lowest air temperatures in tho northern lic;mizphiere. The entire region has a well def i?t ed oltitude-zoning of vegetative cover, soils, and climate- 'T'hus, the wooded sections of depressions in Lite 0y7nyakoru;k Plateau, which are lo;atcd at an altitude of about 600 to 700 meters, e.heetu;Fa into a taiga which reaches the foot of the high peaks and changes Into a mountain tundra at an elevation of about 1,300 meters. The .limat.e is milder in thF. h,tt;h-?mountain regions than in the depressions of the plat.cau. The Svntar?4Oiayat?a Mountain Rsn e has been little investigated. All the large expeditions dire:r,ed towards the northeast, from Yakutsk in the basins of Kolyttta, and begt:iningg with the expedition of Sarychev (1876) and ending with the expcA i.t. ions of S. Obruchev (1926-1929), were conducted at the hors of the high -mountain set ion. The first data on glaciers in the northeast, pror?tien of the mountain range was obtained by the geologist Lezhoye . Ito: gave, they dituttnsions of the Glaciers and the altitude of the snow line in this section of the mountains. The most detailed presenta- tion on g.lacicr of the S tartar - QQayata Mountain Range was obtained through the works of the geographer L. L. Berman (4Togros geografii (Problems of Geography 7 ; No 4, 19L7), rn 191