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Definition: tundra from Philip's Encyclopedia

Treeless, level, or gently undulating plain characteristic of arctic and subarctic regions. It is marshy with dark soil that supports mosses, lichens, and low shrubs. It has a permanently frozen subsoil known as permafrost.


tundra

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
(tŭn'drӘ), treeless plains of N North America and N Eurasia, lying principally along the Arctic Circle, on the coasts and islands of the Arctic Ocean, and to the north of the coniferous forest belt. The tundra area is widest in N Siberia on the Kara Sea and reaches as far south as 60° N at the neck of the Kamchatka peninsula. Although sometimes called the Arctic steppe and situated mainly within the Arctic Circle, it reaches southward into the Scandinavian, Timan, and Ural mts. For most of the year the mean monthly temperature is below the freezing point; winters are long and severe. The summers are short and relatively warm, but even in July the mean monthly temperature does not rise above 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius). Although high temperatures may be reached during a summer day, the subsoil is perpetually frozen. During summer, sedges, mosses, and lichens appear in abundance, along with some flowering plants. Among the few large animal species found in the tundra are…
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Full text Article tundra

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
(tŭn'drӘ), treeless plains of N North America and N Eurasia, lying principally along the Arctic Circle, on the coasts and islands of the Arctic Ocean, and to the north of the coniferous forest belt. The tundra area is widest in N Siberia on the Kara Sea and reaches as far south as 60° N at the neck…
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Full text Article tundra

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Treeless, level or rolling ground above the taiga in polar regions (Arctic tundra) or on high mountains (alpine tundra), characterized by bare ground and rock or by such vegetation as mosses, lichens, small herbs, and low shrubs. Animal species are limited by harsh environmental conditions. In the…
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Full text Article tundra

From Penguin Dictionary of Biology
Treeless region at the farthest limits of plant growth. A vast biome, occupying about one fifth of the planet's surface, and best developed in the northern hemisphere, being found mostly north of the Arctic circle. The Arctic tundra essentially comprises a huge band across Eurasia and North America, …
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Full text Article Kanin Tundra

From Encyclopedia of Seas: The Western Arctic Seas Encyclopedia
Kanin Tundra – is located in the west of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, occupies the Kanin Peninsula and the mainland coast of the region from the Konushinsk coast of the Mezenskaya Bay in the west to the River Piosha in the east, Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. The area is mainly low, with very swampy…
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Full text Article TUNDRA & ICE CAP

From National Geographic Answer Book: 10,001 Fast Facts About Our World Full text Article CLIMATES & HABITATS
WORLD TUNDRAS ARCTIC TUNDRAS North America / Northern Alaska, Canada, Greenland Europe / Scandinavia Asia / Siberia ALPINE TUNDRAS North America /Alaska, Canada, U.S., Mexico Europe / Finland, Norway, Russia, Sweden Asia / Himalaya, Japan Africa / Mount Kilimanjaro South America / Andes Mountains At…
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Full text Article tundra

From Environmental History and Global Change: A Dictionary of Environmental History
From the Finnish for ‘treeless plain’ Arctic tundra covers c.20% of the earth’s land surface, mainly in N America and Eurasia, and extends to c.25 million km 2 ; Alpine tundra covers 9.5 million km 2 . Tundra soils are dynamic and unstable due to frost heaving and solifluction. The biome is a…
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Full text Article Bolshezemelskaya (Big Land) Tundra

From Encyclopedia of Seas: The Western Arctic Seas Encyclopedia
Bolshezemelskaya (Big Land) Tundra...
Bolshezemelskaya (Big Land) Tundra – a part of the continent, stretching east of the Pechora River to the Pay-Khoy Ridge and the Polar Ural. Its south border is the Usa River, which is the right arm of Pechora. In the north it is washed by the Pechora Sea. Total area comprises 160,000 km 2 . The…
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Map of the North American Arctic, showing...
Abstract The Arctic is divided into the High Arctic and Low Arctic regions. Because of the remoteness and harsh climate of the High Arctic, there has been little human impact on this region up till now. The Russians did extensive nuclear weapons testing on the High Arctic islands of Novaya Zemlya…
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Full text Article Malozemelskaya Tundra

From Encyclopedia of Seas: The Western Arctic Seas Encyclopedia
Malozemelskaya Tundra – part of the Pechora Lowlands on the continent, between Chosha Bay – the Indiga River – and the Pechora River on the coast of the Barents Sea, Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. The relief is homogenous, a moraine plain with few hills, consists of marine and continental sediments, …
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Full text Article tundra

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
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