The largest number of pillars-kigilyakhs is located in northern Yakutia, the most impressive stone figures are located on the Novosibirsk Islands, this is where most tourists come. It is interesting that from the Yakut “kisilyakh” it literally translates as “a place where there are people”, since the word “kis” itself is “man”.
The most famous places where the stones are found are the Kisilyakhsky ridge, Medvezhy and Lyakhovsky islands. In general, the very word "kigilyakh" began to be used by geologists all over the world relatively recently, this happened after the discovery of the Lyakhovsky Islands, when Cape Kigilyakh and the peninsula of the same name were discovered and named. Two islands belonging to the Lyakhovsky group - Chetyrekhstolbovoy and Stolbovoy - are located mainly in the Laptev Sea. Another well-known place of "habitation" of the Kigilyakhs is Mount Kisilyakh-Tas, it is located 100 kilometers from the coast of the East Siberian Sea, on the bank of the Alazeya River flowing along the tundra. It is on this mountain that the kigilyakhs form the so-called ridge, since the ridge of pillars stretches along the entire top of the mountain.
The Kisilyakhsky ridge is about 80 kilometers long, and the highest peak reaches 1548 meters. The ridge consists of many different rocks, which allows us to consider it complex, it includes: clay shales, Jurassic sandstones, mudstones and other minerals, scientists believe that all these granitoids belong to the Cretaceous period.
Many scientists at different times made expeditions to the islands of Yakutia in order to find out the true origin of the kigilyakhs. So, in 1921-1923 F. P. Wrangel conducted an expedition, during which his group explored the Bear Islands, which are located in the East Siberian Sea. The group of these islands included the island of Chetyrekhstolbovoy, it was on this island that Wrangel first discovered the kigilyakhs, in his notes on the campaign he tried to find out their reasons for their formation. “It can be concluded that three now separated stones once made up one large cliff: gradually cleaving and crumbling from the force of frost or other physical problems, it lost its primitive appearance,” he wrote, first noting weathering as the main factor in the formation of new kigilyakhs.
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Many scientists at different times made expeditions to the islands of Yakutia in order to find out the true origin of the kigilyakhs. So, in 1921-1923 F. P. Wrangel conducted an expedition, during which his group explored the Bear Islands, which are located in the East Siberian Sea. The group of these islands included the island of Chetyrekhstolbovoy, it was on this island that Wrangel first discovered the kigilyakhs, in his notes on the campaign he tried to find out their reasons for their formation. “It can be concluded that three now separated stones once made up one large cliff: gradually cleaving and crumbling from the force of frost or other physical problems, it lost its primitive appearance,” he wrote, first noting weathering as the main factor in the formation of new kigilyakhs.
And in 1935, geologist S. Obruchev arrived on the same island with a new expedition, who also explored the kigilyakhi. In his memoirs, he described not only the theory of the formation of stones, but also told the story of their discovery. According to him, Bear Islands were discovered back in 1702 and first visited in 1720. Another fact noted by him is interesting: the pillars collapsed very quickly. Obruchev wrote that if in 1720 there were four pillars, then in 1935 only three were found, and the fourth turned into a stone placer and lay at the foot of the rest. At the same time, the geologist notes that only 200 years are enough for all the kigilyakhs on Chetyrekhpolbovoye to be destroyed. But Obruchev's research was not taken seriously, as he made too many inaccuracies in his notes. So,in the same 1935, another expedition visited the island - the explorer Vorobiev, who discovered and described all four kigilyakhs. However, at the moment it is known that the pillars located on the Kisilyakh ridge are covered with vertical cracks and therefore are rather unstable. But, despite the existing danger of collapse, local residents have considered kigilyakhi the best resting place since ancient times. Sitting with them, according to legends, you can gain strength and peace of mind. And in 1986, at the foot of the Kisilyakhsky ridge, archaeologists discovered more than 68 sites of ancient people and a burial. These findings indicate that the mountainous area of Yakutia in ancient times was densely populated. And perhaps the locals are right, believing that the kigilyakhs carry the forces of ancient ancestors. However, at the moment it is known that the pillars located on the Kisilyakhsky ridge are covered with vertical cracks and therefore are rather unstable. But, despite the existing danger of collapse, local residents have considered kigilyakhi the best resting place since ancient times. Sitting with them, according to legends, you can gain strength and peace of mind. And in 1986, at the foot of the Kisilyakhsky ridge, archaeologists discovered more than 68 sites of ancient people and a burial. These findings indicate that the mountainous area of Yakutia in ancient times was densely populated. And perhaps the locals are right, believing that the kigilyakhs carry the forces of ancient ancestors. However, at the moment it is known that the pillars located on the Kisilyakh ridge are covered with vertical cracks and therefore are rather unstable. But, despite the existing danger of collapse, local residents have considered kigilyakhi the best resting place since ancient times. Sitting with them, according to legends, you can gain strength and peace of mind. And in 1986, at the foot of the Kisilyakhsky ridge, archaeologists discovered more than 68 sites of ancient people and a burial. These findings indicate that the mountainous area of Yakutia in ancient times was densely populated. And perhaps the locals are right, believing that the kigilyakhs carry the forces of ancient ancestors.locals from ancient times consider kigilyakhi as the best place for recreation. Sitting with them, according to legends, you can gain strength and peace of mind. And in 1986, at the foot of the Kisilyakhsky ridge, archaeologists discovered more than 68 sites of ancient people and a burial. These findings indicate that the mountainous area of Yakutia in ancient times was densely populated. And perhaps the locals are right, believing that the kigilyakhs carry the forces of ancient ancestors.locals from ancient times consider kigilyakhi as the best place for recreation. Sitting with them, according to legends, you can gain strength and peace of mind. And in 1986, at the foot of the Kisilyakhsky ridge, archaeologists discovered more than 68 sites of ancient people and a burial. These findings indicate that the mountainous area of Yakutia in ancient times was densely populated. And perhaps the locals are right, believing that the kigilyakhs carry the forces of ancient ancestors.that the kigilyakhs carry the forces of ancient ancestors.that the kigilyakhs carry the forces of ancient ancestors.
According to information from geologists, granite is unusually easy to break off and crumble right in the hands.
Bolshoi Lyakhovsky and Maly Lyakhovsky are the southernmost of the archipelago of the New Siberian Islands.
The island is shrinking every year. Crumbling shores, cracks that cannot be jumped over. Collapsed blocks tens of meters in diameter clutter the foot of the ledges. The picture suggests catastrophic natural phenomena, possibly earthquakes. It's hard to believe that all this was done by the silent and gradual melting of ice under the heat of the sun.
Not only the shores of the former "mammoth continent" are disappearing, but also entire islands, whose shores are made up of loess and ice.
If the islands are shrinking, the ice is melting, the question is: how could stones in tens of tons end up on this permafrost? After all, in geology, these are rock outcrops, should they have a foundation of the same masses?
Back in 1815, two high islands were discovered in the Laptev Sea - Vasilievsky and Semenovsky. Both islands, as the descriptions say, consisted of silt-covered subsoil ice (loess) and tundra. This ice was exposed near the coastline, therefore it was severely destroyed due to melting. In 1823, Lieutenant Anjou, who surveyed the coast, determined the length of the island at four miles and a quarter mile wide. The 1912 Northern Hydrographic Expedition measured Vasilievsky Island and found that its length was not four miles, but only 4.6 kilometers. In 1936 the hydrographers of Vasilievsky Island did not find it. Thermokarst and sea waves "ate" it. The islands of Diomede, Mercury, Figurin also disappeared earlier.
This says the islands were formed by mudflows that froze over. But with each summer season, it melts and the islands shrink, or even disappear altogether. Like the land of Sannikov!
And this speaks of the sufficient geological youth of this incident.
Heaving mounds - bayjars with a mammoth tusk extruded onto the surface. Also striking are the huge bayjarakhs, which, like giant anthills, rise among the tundra. Geologists explained to me that when the lens of ice melts, the earth swells up and such "bumps" are formed up to 4-5 meters high.
Before our eyes, with a loud splash, now large, now small earth masses collapse, and they, turning below into a thick jelly, similar to a lava flow, flow down the frozen soil into lower places and finally into the sea.
And a few more photos of the kigilyakhs:
Author: sibved