Russia - The Commander Islands (Comandorsky State Nature Reserve)

The Commander Islands archipelago consists of 15 islands of different size from 1667 km2 to less than 0.5 km2 which are crowns of a huge submarine volcanic ridge extending from Alaska to Kamchatka. The most ancient Commander structures are dated as the beginning of Paleogene (60-70 million years ago). Now low hills and coniform mountains occupy the most part of the Islands' territory. The highest point of the largest Bering Island is the Steller peak (755 m). The most part of river valleys (except the greatest ones - as a rule formed along fractures) is cut short by a coastal scarp forming picturesque waterfalls 10 - 100 meters high. Climate is characterized by mild winter (- 4°C in February) and cool summer (+ 10.5°C in August) with short intermediate seasons; low precipitation, constantly high relative humidity of air and strong winds The Commander elevation shelf and continental slope are characterized with very abrupt depth: in the limits of 30 miles from the shores all the depth diapason can be observed – from littoral to ultraabyssal. It could be mentioned that about 1,000 macrobenthic species inhabit the most studied shallow shelf zone (up to the depth of 40m) only. As for inland waters the two large islands have well-developed drainage network with one navigable river, and Toporkov and Ariy Kamen' are absolutely devoid of fresh water. According to the last data, 389 species of vascular plants have been registered in the Commander Islands' flora, relating to 183 genera and 63 families.