Minerals of Sakhalin: oil, gas, non-ferrous and rare metals. Relief of Sakhalin

Far to the east, 7 thousand kilometers from Moscow, is a large island of Sakhalin. What do we know about him? After reading our article, you will learn a lot of new and interesting information about the nature, topography and minerals of Sakhalin.

Meet Sakhalin!

The Japanese call him Karafuto. We are known as Sakhalin. Where is the island? And what are its dimensions?

Sakhalin is located on the eastern coast of Asia. This is the largest island in the Russian Federation. It is part of the Sakhalin region, which also includes a chain of sparsely populated Kuril Islands.

Sakhalin is washed by the waters of two seas - the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk. From the mainland of Russia it is separated by the Tatar Strait, and from the Japanese island of Hokkaido - by the Strait of La Perouse. Sakhalin is stretched for 950 km in the meridional direction. The maximum width of the island is 160 km.

Curious is the origin of the name of the island. This Manchu word was previously designated as the Amur River: "Sakhalyan-Ulla", which in translation means "river of black rocks". Due to the mistake of cartographers this name was designated Sakhalin Island. The error was not corrected, but caught on. In subsequent editions of Russian maps, the word "Sakhalin" has already been used as the name for the largest island.

So, we have already figured out where Sakhalin is located and why it is called that way. Now it is time to study its relief in detail.

General characteristic of the island relief

The relief of Sakhalin is extremely diverse. It is represented also by mountains, and low mountains, and hilly plains, and coastal lowlands. The central (widest) part of the island is bordered from the west and from the east, respectively, by the West Sakhalin and East Sakhalin mountains. These mountain systems are medium-high in height.

The highest point of Sakhalin is Mount Lopatin. On its slopes the taiga grows, and the top is covered with cranberry fields and stones. The height of the mountain is only 1609 meters.

The coastline of the island is indented slightly. There are four peninsulas and only two large gulfs - Aniva and Terpenia.

Relief of Sakhalin: regional peculiarities

In terms of geomorphology, the island is divided into several regions. About a third of its total area is occupied by the North Sakhalin Plain. This is a vast territory in the north of the island with a well-developed river network and separate low peaks (up to 600 meters). For coastal areas of this plain are characterized by sandy spits, dunes and fairly large marine lagoons. By the way, it is here (and also on the shelf of the Sea of Okhotsk) that the largest oil deposits are located - the main natural resource of Sakhalin.

In the extreme north of the island, Schmidt peninsula stands out with its mountainous terrain. Its banks are steep, rocky and steep.

The central and southern parts of the island are dominated by mountainous terrain. Along the west coast stretches the West Sakhalin mountains, and along the east - the East Sakhalin (here it is the Lopatin mountain). Between these two mountain systems there is a hilly and locally marshy Tym-Poranai lowland. It is covered with a powerful cover of sedimentary rocks - pebbles and sandstone.

In the southern part of the island stands the Susunai Range, which stretches for almost 60 kilometers. At its foot is the city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, the administrative center of the Sakhalin region. The highest point of the Susunai range is the Pushkin Mountain (1047 m), which is a popular tourist destination for pedestrians.

The main minerals of Sakhalin

What is rich in the nature of this region? The main natural resources of Sakhalin are forest, water and, of course, mineral and raw materials. The density of the river network of the island is much higher than the average for Russia. The region is extremely rich in forest (the index of forest cover is more than 60%). In the north of Sakhalin, larch forests grow, in the south they are broad-leaved (from maple, Mongolian oak, manchurian ash and other tree species).

The top ten minerals of Sakhalin are as follows:

• oil;
• natural gas;
• Chrome ores;
• germanium;
• mercury;
• gold;
• coal;
• peat;
• talc;
• Zeolites.

Combustible minerals of Sakhalin: oil, gas, peat

Sakhalin is one of the oldest oil and gas producing regions in Russia. "Black gold" on the island was found by geologists as far back as 1880. Throughout the 20th century, local oil and gas reserves were significantly depleted, but in the 1980s new large deposits were discovered. In addition, the total reserves of the shelf of the Sea of Okhotsk are estimated by experts at approximately 4 billion tons of oil.

The largest oil fields of Sakhalin are in the north-eastern part of the island (Ekhabinsky, Paromajskoe, Katangino and others). The pace of extraction of Sakhalin's "black gold" is increasing every year. So, by 2019 it is planned to increase the volume of oil production on the island by 3.6%, and natural gas - by 20%.

Sakhalin also produces coal, which is characterized by high quality and low sulfur content. It is used in metallurgy, gas production, and also as fuel for steamships. Is extracted on the island and peat. Deposits of this mineral resource are distributed within the North-Sakhalin Plain and Tym-Poranayskaya Lowland.

Colored, rare and noble metals of Sakhalin

In the bowels of the island there are significant reserves of various metallic ores. Among them - gold, germanium, mercury, chromium, iron, manganese, tungsten, zinc, strontium, rhenium and others. Of the rare metals of Sakhalin, the greatest economic interest is represented by germanium, and gold is among the non-ferrous metals.

On the island there are deposits of both ore and placer gold. The latter prevail. Dozens of gold placers are located within the East Sakhalin mountains. Their total reserves are estimated by geologists at 59 tons.

On the Tonino-Aniva Peninsula, the richest Novikovskoye deposit of Germanic beds of coal and argillite is being developed. Total reserves of germanium in this area are estimated at 640 tons.

More recently, deposits of chromites have been discovered in the north of Sakhalin (on the Schmidt peninsula). The total predicted reserves of these valuable ores were estimated at five million tons.