Alaniya National Park

About

Alaniya National Park (Russian: Национальный парк «Ала́ния»), is a heavily glaciated, mountainous section of the northern slope of the Central Caucasus Mountains. It covers the southern third of the Irafsky District of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania. The park was created to have a dual purpose of serving as an ecological refuge - it has very high levels of biodiversity and vulnerable species, such as the near-endangered west Caucasian tur – and also an area of high cultural heritage and potential for recreational tourism. The park contains widespread archaeological ruins from several notable past civilizations, including the Bronze Age Koban people (1200–300 BCE), and the Alan people (100 BCE – 1234 AD). It is from the Alans that the name "Alaniya", and indirectly the term "Aryan", is ultimately derived. Because altitudes in the park can span almost 4,000 meters vertical in very short distances, the slopes and valleys display strong "altitude zoning". These climatic zones range from alpine glaciers and peaks in the high, southern sections, to steppe grasslands in the northern reaches.

The park sits at a central point of the Caucusus, which are themselves the continental divide between Asia and Europe. Alaniya NP is approximately two-thirds of the distance between the Black Sea to the west and the Caspian Sea to the east. The southern border of the park, at the top of the mountain ridge, runs along the border with the Republic of Georgia. To the west is the Kabardino-Balkaria Reserve (another mountain-peak protected area), and to the east is the North Ossetian Reserve. Altitudes range from a high at Mount Uilpata of 4,646 metres (15,243 ft), to 800 meters in the Urukh River valley below. Most of the ground cover is glacier, rock and scree at the higher altitudes. Modern glaciation is approximately 80 square kilometres (8,000 ha; 19,768 acres; 31 sq mi). At mid-level altitudes, approximately 20% of the park is forested. At the lowest levels, and in the valleys to the north, are grasslands and scattered forest. The park has more than 70 rivers and streams, mostly fed by glaciers. The few lakes are small in size and also fed by glaciers and snow runoff. The 45 lakes cover an area of only 11 hectares in total, while the 5 alpine marshes cover a total area of 103 hectares. The main ridge and side ridge are composed of granites, gneisses and schists, with the younger sedimentary rocks gathered in large fan-shaped folds. There are mineral springs in the upper valleys, waterfalls, and forest glades on terraces. Named glaciers include the Masota, Tana, Karuaugom, Songuti, Bart, Fastagstete, and Tasmazov. The primary river valley through the park is the Urukh River, fed by the Karaugom Glacier and numerous glacial tributaries. The Karaugom Glacier is 1.3 km long, and 26.6 km in area. In elevation, the glacier reaches from 3,440 meters at the top to 1,830 meters at the bottom of the tongue – a height of 1,610 metres (1 mile). A recent study associated the glacier's with a rise in temperatures in the Central Caucusus of 0.05 degrees C per year, and an average glacial retreat of 8 meters per year. Moreover, the Karaugom descends to a lower altitude than any other glacier in the Caucusus, well into the forested zone.

The climate of the general region is humid continental, (Dfa on the Koppen climate scale). The region is characterized by long, snowy winters and short, cool summers.

Average January temperature: −5 °C (23 °F) Average July temperature: +24 °C (75 °F) Average annual precipitation: 400–700 millimeters (16–28 in) in the plains; over 1,000 millimeters (39 in) in the mountains. Alaniya is in the Caucasus mixed forests ecoregion, described by the World Wildlife Federation as "one of the most biologically rich and culturally diverse regions on Earth". The area is at a biological cross-roads. Species from Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa meet in the Caucasus.

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.