IN Russian Federation one of the largest plains located on the surface is located the globe. In the north, it is bordered by the Kara Sea. In the south, it rubs off to the space of the Kazakh small sandpiper. The eastern part is the Central Siberian Plateau. The frontier in the west is ancient. The total area of this flat space is almost 3 million kilometers.
In contact with
relief features
The territory where the West Siberian Plain is located was formed long ago and successfully survived all tectonic upheavals.
It is severely limited by officially recognized coordinates of extreme points:
- Cape Dezhnev, 169°42′ W, becomes the extreme eastern point on the mainland part of the space. d.;
- in the north, Cape Chelyuskin (Russia) becomes such a point, 77 ° 43′ N. sh.;
- coordinates 60° 00′ s. sh. 100° 00′ E d.
uplands
The height above sea level of the space under consideration is characterized by minimal differences.
It has the shape of a shallow dish. Elevation differences vary from 50 (minimum) to more than 100 meters in low areas, prevailing heights up to 200-250 meters located on the southern, western and eastern outskirts. On the northern outskirts, the elevation of the landscape is about 100-150 meters.
This is due to the location of the plain on the space of the epi-Hercynian plate, the basis of which is the foundation created by the imposition of Paleozoic deposits. This plate began to form in the Upper Jurassic, the so-called Upper Jurassic.
During the formation of the surface layer of the planet, the flat terrain, having sank, turned into a lowland and became a sedimentation basin. The site is located on the site located between the Urals and the Siberian platform.
Averages
This space belongs to the number of large low-lying areas on the planet, to the type of accumulative plains, has an average height of 200 meters. Low-lying areas are located in the central part of the area, in the northern areas, on the borders of the Kara Sea. Almost half space is located at an altitude of less than 100 meters above sea level. This ancient part of the earth's space also has its own "heights", smoothed over billions of years since its creation. For example, the North Sosvinskaya Upland (290 meters). The Upper Taz Upland rises to 285 meters.
low-lying places
The surface has a concave shape with minimal heights in the central part. The average minimum height is 100 meters. The reading is carried out according to tradition from sea level.
Fully justifies the name "plain". Elevation differences in a colossal space are minimal.
This feature also forms the continental climate. Frosts in some areas can drop to -50 degrees Celsius. Such indicators are noted, for example, in Barnaul.
In absolute terms, this territory also does not differ in large numbers. The absolute height here is only 290 meters. The parameters were fixed on the North Sosvenskaya Upland. In most of the plain, the figure is 100-150 meters.
This geographical feature occupies 1/7 of the Russian Federation. The plain stretches from the Kara Sea in the north to the Kazakh steppes in the south. In the west, it is limited by the Ural Mountains. The size is almost 3 million kilometers.
Characteristic
The general characteristic is based on the process of formation of the plain during the most ancient stages of the development of the planet and the long-term leveling of the surface during the passage of glacial masses. This explains the uniformity of the smoothed relief. Due to this, the space is strictly zoned. The north is distinguished by tundra, and south - steppe landscapes. The soil is minimally drained. Most of it is occupied by swampy forests and swamps directly. Such hydromorphic complexes occupy a large area, about 128 million hectares. The south of the plain is characterized big amount spaces like different kinds solods, solonetzes and large solonchaks.
Note! The climate of the plain, due to its large area, ranges from temperate continental in the Russian Plain to sharply continental. This indicator is different in Central Siberia.
For a long time people lived on the West Siberian Plain. Novgorodians came here already in the 11th century. Then they reached the lower reaches of the Ob. Opening period for Russian state associated with the legendary Yermak's campaigns from 1581 to 1584. It was at this time that many discoveries of lands were made in Siberia. The study of nature was carried out and described in the 18th century during the Great Northern and academic expeditions. Development in these places continued in the following decades. It was related:
- with the resettlement of the peasantry from Central Russia in the 19th century;
- planning the construction of the Siberian railway
Detailed soil and geographic Maps this land. Active development of the territories continued in the years after the change of state power in 1917 and beyond.
As a result, today it has become inhabited and mastered by man. Here are located major regions Russia, as Pavlodar, Kustanai, Kokchetav regions, Altai Territory, western regions of Krasnoyarsk Territory, eastern territories Sverdlovsk and Chelyabinsk regions.
About 150 years ago, the role of Siberia was finally formed as a kind of bridge between the European part of Russia and its eastern part. In our time, the role of this territory as an economic bridge, especially with the construction of the Baikal-Amur Mainline, has finally taken shape, using all types of transport for development.
Note! The active development of the territories is largely associated with large volumes of deposits: natural gas, oil, brown coal, iron ores and many others.
The successful development of the territory was facilitated by a large number of large, mostly navigable, especially such giants as Ob, Irtysh, Yenisei. Nowadays, rivers are convenient transport routes, they are used to generate energy, which makes it possible to ensure a high level of quality of life for the population of the regions.
Age indicator
The basis of a smooth and even flat surface to the east of the Ural Mountains is a plate formed during the Paleozoic period. According to the parameters of the formation of the planet's surface, this plate is quite young. Over millions of years of formation, the surface of the plate was covered with Mesozoic and Cenozoic deposits.
According to their characteristics, they belong to the type of sea and sand- 
clay deposits. The layer thickness is up to 1000 meters. In the southern part, deposits in the form of loess reach a thickness of 200 meters and were formed due to the presence of lacustrine deposits in these areas.
A significant part of the plain has been lowered over time. Some increase in the level occurred in the Neogene-Quaternary period. The lowering of the level in the central and northern parts continues today.
The formation of the plain was facilitated by a glacier, which for many centuries was located on its territory. The formation of a flat form occurred precisely in that period. This was facilitated by the accumulated in the central part of the lowland.
Exact size
How much space does the plain take up? Depending on the clarity of the border, according to various sources, the total area varies from 2.6 million kilometers to almost 3 million kilometers. Width in different areas can vary from 800 to 1900 kilometers. From north to south, the length of the plain is about 2500 kilometers.
In conclusion, it is worth highlighting the role of this territory as one of the largest geographical and economic zones of the Russian Federation. It is here that the leading industrial productions of Siberia are located. It plays a large and successful role in the life of our state.
We study the geography of the West Siberian Plain
Height, area of the West Siberian Plain
The West Siberian Plain is one of the largest accumulative low-lying plains in the world. It stretches from the shores of the Kara Sea to the steppes of Kazakhstan and from the Urals in the west to the Central Siberian Plateau in the east. The plain has the shape of a trapezoid tapering to the north: the distance from its southern border to the northern reaches almost 2500 km, width - from 800 to 1900 km, and the area is only slightly less than 3 million sq. km 2 .
There are no other such vast plains in the Soviet Union, with such a poorly broken relief and such small fluctuations in relative heights. The comparative uniformity of the relief determines the distinct zonality of the landscapes of Western Siberia - from tundra in the north to steppe in the south. Due to the poor drainage of the territory within its boundaries, hydromorphic complexes play a very prominent role: swamps and swampy forests occupy here a total of about 128 million hectares. ha, and in the steppe and forest-steppe zones there are many solonetzes, solods and solonchaks.
Geographical position The West Siberian Plain determines the transitional nature of its climate between the moderately continental Russian Plain and the sharply continental climate of Central Siberia. Therefore, the landscapes of the country are distinguished by a number of peculiar features: the natural zones here are somewhat shifted to the north compared to the Russian Plain, there is no zone of broad-leaved forests, and landscape differences within the zones are less noticeable than on the Russian Plain.
The West Siberian Plain is the most inhabited and developed (especially in the south) part of Siberia. Within its boundaries are the Tyumen, Kurgan, Omsk, Novosibirsk, Tomsk and North Kazakhstan regions, a significant part of the Altai Territory, Kustanai, Kokchetav and Pavlodar regions, as well as some eastern regions of the Sverdlovsk and Chelyabinsk regions and the western regions of the Krasnoyarsk Territory.
The acquaintance of Russians with Western Siberia took place for the first time, probably, as early as the 11th century, when the Novgorodians visited the lower reaches of the Ob. Ermak's campaign (1581-1584) opens a brilliant period of the Great Russian geographical discoveries in Siberia and the development of its territory.
However, the scientific study of the nature of the country began only in the 18th century, when detachments of the Great Northern expedition and then academic expeditions were sent here. In the 19th century Russian scientists and engineers are studying the conditions of navigation on the Ob, Yenisei and the Kara Sea, the geological and geographical features of the route of the Siberian railway that was being designed at that time, salt deposits in the steppe zone. A significant contribution to the knowledge of the West Siberian taiga and steppes was made by studies of soil-botanical expeditions of the Migration Administration, undertaken in 1908-1914. in order to study the conditions for the agricultural development of plots allocated for the resettlement of peasants from European Russia.
The study of the nature and natural resources of Western Siberia acquired a completely different scope after the Great October Revolution. In the research that was necessary for the development of the productive forces, no longer individual specialists or small detachments took part, but hundreds of large complex expeditions and many scientific institutes created in various cities of Western Siberia. Detailed and versatile studies were carried out here by the USSR Academy of Sciences (Kulunda, Baraba, Gydan and other expeditions) and its Siberian branch, the West Siberian Geological Administration, geological institutes, expeditions of the Ministry of Agriculture, Hydroproject and other organizations.
As a result of these studies, ideas about the country's relief have changed significantly, detailed soil maps of many regions of Western Siberia have been compiled, and measures have been developed for the rational use of saline soils and the famous West Siberian chernozems. Forest typological studies of Siberian geobotanists and the study of peat bogs and tundra pastures were of great practical importance. But especially significant results were brought by the work of geologists. Deep drilling and special geophysical studies have shown that the bowels of many regions of Western Siberia contain the richest deposits of natural gas, large reserves of iron ore, brown coal and many other minerals, which already serve as a solid base for the development of industry in Western Siberia.
Geological structure and history of the development of the territory
Taz Peninsula and the Middle Ob in the section Nature of the world.
Many features of the nature of Western Siberia are due to the nature of its geological structure and history of development. The entire territory of the country is located within the West Siberian epihercynian plate, the foundation of which is composed of dislocated and metamorphosed Paleozoic deposits, similar in nature to those of the Urals, and in the south of the Kazakh hillock. The formation of the main folded structures of the basement of Western Siberia, which have a predominantly meridional direction, refers to the era of the Hercynian orogeny.
The tectonic structure of the West Siberian plate is rather heterogeneous. However, even its large structural elements appear in the modern relief less distinctly than the tectonic structures of the Russian Platform. This is explained by the fact that the topography of the surface of the Paleozoic rocks, subsided to a great depth, is leveled here by the cover of the Meso-Cenozoic deposits, the thickness of which exceeds 1000 m, and in separate depressions and syneclises of the Paleozoic basement - 3000-6000 m.
The Mesozoic formations of Western Siberia are represented by marine and continental sandy-argillaceous deposits. Their total capacity in some areas reaches 2500-4000 m. The alternation of marine and continental facies indicates the tectonic mobility of the territory and repeated changes in the conditions and regime of sedimentation on the West Siberian Plate that sank at the beginning of the Mesozoic.
Paleogene deposits are predominantly marine and consist of gray clays, mudstones, glauconite sandstones, opokas, and diatomites. They accumulated at the bottom of the Paleogene Sea, which, through the depression of the Turgai Strait, connected the Arctic basin with the seas that were then located on the territory of Central Asia. This sea left Western Siberia in the middle of the Oligocene, and therefore the Upper Paleogene deposits are already represented here by sandy-clayey continental facies.
Significant changes in the conditions of accumulation of sedimentary deposits occurred in the Neogene. The suites of Neogene rocks, which come to the surface mainly in the southern half of the plain, consist exclusively of continental lacustrine-river deposits. They formed in the conditions of a poorly dissected plain, first covered with rich subtropical vegetation, and later with broad-leaved deciduous forests from representatives of the Turgai flora (beech, walnut, hornbeam, lapina, etc.). In some places there were areas of savannas, where giraffes, mastodons, hipparions, and camels lived at that time.
The events of the Quaternary period had a particularly great influence on the formation of the landscapes of Western Siberia. During this time, the territory of the country experienced repeated subsidence and was still an area of predominantly accumulation of loose alluvial, lacustrine, and in the north - marine and glacial deposits. The thickness of the Quaternary cover in the northern and central regions reaches 200-250 m. However, in the south it noticeably decreases (in some places up to 5-10 m), and in the modern relief, the effects of differentiated neotectonic movements are clearly expressed, as a result of which swell-like uplifts arose, often coinciding with the positive structures of the Mesozoic cover of sedimentary deposits.
Lower Quaternary deposits are represented in the north of the plain by alluvial sands filling buried valleys. The sole of alluvium is located in them sometimes at 200-210 m below the current level of the Kara Sea. Above them in the north, pre-glacial clays and loams with fossil remains of the tundra flora usually occur, which indicates a noticeable cooling of Western Siberia that had already begun at that time. However, dark coniferous forests with an admixture of birch and alder prevailed in the southern regions of the country.
The Middle Quaternary time in the northern half of the plain was an epoch of marine transgressions and repeated glaciations. The most significant of them was Samarovskoye, the deposits of which compose the interfluves of the territory lying between 58-60 ° and 63-64 ° N. sh. According to currently prevailing views, the cover of the Samara glacier, even in the extreme northern regions of the lowland, was not continuous. The composition of the boulders shows that its sources of food were glaciers descending from the Urals to the Ob valley, and in the east - glaciers mountain ranges Taimyr and the Central Siberian Plateau. However, even during the period of maximum development of glaciation in the West Siberian Plain, the Ural and Siberian ice sheets did not merge with one another, and the rivers of the southern regions, although they encountered a barrier formed by ice, found their way north in the gap between them.
Along with typical glacial rocks, the composition of the sediments of the Samarovo stratum also includes marine and glacial-marine clays and loams formed at the bottom of the sea advancing from the north. Therefore, the typical moraine relief forms are less distinct here than on the Russian Plain. On the lacustrine and fluvioglacial plains adjacent to the southern edge of the glaciers, then forest-tundra landscapes prevailed, and in the extreme south of the country loess-like loams were formed, in which pollen of steppe plants (wormwood, kermek) is found. Marine transgression continued in the post-Samarovo time, the deposits of which are represented in the north of Western Siberia by Messov sands and clays of the Sanchugov Formation. In the northeastern part of the plain, moraines and glacial-marine loams of the younger Taz glaciation are common. The interglacial epoch, which began after the retreat of the ice sheet, was marked in the north by the spread of the Kazantsevo marine transgression, whose deposits in the lower reaches of the Yenisei and Ob contain the remains of a more heat-loving marine fauna than currently living in the Kara Sea.
The last, Zyryansk, glaciation was preceded by a regression of the boreal sea, caused by uplifts in the northern regions of the West Siberian Plain, the Urals, and the Central Siberian Plateau; the amplitude of these uplifts was only a few tens of meters. During the maximum stage of development of the Zyryansk glaciation, glaciers descended into the regions of the Yenisei Plain and the eastern foot of the Urals to approximately 66 ° N. sh., where a number of stadial terminal moraines were left. In the south of Western Siberia, sandy-argillaceous Quaternary sediments were being blown over at that time, eolian landforms were forming, and loess-like loams were accumulating.
Some researchers of the northern regions of the country draw a more complex picture of the events of the Quaternary glaciation in Western Siberia. Thus, according to the geologist V.N. Saks and geomorphologist G.I. Lazukov, glaciation began here as early as the Lower Quaternary and consisted of four independent epochs: Yarskaya, Samarovo, Taz and Zyryanskaya. Geologists S. A. Yakovlev and V. A. Zubakov even count six glaciations, referring the beginning of the most ancient of them to the Pliocene.
On the other hand, there are supporters of a one-time glaciation of Western Siberia. Geographer A. I. Popov, for example, considers the deposits of the glaciation era of the northern half of the country as a single water-glacial complex consisting of marine and glacial-marine clays, loams and sands containing inclusions of boulder material. In his opinion, there were no extensive ice sheets on the territory of Western Siberia, since typical moraines are found only in the extreme western (at the foot of the Urals) and eastern (near the ledge of the Central Siberian Plateau) regions. The middle part of the northern half of the plain during the epoch of glaciation was covered by the waters of marine transgression; the boulders enclosed in its deposits are brought here by icebergs that have come off the edge of the glaciers that descended from the Central Siberian Plateau. Only one Quaternary glaciation of Western Siberia is recognized by the geologist V. I. Gromov.
At the end of the Zyryansk glaciation, the northern coastal regions of the West Siberian Plain again sank. The subsided areas were flooded by the waters of the Kara Sea and covered with marine sediments that make up post-glacial marine terraces, the highest of which rises 50-60 m above the modern level of the Kara Sea. Then, after the regression of the sea, a new incision of rivers began in the southern half of the plain. Due to the small slopes of the channel in most of the river valleys of Western Siberia, lateral erosion prevailed, the deepening of the valleys proceeded slowly, therefore they usually have a considerable width, but a small depth. In poorly drained interfluve spaces, the reworking of the ice age relief continued: in the north, it consisted in leveling the surface under the influence of solifluction processes; in the southern, non-glacial provinces, where more atmospheric precipitation fell, the processes of deluvial washout played a particularly prominent role in the transformation of the relief.
Paleobotanical materials suggest that after the glaciation there was a period with a slightly drier and warmer climate than now. This is confirmed, in particular, by the finds of stumps and tree trunks in the deposits of the tundra regions of Yamal and the Gydan Peninsula at 300-400 km to the north of the modern border of woody vegetation and the wide development of the tundra zone of relict large-hilly peatlands in the south.
Currently, in the territory of the West Siberian Plain, there is a slow shift of the boundaries of geographical zones to the south. Forests in many places advance on the forest-steppe, forest-steppe elements penetrate into the steppe zone, and the tundra is slowly replacing woody vegetation near the northern limit of sparse forests. True, in the south of the country, man intervenes in the natural course of this process: cutting down forests, he not only stops their natural advance on the steppe, but also contributes to the displacement of the southern border of forests to the north.
Relief
See photos of the nature of the West Siberian Plain: the Taz Peninsula and the Middle Ob in the Nature of the World section.
Scheme of the main orographic elements of the West Siberian Plain
Differentiated subsidence of the West Siberian Plate in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic determined the predominance of accumulation processes of loose deposits within it, the thick cover of which levels the unevenness of the surface of the Hercynian basement. Therefore, the modern West Siberian Plain is characterized by a generally flat surface. However, it cannot be considered as a monotonous lowland, as it was considered until recently. In general, the territory of Western Siberia has a concave shape. Its lowest parts (50-100 m) are located mainly in the central ( Kondinskaya and Sredneobskaya lowlands) and northern ( Nizhneobskaya, Nadymskaya and Purskaya lowlands) parts of the country. Along the western, southern and eastern outskirts stretch low (up to 200-250 m) hills: Severo-Sosvinskaya, Turin, Ishimskaya, Priobskoe and Chulym-Yenisei plateau, Ketsko-Tymskaya, Verkhnetazovskaya, Lower Yenisei. A distinct strip of hills form in the inner part of the plain Siberian Ridges(average height - 140-150 m), stretching from the west from the Ob to the east to the Yenisei, and parallel to them Vasyuganskaya plain.
Some orographic elements of the West Siberian Plain correspond to geological structures: gently sloping anticlinal uplifts correspond, for example, to the Verkhnetazovsky and lulimvor, A Barabinskaya and Kondinskaya the lowlands are confined to the syneclises of the slab basement. However, discordant (inversion) morphostructures are also not uncommon in Western Siberia. These include, for example, the Vasyugan Plain, which formed on the site of a gently sloping syneclise, and the Chulym-Yenisei Plateau, located in the basement trough zone.
The West Siberian Plain is usually divided into four large geomorphological regions: 1) marine accumulative plains in the north; 2) glacial and water-glacial plains; 3) near-glacial, mainly lacustrine-alluvial, plains; 4) southern non-glacial plains (Voskresensky, 1962).
Differences in the relief of these areas are explained by the history of their formation in the Quaternary, the nature and intensity of the latest tectonic movements, and zonal differences in modern exogenous processes. In the tundra zone, relief forms are especially widely represented, the formation of which is associated with a harsh climate and the widespread distribution of permafrost. Thermokarst basins, bulgunnyakhs, spotted and polygonal tundras are quite common, and solifluction processes are developed. The southern steppe provinces are characterized by numerous closed basins of suffusion origin, occupied by salt marshes and lakes; the network of river valleys here is not dense, and erosional landforms in the interfluves are rare.
The main elements of the relief of the West Siberian Plain are wide flat interfluves and river valleys. Due to the fact that the interfluve spaces account for a large part of the country's area, they determine the general appearance of the relief of the plain. In many places, the slopes of their surface are insignificant, the runoff of precipitation, especially in the forest-bog zone, is very difficult, and the interfluves are heavily swamped. Large areas are occupied by swamps to the north of the line of the Siberian railway, on the interfluve of the Ob and Irtysh, in the Vasyugan region and the Baraba forest-steppe. However, in some places the relief of the interfluves takes on the character of a wavy or hilly plain. Such areas are especially typical of certain northern provinces of the plain, which were subjected to Quaternary glaciations, which left here a heap of stadial and bottom moraines. In the south - in Baraba, on the Ishim and Kulunda plains - the surface is often complicated by numerous low ridges stretching from the northeast to the southwest.
Another important element of the country's relief is the river valleys. All of them were formed in conditions of small slopes of the surface, slow and calm flow of rivers. Due to differences in the intensity and nature of erosion, the appearance of the river valleys of Western Siberia is very diverse. There are also well-developed deep (up to 50-80 m) valleys of large rivers - the Ob, Irtysh and Yenisei - with a steep right bank and a system of low terraces on the left bank. In places, their width is several tens of kilometers, and the Ob valley in the lower reaches even 100-120 km. The valleys of most small rivers are often only deep ditches with poorly defined slopes; during spring floods, water completely fills them and floods even neighboring valley areas.
Climate
See photos of the nature of the West Siberian Plain: the Taz Peninsula and the Middle Ob in the Nature of the World section.
Western Siberia- a country with a fairly severe, continental climate. Its large length from north to south determines the distinct zonality of the climate and significant differences in the climatic conditions of the northern and southern parts of Western Siberia, associated with a change in the amount of solar radiation and the nature of the circulation of air masses, especially western transport flows. The southern provinces of the country, located inland, at a great distance from the oceans, are also characterized by a more continental climate.
During the cold period, two baric systems interact within the country: an area of relatively high atmospheric pressure located above the southern part of the plain, an area of low pressure, which in the first half of winter stretches in the form of a hollow of the Icelandic baric minimum over the Kara Sea and northern peninsulas. In winter, continental air masses of temperate latitudes prevail, which come from Eastern Siberia or are formed on the spot as a result of air cooling over the territory of the plain.
Cyclones often pass in the border zone of areas of high and low pressure. Especially often they are repeated in the first half of winter. Therefore, the weather in the maritime provinces is very unstable; on the coast of Yamal and the Gydan Peninsula, strong winds are guaranteed, the speed of which reaches 35-40 m/s. The temperature here is even somewhat higher than in the neighboring forest-tundra provinces located between 66 and 69°N. sh. Further south, however, winter temperatures gradually rise again. In general, winter is characterized by stable low temperatures, there are few thaws here. The minimum temperatures throughout Western Siberia are almost the same. Even near the southern border of the country, in Barnaul, there are frosts down to -50 -52 °, i.e., almost the same as in the far north, although the distance between these points is more than 2000 km. Spring is short, dry and comparatively cold; April, even in the forest-marsh zone, is not yet quite a spring month.
In the warm season, low pressure sets in over the country, and an area of higher pressure forms over the Arctic Ocean. In connection with this summer, weak northerly or northeasterly winds predominate, and the role of western air transport noticeably increases. In May, there is a rapid increase in temperatures, but often, with the intrusions of arctic air masses, there are returns of cold weather and frosts. The warmest month is July, the average temperature of which is from 3.6° on Bely Island to 21-22° in the Pavlodar region. The absolute maximum temperature is from 21° in the north (Bely Island) to 40° in the extreme southern regions (Rubtsovsk). High summer temperatures in the southern half of Western Siberia are explained by the inflow of heated continental air here from the south - from Kazakhstan and Central Asia. Autumn comes late. Even in September, the weather is warm during the day, but November, even in the south, is already a real winter month with frosts up to -20 -35 °.
Most of the precipitation falls in the summer and is brought by air masses coming from the west, from the Atlantic. From May to October, Western Siberia receives up to 70-80% of the annual precipitation. There are especially many of them in July and August, which is explained by intensive activity on the Arctic and polar fronts. The amount of winter precipitation is relatively low and ranges from 5 to 20-30 mm/month. In the south, in some winter months, snow sometimes does not fall at all. Significant fluctuations in the amount of precipitation in different years. Even in the taiga, where these changes are less than in other zones, precipitation, for example, in Tomsk, falls from 339 mm in a dry year up to 769 mm into wet. Especially large differences are observed in the forest-steppe zone, where, with an average long-term precipitation of about 300-350 mm/year in wet years falls up to 550-600 mm/year, and in dry - only 170-180 mm/year.
There are also significant zonal differences in evaporation values, which depend on the amount of precipitation, air temperature, and the evaporative properties of the underlying surface. Moisture evaporates most of all in the rainy-rich southern half of the forest-bog zone (350-400 mm/year). In the north, in the coastal tundra, where the air humidity is relatively high in summer, the amount of evaporation does not exceed 150-200 mm/year. It is approximately the same in the south of the steppe zone (200-250 mm), which is already explained by the low amount of precipitation falling in the steppes. However, evaporation here reaches 650-700 mm, therefore, in some months (especially in May), the amount of evaporating moisture can exceed the amount of precipitation by 2-3 times. In this case, the lack of atmospheric precipitation is compensated by the reserves of moisture in the soil accumulated due to autumn rains and melting snow cover.
The extreme southern regions of Western Siberia are characterized by droughts, which occur mainly in May and June. They are observed on average every three to four years during periods with anticyclonic circulation and increased frequency of arctic air intrusions. The dry air coming from the Arctic, when passing over Western Siberia, is warmed up and enriched with moisture, but its heating is more intense, so the air is more and more removed from the state of saturation. In this regard, evaporation increases, which leads to drought. In some cases, the cause of droughts is also the inflow of dry and warm air masses from the south - from Kazakhstan and Central Asia.
In winter, the territory of Western Siberia is covered with snow for a long time, the duration of which in the northern regions reaches 240-270 days, and in the south - 160-170 days. Due to the fact that the period of precipitation in solid form lasts more than half a year, and thaws begin no earlier than March, the thickness of the snow cover in the tundra and steppe zones in February is 20-40 cm, in the swampy zone - from 50-60 cm in the west up to 70-100 cm in the eastern Yenisei regions. In treeless - tundra and steppe - provinces, where strong winds and blizzards occur in winter, snow is distributed very unevenly, as the winds blow it from elevated relief elements into depressions, where powerful snowdrifts form.
The harsh climate of the northern regions of Western Siberia, where the heat entering the soil is not enough to maintain a positive temperature of the rocks, contributes to the freezing of soils and the widespread permafrost. On the Yamal, Tazovsky and Gydansky peninsulas, permafrost is found everywhere. In these areas of its continuous (confluent) distribution, the thickness of the frozen layer is very significant (up to 300-600 m), and its temperatures are low (on the watershed spaces - 4, -9 °, in the valleys -2, -8 °). Further south, within the limits of the northern taiga up to a latitude of about 64°, permafrost occurs already in the form of isolated islands interspersed with taliks. Its power decreases, temperatures rise to? 0.5 -1 °, and the depth of summer thawing also increases, especially in areas composed of mineral rocks.
Water
See photos of the nature of the West Siberian Plain: the Taz Peninsula and the Middle Ob in the Nature of the World section.
Western Siberia is rich in underground and surface waters; in the north, its coast is washed by the waters of the Kara Sea.
The entire territory of the country is located within the large West Siberian artesian basin, in which hydrogeologists distinguish several basins of the second order: Tobolsk, Irtysh, Kulunda-Barnaul, Chulym, Ob, etc. Due to the large thickness of the cover of loose deposits, consisting of alternating permeable ( sands, sandstones) and water-resistant rocks, artesian basins are characterized by a significant number of aquifers associated with formations of various ages - Jurassic, Cretaceous, Paleogene and Quaternary. The groundwater quality of these horizons is very different. In most cases, artesian waters of deep horizons are more mineralized than those lying closer to the surface.
In some aquifers of the Ob and Irtysh artesian basins at a depth of 1000-3000 m there are hot salty waters, most often of chloride calcium-sodium composition. Their temperature is from 40 to 120°C, the daily flow rate of wells reaches 1-1.5 thousand tons per day. m 3, and total stocks - 65,000 km 3; such pressure water can be used for heating cities, greenhouses and greenhouses.
Groundwater in arid steppe and forest-steppe regions of Western Siberia has great importance for water supply. In many areas of the Kulunda steppe, deep tubular wells were built to extract them. Quaternary groundwater is also used; however, in the southern regions, due to climatic conditions, poor drainage of the surface and slow circulation, they are often highly saline.
The surface of the West Siberian Plain is drained by many thousands of rivers, the total length of which exceeds 250 thousand km. km. These rivers carry out into the Kara Sea annually about 1200 km 3 water - 5 times more than the Volga. The density of the river network is not very high and varies in different places depending on the relief and climatic features: in the Tavda basin it reaches 350 km, and in the Baraba forest-steppe - only 29 km per 1000 km 2. Some southern regions of the country with a total area of more than 445,000 sq. km 2 belong to the territories of closed flow and are distinguished by an abundance of endorheic lakes.
The main sources of food for most rivers are melted snow water and summer-autumn rains. In accordance with the nature of food sources, the runoff is seasonally uneven: approximately 70-80% of its annual amount occurs in spring and summer. Especially a lot of water flows down during the spring flood, when the level of large rivers rises by 7-12 m(in the lower reaches of the Yenisei even up to 15-18 m). For a long time (in the south - five, and in the north - eight months) the West Siberian rivers are ice-bound. Therefore, the winter months account for no more than 10% of the annual runoff.
The rivers of Western Siberia, including the largest ones - the Ob, Irtysh and Yenisei, are characterized by slight slopes and low flow rates. So, for example, the fall of the Ob channel in the section from Novosibirsk to the mouth over 3000 km equals only 90 m, and its flow rate does not exceed 0.5 m/s.
The most important water artery of Western Siberia is the river Ob with its large left tributary the Irtysh. The Ob is one of the greatest rivers in the world. The area of its basin is almost 3 million hectares. km 2 and the length is 3676 km. The Ob basin is located within several geographical zones; in each of them, the nature and density of the river network are different. So, in the south, in the forest-steppe zone, the Ob receives relatively few tributaries, but in the taiga zone their number noticeably increases.
Below the confluence of the Irtysh, the Ob turns into a powerful stream up to 3-4 km. Near the mouth, the width of the river in places reaches 10 km, and depth - up to 40 m. This is one of the most abundant rivers in Siberia; it brings an average of 414 km 3 water.
The Ob is a typical flat river. The slopes of its channel are small: the fall in the upper part is usually 8-10 cm, and below the mouth of the Irtysh does not exceed 2-3 cm for 1 km currents. During spring and summer, the runoff of the Ob near Novosibirsk is 78% per annum; Near the mouth (near Salekhard), the seasonal distribution of runoff is as follows: winter - 8.4%, spring - 14.6, summer - 56 and autumn - 21%.
Six rivers of the Ob basin (Irtysh, Chulym, Ishim, Tobol, Ket and Konda) have a length of more than 1000 km; the length of even some second-order tributaries sometimes exceeds 500 km.
The largest of the tributaries - Irtysh, whose length is 4248 km. Its origins lie outside the Soviet Union, in the mountains of the Mongolian Altai. For a significant part of its turning, the Irtysh crosses the steppes of Northern Kazakhstan and has almost no tributaries right up to Omsk. Only in the lower reaches, already within the taiga, several large rivers flow into it: Ishim, Tobol, etc. Throughout the Irtysh is navigable, but in the upper reaches in summer, during low level water, navigation is difficult due to numerous rifts.
Along the eastern border of the West Siberian Plain flows Yenisei- the most abundant river Soviet Union. Her length is 4091 km(if we consider the Selenga River as the source, then 5940 km); the basin area is almost 2.6 million sq. km 2. Like the Ob, the Yenisei basin is elongated in the meridional direction. All its major right tributaries flow through the territory of the Central Siberian Plateau. From the flat swampy watersheds of the West Siberian Plain, only the shorter and less watery left tributaries of the Yenisei begin.
The Yenisei originates in the mountains of the Tuva ASSR. In the upper and middle reaches, where the river crosses the spurs of the Sayan Mountains and the Central Siberian Plateau, composed of bedrock, rapids (Kazachinsky, Osinovsky, etc.) occur in its channel. After the confluence of the Lower Tunguska, the current becomes calmer and slower, and sandy islands appear in the channel, breaking the river into channels. The Yenisei flows into the wide Yenisei Bay of the Kara Sea; its width near the mouth, located near the Brekhov Islands, reaches 20 km.
The Yenisei is characterized by large fluctuations in expenditure by season. Its minimum winter consumption near the mouth is about 2500 m 3 /sec, the maximum during the flood period exceeds 132 thousand km. m 3 /sec with an annual average of about 19,800 m 3 /sec. During the year, the river brings to its mouth more than 623 km 3 water. In the lower reaches, the depth of the Yenisei is very significant (in places 50 m). This makes it possible for sea vessels to rise up the river by more than 700 km and reach Igarka.
There are about one million lakes on the West Siberian Plain, the total area of which is more than 100 thousand hectares. km 2. According to the origin of the basins, they are divided into several groups: occupying the primary irregularities of the flat relief; thermokarst; moraine-glacial; lakes of river valleys, which in turn are divided into floodplain and oxbow lakes. Peculiar lakes - "fogs" - are found in the Ural part of the plain. They are located in wide valleys, flood in the spring, sharply reducing their size in the summer, and by autumn, many disappear altogether. In the forest-steppe and steppe regions of Western Siberia there are lakes that fill suffusion or tectonic basins.
Soils, vegetation and wildlife
See photos of the nature of the West Siberian Plain: the Taz Peninsula and the Middle Ob in the Nature of the World section.
The plain relief of Western Siberia contributes to a pronounced zonality in the distribution of soils and vegetation. Within the country there are tundra, forest-tundra, forest-bog, forest-steppe and steppe zones gradually replacing one another. Geographical zoning resembles, therefore, in in general terms zoning system of the Russian Plain. However, the zones of the West Siberian Plain also have a number of local specific features that distinguish them noticeably from similar zones. of Eastern Europe. Typical zonal landscapes are located here on dissected and better drained upland and riverine areas. In poorly drained interfluve spaces, the runoff from which is difficult, and the soils are usually highly moistened, marsh landscapes prevail in the northern provinces, and landscapes formed under the influence of saline groundwater in the south. Thus, the nature and density of relief dissection play a much greater role here than on the Russian Plain in the distribution of soils and vegetation cover, causing significant differences in the regime of soil moisture.
Therefore, there are, as it were, two independent systems of latitudinal zonality in the country: the zonality of drained areas and the zonality of undrained interfluves. These differences are most clearly manifested in the nature of the soils. So, in the drained areas of the forest-bog zone, mainly strongly podzolized soils under coniferous taiga and soddy-podzolic soils under birch forests are formed, and in neighboring undrained places - powerful podzols, marsh and meadow-bog soils. The drained spaces of the forest-steppe zone are mostly occupied by leached and degraded chernozems or dark gray podzolized soils under birch groves; in undrained areas, they are replaced by marsh, saline or meadow-chernozem soils. In the upland areas of the steppe zone, either ordinary chernozems, which are characterized by increased obesity, low thickness, and linguality (heterogeneity) of soil horizons, or chestnut soils predominate; in poorly drained areas, they usually include spots of solods and solodized solonetzes or solonetsous meadow-steppe soils.
Fragment of a section of swampy taiga in Surgut Polissya (according to V. I. Orlov)
There are some other features that distinguish the zones of Western Siberia from the zones of the Russian Plain. In the tundra zone, which extends much further north than on the Russian Plain, large areas are occupied by arctic tundra, which are absent in the mainland regions of the European part of the Union. The woody vegetation of the forest-tundra is represented mainly by Siberian larch, and not by spruce, as in the regions lying west of the Urals.
In the forest-bog zone, 60% of the area of which is occupied by swamps and poorly drained swampy forests 1, pine forests occupy 24.5% of the forested area, and birch forests (22.6%), mainly secondary ones, predominate. Smaller areas are covered with damp dark coniferous cedar taiga (Pinus sibirica), fir (Abies sibirica) and ate (Picea obovata). Broad-leaved species (with the exception of linden, occasionally found in the southern regions) are absent in the forests of Western Siberia, and therefore there is no zone of broad-leaved forests here.
1 It is for this reason that the zone in Western Siberia is called the forest-bog zone.
An increase in the continentality of the climate causes a relatively sharp transition, compared to the Russian Plain, from forest-bog landscapes to dry steppe spaces in the southern regions of the West Siberian Plain. Therefore, the width of the forest-steppe zone in Western Siberia is much less than on the Russian Plain, and of the tree species it contains mainly birch and aspen.
The West Siberian Plain is wholly part of the transitional Eurosiberian zoogeographic subregion of the Palearctic. 478 species of vertebrates are known here, of which 80 species are mammals. The fauna of the country is young and in its composition differs little from the fauna of the Russian Plain. Only in the eastern half of the country are some eastern, trans-Yenisei forms found: the Dzungarian hamster (Phodopus sungorus), chipmunk (Eutamias sibiricus) etc. In last years the fauna of Western Siberia was enriched by muskrats acclimatized here (Ondatra zibethica), hare-hare (Lepus europaeus), American mink (Lutreola vison), teleutka squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris exalbidus), and carp were introduced into its reservoirs (Cyprinus carpio) and bream (Abramis brama).
Natural resources
See photos of the nature of the West Siberian Plain: the Taz Peninsula and the Middle Ob in the Nature of the World section.
The natural wealth of Western Siberia has long served as the basis for the development of various sectors of the economy. There are tens of millions of hectares of good arable land here. Particularly valuable are the lands of the steppe and forest steppe zones with their favorable conditions for Agriculture climate and highly fertile chernozems, gray forest and non-saline chestnut soils, which occupy more than 10% of the country's area. Due to the flatness of the relief, the development of the lands of the southern part of Western Siberia does not require large capital expenditures. For this reason, they were one of the priority areas for the development of virgin and fallow lands; in recent years, more than 15 million hectares have been involved in crop rotation. ha new lands, the production of grain and industrial crops (sugar beet, sunflower, etc.) increased. The lands located to the north, even in the southern taiga zone, are still underused and are a good reserve for development in the coming years. However, this will require much greater expenditures of labor and funds for draining, uprooting and clearing land from shrubs.
The pastures of the forest-bog, forest-steppe and steppe zones are of high economic value, especially water meadows along the valleys of the Ob, Irtysh, Yenisei and their large tributaries. The abundance of natural meadows here creates a solid base for the further development of animal husbandry and a significant increase in its productivity. Moss pastures of the tundra and forest-tundra, occupying more than 20 million hectares in Western Siberia, are of great importance for the development of reindeer breeding. ha; more than half a million domestic deer graze on them.
A significant part of the plain is occupied by forests - birch, pine, cedar, fir, spruce and larch. The total forested area in Western Siberia exceeds 80 million hectares. ha; timber reserves of about 10 billion m 3, and its annual growth is over 10 million tons. m 3 . The most valuable forests are located here, which provide wood for various industries. National economy. The forests along the valleys of the Ob, the lower reaches of the Irtysh and some of their navigable or raftable tributaries are currently most widely used. But many forests, including especially valuable massifs of condo pine, located between the Urals and the Ob, are still poorly developed.
Dozens of large rivers of Western Siberia and hundreds of their tributaries serve as important shipping routes connecting the southern regions with the far north. The total length of navigable rivers exceeds 25,000 km. km. Approximately the same is the length of the rivers along which timber is rafted. The full-flowing rivers of the country (Yenisei, Ob, Irtysh, Tom, etc.) have large energy resources; if fully utilized, they could generate more than $200 billion. kWh electricity per year. The first large Novosibirsk hydroelectric power station on the Ob River with a capacity of 400,000 kWh. kW entered service in 1959; above it, a reservoir with an area of 1070 km 2. In the future, it is planned to build a hydroelectric power station on the Yenisei (Osinovskaya, Igarskaya), in the upper reaches of the Ob (Kamenskaya, Baturinskaya), on the Tom (Tomskaya).
The waters of the large West Siberian rivers can also be used for irrigation and watering of the semi-desert and desert regions of Kazakhstan and Central Asia, which are already experiencing a significant shortage of water resources. Currently, design organizations are developing the main provisions and a feasibility study for the transfer of part of the flow of Siberian rivers to the basin Aral Sea. According to preliminary studies, the implementation of the first stage of this project should provide an annual transfer of 25 km 3 waters from Western Siberia to Central Asia. To this end, on the Irtysh, near Tobolsk, it is planned to create a large reservoir. From it, to the south along the Tobol valley and along the Turgai depression into the Syrdarya basin, the Ob-Caspian canal, more than 1500 meters long, will go to the reservoirs created there. km. The rise of water to the Tobol-Aral watershed is supposed to be carried out by a system of powerful pumping stations.
At the next stages of the project, the volume of water transferred annually can be increased to 60-80 km 3 . Since the waters of the Irtysh and Tobol will no longer be enough for this, the work of the second stage involves the construction of dams and reservoirs on the upper Ob, and possibly on the Chulym and Yenisei.
Naturally, the withdrawal of tens of cubic kilometers of water from the Ob and Irtysh should affect the regime of these rivers in their middle and lower reaches, as well as changes in the landscapes of the territories adjacent to the projected reservoirs and transfer channels. Forecasting the nature of these changes now occupies a prominent place in the scientific research of Siberian geographers.
Quite recently, many geologists, based on the idea of the uniformity of the thick strata of loose deposits that make up the plain and the apparent simplicity of its tectonic structure, very carefully assessed the possibility of discovering any valuable minerals in its depths. However, the geological and geophysical studies carried out in recent decades, accompanied by drilling deep wells, showed the fallacy of previous ideas about the country's poverty in minerals and made it possible to imagine the prospects for the use of its mineral resources in a completely new way.
As a result of these studies, more than 120 oil fields have already been discovered in the strata of the Mesozoic (mainly Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous) deposits of the central regions of Western Siberia. The main oil-bearing areas are located in the Middle Ob region - in Nizhnevartovsk (including the Samotlor field, which can produce oil up to 100-120 million tons). t/year), Surgut (Ust-Balykskoe, Zapadno-Surgutskoe, etc.) and Yuzhno-Balyksky (Mamontovskoe, Pravdinskoe, etc.) districts. In addition, there are deposits in the Shaim region, in the Ural part of the plain.
In recent years, in the north of Western Siberia - in the lower reaches of the Ob, Taz and Yamal - the largest deposits of natural gas have also been discovered. The potential reserves of some of them (Urengoy, Medvezhye, Zapolyarny) amount to several trillion cubic meters; gas production at each can reach 75-100 billion cubic meters. m 3 per year. In general, the predicted gas reserves in the depths of Western Siberia are estimated at 40-50 trillion. m 3 , including categories A + B + C 1 - more than 10 trillion. m 3 .
Oil and gas fields of Western Siberia
The discovery of both oil and gas fields is of great importance for the development of the economy of Western Siberia and neighboring economic regions. Tyumen and Tomsk region are turning into important areas for the oil-producing, oil-refining and chemical industries. Already in 1975, more than 145 million tons of oil were mined here. T oil and tens of billions of cubic meters of gas. Oil pipelines Ust-Balyk - Omsk (965 km), Shaim - Tyumen (436 km), Samotlor - Ust-Balyk - Kurgan - Ufa - Almetyevsk, through which oil got access to the European part of the USSR - to the places of its greatest consumption. For the same purpose, the Tyumen-Surgut railway and gas pipelines were built, through which natural gas from West Siberian deposits goes to the Urals, as well as to the central and northwestern regions of the European part of the Soviet Union. In the last five-year plan, the construction of the giant supergas pipeline Siberia - Moscow (its length is more than 3,000 km) was completed. km), through which gas from the Medvezhye field is supplied to Moscow. In the future, gas from Western Siberia will go through pipelines to the countries of Western Europe.
Brown coal deposits have also become known, confined to the Mesozoic and Neogene deposits of the marginal regions of the plain (North-Sosva, Yenisei-Chulym and Ob-Irtysh basins). Western Siberia also has colossal peat reserves. In its peatlands, the total area of which exceeds 36.5 million hectares. ha, concluded a little less than 90 billion. T air-dry peat. This is almost 60% of all peat resources of the USSR.
Geological research led to the discovery of the deposit and other minerals. In the southeast, in the Upper Cretaceous and Paleogene sandstones of the vicinity of Kolpashev and Bakchar, large deposits of oolitic iron ores have been discovered. They lie relatively shallow (150-400 m), the iron content in them is up to 36-45%, and the predicted geological reserves of the West Siberian iron ore basin are estimated at 300-350 billion tons. T, including in one Bakcharskoye field - 40 billion cubic meters. T. Numerous salt lakes in the south of Western Siberia contain hundreds of millions of tons of common and Glauber's salt, as well as tens of millions of tons of soda. In addition, Western Siberia has huge reserves of raw materials for the production of building materials (sand, clay, marls); on its western and southern outskirts there are deposits of limestones, granites, diabases.
Western Siberia is one of the most important economic and geographical regions of the USSR. About 14 million people live on its territory (the average population density is 5 people per 1 km 2) (1976). In cities and workers' settlements there are machine-building, oil refineries and chemical plants, enterprises of the timber, light and food industries. Various branches of agriculture are of great importance in the economy of Western Siberia. It produces about 20% of the commercial grain of the USSR, a significant amount of various industrial crops, a lot of butter, meat and wool.
The decisions of the 25th Congress of the CPSU outlined further gigantic growth in the economy of Western Siberia and a significant increase in its importance in the economy of our country. In the coming years, it is planned to create new energy bases within its borders based on the use of cheap coal deposits and hydropower resources of the Yenisei and Ob, develop the oil and gas industry, and create new centers of mechanical engineering and chemistry.
The main directions of development of the national economy plan to continue the formation of the West Siberian territorial production complex, to turn Western Siberia into the USSR's main oil and gas production base. In 1980, 300-310 million tons will be produced here. T oil and up to 125-155 billion m 3 natural gas (about 30% of gas production in our country).
It is planned to continue the construction of the Tomsk petrochemical complex, put into operation the first stage of the Achinsk oil refinery, expand the construction of the Tobolsk petrochemical complex, build plants for processing petroleum gas, a system of powerful pipelines for transporting oil and gas from the northwestern regions of Western Siberia to the European part of the USSR and to oil refineries in the eastern regions of the country, as well as the Surgut-Nizhnevartovsk railway and to begin construction of the Surgut-Urengoi railway. The tasks of the five-year plan provide for accelerating the exploration of oil, natural gas and condensate fields in the Middle Ob and in the north Tyumen region. The harvesting of timber, the production of grain and livestock products will also increase substantially. In the southern regions of the country, it is planned to carry out a number of major land reclamation measures - to irrigate and water large areas of the Kulunda and Irtysh lands, to begin construction of the second stage of the Aley system and the Charysh group water pipeline, and to build drainage systems in Baraba.
,The West Siberian Plain (it will not be difficult to find it on the world map) is one of the largest in Eurasia. It stretches for 2500 km from the harsh shores of the Northern Arctic Ocean to the semi-desert territories of Kazakhstan and for 1500 km - from the Ural Mountains to the mighty Yenisei. The whole area consists of two bowl-shaped flat depressions and many wetlands. Between these depressions stretch the Siberian Ridges, which rise to 180-200 meters.
The West Siberian Plain is a rather interesting and fascinating moment that deserves detailed consideration. This natural site is located almost the same distance between the Atlantic and the continental center of the mainland. About 2.5 million sq. km covers the area of this huge plain. This distance is very impressive.
Climatic conditions
The geographical position of the West Siberian Plain on the mainland causes interesting climatic conditions. Therefore, the weather in most of the plain has a temperate continental character. From the north, large arctic masses enter this territory, which carry with them extreme cold in winter, and in summer the thermometer shows from + 5 ° С to + 20 ° С. In January, on the southern and northern sides, the temperature regime can range from -15 °С to -30 °С. The lowest indicator in winter was recorded in the north-east of Siberia - down to -45 °С.
Humidity on the plain also spreads gradually from south to north. With the beginning of summer, most of it falls on the steppe zone. In the middle of summer, in July, the heat takes possession of the entire south of the plain, and the humid front moves to the north, thunderstorms and downpours sweep over the taiga. At the end of August, the rains reach the tundra zone.
water streams
Describing the geographical position of the West Siberian Plain, it is necessary to talk about the water system. A huge number of rivers flow through this territory, as well as numerous lakes and swamps. The largest and most full-flowing river is the Ob with a tributary of the Irtysh. It is not only the largest in the region, but also one of the greatest in the world. In terms of its area and length, the Ob dominates among the rivers of Russia. The water streams Pur, Nadym, Tobol and Taz, suitable for navigation, also flow here.
Plain in terms of the number of swamps is the world record holder. Such a vast territory cannot be found on the globe. Marshes occupy an area of 800 thousand square meters. km. There are several reasons for their formation: excessive moisture, a flat surface of the plain, a large amount of peat, and low air temperature.
Minerals
This region is rich in minerals. This is largely influenced by the geographical position of the West Siberian Plain. Oil and gas deposits are concentrated here in huge quantities. On its vast swampy areas there is a large supply of peat - approximately 60% of the total amount in Russia. There are iron ore deposits. Siberia is also rich in its hot waters, which contain salts of carbonates, chlorides, bromine and iodine.
Animal and plant worlds
The climate of the plain is such that the flora here is quite poor compared to neighboring regions. This is especially noticeable in the taiga and tundra zone. The reason for such a poverty of plants is perennial glaciation, which does not allow plants to spread.
The fauna of the plain is also not very rich, despite the vast extent of the territories. The geographical position of the West Siberian Plain is such that it is almost impossible to meet interesting individuals here. There are no unique animals living only in this territory. All species that live here are common with the rest of the regions, both neighboring ones, and the entire mainland of Eurasia.
West Siberian Lowland
Landscape of the West Siberian Plain.
West Siberian Plain occupies the entire western part Siberia from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Central Siberian Plateau in the east.
The area of the plain is about 3 million km²; its length from north to south is 2500 km, and from west to east - 1900 km.
In geological terms, the territory descends, which indirectly confirms the shape of the river estuary.
Geology
The West Siberian plain was formed within the epihercynian West Siberian plate, the basement of which is composed of intensely dislocated Paleozoic deposits. They are everywhere covered with a cover of loose marine and continental Meso-Cenozoic rocks (clays, sandstones, marls, and the like), with a total thickness of over 1000 m (in the basement depressions up to 3000-4000 m). The youngest, anthropogenic deposits in the south are alluvial and lacustrine, often covered with loess and loess-like loams; in the north - glacial, marine and ice-sea (up to 400 m thick in places). The cuff of loose deposits contains groundwater horizons - fresh and mineralized (including brine), hot (up to 100-150 ° C) waters are also found. There are industrial deposits of oil and natural gas (the West Siberian oil and gas basin).
Links
- West Siberian Plain in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia
- West Siberian Plain in the book: N. A. Gvozdetsky, N. I. Mikhailov. Physical geography of the USSR. M., 1978.
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See what the "West Siberian Lowland" is in other dictionaries:
The West Siberian Lowland is one of the largest low-lying accumulative plains in the world. It is located to the north of the low-hill plain of Kazakhstan and the Altai mountains, between the Urals in the west and the Central Siberian plateau in the east. Extending from N ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia
One of the largest on earth. Takes b. h. Zap. Siberia, stretching from the coast of the Kara Sea in the north to the Kazakh uplands in the south, from the Urals in the west to the Central Siberian Plateau in the east. OK. 3 million km². Wide flat or ... Geographic Encyclopedia
West Siberian Plain- West Siberian Plain, West Siberian Lowland. One of the largest low-lying accumulative plains of the globe. It occupies most of Western Siberia, stretching from the coast of the Kara Sea in the north to the Kazakh uplands and ... Dictionary "Geography of Russia"
West Siberian Plain ... Wikipedia
West Siberian oil and gas province- the largest in the world in terms of reserves and resources of gas and oil. It occupies the lowland of the same name and the water area of the southern part of the Kara Sea. Administratively, it is located within the Yamalo-Nenets and Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrugs, Tyumen and ... ... Oil and gas microencyclopedia
WEST... First part compound words. Contributes sign: western, located to the west, in the west. West Australian (but the West Australian Current), West European, West Siberian (but the West Siberian Lowland), West Slavic ... encyclopedic Dictionary
western...- the first part of compound words. contributes the sign: western, located to the west, in the west. West Australian (but the West Australian Current), West European, West Siberian (but the West Siberian Lowland), West Slavic ... Dictionary of many expressions
1. LOWLAND, and; and. A plain located no higher than 200 m above sea level; low-lying area, area. West Siberian Gulf lowlands. N. around the lake. 2. LOWLAND see 2. Lowland. * * * lowland (low plain), ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary
LOWLAND, a piece of land with an absolute height of not more than 200 m above sea level, usually with a flat, sometimes hilly surface. The largest lowlands are the Amazonian ( South America), West Siberian (Russia) ... Modern Encyclopedia
lowland- I and; and. A plain located no higher than 200 m above sea level; low-lying area, area. West Siberian Lowland/Zmennost. Gulf lowlands. Ni/change around the lake. II see lowland II; And; and. Neither / change behavior ... Dictionary of many expressions
One of the largest plains in the world is the West Siberian. Most of it is located on the territory of Russia, but the southern territories of this plain are located in Kazakhstan.
Where is the West Siberian Plain
The length of this plain in each direction is several thousand kilometers. It has natural boundaries in the form of natural objects:
- The northern border of the plain is the coast of the Arctic Ocean. At the same time, from the east, the territory of the plain begins immediately behind the Ural ridge, and in the west, the border of the plain ends in front of the Lower Yenisei Upland;
- The eastern border of the plains are Ural mountains. The ridge runs along the entire border, separating Europe from the West;
- Uplands and mountains serve as the western border. In the north, this is the Lower Yenisei Upland, and to the south are the Sayan Mountains and Altai, which are the natural boundary of the plain;
- In the south, the plain passes into the desert territories of Kazakhstan.
At the same time, the West Siberian Plain is the most developed by man and relatively densely populated. From Moscow, the eastern border of the plain is approximately 2,000 km away. and is located to the east.
Capital of the West Siberian Plain
It must be understood that this plain is not a region or region. It's objective geographical concept. After all, the plain is located between mountains and hills and therefore it is called so.
Novosibirsk, Tomsk, Kurgan regions of Russia are located on its territory. The East Kakhastan region is also located on the territory of the West Siberian Plain.
It is called Western because of its western location relative to Siberia itself and because it is its westernmost part. But relative to the European part of the Russian Federation and Moscow, the plain is located in the east.
Since the plain is located in two states, there are several constituent entities of the Russian Federation on its territory, the concept of the capital of the plain will be very arbitrary. The capital can be considered the city of Tomsk, which is located in the center of the plain. And the most major city there will be Novosibirsk, located in its southeastern part.
