<span>Tundra is the coldest of all the biomes. Tundra comes
from the Finnish word tunturi, meaning treeless plain.
</span><span>It is noted for its frost-molded landscapes, extremely
low temperatures, little precipitation, poor nutrients,
and short growing seasons. Dead organic material
functions as a nutrient pool. </span>
The two major nutrients
are nitrogen and phosphorus. Nitrogen is created by
biological fixation, and phosphorus is created by
precipitation.
Mantle plumes that form hotspots are thought to be relatively stationary whereas the overlying tectonic plates typically are not. Thus, as a plate moves over the location of a plume eruption, it carries successively older volcanoes with it.
