http://www.rasfoiesc.com/educatie/geografie/MEDIILE-DIN-ZONA-RECE16.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subarctic_climate

http://www.earthonlinemedia.com/ebooks/tpe_3e/climate_systems/tundra_1.html

1.Mediul subpolar (tundra) prezent in extremitatile continentelor nordice,

se caracterizeaza printr-un climat cu sezon de iarna foarte rece (temperaturi sub - 300 C, zapada,
vanturi intense) si unul de vara, cand temperaturile se pot ridica la 100 C, producandu-se topirea
partiala a zapezii; precipitatii reduse (sub 400 mm) cad frecvent la schimbarea anotimpurilor.

Tundra se afla la nord de taiga, formand o fasie de-a lungul tarmului Oceanului Arctic,
extinzandu-se in nordul Siberiei, unde ocupa peste 3.000.000 de km2, in nordul Europei si al
Americii de Nord. In emisfera sudica tundra ocupa extremitatea sudica a Americii de Sud si
insulele din jurul continentului antarctic.

Tundra se dezvolta in nordul padurilor de conifere, in regiunile subpolare cu un climat

aspru, subpolar, caracterizat prin temperaturi medii anuale negative. Cu toate acestea peisajul
de tundra este umed, datorita faptului ca evaporatia este redusa, iar substratul este permanent
inghetat pana la adancimi care depasesc 300 m. Tundra este un mediu natural putin modificat
de om.
 In emisfera nordica trecerea de la taiga la tundra se face printr-o fasie de tranzitie,
numita silvotundra, in care apar paduri izolate de mesteceni, pini si molizi, alaturi de vegetatia
ierboasa.

Solurile sunt, in majoritate, umede, datorita panzei freatice aflate in apropierea

suprafetei terenurilor. Predomina solurile podzolice.

Vegetatia este saraca, fiind formata predominant din muschi si licheni, ciuperci, arbusti
semper-viriscenti (merisor, afin, salcie pitica s.a.) si cu frunze cazatoare (mesteacan pitic, arin
pitic s.a.). Arborii neavand inaltimi prea mari, d.p.d.v. economic ei au importanta nu atat pentru
cherestea, cat pentru producerea celulozei. Fauna cuprinde renul, lemingul, vulpea polara,
iepurele alb, boul moscat (in America de Nord) si diferite pasari, ca bufnita de zapada, ciuful de
zapada etc.

Modelarea reliefului se realizeaza prin inghet-dezghet, din actiunea zapezii si vantului

rezultand forme periglaciare (rauri de pietre, avalanse, mari de pietre etc). Inundatiile,
provocate de revarsarea raurilor in timpul verii, favorizeaza desfasurarea unor areale
mlastinoase.
 Asezarile sunt mai putine, concentrandu-se fie in regiuni cu resurse de subsol (petrol
in Alaska, carbuni si minereuri in Eurasia), fie in cele unde pajistile au o dezvoltare mai mare,
permitand cresterea animalelor. Ca urmare, caracteristicile mediului natural se pastreaza,
influentele antropice fiind limitate. Peisajul taigalei, multa vreme aproape intact, este din ce in
ce mai mult modificat de om, la exploatarea lemnului adaugandu-se extractia unor resurse
minerale: carbuni (bazinele Peciora, Tunguska si altele in Siberia), petrol (in bazinul fluviului
Obi din Siberia, in provincia canadiana Manitoba, in statul Alaska din S.U.A.), minereu de fier
(in Siberia, in Laponia, in Peninsula Labrador), aur (Siberia, Alaska) s.a.

Subarctic climate
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Subarctic climate worldwide

Dsc Dwc Dfc

Dsd Dwd Dfd

The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, subalpine climate, or boreal climate) is
a climate characterised by long, usually very cold winters, and short, cool to mild summers. It is
found on large landmasses, away from the moderating effects of an ocean, generally
at latitudes from 50° to 70°N poleward of the humid continental climates. These climates
represent Köppen climate classification Dfc, Dwc, Dsc, Dfd, Dwd and Dsd. In very small areas at
high altitudes around the Mediterranean Basin, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Alaska and
other parts of the northwestern United States (Eastern Washington, Eastern Oregon and Idaho) the
climate is classified as Dsc with a dry summer climate, such as in Seneca, Oregon.

Contents
[hide]
 1Description
o 1.1Precipitation
o 1.2Vegetation and land use
 2Distribution
 3Charts of selected sites
 4See also
 5References

Description[edit]
This type of climate offers some of the most extreme seasonal temperature variations found on the
planet: in winter, temperatures can drop to −40 °C (−40 °F) and in summer, the temperature may
exceed 30 °C (86 °F). However, the summers are short; no more than three months of the year (but
at least one month) must have a 24-hour average temperature of at least 10 °C (50 °F) to fall into
this category of climate.
With 5–7 consecutive months where the average temperature is below freezing, all moisture in the
soil and subsoil freezes solidly to depths of many feet. Summer warmth is insufficient to thaw more
than a few surface feet, so permafrost prevails under most areas not near the southern boundary of
this climate zone. Seasonal thaw penetrates from 2 to 14 ft (0.61 to 4.27 m), depending on latitude,
aspect, and type of ground.[1] Some northern areas with subarctic climates located near oceans
(southern Alaska, the northern fringe of Europe, Sakhalin Oblast and Kamchatka Oblast), have
milder winters and no permafrost, and are more suited for farming unless precipitation is excessive.
The frost-free season is very short, varying from about 45 to 100 days at most, and a freeze can
occur during any month in many areas.
Precipitation[edit]
Most subarctic climates have very little precipitation, typically no more than 380 mm (15 in) over an
entire year. Away from the coasts, precipitation occurs mostly in the warmer months, while in coastal
areas with subarctic climates the heaviest precipitation is usually during the autumn months when
the relative warmth of sea vis-à-vis land is greatest. Low precipitation, by the standards of more
temperate regions with longer summers and warmer winters, is typically sufficient in view of the very
low evapotranspiration to allow a water-logged terrain in many areas of subarctic climate and to
permit snow cover during winter.
A notable exception to this pattern is that subarctic climates occurring at high altitudes in otherwise
temperate regions have extremely high precipitation due to orographic lift. Mount Washington, with
temperatures typical of a subarctic climate, receives an average rain-equivalent of 101.91 inches
(2,588.5 mm) of precipitation per year.[2] Coastal areas of Khabarovsk Krai also have much higher
precipitation in summer due to orographic influences (up to 175 millimetres (6.9 in) in July in some
areas), whilst the mountainous Kamchatka peninsula and Sakhalin island are even wetter since
orographic moisture is not confined to the warmer months and creates large glaciers in
Kamchatka. Labrador, in eastern Canada, is similarly wet throughout the year due to the semi-
permanent Icelandic Low and can receive up to 1,300 millimetres (51 in) of rainfall equivalent per
year, creating a snow cover of up to 1.5 metres (59 in) that does not melt until June.
Vegetation and land use[edit]
Vegetation in regions with subarctic climates is generally of low diversity, as only hardy species can
survive the long winters and make use of the short summers. Trees are mostly limited to conifers, as
few broadleaved trees are able to survive the very low temperatures in winter. This type of forest is
also known as taiga, a term which is sometimes applied to the climate found therein as well. Even
though the diversity may be low, numbers are high, and the taiga (boreal) forest is the largest forest
biome on the planet, with most of the forests located in Russia and Canada. The process by which
plants become acclimated to cold temperatures is called hardening.
Agricultural potential is generally poor, due to the natural infertility of soils[citation needed][dubious –
discuss]
and the prevalence of swamps and lakes left by departing ice sheets, and short growing
seasons prohibit all but the hardiest of crops. (Despite the short season, the long summer days at
such latitudes do permit some agriculture.) In some areas, ice has scoured rock surfaces bare,
entirely stripping off the overburden. Elsewhere rock basins have been formed and stream courses
dammed, creating countless lakes.[1]

Distribution[edit]
The Dfc climate, by far the most common subarctic type, is found in the following areas:[3][4]

 Much of Siberia
 The Kamchatka Peninsula
 Parts of Scotland
 The northern and central parts of the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin Island
 The Western Alps between 1,600 and 2,100 meters (5,200 and 6,900 ft), and the
Eastern Alps between 1,450 and 1,800 meters (4,760 and 5,910 ft) –
France, Switzerland, Germany, Italy and Austria.
 The center of Romania.
 In some parts of Germany.
 The Tatra Mountains in Poland, above 800m.
 The Eastern Anatolia, between 1,600 and 2,100 meters (5,200 and 6,900 ft) – Turkey.
 The Pyrenees, between 1,600 and 2,100 meters (5,200 and 6,900 ft) –
Andorra, France and Spain.
 The northern half of Scandinavia (milder winters in coastal areas)
 Most of Interior, Western and Southcentral Alaska
 The high Rocky Mountains in Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho and Montana and the White
Mountains of New Hampshire
 Much of Canada from about 53–55°N to the tree line, including:
 Southern Labrador
 Certain areas within Newfoundland interior and along its northern coast
 Quebec: Jamésie, Côte-Nord and far southern Nunavik
 Far northern Ontario
 The northern Prairie Provinces
 The Rocky Mountain Foothills in Alberta and British Columbia.
 Most of the Yukon
 Most of the Northwest Territories
In parts of Asia, the Siberian High makes the winters so dry (typically with around 5 millimetres
(0.20 in) of rainfall equivalent per month) that snow cover is very limited, creating a Dwc climate in:

 Much of northern Mongolia

 Russia:
 Most of Khabarovsk Krai except the south
 Southeastern Sakha Republic
 Southern Magadan Oblast
 Northern Amur Oblast
 Northern Buryatia
  Zabaykalsky Krai
 Irkutsk Oblast
 China:
 Tahe County and Mohe County in Heilongjiang
 Northern Hulunbuir in Inner Mongolia
 Gannan in Gansu (due to extreme altitude)
 Huangnan, eastern Hainan and eastern Guoluo in Qinghai (due to extreme altitude)
 Most of Garzê and Ngawa Autonomous Prefectures (due to extreme altitude) in Sichuan
 Most of Qamdo Prefecture (due to extreme altitude) in the Tibet Autonomous Region
 Parts of Ladakh (including Siachen Glacier) and Spiti regions of India.
Further north in Siberia, continentality increases so much that winters can be exceptionally severe,
averaging below −38 °C (−36 °F), even though the hottest month still averages more than 10 °C
(50 °F). This creates Dfd, Dwd and Dsd climates.[clarification needed]
The Southern Hemisphere, which has no large landmasses in the upper-middle latitudes that can
have both the short but well-defined summers and severe winters that characterize this climate, has
very few locations with this climate. One example is parts of the Snowy Mountains in Australia,
although they're more alpine than true subarctic.
Should one go poleward or even toward a polar sea, one finds that the warmest month has an
average temperature of less than 10 °C (50 °F), and the subarctic climate grades into
a tundra climate even less suitable for trees. Equatorward or toward a lower altitude, this climate
grades into the humid continental climates with longer summers (and usually less-severe winters); in
a few locations close to a temperate sea (as in North Norway and southern Alaska), this climate can
grade into a short-summer version of an oceanic climate, the subpolar oceanic climate, as the sea is
approached. In China and Mongolia, as one moves southwestwards or towards lower altitudes,
temperatures increase but precipitation is so low that the subarctic climate grades into a cold semi-
arid climate.

Subarctic Climate
Deep in the interior of high latitude continents lies the subarctic climate. Like the humid
continental climate, continentality plays a major role in determining the characteristics of
the subarctic climate. Bitterly cold winters and mild summers result in the largest annual
temperature range of any climate on Earth.

Figure 9.34 Snow covered coniferous

forest, typical natural vegetation of
the subarctic climate. (Photo credit: T. Smylie,
U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service.) Conical shape of
coniferous trees helps capture insolation from
low sun angles typical of the subarctic.

Geographic Distribution

The subarctic climate is only found in the

Northern Hemisphere because there is
nolarge landmass at the same latitude in
the Southern Hemisphere. Vast expanses of
the subarctic climate stretch across northern North America from Newfoundland to Alaska.
subarctic climate is found in northern Eurasia from Scandinavia through most of Siberia.

Controlling Factors
Located in a large continental landmass between 50o to 70o latitude the subarctic climate is
removed from any moderating influence of an ocean. It therefore experiences a very large
range in annual temperatures. During the summer it is dominated by the Westerlies and
cyclonic activity, during the winter it is the Polar High and Easterlies. The subarctic climate
is noted for its long cold winters, no wonder given that it is found in the source region for
continental polar air masses. Other air masses of significance are maritime polar and
continental arctic.

Figure 9.35 Climograph for

Yakutsk, Russia

Latitude/Longitude = 62.1 N; 129.49 W

Average Annual Temperature (C) = -
10.08
Annual Temperature Range (C) = 63
Total Annual Precipitation (mm) =213
Summer Precipitation (mm) = 157
Winter Precipitation (mm) = 56

Distinguishing Characteristics

Temperature

The subarctic climate has brief, cool summers and bitterly cold winters. The subarctic
experiences the lowest temperatures outside of Antarctica, and the largest annual
temperature range of any climate. Though the summer is short, the day length is quite long
with June days lasting 18.8 hrs at 60oN. Daytime temperatures can rise above 25o C (77oF),
while dropping to 10o C (50oF)during the evening. The freeze free period is of course short,
being only three months long. However, a freeze can occur in any month.

Precipitation

Total annual precipitation in the subarctic is fairly small, amounting to no more than 380
mm (15 in) to 500 mm (21 in) over the year. Most of the precipitation is cyclonic in origin
and concentrated during the warmer months (except along coasts) where air masses are
more humid. Notice that the summer precipitation at Yakutsk is three times that of winter.
The extremely cold temperatures, coupled with the subsidence of the Polar High, are
responsible for the meager precipitation that falls during the winter.