The Kondyor Massif is a perfect circular intrusion

Intrusion

An intrusion is liquid rock that forms under Earth's surface. Magma from under the surface is slowly pushed up from deep within the earth into any cracks or spaces it can find, sometimes pushing existing country rock out of the way, a process that can take millions of years. As the rock slowly...

, about 8 kilometres (5 mi) in diameter, in Khabarovsk Krai

Khabarovsk Krai

Khabarovsk Krai is a federal subject of Russia , located in the Russian Far East. It lies mostly in the basin of the lower Amur River, but also occupies a vast mountainous area along the coastline of the Sea of Okhotsk, an arm of the Pacific Ocean. The administrative center of the krai is the...

, Far Eastern Federal District

Far Eastern Federal District

The Far Eastern Federal District is the largest of the eight federal districts of Russia, while being also the least populated, with a population of 6,291,900 . The Far Eastern Federal District was established in 2000 by then-President Vladimir Putin and is currently being governed by presidential...

, Russian Federation, roughly 600 km (373 mi) west-to-southwest of Okhotsk

Okhotsk

Okhotsk is an urban locality and a seaport at the mouth of the Okhota River on the Sea of Okhotsk, in Okhotsky District, Khabarovsk Krai, Russia. Population: 4,470 ;...

, or some 570 km (354 mi) south-east of Yakutsk

Yakutsk

With a subarctic climate , Yakutsk is the coldest city, though not the coldest inhabited place, on Earth. Average monthly temperatures range from in July to in January. The coldest temperatures ever recorded on the planet outside Antarctica occurred in the basin of the Yana River to the northeast...

. It is reached from Yakutsk by road via Amga

Amga

Amga is a rural locality and the administrative center of Amginsky Ulus of the Sakha Republic, Russia. It is situated on the Amga River, some south-east of Yakutsk...

. It is an important source of platinum

Platinum

Platinum is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Pt and an atomic number of 78. Its name is derived from the Spanish term platina del Pinto, which is literally translated into "little silver of the Pinto River." It is a dense, malleable, ductile, precious, gray-white transition metal...

.

Since 1984 Artel starateley «Amur» (part of the Russian Platinum group) develops this unique field of alluvial platinum.

External links

• http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=8773
• http://www.rmg.se/RMDEntities/K/KONDYO.htm
• http://geo.web.ru/druza/l-Konder.htm
• http://www.astro-azbuka.info/photo/earth/0164/
• http://www.artel-amur.ru/