Alas (Taiga)
Alas are called clearings in the Siberian taiga .
Alasses arise when damage to the forest (for example through forest fires) causes the otherwise permanently frozen ground of the taiga to thaw due to sunlight. The resulting thermokarst processes cause a bowl-like depression of the floor surface. In this depression a lake is created that can be several hectares in size due to the thermal karst process, which is further intensified by the summer heat. The lake evaporates except for a more or less large body of water. The dry areas created after evaporation are called Alas. There, however, the taiga can no longer exist due to the lack of interaction between permafrost and forest. Only steppe grasses grow on the dry, forestless area. This "desertification" can be between 10 and 15 hectares in size. In Central Yakutia , Alasse occupy up to 40% of the area.