Salair Ridge is an eroded plateau

Plateau

In geology and earth science, a plateau , also called a high plain or tableland, is an area of highland, usually consisting of relatively flat terrain. A highly eroded plateau is called a dissected plateau...

-type highland

Highland (geography)

The term highland or upland is used to denote any mountainous region or elevated mountainous plateau. Generally speaking, the term upland tends to be used for ranges of hills, typically up to 500-600m, and highland for ranges of low mountains.The Scottish Highlands refers to the mountainous...

 in the Southwestern Siberia

Siberia

Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...

, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, particularly in Altai Krai

Altai Krai

Altai Krai is a federal subject of Russia . It borders with, clockwise from the south, Kazakhstan, Novosibirsk and Kemerovo Oblasts, and the Altai Republic. The krai's administrative center is the city of Barnaul...

, Kemerovo

Kemerovo Oblast

Kemerovo Oblast , also known as Kuzbass after the Kuznetsk Basin, is a federal subject of Russia , located in southwestern Siberia, where the West Siberian Plain meets the South Siberian mountains...

 and Novosibirsk Oblast

Novosibirsk Oblast

Novosibirsk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia located in southwestern Siberia. Its administrative and economic center is the city of Novosibirsk. Population: -Overview:...

. It is a natural continuation of Altai Mountains and separates the Kuznetsk Depression

Kuznetsk Depression

Kuznetsk Depression is located among mountains of Southern Siberia: Kuznetsk Alatau to the Northeast, Salair Ridge to the Southwest, and Mountainous Shoria to the South. Elevation up to 500 m, area: 70,000 km², length: 400 km, width: 120 km....

 from the Ob River

Ob River

The Ob River , also Obi, is a major river in western Siberia, Russia and is the world's seventh longest river. It is the westernmost of the three great Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean .The Gulf of Ob is the world's longest estuary.-Names:The Ob is known to the Khanty people as the...

 Plain to the southwest. See Geography of South-Central Siberia

Geography of South-Central Siberia

This article covers the region of Siberia west of Lake Baikal and north of the Altai Mountains. It is intended totie together a number of articles that are hard to understand in isolation....

. Its main ridge is nearly parallel to that of Kuznetsk Alatau

Kuznetsk Alatau

Kuznetsk Alatau is a mountain range, South Siberia, Russia between Kuznetsk Depression and Minusinsk Depression. Length: about 300 km., elevation: up to . It is part of the mountain system of Central Asia. See Geography of South-Central Siberia....

. The ridge is some 300 kilometres in length and 15-40 kilometres wide.

The mountains are rich in complex ores. The highest peak is Kivda , at 621 meters.

Major rivers include the Berd'

Berd River

Berd is a river in Russia, right arm of the Ob River.Flows from the western slopes of the Salair ridge, makes 30 km in Altai Krai territory and the rest in Novosibirsk Oblast...

 ' onMouseout='HidePop("60971")' href="/topics/Berdsk">Berdsk

Berdsk

Berdsk is a town in Novosibirsk Oblast, Russia, a satellite of Novosibirsk, situated on a bank of the Berd River. Population: It was founded in 1716 as a fortress. Town status was granted to it in 1944...

), Suenga River  and Chumysh River.

External links

Salair RidgeA map of paleolithic settlements at Salair Ridge