Subarctic

<h2 id="climate-and-soils">Climate and soils</h2>

<p>Subarctic temperatures are above 10 °C (50 °F) for at least one and at most three months of the year. Precipitation tends to be low due to the low moisture content of the cold air but isn't to the point to <a href="/facts/Semi-arid_climate/XnSYao1E">semiarid</a> regions. Precipitation is typically greater in warmer months, with a summer maximum ranging from moderate in <a href="/facts/North_America/djNjCQIl">North America</a> to extreme in the <a href="/facts/Russian_Far_East/BT7sYGTP">Russian Far East</a>. Except in the wettest areas glaciers are not large because of the lack of winter precipitation; in the wettest areas, however, glaciers tend to be very abundant and <a href="/facts/Pleistocene/0ya9eUp5">Pleistocene</a> <a href="/facts/Glaciation/alIAm38r">glaciation</a> covered even the lowest elevations. <a href="/facts/Soil/5Ddpr3QM">Soils</a> of the subarctic are in which leaching of nutrients takes place even in the most heavily glaciated regions. The dominant soil orders are <a href="/facts/Podsols/jQAsnSot">podsols</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a> and, further north, <a href="/facts/Gelisols/bLdp40dM">gelisols</a>.
</p><p>Subarctic regions are often characterized by <a href="/facts/Taiga/xjkPQRJs">taiga</a> forest vegetation as <a href="/facts/Deciduous/7jQHVtdd">deciduous</a> trees can't withstand the long winters, though where winters are relatively mild, as in <a href="/facts/Northern_Norway/gjr3JKAq">northern Norway</a>, <a href="/facts/Temperate_broadleaf_and_mixed_forest/GPYCvPBL">broadleaf forest</a> may occur—though in some cases soils remain too saturated almost throughout the year to sustain <i>any</i> <a href="/facts/Tree/3q0G4cbP">tree</a> growth and the dominant vegetation is a peaty herbland dominated by <a href="/facts/Grass/q2CRK8q0">grasses</a> and <a href="/facts/Sedge/A1oI2H0U">sedges</a>. Typically, there are only a few species of large terrestrial <a href="/facts/Mammal/phSwTzBo">mammals</a> in the subarctic regions, the most important being elk, <a href="/facts/Moose/JDlB909Q">moose</a> (<i>Alces alces</i>), <a href="/facts/Bear/Y973Q4FP">bears</a>, <a href="/facts/Reindeer/LXSh8svy">reindeer</a> (<i>Rangifer tarandus</i>), and <a href="/facts/Wolf/1n3ADMPP">wolves</a> (<i>Canis lupus</i>). <a href="/facts/Agriculture/TGztqzJs">Agriculture</a> is mainly limited to <a href="/facts/Animal_husbandry/aJforlQp">animal husbandry</a> as many crops can't be grown here, though in some areas <a href="/facts/Barley/GH7X2qtG">barley</a> can be grown. <a href="/facts/Canada/D5P9yqs6">Canada</a> and <a href="/facts/Siberia/oaCoPEjF">Siberia</a> are very rich in minerals, notably <a href="/facts/Nickel/KwMCHYRP">nickel</a>, <a href="/facts/Molybdenum/RX6vp2bF">molybdenum</a>, <a href="/facts/Cobalt/gqhScEw4">cobalt</a>, <a href="/facts/Lead/EYljasJN">lead</a>, <a href="/facts/Zinc/80b1qgk3">zinc</a> and <a href="/facts/Uranium/n2sGWBzU">uranium</a>, whilst the <a href="/facts/Grand_Banks/XBsrzyUu">Grand Banks</a> and <a href="/facts/Sea_of_Okhotsk/T4QL1000">Sea of Okhotsk</a> are two of the richest <a href="/facts/Fishery/TBvcT9bB">fisheries</a> in the world and provide support for many small towns.
</p><p>Except for those areas that are well-drained or adjacent to warm <a href="/facts/Ocean_current/vfwdGwPY">ocean currents</a>, there is almost always continuous <a href="/facts/Permafrost/SkFC7LMT">permafrost</a> due to the very cold winters and short summers.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> This means that building in most subarctic regions is very difficult and expensive: cities are very few (<a href="/facts/Murmansk/lhMxkwK2">Murmansk</a> being the largest) and generally small, whilst <a href="/facts/Road/3aadH4s3">roads</a> are also few. Subarctic rail transport only exists in <a href="/facts/Europe/DTAtrKfh">Europe</a> (lines to <a href="/facts/Narvik_(town)/pKmF5akB">Narvik</a> and Murmansk) and the <a href="/facts/Norilsk/NcH8HMy2">Norilsk</a>–<a href="/facts/Dudinka/14joYfEI">Dudinka</a> line in northern <a href="/facts/Siberia/oaCoPEjF">Siberia</a>, as well as the <a href="/facts/Alaska_Railroad/Mxu7t4vQ">Alaska Railroad</a> in Alaska and short sections of rail lines in Canada reaching northward into the lower subarctic. An important consequence is that transportation usually tends to be restricted to <a href="/facts/Bush_airplane/d567yKR5">"bush" planes</a>, <a href="/facts/Helicopter/chQF7H55">helicopters</a> and, in summer, <a href="/facts/Riverboat/xFM1DwJJ">riverboats</a>. In areas that receive lower rainfall they tend to be covered by <a href="/facts/Grassland/T4P1kqT0">grasslands</a>.
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<h2 id="economy">Economy</h2>

<p>Except for a few parts of <a href="/facts/Europe/DTAtrKfh">Europe</a> where the winters are relatively mild due to prevailing wind and ocean current patterns, subarctic regions were not explored until the 18th and 19th centuries. Even then, the difficulty of transportation ensured that few settlements (most of them are created for <a href="/facts/Mining/g6uDIFab">mining</a>) lasted long—such as the abandoned, once-thriving cities of the <a href="/facts/Yukon/JAGCCGCW">Yukon</a>, <a href="/facts/Northwest_Territories/au0ajf7T">Northwest Territories</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> and increasingly Siberia illustrate this.
</p><p>The <a href="/facts/Trans-Siberian_Railway/nKn6Md9B">Trans-Siberian Railway</a>, which skirts the edge of the region, provided a major boost to Russian settlement in the subarctic, as did the intensive industrialization under <a href="/facts/Joseph_Stalin/SHtxGyQn">Joseph Stalin</a> that relied on the enormous mineral resources of the <a href="/facts/Central_Siberian_Plateau/c3TImUVL">Central Siberian Plateau</a>. Today, many towns in subarctic Russia are declining precipitously as mines close. In Canada, after the early minerals ran out, development stalled until <a href="/facts/Hydroelectricity/zEeJIK2B">hydroelectric</a> development occurred in the 1950s and 1960s. <a href="/facts/Hydro-Quebec/ybK3cWbR">Hydro-Quebec</a> in particular has carried out many engineering works in regions of near-continuous permafrost, but these have never supported a significant population and have only mainly served densely populated southern <a href="/facts/Quebec/4hhNvb4t">Quebec</a>.
</p><p><a href="/facts/Tourism/x47vNhHj">Tourism</a> in recent years has become a major source of revenue for most countries of the subarctic due to the beautiful, generally glacial landscapes so characteristic of the region. Most areas in the subarctic are among the most expensive places in the world to visit, due to both high costs of living and transportation inaccessibility. Nonetheless, the great opportunities for <a href="/facts/Outdoor_recreation/WGef0TFr">outdoor recreation</a> lure an ever-increasing number of travelers. At the same time, the older industries of the subarctic (fishing, mining, hydroelectric power) are being threatened by both <a href="/facts/Environmentalism/hhFsXTLE">environmental opposition</a> and <a href="/facts/Overfishing/fAxN80Jo">overfishing</a> leading to depleted stocks of commercially important species living in this region.
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<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Indigenous_peoples_of_the_Subarctic/EQMIMUGE">Indigenous peoples of the Subarctic</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Muskeg/gGjxEj3R">Muskeg</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Nordicity/pVGMdYDy">Nordicity</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Northern_Canada/hQcSoWkW">Northern Canada</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Subarctic_climate/xW83IXdL">Subarctic climate</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>
<ul><li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080525080242/http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/faculty/ritter/geog101/textbook/climate_systems/subarctic.html">"Subarctic climate"</a> in: Ritter, Michael E. <i>The Physical Environment: an Introduction to Physical Geography</i>. 2006.</li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>"Podzol | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 24 March 2022. <a href="https://www.encyclopedia.com/plants-and-animals/agriculture-and-horticulture/agriculture-general/podzol#:~:text=Podzols%20are%20subarctic%20soils%20of,tundras%20of%20the%20arctic%20zone." target="_blank">https://www.encyclopedia.com/plants-and-animals/agriculture-and-horticulture/agriculture-general/podzol#:~:text=Podzols%20are%20subarctic%20soils%20of,tundras%20of%20the%20arctic%20zone.</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>Pettapiece, W. W. (1975). "Soils of the Subarctic in the Lower Mackenzie Basin". Arctic. 28 (1): 35–53. doi:10.14430/arctic2812. ISSN 0004-0843. JSTOR 40509243. <a href="https://doi.org/10.14430%2Farctic2812" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.14430%2Farctic2812</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:3"><p>"Fort Yukon | historical settlement, North America | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 24 March 2022. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Fort-Yukon" target="_blank">https://www.britannica.com/place/Fort-Yukon</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

Subarctic open-in-new

Subarctic