Tundra
Mia Brown
Location
The tundra is located near the North Pole. The tundra covers a fifth of the earths surface.there is a alpine tundra, a article tundra, and a Antarctic tundra
Characteristics
The tundra soil has a permanate ground layer that is frozen.it is called a permafrost. In the summer, it may thaw out, this allows plants to grow for a short period of time. The other region, called the alpine tundra, is located at the top of tall mountains. The freezing and thawing of the slopes can cause soil the flow downhill. This is call " flowing soil ". The tundra is the coldest biome in the world
Temperatures
The warmest month can get up to 30F . It can also drop down to - 70F in the winter. But the average yearly temperatures is - 10F - 20F . Sometimes, only 55 per year get temperatures above 32F.
Precipitation
The tundra gets the about the same average rainfall a year as the desert. The tundra usually gets less than 10 in of rain per year.
Climate
The climate of the tundra includes, harsh winters, little snow or rainfall, ver short summer seasons, and very low temperatures. In the summer, when the subsoil melts, it drains and creates ponds, making up for the low precipitation.
Plants
The cushion plant grows in tight little clumps which make it look like a cushion. They are more common in the tundra because their growth habitat protects them from the cold environment.
Dark Red plant has dark red leaves which allow it to absorb more heat from the sun.
Cotton grass also grows because it seeds get carried with the wind and are planted.
But they do not grow for a long time , but they carry out photosynthesis with low temperatures and short periods of daylight
Animals
Musk - ox , reindeer, and caribou are the larger grazers. Article hare, snowshoe rabbits, and lemming feed on the grass. The predictors are the article fox, wolf, and the snowy owl. Polar an brown bears are seen sometimes. Butterfly's and beetles and grasshoppers are abundant in the summer. Not many Nimals can live here. Because of the cold environment, only a few types of animal can live. Because if the little rainfall, and the cold temperatures.
Human impact
Pollution from mining and drilling for oil pollutes the lakes, rivers, and air.
Also, footprints and tire tracks can turn into ruts. When sunlight hits the ruts, they melts the permafrost causing erosion. When the ruts get big, they turn into gullies.
Also, global warming is melting the tundra at a very fast rate. If this does not stop, it will melt completely, leaving no where for the animals that already live there to go.
Catastophic events
Wild fires are one event that happens in the tundra. In 2007 there was a wild fire. Wild fires burn the permafrost, this could change the whole climate of the tundra. Global warming is happening all the time. Right now it is happening in the tundra. If this continues, it will melt the tundra and destroy it. Leaving no where for the animals that live there.
Bodies of water
There are ponds that form when the permafrost melts and goes downhill. When the permafrost melts, the water starts to go downhill. Sometimes it collects enough water to create a pond. But, river Lena, is one of the rivers that floe into the Laptev Sea. The nizina river is in Alaska on the way to the skolai valley
Landforms
The tundra is located at the tops of mountains. The Rocky Mountains is where the alpine tundra is located.
Islands
Antipodes subantarctic islands tundra includes five remote island groups in the southern ocean south of New Zealand. Bounty Islands, Auckland Islands, Antipodes Islands, Campbell Islands of New Zealand , and Macquarie Island of Australia.
Canyon
Skolai valley is a canyon located located in alaska