Glacial and Tundra Zones

A glacier on Novaya Zemlya descending gradually upon the sea

With the exception of the torrid zone almost all the natural zones of the globe are found in Europe.

They depend on the climate and, running from north to south are: the glacial, tundra, forest (taiga, mixed and deciduous forests), forest-steppe and steppe, semidesert and subtropical zones.
In the polar regions are situated the glacial zone and tundra.
The Glacial Zone. The glacial or polar zone of Europe includes I he islands of Spitsbergen, Franz Josef Land and the northern part of Novaya Zemlya.
The climate on these mountainous islands is severe. In winter the sun does not appear above the horizon for three or four months. The gloom of the long Arctic night is interrupted only by the radiance of Ihe Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis), a splendid display of multicolored lights in the form of arcs and streamers. This is a region of bitter frosts and cutting winds. The surrounding seas are ice-bound for the greater part of the year. The average temperature for the coldest month of the year is 15—25°C below zero. In the summer daylight is almost continuous, but the sun hangs low in the sky and gives almost no warmth. The average temperature for the warmest month is less than 5°C above zero.

During the short and cool summer season the snow does not melt. It accumulates and turns into ice. The islands are almost entirely buried beneath a thick sheet of ice that slowly descends upon the sea in places (Fig. 35). Only narrow strips of the coastline are free of ice and snow in summer. Vegetation is poor and consists mainly of lichen.

Fish and sea creatures (seal and walrus) abound in the surrounding seas. There are polar bears on the ice-fields. In summer the rocks near the shore provide safe nesting for myriads of waterfowl (puffins, guillemots, sea-gulls) that find rich feeding in the sea. These species of birds live jn colonies called, by the Russians, 'bird bazaars' for their racket (Fig. 36).

The glacial zone is very sparsely populated. Polar stations have been set up jn Franz Josef Land, where Soviet explorers study the natural features of the Far North.
The Tundra South of the glacial zone lie the tundra lands. In Europe the tundra occupies a small area on the islands and along the coastlands bordering on the Arctic Ocean.

The winters here are long, though not very cold; the summers are short and cool, the average July temperature not exceeding 10— 12°C. Strong winds and blizzards of blinding snow prevail in winter. In summer there is alternate drizzle and snow. The soil thaws to a depth of 0.5— 1.5 metres in summer, but it remains frozen for dozens and even hundreds of metres beneath (the layer of so-called permanently frozen ground). In depressions the water is detained by the frozen layer and remains on the surface of the ground, forming marshes and numerous small lakes. The rivers are mainly snow-fed. They overflow their banks in spring (in May), flooding large areas. 46

Vegetation consists mainly of mosses, lichens and marsh weeds. There are numerous berries: cloudberries, cowberries, bilberries. Dwarf birch and willow occur in places, their branches spreading low over the ground. A thick layer of snow protects them in winter against the fierce winds.

The banks of the rivers and the southern slopes of the hills and mounds are dotted with plots of juicy green grass and bright- coloured flowers.
In the southern outlying areas of the tundra isolated undersized trees with trunks twisted by the wind make their appearance. There are strips of shrubbery and forest along the river banks. This intermediate belt between the tundra and forest zone is called the forest-tundra (Fig. 37).
The tundra zone includes Iceland, a large island lying far out
to sea.
The southern coast of Iceland is washed by the warm waters of the North Atlantic Drift Current. Its climate, therefore, is wet and mild, the average January temperature on the southern coast being about 0°C. The summers, however, are cool and wet. The sky, as a rule, is overcast, and fog often occurs. In addition to tundra vegetation there are beautiful green meadows, and in the southern part of the island there occur mixed thickets of birch, willow and rowan.
The extreme north of the Scandinavian Peninsula and the northern and eastern coasts of the Kola Peninsula are also tundra territory.
Under the influence of the warm current winters here are not very cold either. Permanently frozen ground is not continuous, it occurs only in patches. South of the coastal belts the tundra merges into the forest-tundra with its thickets of birch. Tundra vegetation also grows on the flat tops of the mountains.
East of the White Sea the tundra and forest-tundra belt expands southward until it reaches the Arctic Circle. It occupies the southern part of Novaya Zemlya and the neighbouring islands. Here the climate is more severe and the winters much colder than in the west. The subsoil is permanently frozen everywhere. This is a flat and marshy country sprinkled with peat mounds and stretching woodless for hundreds of kilometres. Only an occasional hill breaks the monotony.
The tundra, expecially its eastern part, is the home of countless numbers of lemmings—small rodents that feed on grass roots. These are hunted by the arctic fox. Some of the birds, the arctic owl and the willow-ptarmigan, for example, live here permanently. In spring flocks of wild-geese, swans, ducks, snipes and other birds arrive, migrating southwards again in autumn. In summer there are great swarms of gnats, mosquitoes and gadflies.
The tundra is sparsely populated. The principal occupation of the Icelanders is fishing. The Nenetz inhabitants of the Soviet Union are engaged in reindeer-breeding, hunting and fishing. Great collective farm herds of reindeer graze in the vast pastures. Their chief diet is a lichen called,'yagel' (—reindeer moss), which they dig up from under the snow in winter. Valuable metals are mined in the Soviet tundra today. New towns and villages have sprung up. Even vegetables are grown beyond the Arctic Circle.
Questions and Assignments.