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East European Plain - main characteristics. The climate of the Russian Plain. Valdai and Northern Uvaly

The Russian Plain is one of the largest plains in the world in terms of area. Among all the plains of our Motherland, only it goes to two oceans. Russia is located in the central and eastern parts of the plain. It stretches from the coast of the Baltic Sea to the Ural Mountains, from the Barents and White Seas- to the Azov and Caspian.

The Russian Plain consists of uplands with heights of 200-300 m above sea level and lowlands, along which major rivers. The average height of the plain is 170 m, and the highest - 479 m - on the Bugulma-Belebeevskaya Upland in the Ural part. The maximum mark of the Timan Ridge is somewhat less (471 m).
North of this band is dominated by low plains. Large rivers flow through this territory - Onega, Northern Dvina, Pechora with numerous high-water tributaries. The southern part of the Russian Plain is occupied by lowlands, of which only the Caspian is located on the territory of Russia.

The Russian Plain almost completely coincides with the East European Platform. This circumstance explains its flat relief, as well as the absence or insignificance of manifestations of such natural phenomena like earthquakes, volcanism. Large uplands and lowlands arose as a result of tectonic movements, including along faults. The height of some hills and plateaus reaches 600-1000 meters.

On the territory of the Russian Plain, platform deposits occur almost horizontally, but their thickness in some places exceeds 20 km. Where the folded foundation protrudes to the surface, elevations and ridges are formed (for example, the Donetsk and Timan ridges). On average, the height of the Russian Plain is about 170 meters above sea level. The lowest areas are on the Caspian coast (its level is about 26 meters below the level of the World Ocean).

The formation of the relief of the Russian Plain is determined by belonging to the plate of the Russian Platform and is characterized by a calm regime and a low amplitude of the latest tectonic movements. Erosion-denudation processes, Pleistocene ice sheets and marine transgressions created the main features of the relief in the late Cenozoic. The Russian Plain is subdivided into three provinces.

The North Russian province is distinguished by the ubiquitous distribution of glacial and water-glacial landforms formed by the ice sheets of the Moscow and Valdai times. Stratified lowlands predominate with remnant stratal-mono-clinal and ridge elevations, with relief forms oriented in the northwestern and northeastern directions, underlined by the pattern of the hydro-network.

The Central Russian province is characterized by a regular combination of erosion-denudation stratal and monoclinal-stratal uplands and lowlands oriented in the meridional and sublatitudinal directions. Part of its vast territory was covered by the Dnieper and Moscow glaciers. Low-lying areas served as areas of accumulation of water- and lacustrine-glacial deposits, and the relief of woodland was formed on them, sometimes with significant eolian processing, with dune formations. Gullies and ravines are widely developed on elevated areas and sides of valleys. Relics of the Neogene denudation-accumulative relief have been preserved under the cover of loose deposits of the Quaternary age. Leveled surfaces are preserved on the stratal uplands, and in the east and southeast of the province - marine deposits of the ancient transgressions of the Caspian.

The South Russian province includes the Stavropol stratified-monocline flat-topped upland (up to 830 m), a group of island mountains (Neogene subextrusive bodies, the city of Beshtau - 1401 m, etc.) in the upper reaches of the Kuma, the deltaic plains of the Terek and Sulak rivers of the Caspian lowland, terraced alluvial plain in the lower reaches of the river Kuban. The relief of the Russian Plain has been significantly changed as a result of human activities.

Report: External processes that shape the relief and

Lesson topic: External processes that form the relief and

associated natural phenomena

Lesson objectives: to form knowledge about the change in landforms as a result of erosion,

weathering and other external relief-forming processes, their role

in shaping the appearance of the surface of our country.

Let the students down

to the conclusion about the constant change, the development of the relief under the influence of

only internal and external processes, but also human activities.

1. Repetition of the studied material.

What causes the Earth's surface to change?

2. What processes are called endogenous?

2. What parts of the country experienced the most intense uplifts in the Neogene-Quaternary?

3. Do they coincide with earthquake distribution areas?

Name the main active volcanoes in the country.

5. In what parts of the Krasnodar Territory are internal processes most often manifested?

2. Learning new material.

The activity of any external factor consists of the process of destruction and demolition of rocks (denudation) and the deposition of materials in depressions (accumulation).

This is preceded by weathering. There are two main types of exposure: physical and chemical, as a result of which loose deposits are formed that are convenient for moving by water, ice, wind, etc.

As the teacher explains the new material, the table is filled

^ External processes

main types

Distribution areas

The activity of the ancient glacier

^ Trogs, sheep foreheads, curly rocks.

Moraine hills and ridges.

Introductory glacial plains

Karelia, Kola Peninsula

Valdai rise, Smolensk-Moscow rise

^ Meshcherskaya nizm.

Activity of flowing waters

Erosion forms: ravines, beams, river valleys

Central Russian, Volga and others

almost everywhere

Eastern Transcaucasia, Baikal region, Wed.

^ Wind work

Eolian forms: dunes,

deserts and semi-deserts of the Caspian lowlands.

southern coast of the Baltic Sea

^ Groundwater

Karst (caves, mines, funnels, etc.)

Caucasus, Central Russian erection, etc.

Tidal bore

abrasive

coasts of seas and lakes

^ Processes caused by the activity of gravity

landslides and scree

They predominate in the mountains, often on the steep slopes of river valleys and ravines.

Middle course of the Volga river, Black Sea coast

^ Human activity

land plowing, f.i. mining, construction, deforestation

in places of human habitation and extraction of natural resources.

Examples certain types external processes - pp. 44-45 Ermoshkin "Geography Lessons"

FIXING THE NEW MATERIAL

1. Name the main types of exogenous processes.

2. Which of them are the most developed in the Krasnodar Territory?

3. What anti-erosion measures do you know?

4. HOME TASK: prepare for a general lesson on the topic “Geological structure,

relief and minerals of Russia» pp. 19-44.

Relief of the East European (Russian) Plain

The East European (Russian) Plain is one of the largest plains in the world in terms of area. Among all the plains of our Motherland, only it goes to two oceans. Russia is located in the central and eastern parts of the plain. It stretches from the coast of the Baltic Sea to the Ural Mountains, from the Barents and White Seas to the Azov and Caspian.

The East European Plain has the highest rural population density, large cities and many small towns and urban-type settlements, diverse Natural resources.

The plain has long been mastered by man.

The substantiation of its definition as a physical-geographical country are the following features: 1) an elevated stratal plain was formed on the plate of the ancient East European platform; 2) Atlantic-continental, predominantly moderately and insufficiently humid climate, formed largely under the influence of the Atlantic and Arctic oceans; 3) natural zones are clearly expressed, the structure of which was greatly influenced by the flat relief and neighboring territories - Central Europe, North and Central Asia.

This led to the interpenetration of European and Asian species of plants and animals, as well as to a deviation from the latitudinal position. natural areas east to north.

Relief and geological structure

The East European Uplifted Plain consists of uplands with heights of 200-300 m above sea level and lowlands along which large rivers flow.

The average height of the plain is 170 m, and the highest - 479 m - on the Bugulma-Belebeevskaya Upland in the Ural part. The maximum mark of the Timan Ridge is somewhat less (471 m).

According to the features of the orographic pattern within the East European Plain, three bands are clearly distinguished: central, northern and southern. Through central part The plains are a strip of alternating large uplands and lowlands: the Central Russian, Volga, Bugulma-Belebeevskaya uplands and the Common Syrt are separated by the Oka-Don lowland and the Low Trans-Volga region, along which the Don and Volga rivers flow, carrying their waters to the south.

To the north of this strip, low plains predominate, on the surface of which smaller hills are scattered here and there in garlands and singly.

From the west to the east-northeast, the Smolensk-Moscow, Valdai uplands and Northern Uvaly stretch, replacing each other. The watersheds between the Arctic, Atlantic and internal (endorheic Aral-Caspian) basins mainly pass through them. From Severnye Uvaly the territory goes down to the White and Barents Seas. This part of the Russian Plain A.A.

Borzov called the northern slope. Large rivers flow along it - Onega, Northern Dvina, Pechora with numerous high-water tributaries.

The southern part of the East European Plain is occupied by lowlands, of which only the Caspian is located on the territory of Russia.

Figure 1 - Geological profiles across the Russian Plain

The East European Plain has a typical platform relief, which is predetermined by the tectonic features of the platform: the heterogeneity of its structure (the presence of deep faults, ring structures, aulacogens, anteclises, syneclises, and other smaller structures) with unequal manifestations of recent tectonic movements.

Almost all large uplands and lowlands are plains of tectonic origin, while a significant part is inherited from the structure of the crystalline basement.

In the process of a long and complex path of development, they were formed as unified in the morphostructural, orographic and genetic terms of the territory.

At the base of the East European Plain lie the Russian plate with a Precambrian crystalline basement and in the south the northern edge of the Scythian plate with a Paleozoic folded basement.

The boundary between the plates in the relief is not expressed. On the uneven surface of the Precambrian basement of the Russian Plate, there are strata of Precambrian (Vendian, in some places Riphean) and Phanerozoic sedimentary rocks with slightly disturbed occurrence. Their thickness is not the same and is due to the unevenness of the basement topography (Fig. 1), which determines the main geostructures of the plate. These include syneclises - areas of deep basement (Moscow, Pechora, Caspian, Glazov), anteclises - areas of shallow basement (Voronezh, Volga-Ural), aulacogens - deep tectonic ditches, on the site of which syneclises subsequently arose (Kresttsovsky, Soligalichsky, Moskovsky and others), ledges of the Baikal basement - Timan.

The Moscow syneclise is one of the oldest and most complex internal structures of the Russian plate with a deep crystalline basement.

It is based on the Central Russian and Moscow aulacogenes, filled with thick Riphean sequences, above which the sedimentary cover of the Vendian and Phanerozoic (from Cambrian to Cretaceous) occurs. In the Neogene-Quaternary time, it experienced uneven uplifts and is expressed in the relief by rather large uplands - Valdai, Smolensk-Moscow and lowlands - Upper Volga, North Dvinskaya.

The Pechora syneclise is located wedge-shaped in the northeast of the Russian Plate, between the Timan Ridge and the Urals.

Its uneven block foundation is lowered to various depths - up to 5000-6000 m in the east. The syneclise is filled with a thick layer of Paleozoic rocks overlain by Meso-Cenozoic deposits. In its northeastern part is the Usinsky (Bolshezemelsky) vault.

The surface of its basement is covered with thin deposits of the Ordovician, Devonian and Carboniferous. Rocks of the Carboniferous, Cretaceous and Paleogene occur on the southern steep slope.

The Volga-Ural anteclise consists of large uplifts (arches) and depressions (aulacogens), on the slopes of which flexures are located.

The thickness of the sedimentary cover here is at least 800 m within the highest arches (Tokmovsky).

From the west it is framed by the Ergeninskaya and Volgograd flexures, from the north by the flexures of the General Syrt. In places they are complicated by young faults.

In the Neogene-Quaternary, further subsidence (up to 500 m) and accumulation of a thick layer of marine and continental deposits took place. These processes are combined with fluctuations in the level of the Caspian Sea.

The southern part of the East European Plain is located on the Scythian epi-Hercynian plate, lying between the southern edge of the Russian plate and the Alpine folded structures of the Caucasus.

The tectonic movements of the Urals and the Caucasus led to some disturbance of the sedimentary deposits of the plates.

This is expressed in the form of dome-shaped uplifts, significant along the shafts (Oksko-Tsniksky, Zhigulevsky, Vyatsky, etc.), individual flexural bends of layers, salt domes, which are clearly visible in the modern relief. Ancient and young deep faults, as well as ring structures, determined the block structure of the plates, the direction of river valleys, and the activity of neotectonic movements. The predominant direction of the faults is northwestern.

A brief description of the tectonics of the East European Plain and a comparison of the tectonic map with the hypsometric and neotectonic maps allows us to conclude that the modern relief, which has undergone a long and complex history, is in most cases inherited and dependent on the nature of the ancient structure and manifestations of neotectonic movements.

Neotectonic movements on the East European Plain manifested themselves with different intensity and direction: in most of the territory they are expressed by weak and moderate uplifts, low mobility, and the Caspian and Pechora lowlands experience weak subsidence.

The central part of the Russian Plain was affected by intense uplifts of the Voronezh and Volga-Ural anteclises, as well as subsidence of neighboring aulacogenes and troughs.

These processes contributed to the formation of layer-tier, stepped uplands (Central Russian and Volga) and the layered Oka-Don plain. The eastern part developed in connection with the movements of the Urals and the edge of the Russian Plate, therefore, a mosaic of morphostructures is observed here. In the north and south, accumulative lowlands of the marginal syneclises of the plate (Pechora and Caspian) are developed. Interspersed between them are layered-stage uplands (Bugulma-Belebeevskaya, General Syrt), monoclinal-stratified uplands (Verkhnekamskaya) and the intra-platform folded Timan Ridge.

In the Quaternary, the cooling of the climate in the northern hemisphere contributed to the spread of ice sheets.

Glaciers had a significant impact on the formation of the relief, Quaternary deposits, permafrost, as well as on the change in natural zones - their position, floristic composition, fauna and migration of plants and animals within the East European Plain.

Three glaciations are distinguished on the East European Plain: the Okskoe, the Dnieper with the Moscow stage, and the Valdai.

Glaciers and fluvioglacial waters created two types of plains - moraine and outwash. In a wide periglacial (preglacial) zone, permafrost processes dominated for a long time.

The relief was especially intensively affected by snowfields during the period of reduction of glaciation.

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Make a description of the relief and minerals of the Russian Plain according to the following plan: 1.

Make a description of the relief and minerals of the Russian Plain according to the following plan:
1. Where is the territory
2.

What tectonic structure is confined to
3. How old are the rocks that make up the territory and how they lie
4. How it affected the relief
5. How altitudes change across the territory
6. Where are and what are the minimum and maximum heights
7. What determines the current altitude position of the territory
8. What external processes were involved in the formation of the relief
9. What forms are created by each process and where are they located, why
10.

What minerals and why are they common on the plain, how are they located

1. Geographic location.

2. Geological structure and relief.

3. Climate.

4. Internal waters.

5. Soils, flora and fauna.

6. Natural zones and their anthropogenic changes.

Geographical position

The plain lies on the ancient East European platform, its climate is predominantly temperate continental and natural zonality is clearly expressed on the plain.

Geological structure and relief

The East European Plain has a typical platform relief, which is predetermined by platform tectonics.

At its base lie the Russian plate with a Precambrian basement and in the south the northern margin of the Scythian plate with a Paleozoic basement. At the same time, the boundary between the plates in the relief is not expressed. Phanerozoic sedimentary rocks lie on the uneven surface of the Precambrian basement. Their power is not the same and is due to the unevenness of the foundation. These include syneclises (areas of deep basement) - Moscow, Pechersk, Caspian Sea and anticlises (protrusions of the foundation) - Voronezh, Volga-Ural, as well as aulacogenes (deep tectonic ditches, on the site of which syneclises arose) and the Baikal ledge - Timan.

In general, the plain consists of uplands with heights of 200-300m and lowlands. The average height of the Russian Plain is 170 m, and the highest, almost 480 m, is on the Bugulma-Belebeev Upland in the Ural part. In the north of the plain there are the Northern Ridges, the Valdai and Smolensk-Moscow stratal uplands, the Timan Ridge (Baikal folding).

In the center are the uplands: Central Russian, Volga (layered, stepped), Bugulma-Belebeevskaya, General Syrt and lowlands: Oka-Don and Zavolzhskaya (stratified).

In the south lies the accumulative Caspian lowland. Glaciation also influenced the formation of the relief of the plain. There are three glaciations: Okskoe, Dnieper with the Moscow stage, Valdai. Glaciers and fluvioglacial waters have created moraine landforms and outwash plains.

In the periglacial (preglacial) zone, cryogenic forms were formed (due to permafrost processes). The southern boundary of the maximum Dnieper glaciation crossed the Central Russian Upland in the Tula region, then descended along the Don valley to the mouth of the Khopra and Medveditsa rivers, crossed the Volga Upland, the Volga near the mouth of the Sura, then the upper reaches of the Vyatka and Kama and the Urals in the region of 60˚N. Iron ore deposits (IMA) are concentrated in the foundation of the platform. The sedimentary cover is associated with reserves of coal (eastern part of the Donbass, Pechersk and Moscow basins), oil and gas (Ural-Volga and Timan-Pechersk basins), oil shale (north-western and Middle Volga), building materials (wide distribution), bauxites (Kola Peninsula), phosphorites (in a number of areas), salts (Caspian region).

Climate

The climate of the plain is influenced by the geographical position, the Atlantic and Arctic oceans.

Solar radiation changes dramatically with the seasons. In winter, more than 60% of the radiation is reflected by the snow cover. Throughout the year, the western transport dominates over the Russian Plain. The Atlantic air transforms as it moves east. During the cold period, many cyclones come to the plain from the Atlantic. In winter, they bring not only precipitation, but also warming. Mediterranean cyclones are especially warm when the temperature rises to +5˚ +7˚C. After cyclones from the North Atlantic, cold Arctic air penetrates into their rear, causing sharp cooling to the very south.

Anticyclones in winter provide frosty clear weather. During the warm period, cyclones mix to the north; the northwest of the plain is especially susceptible to their influence. Cyclones bring rain and coolness in summer.

Hot and dry air is formed in the cores of the spur of the Azores High, which often leads to droughts in the southeast of the plain. January isotherms in the northern half of the Russian Plain run submeridian from -4˚C in the Kaliningrad region to -20˚C in the northeast of the plain. In the southern part, the isotherms deviate to the southeast, amounting to -5˚C in the lower reaches of the Volga.

In summer, the isotherms run sublatitudinally: +8˚C in the north, +20˚C along the Voronezh-Cheboksary line, and +24˚C in the south of the Caspian Sea. The distribution of precipitation depends on western transport and cyclonic activity. Especially a lot of them move in the 55˚-60˚N band, this is the most humid part of the Russian Plain (Valdai and Smolensk-Moscow Uplands): the annual precipitation here is from 800 mm in the west to 600 mm in the east.

Moreover, on the western slopes of the uplands, precipitation is 100-200 mm more than on the lowlands lying behind them. The maximum precipitation occurs in July (in the south in June).

In winter, a snow cover forms. In the northeast of the plain, its height reaches 60-70 cm and it occurs up to 220 days a year (more than 7 months). In the south the height snow cover 10-20 cm, and the duration of occurrence is up to 2 months. The moisture coefficient varies from 0.3 in the Caspian lowland to 1.4 in the Pechersk lowland. In the north, moisture is excessive, in the strip of the upper reaches of the Dniester, Don and the mouth of the Kama - sufficient and k≈1, in the south, moisture is insufficient.

In the north of the plain, the climate is subarctic (the coast of the Northern Arctic Ocean), in the rest of the territory the climate is temperate with varying degrees continentality. At the same time, continentality increases towards the southeast.

Inland waters

The main watershed runs along the Northern Ridges, Valdai, Central Russian and Volga Uplands. The largest is the Volga River (it is the largest in Europe), its length is more than 3530 km, and the basin area is 1360 thousand sq. km. The source lies on the Valdai Upland.

After the confluence of the Selizharovka River (from Lake Seliger), the valley expands noticeably. From the mouth of the Oka to Volgograd, the Volga flows with sharply asymmetric slopes.

On the Caspian lowland, branches of the Akhtuba separate from the Volga and a wide strip of floodplain is formed. The Volga Delta begins 170 km from the Caspian coast. The main food of the Volga is snow, so the flood is observed from the beginning of April to the end of May. The height of the water rise is 5-10 m. 9 reserves have been created on the territory of the Volga basin. The Don has a length of 1870 km, the basin area is 422 thousand sq. km.

Source from a ravine on the Central Russian Upland. It flows into the Taganrog Bay of the Sea of Azov. Food is mixed: 60% snow, more than 30% groundwater and almost 10% rain. Pechora has a length of 1810 km, begins in the Northern Urals and flows into the Barents Sea. The area of the basin is 322 thousand km2. The nature of the current in the upper reaches is mountainous, the channel is rapids. In the middle and low reaches, the river flows through the moraine lowland and forms a wide floodplain, and a sandy delta at the mouth.

Food is mixed: up to 55% falls on melted snow water, 25% on rainwater and 20% on groundwater. The Northern Dvina is about 750 km long and is formed from the confluence of the Sukhona, Yuga and Vychegda rivers. It flows into the Dvina Bay. The area of the basin is almost 360 thousand sq. km. The floodplain is wide. At the confluence of the river forms a delta. The food is mixed. Lakes on the Russian Plain differ primarily in the origin of lake basins: 1) moraine lakes are distributed in the north of the plain in areas of glacial accumulation; 2) karst - in river basins Northern Dvina and the upper Volga; 3) thermokarst - in the extreme northeast, in the permafrost zone; 4) floodplain (oxbow lakes) - in the floodplains of large and medium-sized rivers; 5) estuary lakes - in the Caspian lowland.

Groundwater is distributed throughout the Russian Plain. There are three artesian basins of the first order: Central Russian, East Russian and Caspian. Within them there are artesian pools second order: Moscow, Volga-Kama, Cis-Ural, etc. With depth chemical composition water and water temperature changes.

fresh water occur at depths of no more than 250 m. Mineralization and temperature increase with depth. At a depth of 2-3 km, the water temperature can reach 70˚C.

Soils, flora and fauna

Soils, like vegetation on the Russian Plain, have a zonal distribution pattern. In the north of the plain there are tundra coarse-humus gley soils, there are peat-gley soils, etc.

To the south, podzolic soils lie under the forests. In the northern taiga, they are gley-podzolic, in the middle taiga they are typical podzolic, and in the southern taiga they are soddy-podzolic soils, which are also characteristic of mixed forests. Under deciduous forests and forest-steppe, gray forest soils are formed. In the steppes, the soils are chernozem (podzolized, typical, etc.). On the Caspian lowland, the soils are chestnut and brown desert, there are solonetzes and solonchaks.

The vegetation of the Russian Plain differs from the vegetation cover of other large regions of our country.

Common on the Russian Plain broadleaf forests and only here are semi-deserts. In general, the set of vegetation is very diverse from tundra to desert. In the tundra, mosses and lichens predominate; to the south, the number of dwarf birch and willow increases.

Spruce with an admixture of birch dominates in the forest-tundra. In the taiga, spruce dominates, to the east with an admixture of fir, and on the poorest soils - pine. Mixed forests include coniferous-broad-leaved species, in broad-leaved forests, where they have been preserved, oak and linden dominate.

These same rocks are also characteristic of the forest-steppe. The steppe occupies here the largest area in Russia, where cereals predominate. The semi-desert is represented by grass-wormwood and wormwood-saltwort communities.

Oriental species gravitate toward the taiga and forest-tundra (chipmunk, wolverine, Ob lemming, etc.). Rodents (ground squirrels, marmots, voles, etc.) dominate in the steppes and semi-deserts, and the saiga penetrates from the Asian steppes.

natural areas

Natural zones on the East European Plain are especially pronounced.

From north to south, they replace each other: tundra, forest-tundra, taiga, mixed and broad-leaved forests, forest-steppe, steppes, semi-deserts and deserts. Tundra occupies the coast of the Barents Sea, covers the entire Kanin Peninsula and further to the east, to the Polar Urals.

The European tundra is warmer and wetter than the Asian one, the climate is subarctic with maritime features. The average temperature in January varies from -10˚C near the Kanin Peninsula to -20˚C near the Yugorsky Peninsula. In summer around +5˚C. Precipitation 600-500 mm. The permafrost is thin, there are many swamps. On the coast, typical tundras are common on tundra-gley soils, with a predominance of mosses and lichens, in addition, arctic bluegrass, pike, alpine cornflower, and sedges grow here; from shrubs - wild rosemary, dryad (partridge grass), blueberries, cranberries.

To the south, shrubs of dwarf birches and willows appear. The forest tundra extends south of the tundra in a narrow strip of 30-40 km. The forests here are sparse, the height is not more than 5-8 m, spruce dominates with an admixture of birch, sometimes larch. Low places are occupied by swamps, thickets of small willows or birch dwarf birch. There are many crowberries, blueberries, cranberries, blueberries, mosses and various taiga herbs.

High-stemmed forests of spruce with an admixture of mountain ash (here it blooms on July 5) and bird cherry (blooms by June 30) penetrate along the river valleys. Of the animals of these zones, reindeer, arctic fox, polar wolf, lemming, hare, ermine, wolverine are typical.

There are many birds in summer: eiders, geese, ducks, swans, snow bunting, white-tailed eagle, gyrfalcon, peregrine falcon; many blood-sucking insects. Rivers and lakes are rich in fish: salmon, whitefish, pike, burbot, perch, char, etc.

The taiga extends to the south of the forest-tundra, its southern border runs along the line St. Petersburg - Yaroslavl - Nizhny Novgorod - Kazan.

In the west and in the center, the taiga merges with mixed forests, and in the east with forest-steppe. The climate of the European taiga is temperate continental. Precipitation on the plains is about 600 mm, on the hills up to 800 mm. Humidification is excessive. The growing season lasts from 2 months in the north to almost 4 months in the south of the zone.

The depth of soil freezing is from 120 cm in the north to 30-60 cm in the south. The soils are podzolic, in the north there are peat-gley zones. There are many rivers, lakes, swamps in the taiga. The European taiga is characterized by dark coniferous taiga of European and Siberian spruce.

To the east, fir is added, closer to the Urals, cedar and larch. On swamps and sands are formed pine forests.

On clearings and burnt areas - birch and aspen, along the river valleys alder, willow. Of the animals, elk, reindeer, brown bear, wolverine, wolf, lynx, fox, white hare, squirrel, mink, otter, chipmunk are characteristic. Many birds: capercaillie, hazel grouse, owls, in swamps and reservoirs white partridge, snipes, woodcocks, lapwings, geese, ducks, etc. Woodpeckers are common, especially three-toed and black, bullfinch, waxwing, schur, kuksha, tits, crossbills, kinglets, etc. Of reptiles and amphibians - vipers, lizards, newts, toads .

In summer there are many blood-sucking insects. Mixed, and to the south broad-leaved forests are located in the western part of the plain between the taiga and the forest-steppe. The climate is temperate continental, but, unlike the taiga, it is milder and warmer. Winters are noticeably shorter and summers are longer. The soils are soddy-podzolic and gray forest. Many rivers begin here: the Volga, the Dnieper, the Western Dvina, etc.

There are many lakes, swamps and meadows. The boundary between the forests is weakly expressed. With advancement to the east and north, the role of spruce and even fir in mixed forests increases, while the role of broad-leaved species decreases. There is linden and oak. To the southwest, maple, elm, ash appear, and conifers disappear.

Pine forests are found only on poor soils. In these forests, undergrowth is well developed (hazel, honeysuckle, euonymus, etc.) and grass cover of goutweed, hoof, chickweed, some grasses, and where conifers grow, there are oxalis, maynik, ferns, mosses, etc.

In connection with the economic development of these forests, the animal world has sharply decreased. There are elk, wild boar, red deer and roe deer have become very rare, bison only in reserves. The bear and lynx have practically disappeared. The fox, squirrel, dormice, forest polecat, beaver, badger, hedgehog, moles are still common; preserved marten, mink, forest cat, muskrat; muskrat, raccoon dog, American mink are acclimatized.

From reptiles and amphibians - snake, viper, lizards, frogs, toads. Many birds, both sedentary and migratory. Woodpeckers, tits, nuthatch, blackbirds, jays, owls are characteristic, finches, warblers, flycatchers, warblers, buntings arrive in the summer, waterfowl. Black grouse, partridges, golden eagles, white-tailed eagles, etc. have become rare. Compared to the taiga, the number of invertebrates in the soil increases significantly. The forest-steppe zone extends south from the forests and reaches the line Voronezh - Saratov - Samara.

The climate is temperate continental with an increase in the degree of continentality to the east, which affects the more depleted floristic composition in the east of the zone. Winter temperatures range from -5˚C in the west to -15˚C in the east. In the same direction, the annual amount of precipitation decreases.

Summer is very warm everywhere +20˚+22˚C. Moisture coefficient in the forest-steppe is about 1. Sometimes, especially in last years, occur in the summer drought. The relief of the zone is characterized by erosional dissection, which creates a certain diversity of the soil cover.

Most typical gray forest soils on loess-like loams. Leached chernozems are developed along the river terraces. The further south, the more leached and podzolized chernozems, and gray forest soils disappear.

Little natural vegetation has been preserved. Forests here are found only in small islands, mainly oak forests, where you can find maple, elm, ash. Pine forests have been preserved on poor soils. Meadow forbs have been preserved only on lands that are not convenient for plowing.

The animal world consists of forest and steppe fauna, but in recent times, due to human economic activity, the steppe fauna has begun to predominate.

steppe zone extends from southern border forest-steppe to the Kumo-Manych depression and the Caspian lowland in the south. The climate is temperate continental, but with a significant degree of continentality. Summer is hot, average temperatures are +22˚+23˚C. Winter temperatures vary from -4˚C in the Azov steppes to -15˚C in the Trans-Volga steppes. Annual rainfall decreases from 500 mm in the west to 400 mm in the east. The moisture coefficient is less than 1, droughts and hot winds are frequent in summer.

The northern steppes are less warm, but more humid than the southern ones. Therefore, the northern steppes are forb-feather grass on chernozem soils.

Southern steppes dry on chestnut soils. They are characterized by salinity. In the floodplains of large rivers (the Don and others), floodplain forests of poplar, willow, alder, oak, elm, and others grow. Among the animals, rodents predominate: ground squirrels, shrews, hamsters, field mice, and others.

Of the predators - ferrets, foxes, weasels. Birds include larks, steppe eagles, harriers, corncrakes, falcons, bustards, etc. There are snakes and lizards. Most of the northern steppes are now plowed up. The semi-desert and desert zone within Russia is located in the southwestern part of the Caspian lowland. This zone adjoins the coast of the Caspian Sea and merges with the deserts of Kazakhstan. The climate is continental temperate. Rainfall is about 300 mm. Winter temperatures are negative -5˚-10˚C. The snow cover is thin, but lies up to 60 days.

Soils freeze up to 80 cm. Summer is hot and long, average temperatures are +23˚+25˚C. The Volga flows through the territory of the zone, forming a vast delta. There are many lakes, but almost all of them are salty. The soils are light chestnut, sometimes brown desert. The humus content does not exceed 1%. Solonchaks and salt licks are widespread. The vegetation cover is dominated by white and black wormwood, fescue, thin-legged, xerophytic feather grasses; to the south, the number of saltworts increases, a tamarisk shrub appears; tulips, buttercups, rhubarb bloom in spring.

In the floodplain of the Volga, there are willow, white poplar, sedge, oak, aspen, etc. The animal world is represented mainly by rodents: jerboas, ground squirrels, gerbils, many reptiles - snakes and lizards. Of the predators are typical steppe polecat, fox - corsac, weasel. There are many birds in the Volga Delta, especially during the migration seasons. All natural zones of the Russian Plain have experienced anthropogenic impacts. Particularly heavily modified by man are the zones of forest-steppes and steppes, as well as mixed and broad-leaved forests.

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Relief - a set of irregularities of the earth's surface. The largest forms landforms are mountains and plains.
Central Russia is the central region of the East European (Russian) plain. Western Siberia - the largest plain in the world - extends from the Kara Sea to the northern slopes of the Kazakh hills. Thus, both regions are plains, but different in size.
The nature of the relief of Central Russia and Western Siberia is different. Western Siberia is a flat plain, on which only the Siberian Ridges stand out in height, elongated from west to east. The flat Vasyugan and Ishim plains are located in the south of Western Siberia. In general, Western Siberia is lower than Central Russia. The relief of Central Russia is more diverse. In the west there are low hills - Valdai,
Central Russian, Smolensk Moscow, in the east - lowlands (Upper Volga, Meshcher Ekaya).

River valleys developed. Central Russia is higher than Western Siberia, the terrain is more rugged.
The similarities and differences in the relief of Western Siberia and Central Russia are due to the processes of relief formation. The flatness of the relief of both territories is due to the fact that they are based on platforms - relatively stable tectonic structures.

Central Russia, located within the East European Plain, is based on the ancient Russian platform, and Western Siberia is based on the young West Siberian platform. The basement of the West Siberian platform is covered with a thick layer of sedimentary deposits. The foundation of the Russian platform is located at different depths from the surface, in places it is elevated, which is reflected in the relief. So, the Central Russian Upland is timed to raise the foundation. Significant impact the nature of the relief was also affected by slow movements earth's crust. The East European Plain, including the territory of Central Russia, did not experience significant fluctuations, while Western Siberia experienced significant subsidence until the Neogene-Quaternary, which then turned into a slight uplift. This was manifested in the fact that the height of Western Siberia is insignificant, and the relief is flat compared to Central Russia.
Part of the territory of Central Russia and the north of Western Siberia were affected
Quaternary glaciations. This affected the formation of the relief: the Valdai and Smolensk-Moscow Uplands within Central Russia and the Siberian Uvals in Western Siberia are of glacial origin (hilly-morainic relief, finite moraine ridges). Also of glacial origin are some plains of Western Siberia and Central Russia (Meshcherskaya lowland), which arose along the southern borders of glaciation, where glacial waters deposited a lot of material.
Central Russia is more elevated, and its relief has been developing for a longer time, therefore, within its boundaries, various erosional forms of relief have received greater development - the uplands are dissected by ravines and gullies, and river valleys are developed.
Thus, in the relief of Central Russia and Western Siberia there are similarities and differences due to the tectonic structure, the history of relief formation, and external factors of relief formation.

EAST EUROPEAN PLAIN (Russian Plain), one of the largest plains the globe. It occupies mainly Eastern and part of Western Europe, where the European part of Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Moldova, most of Ukraine, the western part of Poland and the eastern part of Kazakhstan are located. The length from west to east is about 2400 km, from north to south - 2500 km. In the north it is washed by the White and Barents Seas; in the west it borders on the Central European Plain (approximately along the valley of the Vistula River); in the southwest - with the mountains of Central Europe (the Sudetes and others) and the Carpathians; in the south it goes to the Black, Azov and Caspian seas and is bounded by the Crimean mountains and the Caucasus; in the southeast and east - by the western foothills of the Urals and Mugodzhary. Some researchers include the southern part of the Scandinavian Peninsula, the Kola Peninsula and Karelia in the East European Plain, others refer this territory to Fennoscandia, the nature of which differs sharply from the nature of the plain.

Relief and geological structure.

The East European Plain geostructurally corresponds mainly to the Russian Plate of the ancient East European Platform, in the south - the northern part of the young Scythian platform, in the northeast - the southern part of the young Barents-Pechora platform.

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The complex relief of the East European Plain is characterized by a slight fluctuation in elevation (average height is about 170 m). The highest heights are on the Bugulma-Belebeevskaya (up to 479 m) and Podolskaya (up to 471 m, Mount Kamula) uplands, the lowest (about 27 m below sea level, 2001; the lowest point in Russia) - on the coast of the Caspian Sea. On the East European Plain, two geomorphological regions are distinguished: the northern moraine with glacial landforms and the southern extra-morainic with erosional landforms. The northern moraine region is characterized by lowlands and plains (Baltic, Upper Volga, Meshcherskaya, etc.), as well as small uplands (Vepsovskaya, Zhemaitskaya, Khaanya, etc.). To the east is the Timan Ridge. The far north is occupied by vast coastal lowlands (Pechora and others). In the northwest, in the area of the Valdai glaciation, accumulative glacial relief prevails: hilly and ridge-moraine, depression with flat lacustrine-glacial and outwash plains. There are many swamps and lakes (Chudsko-Pskovskoye, Ilmen, Upper Volga lakes, Beloe, etc.) - the so-called lake area. To the south and east, in the area of distribution of the more ancient Moscow glaciation, smoothed undulating moraine plains, reworked by erosion, are characteristic; there are basins of lowered lakes. Moraine-erosion uplands and ridges (Belarusian Ridge, Smolensk-Moscow Upland, and others) alternate with moraine, outwash, lacustrine-glacial, and alluvial lowlands and plains (Mologo-Sheksninskaya, Upper Volga, and others). Ravines and gullies are more common, as well as river valleys with asymmetric slopes. Along the southern border of the Moscow glaciation, woodlands (Polesskaya lowland, etc.) and opolye (Vladimirskoye, etc.) are typical.

The southern extra-morainic region of the East European Plain is characterized by large uplands with an erosive ravine-beam relief (Volynskaya, Podolskaya, Prydniprovskaya, Azovskaya, Central Russian, Volga, Ergeni, Bugulma-Belebeevskaya, General Syrt, etc.) and outwash, alluvial accumulative lowlands and plains related to the region of the Dnieper glaciation (Pridneprovskaya, Oksko-Donskaya, etc.).

Wide asymmetric terraced river valleys are characteristic. In the southwest (the Black Sea and Dnieper lowlands, the Volyn and Podolsk uplands, etc.) there are flat watersheds with shallow steppe depressions, the so-called "saucers", formed due to the widespread development of loess and loess-like loams. In the northeast (High Trans-Volga, General Syrt, etc.), where there are no loess-like deposits and bedrocks come to the surface, the watersheds are complicated by terraces, and the peaks are weathered remnants, the so-called shikhans. In the south and southeast there are flat coastal accumulative lowlands (Black Sea, Azov, Caspian).

Climate. In the extreme north of the East European Plain there is a subarctic climate, in most of the plain it is temperate continental with the dominance of western air masses. As you move away from the Atlantic Ocean to the east, the climate becomes more continental, harsh and dry, and in the southeast, in the Caspian lowland, it becomes continental, with hot, dry summers and cold winters with little snow. The average January temperature is from -2 to -5 °С, in the southwest it drops to -20 °С in the northeast. The average July temperature increases from north to south from 6 to 23-24 °C and up to 25 °C in the southeast. The northern and central parts of the plain are characterized by excessive and sufficient moisture, while the southern part is insufficient and arid. The most humid part of the East European Plain (between 55-60° northern latitude) receives 700-800 mm of precipitation per year in the west and 600-700 mm in the east. Their number decreases to the north (in the tundra 250-300 mm) and to the south, but especially to the southeast (in the semi-desert and desert 150-200 mm). The maximum precipitation occurs in summer. In winter, snow cover (10-20 cm thick) lies from 60 days a year in the south to 220 days (60-70 cm thick) in the northeast. Frosts, droughts and dry winds are frequent in the forest-steppe and steppe; in the semi-desert and desert - dust storms.

Rivers and lakes. Most of the rivers of the East European Plain belong to the Atlantic basins [the Neva, Daugava (Western Dvina), Vistula, Neman, etc. flow into the Baltic Sea; in the Black Sea - the Dnieper, the Dniester, the Southern Bug; into the Sea of Azov - Don, Kuban, etc.] and the Arctic Oceans (the Pechora flows into the Barents Sea; into the White Sea - Mezen, Northern Dvina, Onega, etc.). The Volga (the largest river in Europe), the Urals, the Emba, Bolshoi Uzen, Maly Uzen, and others belong to the basin of internal flow, mainly the Caspian Sea. All rivers are predominantly snow-fed with spring floods. In the southwest of the East European Plain, the rivers do not freeze every year, in the northeast the freeze lasts up to 8 months. The long-term runoff modulus decreases from 10-12 l/s per km2 in the north to 0.1 l/s per km2 or less in the southeast. The hydrographic network has undergone strong anthropogenic changes: a system of canals (Volga-Baltic, White Sea-Baltic, etc.) connects all the seas washing the East European Plain. The flow of many rivers, especially those flowing south, is regulated. Significant sections of the Volga, Kama, Dnieper, Dniester, and others have been turned into cascades of reservoirs (Rybinsk, Kuibyshev, Tsimlyansk, Kremenchug, Kakhovskoe, and others). There are numerous lakes: glacial-tectonic (Ladoga and Onega - the largest in Europe), moraine (Chudsko-Pskovskoye, Ilmen, Beloe, etc.), etc. Salt tectonics played a role in the formation of salt lakes (Baskunchak, Elton, Aralsor, Inder), since some of them arose during the destruction of salt domes.

natural landscapes. The East European Plain is a classic example of a territory with a clearly defined latitudinal and sublatitudinal zonality of landscapes. Almost the entire plain is in the temperate geographical zone, and only the northern part is in the subarctic zone.

In the north, where permafrost is widespread, tundras are developed: moss-lichen and shrubs (dwarf birch, willow) on tundra gley, marsh soils and podburs. To the south, a forest-tundra zone with undersized birch and spruce woodlands stretches in a narrow strip. About 50% of the territory of the plain is occupied by forests. The zone of dark coniferous (mainly spruce, in the east with the participation of fir) European taiga, swampy in places, on podzolic soils and podzols, is expanding to the east. To the south there is a subzone of mixed coniferous-broad-leaved (oak, spruce, pine) forests on soddy-podzolic soils. Pine forests are developed along the river valleys. In the west, from the coast of the Baltic Sea to the foothills of the Carpathians, a subzone of broad-leaved (oak, linden, ash, maple, hornbeam) forests stretches on gray forest soils; forests wedged out to the Volga and have an insular character of distribution in the east. Primary forests are often replaced by secondary birch and aspen forests, which occupy 50-70% of the forest area. Peculiar landscapes of opal areas - with plowed gently sloping areas, the remains of oak forests and a ravine-beam network along the slopes, as well as woodlands - swampy lowlands with pine forests. From the northern part of Moldova to the Southern Urals, a forest-steppe zone with oak forests stretches ( for the most part cut down) on gray forest soils and rich forb-cereal meadow steppes (preserved in reserves) on chernozems (the main fund of arable land). The share of arable land in the forest-steppe is up to 80%. The southern part of the East European Plain (except the southeast) is occupied by forb-feather grass steppes on ordinary chernozems, which are replaced to the south by dry fescue-feather grass steppes on chestnut soils. Most of the Caspian Lowland is dominated by wormwood-feather grass semi-deserts on light chestnut and brown desert-steppe soils and wormwood-saltwort deserts on brown desert-steppe soils in combination with solonetzes and solonchaks.

Ecological situation and specially protected natural areas.

The East European Plain has been mastered and significantly changed by man. Natural-anthropogenic complexes dominate in many natural zones, especially in the landscapes of steppe, forest-steppe, mixed and broad-leaved forests. The territory of the East European Plain is highly urbanized. The most densely populated areas (up to 100 people/km2) are zones of mixed and broad-leaved forests. Anthropogenic relief is typical: waste heaps (height up to 50 m), quarries, etc. Particularly intense ecological situation in major cities and industrial centers (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Cherepovets, Lipetsk, Rostov-on-Don, etc.). Many rivers in the central and southern parts are heavily polluted.

To study and protect typical and rare natural landscapes Numerous nature reserves, national parks and sanctuaries have been created. In the European part of Russia there were (2005) over 80 nature reserves and national parks, including more than 20 biosphere reserves(Voronezh, Prioksko-Terrasny, Central Forest, etc.). Among the oldest reserves: Belovezhskaya Pushcha, Askania Nova and Astrakhan Reserve. Among the largest - Vodlozersky national park(486.9 thousand km 2) and the Nenets Reserve (313.4 thousand km 2). Plots of indigenous taiga "Virgin forests of Komi" and Belovezhskaya Pushcha are on the World Heritage List.

Lit. : Spiridonov AI Geomorphological zoning of the East European Plain // Geosciences. M., 1969. T. 8; Plains of the European part of the USSR / Edited by Yu. A. Meshcheryakov, A.

Describe the relief of the East European Plain

A. Aseeva. M., 1974; Milkov F. N., Gvozdetsky N. A. physical geography USSR. general review. European part of the USSR. Caucasus. 5th ed. M., 1986; Isachenko A. G. Ecological geography of the North-West of Russia. SPb., 1995. Part 1; East European forests: history in the Holocene and the present: In 2 books. M., 2004.

A. N. Makkaveev, M. N. Petrushina.

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1. The West Siberian Plain stretches from west to east for 1900 km, and from north to south for 2400 km. It is located from the Urals to the Yenisei and from the seas of the Arctic Ocean to the southern borders. The Russian Plain occupies the European part. It is located from the western borders to the Ural Mountains.
2. The Russian plain is confined to the ancient Russian platform, and the West Siberian to the new West Siberian plate.
3. More than 1600 years - Russian platform.
4. Russian plain: the lowest point is the Caspian lowland (- 27 meters), the highest is the mountains of the Khibiny (Kola Peninsula).

East European Plain - main characteristics

The average height is 150 meters.
The West Siberian Plain - the average height is 120 meters, the maximum is 200 meters.
5. On both plains, river erosion of the plain type is widely represented. Most of the relief of these plains is formed by the action of the rivers. Aeolian processes are also present on both plains. On the West Siberian Plain, among other things great importance it also has permafrost processes, widely developed in the north of the plain.
6. River erosion forms river valleys, consisting of floodplains, terraces, oxbow lakes, riverbanks, etc. Eolian processes formed ancient dune landscapes on the West Siberian Plain (now they are overgrown with forest). Merlotnye processes form heaving mounds, spotted tundra.
Examples: Valdai and Smolensk-Moscow Uplands and Siberian Ridges in Western Siberia.
7. Earthquakes, volcanoes, mudflows, landslides and collapses, tsunamis. Methods of struggle: the use of various instruments for monitoring seismic activity.

1. Geographic location.

2. Geological structure and relief.

3. Climate.

4. Internal waters.

5. Soils, flora and fauna.

6. Natural zones and their anthropogenic changes.

Geographical position

The East European Plain is one of the largest plains in the world. The plain goes to the waters of two oceans and extends from the Baltic Sea to the Ural Mountains and from the Barents and White Seas to the Azov, Black and Caspian. The plain lies on the ancient East European platform, its climate is predominantly temperate continental and natural zonality is clearly expressed on the plain.

Geological structure and relief

The East European Plain has a typical platform relief, which is predetermined by platform tectonics. At its base lie the Russian plate with a Precambrian basement and in the south the northern margin of the Scythian plate with a Paleozoic basement.

East European Plain: Key Features

At the same time, the boundary between the plates in the relief is not expressed. Phanerozoic sedimentary rocks lie on the uneven surface of the Precambrian basement. Their power is not the same and is due to the unevenness of the foundation. These include syneclises (areas of deep basement) - Moscow, Pechersk, Caspian Sea and anticlises (protrusions of the foundation) - Voronezh, Volga-Ural, as well as aulacogenes (deep tectonic ditches, on the site of which syneclises arose) and the Baikal ledge - Timan. In general, the plain consists of uplands with heights of 200-300m and lowlands. The average height of the Russian Plain is 170 m, and the highest, almost 480 m, is on the Bugulma-Belebeev Upland in the Ural part. In the north of the plain there are the Northern Ridges, the Valdai and Smolensk-Moscow stratal uplands, the Timan Ridge (Baikal folding). In the center are the uplands: Central Russian, Volga (layered, stepped), Bugulma-Belebeevskaya, General Syrt and lowlands: Oka-Don and Zavolzhskaya (stratified). In the south lies the accumulative Caspian lowland. Glaciation also influenced the formation of the relief of the plain. There are three glaciations: Okskoe, Dnieper with the Moscow stage, Valdai. Glaciers and fluvioglacial waters have created moraine landforms and outwash plains. In the periglacial (preglacial) zone, cryogenic forms were formed (due to permafrost processes). The southern boundary of the maximum Dnieper glaciation crossed the Central Russian Upland in the Tula region, then descended along the Don valley to the mouth of the Khopra and Medveditsa rivers, crossed the Volga Upland, the Volga near the mouth of the Sura, then the upper reaches of the Vyatka and Kama and the Urals in the region of 60˚N. Iron ore deposits (IMA) are concentrated in the foundation of the platform. The sedimentary cover is associated with reserves of coal (eastern part of the Donbass, Pechersk and Moscow basins), oil and gas (Ural-Volga and Timan-Pechersk basins), oil shale (north-western and Middle Volga), building materials (wide distribution), bauxites (Kola Peninsula), phosphorites (in a number of areas), salts (Caspian region).

Climate

The climate of the plain is influenced by the geographical position, the Atlantic and Arctic oceans. Solar radiation changes dramatically with the seasons. In winter, more than 60% of the radiation is reflected by the snow cover. Throughout the year, the western transport dominates over the Russian Plain. The Atlantic air transforms as it moves east. During the cold period, many cyclones come to the plain from the Atlantic. In winter, they bring not only precipitation, but also warming. Mediterranean cyclones are especially warm when the temperature rises to +5˚ +7˚C. After cyclones from the North Atlantic, cold Arctic air penetrates into their rear, causing sharp cooling to the very south. Anticyclones in winter provide frosty clear weather. During the warm period, cyclones mix to the north; the northwest of the plain is especially susceptible to their influence. Cyclones bring rain and coolness in summer. Hot and dry air is formed in the cores of the spur of the Azores High, which often leads to droughts in the southeast of the plain. January isotherms in the northern half of the Russian Plain run submeridian from -4˚C in the Kaliningrad region to -20˚C in the northeast of the plain. In the southern part, the isotherms deviate to the southeast, amounting to -5˚C in the lower reaches of the Volga. In summer, the isotherms run sublatitudinally: +8˚C in the north, +20˚C along the Voronezh-Cheboksary line, and +24˚C in the south of the Caspian Sea. The distribution of precipitation depends on western transport and cyclonic activity. Especially a lot of them move in the 55˚-60˚N band, this is the most humid part of the Russian Plain (Valdai and Smolensk-Moscow Uplands): the annual precipitation here is from 800 mm in the west to 600 mm in the east. Moreover, on the western slopes of the uplands, precipitation is 100-200 mm more than on the lowlands lying behind them. The maximum precipitation occurs in July (in the south in June). In winter, a snow cover forms. In the northeast of the plain, its height reaches 60-70 cm and it occurs up to 220 days a year (more than 7 months). In the south, the height of the snow cover is 10-20 cm, and the duration of occurrence is up to 2 months. The moisture coefficient varies from 0.3 in the Caspian lowland to 1.4 in the Pechersk lowland. In the north, moisture is excessive, in the strip of the upper reaches of the Dniester, Don and the mouth of the Kama - sufficient and k≈1, in the south, moisture is insufficient. In the north of the plain, the climate is subarctic (the coast of the Arctic Ocean), in the rest of the territory the climate is temperate with varying degrees of continentality. At the same time, continentality increases towards the southeast.

Inland waters

Surface waters are closely related to climate, topography, and geology. The direction of rivers (river flow) is predetermined by orography and geostructures. The runoff from the Russian Plain occurs in the basins of the Arctic and Atlantic oceans and in the Caspian basin. The main watershed runs along the Northern Ridges, Valdai, Central Russian and Volga Uplands. The largest is the Volga River (it is the largest in Europe), its length is more than 3530 km, and the basin area is 1360 thousand sq. km. The source lies on the Valdai Upland. After the confluence of the Selizharovka River (from Lake Seliger), the valley expands noticeably. From the mouth of the Oka to Volgograd, the Volga flows with sharply asymmetric slopes. On the Caspian lowland, branches of the Akhtuba separate from the Volga and a wide strip of floodplain is formed. The Volga Delta begins 170 km from the Caspian coast. The main food of the Volga is snow, so the flood is observed from the beginning of April to the end of May. The height of the water rise is 5-10 m. 9 reserves have been created on the territory of the Volga basin. The Don has a length of 1870 km, the basin area is 422 thousand sq. km. Source from a ravine on the Central Russian Upland. It flows into the Taganrog Bay of the Sea of Azov. Food is mixed: 60% snow, more than 30% groundwater and almost 10% rain. Pechora has a length of 1810 km, begins in the Northern Urals and flows into the Barents Sea. The area of the basin is 322 thousand km2. The nature of the current in the upper reaches is mountainous, the channel is rapids. In the middle and low reaches, the river flows through the moraine lowland and forms a wide floodplain, and a sandy delta at the mouth. Food is mixed: up to 55% falls on melted snow water, 25% on rainwater and 20% on groundwater. The Northern Dvina is about 750 km long and is formed from the confluence of the Sukhona, Yuga and Vychegda rivers. It flows into the Dvina Bay. The area of the basin is almost 360 thousand sq. km. The floodplain is wide. At the confluence of the river forms a delta. The food is mixed. Lakes on the Russian Plain differ primarily in the origin of lake basins: 1) moraine lakes are distributed in the north of the plain in areas of glacial accumulation; 2) karst - in the basins of the rivers of the Northern Dvina and the upper Volga; 3) thermokarst - in the extreme northeast, in the permafrost zone; 4) floodplain (oxbow lakes) - in the floodplains of large and medium-sized rivers; 5) estuary lakes - in the Caspian lowland.

Groundwater is distributed throughout the Russian Plain. There are three artesian basins of the first order: Central Russian, East Russian and Caspian. Within their limits there are artesian basins of the second order: Moscow, Volga-Kama, Cis-Ural, etc. With depth, the chemical composition of water and water temperature change. Fresh waters occur at depths of no more than 250 m. Mineralization and temperature increase with depth. At a depth of 2-3 km, the water temperature can reach 70˚C.

Soils, flora and fauna

Soils, like vegetation on the Russian Plain, have a zonal distribution pattern. In the north of the plain there are tundra coarse-humus gley soils, there are peat-gley soils, etc. To the south, podzolic soils lie under the forests. In the northern taiga, they are gley-podzolic, in the middle taiga they are typical podzolic, and in the southern taiga they are soddy-podzolic soils, which are also characteristic of mixed forests. Under deciduous forests and forest-steppe, gray forest soils are formed. In the steppes, the soils are chernozem (podzolized, typical, etc.). On the Caspian lowland, the soils are chestnut and brown desert, there are solonetzes and solonchaks.

The vegetation of the Russian Plain differs from the vegetation cover of other large regions of our country. Broad-leaved forests are common on the Russian Plain, and only here are semi-deserts. In general, the set of vegetation is very diverse from tundra to desert. In the tundra, mosses and lichens predominate; to the south, the number of dwarf birch and willow increases. Spruce with an admixture of birch dominates in the forest-tundra. In the taiga, spruce dominates, to the east with an admixture of fir, and on the poorest soils - pine. Mixed forests include coniferous-broad-leaved species, in broad-leaved forests, where they have been preserved, oak and linden dominate. These same rocks are also characteristic of the forest-steppe. The steppe occupies here the largest area in Russia, where cereals predominate. The semi-desert is represented by grass-wormwood and wormwood-saltwort communities.

In the animal world of the Russian Plain, western and eastern species are found. Forest animals are most widely represented and, to a lesser extent, steppe animals. Western species gravitate towards mixed and broad-leaved forests (marten, black polecat, dormouse, mole, and some others). Oriental species gravitate toward the taiga and forest-tundra (chipmunk, wolverine, Ob lemming, etc.). Rodents (ground squirrels, marmots, voles, etc.) dominate in the steppes and semi-deserts, and the saiga penetrates from the Asian steppes.

natural areas

Natural zones on the East European Plain are especially pronounced. From north to south, they replace each other: tundra, forest-tundra, taiga, mixed and broad-leaved forests, forest-steppe, steppes, semi-deserts and deserts. Tundra occupies the coast of the Barents Sea, covers the entire Kanin Peninsula and further to the east, to the Polar Urals. The European tundra is warmer and wetter than the Asian one, the climate is subarctic with maritime features. The average temperature in January varies from -10˚C near the Kanin Peninsula to -20˚C near the Yugorsky Peninsula. In summer around +5˚C. Precipitation 600-500 mm. The permafrost is thin, there are many swamps. On the coast, typical tundras are common on tundra-gley soils, with a predominance of mosses and lichens, in addition, arctic bluegrass, pike, alpine cornflower, and sedges grow here; from shrubs - wild rosemary, dryad (partridge grass), blueberries, cranberries. To the south, shrubs of dwarf birches and willows appear. The forest tundra extends south of the tundra in a narrow strip of 30-40 km. The forests here are sparse, the height is not more than 5-8 m, spruce dominates with an admixture of birch, sometimes larch. Low places are occupied by swamps, thickets of small willows or birch dwarf birch. There are many crowberries, blueberries, cranberries, blueberries, mosses and various taiga herbs. High-stemmed forests of spruce with an admixture of mountain ash (here it blooms on July 5) and bird cherry (blooms by June 30) penetrate along the river valleys. Of the animals of these zones, reindeer, arctic fox, polar wolf, lemming, hare, ermine, wolverine are typical. There are many birds in summer: eiders, geese, ducks, swans, snow bunting, white-tailed eagle, gyrfalcon, peregrine falcon; many blood-sucking insects. Rivers and lakes are rich in fish: salmon, whitefish, pike, burbot, perch, char, etc.

The taiga extends to the south of the forest-tundra, its southern border runs along the line St. Petersburg - Yaroslavl - Nizhny Novgorod - Kazan. In the west and in the center, the taiga merges with mixed forests, and in the east with forest-steppe. The climate of the European taiga is temperate continental. Precipitation on the plains is about 600 mm, on the hills up to 800 mm. Humidification is excessive. The growing season lasts from 2 months in the north to almost 4 months in the south of the zone. The depth of soil freezing is from 120 cm in the north to 30-60 cm in the south. The soils are podzolic, in the north there are peat-gley zones. There are many rivers, lakes, swamps in the taiga. The European taiga is characterized by dark coniferous taiga of European and Siberian spruce. To the east, fir is added, closer to the Urals, cedar and larch. Pine forests form on swamps and sands. On clearings and burnt areas - birch and aspen, along the river valleys alder, willow. Of the animals, elk, reindeer, brown bear, wolverine, wolf, lynx, fox, white hare, squirrel, mink, otter, chipmunk are characteristic. There are many birds: capercaillie, hazel grouse, owls, ptarmigan, snipes, woodcocks, lapwings, geese, ducks, etc. in swamps and reservoirs. Woodpeckers are common, especially three-toed and black, bullfinch, waxwing, schur, kuksha, tits, crossbills, kinglets and others. From reptiles and amphibians - vipers, lizards, newts, toads. In summer there are many blood-sucking insects. Mixed, and to the south broad-leaved forests are located in the western part of the plain between the taiga and the forest-steppe. The climate is temperate continental, but, unlike the taiga, it is milder and warmer. Winters are noticeably shorter and summers are longer. The soils are soddy-podzolic and gray forest. Many rivers begin here: the Volga, the Dnieper, the Western Dvina, and others. There are many lakes, there are swamps and meadows. The boundary between the forests is weakly expressed. With advancement to the east and north, the role of spruce and even fir in mixed forests increases, while the role of broad-leaved species decreases. There is linden and oak. To the southwest, maple, elm, ash appear, and conifers disappear. Pine forests are found only on poor soils. In these forests, undergrowth is well developed (hazel, honeysuckle, euonymus, etc.) and grass cover of goutweed, hoof, chickweed, some grasses, and where conifers grow, there are oxalis, maynik, ferns, mosses, etc. In connection with the economic development of these forests, the animal world has sharply decreased. There are elk, wild boar, red deer and roe deer have become very rare, bison only in reserves. The bear and lynx have practically disappeared. The fox, squirrel, dormice, forest polecat, beaver, badger, hedgehog, moles are still common; preserved marten, mink, forest cat, muskrat; muskrat, raccoon dog, American mink are acclimatized. From reptiles and amphibians - snake, viper, lizards, frogs, toads. Many birds, both sedentary and migratory. Woodpeckers, tits, nuthatch, blackbirds, jays, owls are characteristic, finches, warblers, flycatchers, warblers, buntings, waterfowl arrive in the summer. Black grouse, partridges, golden eagles, white-tailed eagles, etc. have become rare. Compared to the taiga, the number of invertebrates in the soil increases significantly. The forest-steppe zone extends south from the forests and reaches the line Voronezh - Saratov - Samara. The climate is temperate continental with an increase in the degree of continentality to the east, which affects the more depleted floristic composition in the east of the zone. Winter temperatures range from -5˚C in the west to -15˚C in the east. In the same direction, the annual amount of precipitation decreases. Summer is very warm everywhere +20˚+22˚C. The moisture coefficient in the forest-steppe is about 1. Sometimes, especially in recent years, droughts occur in summer. The relief of the zone is characterized by erosional dissection, which creates a certain diversity of the soil cover. Most typical gray forest soils on loess-like loams. Leached chernozems are developed along the river terraces. The further south, the more leached and podzolized chernozems, and gray forest soils disappear. Little natural vegetation has been preserved. Forests here are found only in small islands, mainly oak forests, where you can find maple, elm, ash. Pine forests have been preserved on poor soils.

Meadow forbs have been preserved only on lands that are not convenient for plowing. The animal world consists of forest and steppe fauna, but in recent times, due to human economic activity, the steppe fauna has begun to predominate. The steppe zone extends from the southern border of the forest-steppe to the Kumo-Manych depression and the Caspian lowland in the south. The climate is temperate continental, but with a significant degree of continentality. Summer is hot, average temperatures are +22˚+23˚C. Winter temperatures vary from -4˚C in the Azov steppes to -15˚C in the Trans-Volga steppes. Annual rainfall decreases from 500 mm in the west to 400 mm in the east. The moisture coefficient is less than 1, droughts and hot winds are frequent in summer. The northern steppes are less warm, but more humid than the southern ones. Therefore, the northern steppes are forb-feather grass on chernozem soils. The southern steppes are dry on chestnut soils. They are characterized by salinity. In the floodplains of large rivers (Don, etc.), floodplain forests of poplar, willow, alder, oak, elm, etc. grow. Among animals, rodents predominate: ground squirrels, shrews, hamsters, field mice, etc. From predators - ferrets, foxes, weasels . Birds include larks, steppe eagles, harriers, corncrakes, falcons, bustards, etc. There are snakes and lizards. Most of the northern steppes are now plowed up. The semi-desert and desert zone within Russia is located in the southwestern part of the Caspian lowland. This zone adjoins the coast of the Caspian Sea and merges with the deserts of Kazakhstan. The climate is continental temperate. Rainfall is about 300 mm. Winter temperatures are negative -5˚-10˚C. The snow cover is thin, but lies up to 60 days. Soils freeze up to 80 cm. Summer is hot and long, average temperatures are +23˚+25˚C. The Volga flows through the territory of the zone, forming a vast delta. There are many lakes, but almost all of them are salty. The soils are light chestnut, sometimes brown desert. The humus content does not exceed 1%. Solonchaks and salt licks are widespread. The vegetation cover is dominated by white and black wormwood, fescue, thin-legged, xerophytic feather grasses; to the south, the number of saltworts increases, a tamarisk shrub appears; tulips, buttercups, rhubarb bloom in spring. In the floodplain of the Volga, there are willow, white poplar, sedge, oak, aspen, etc. The animal world is represented mainly by rodents: jerboas, ground squirrels, gerbils, many reptiles - snakes and lizards. Of the predators, the steppe polecat, the corsac fox, and the weasel are typical. There are many birds in the Volga Delta, especially during the migration seasons. All natural zones of the Russian Plain have experienced anthropogenic impacts. Particularly heavily modified by man are the zones of forest-steppes and steppes, as well as mixed and broad-leaved forests.

one of the largest plains on our planet (the second largest after the Amazonian plain in Western America). It is located in the eastern part. Since most of it is within the borders of the Russian Federation, it is sometimes called Russian. In the northwestern part it is limited by the mountains of Scandinavia, in the southwestern part - by other mountains. central Europe, in the southeast - , and in the East - . From the north, the Russian Plain is washed by the waters and, and from the south -, and.

The length of the plain from north to south is more than 2.5 thousand kilometers, and from west to east - 1 thousand kilometers. Almost the entire length of the East European Plain is dominated by a gently sloping plain. Most of the major cities of the country are concentrated within the territory of the East European Plain. It was here that many centuries ago formed Russian state which later became the largest country in the world. A significant part of Russia's natural resources is also concentrated here.

The East European Plain almost completely coincides with the East European Platform. This circumstance explains its flat relief, as well as the absence of significant natural phenomena associated with movement ( , ). Small hilly areas within the East European Plain resulted from faults and other complex tectonic processes. The height of some hills and plateaus reaches 600-1000 meters. In ancient times, the shield of the East European Platform was in the center of glaciation, as evidenced by some landforms.

The East European Plain. satellite view

On the territory of the Russian Plain, platform deposits occur almost horizontally, making up lowlands and uplands that form the surface topography. Where the folded foundation protrudes to the surface, elevations and ridges are formed (for example, the Timan ridge). On average, the height of the Russian Plain is about 170 meters above sea level. The lowest areas are on the Caspian coast (its level is about 30 meters below the level).

Glaciation left its mark on the formation of the relief of the East European Plain. This effect was most pronounced in the northern part of the plain. As a result of the passage of the glacier through this territory, a multitude of (, Pskov, Beloe and others) arose. These are the consequences of one of the most recent glaciers. In the southern, southeastern and eastern parts, which were subjected to glaciation in more early period, their consequences are smoothed out by processes. As a result of this, a number of uplands (Smolensk-Moscow, Borisoglebskaya, Danilevskaya and others) and lacustrine-glacial lowlands (Caspian, Pechora) were formed.

To the south, there is a zone of uplands and lowlands, elongated in the meridional direction. Among the hills, one can note the Azov, Central Russian, Volga. Here they also alternate with plains: Meshcherskaya, Oka-Donskaya, Ulyanovsk and others.

Further south are the coastal lowlands, which in ancient times were partially submerged under sea level. The plain relief here was partially corrected by water erosion and other processes, as a result of which the Black Sea and Caspian lowlands were formed.

As a result of the passage of the glacier through the territory of the East European Plain, valleys formed, tectonic depressions expanded, and even some rocks were polished. Another example of glacier impact is winding deep peninsulas. With the retreat of the glacier, not only lakes were formed, but concave sandy lowlands also arose. This happened as a result of the deposition of a large amount of sandy material. Thus, over the course of many millennia, the many-sided relief of the East European Plain was formed.

Russian plain

On the East European Plain, there are practically all types of natural zones available on the territory of Russia. Off the coast in

The East European Platform is located on the Russian or East European Plain, the foundation of which extends to the northern borders. In the east, the platform reaches the western slope of the Ural Mountains, and in the south and southwest it is limited by the mountains of the Caucasus, Crimea, and the Carpathian mountains of the Alpine orogeny. The main geostructures of the platform are syneclises– deep foundation areas, anteclises- areas of shallow foundation, aulacogens- deep tectonic ditches.

Separate parts of the platform sank in the Lower Paleozoic, as a result of which the Baltic and Ukrainian shields, the Voronezh ledge, and the Oka-Volga anteclise became isolated. The Baltic and Moscow syneclises separated the platform uplifts. Also major elements of the platform are the Saratov-Ryazan syneclise and the Kama-Pechora syneclise. The East European Platform has a Precambrian crystalline basement, and in the south, the northern edge of the Scythian Plate has a Paleozoic folded basement. On the Precambrian basement of the platform there are strata of Precambrian and Phanerozoic sedimentary rocks with slightly disturbed occurrence.

One of the most ancient and complex internal structures of the East European Platform is Moscow syneclise, Central Russian and Moscow aulacogenes, which are filled with Riphean strata. In the Quaternary period, uneven uplifts occurred here, which was indicated in the relief by large hills.

Pechora syneclise passes in the northeast of the platform between the Timan Ridge and the Urals. Its block foundation in the east descends to a depth of $5$-$6$ thousand m. The Syneclise is filled with thick strata of Paleozoic rocks overlain by Meso-Cenozoic deposits.

In the center of the platform there are large anteclises - Voronezh and Volga-Ural. They are separated by the Pachelma aulacogen. To the north, the Voronezh anteclise gently descends into the Moscow syneclise. Deposits of low thickness, represented by Ordovician, Devonian and Carboniferous rocks, cover its basement, and on the steep southern slope of the Carboniferous, Cretaceous and Paleogene rocks. Large uplifts and depressions (arches and aulacogenes) form the Volga-Ural anteclise. The sedimentary cover of the domes has a thickness of at least $800$ m.

Caspian regional syneclise. The crystalline basement of this vast area has a deep subsidence reaching up to $20$ km. The syneclise belongs to the ancient structures and is bounded on all sides by flexures and faults. Its outlines are angular. The Ergeninsky and Volgograd flexures frame it from the west, and in the north - the flexures of the General Syrt. Further subsidence to $ 500 m occurred in the Neogene-Quaternary, accompanied by the accumulation of a thick layer of marine and continental sediments.

On the south part of the East European Plain lies on the Scythian epihercynian plate.

Relief of the East European Plain

The Russian Plain, located on the East European Platform, is formed by highlands, the height of which is $200$-$300$ m above sea level. Its average height is $170$ m, and the maximum height is $479$ m, located in the Ural part on the Bugulma-Belebeevskaya Upland. If we talk about the features of the orographic pattern, then within the plains one can distinguish the central, northern, and southern parts.

central part It is represented by a strip of alternating large uplands and lowlands - the Central Russian, Volga, Bugulma-Belebeevskaya uplands and General Syrt. They are separated by the Oka-Don lowland and the Low Trans-Volga region. Here, in southbound Volga and Don flow.

AT northern part the relief is represented by low plains with scattered small hills. Replacing each other, the Smolensk-Moscow, Valdai Uplands and Northern Ridges stretched in the northeast direction. These are peculiar watersheds between two oceans and an internal drainless basin. Towards the White and Barents Seas from the Northern Uvals, the territory of the plain decreases, as evidenced by the Onega, Northern Dvina, and Pechora rivers flowing to the north.

southern part plains is occupied by lowlands, but within Russian territory can only be called the Caspian lowland.

Remark 1

The relief of the East European Plain is typical platform, predetermined by its tectonic features, i.e. heterogeneity of the structure, as evidenced by the presence of deep faults, ring structures, aulacogenes, anteclises, syneclises and unequal manifestations of the latest tectonic movements.

The large uplands and lowlands of the East European Plain are of tectonic origin. They were formed as single territories in morphostructural, orographic and genetic terms. Glaciers - Okskoe, Dneprovskoe, Valdaiskoe - had a significant impact on the formation of the relief of the plain. Glaciers participated in the creation of moraine and outwash plains. The moraine relief, washed out by the waters of the Dnieper glacier, has not survived to our time.

Minerals of the East European Plain

The geological history of the ancient platform has influenced the formation of minerals.

Open on the plain largest deposit iron ores– Kursk magnetic anomaly (KMA). The reserves of the deposit are estimated at $31.9 billion tons, which is $57.3% of the country's total ore reserves. The ore occurs mainly on the territory of the Kursk and Belgorod regions. KMA iron ores contain $41.5%, which is higher than the average for Russia. Ore is mined at the Mikhailovsky, Lebedinsky, Stoilensky, Gubkinsky deposits. Small ore reserves are noted in the Tula and Oryol regions. Close proximity to the surface of the earth allows for mining open way, which has a huge impact on the nature of the black earth zone of the Russian Plain, namely, leads to the destruction of tens of thousands of hectares of black earth soil.

Reserves explored within the Belgorod region bauxite- Vislovskoye deposit. The content of alumina is estimated at $20$-$70$%.

Chemical raw materials on the Russian Plain it is represented by phosphorites in the Moscow region, potash, rock salts of the Verkhnekamsk basin and the Iletsk deposit of the Orenburg region. Salts of lakes Elton and Baskunchak are also known.

Stocks building materials, represented by chalk, marl, cement, fine-grained sands, are common in the Belgorod, Bryansk, Moscow, Tula regions. High-quality cement marls are known in the Saratov region. Glass sands in the Ulyanovsk region, in the Orenburg region - an asbestos deposit. Quartz sands of the Bryansk and Vladimir regions are used for the production of artificial quartz, glass, and crystal glassware. For the work of the porcelain-faience industry, kaolin clays from the Tver and Moscow regions are used.

On the territory of the East European Plain there are deposits hard and brown coals. Their extraction is carried out in the Pechora, Donetsk, Moscow region basins. Brown coals of the Moscow region are used as chemical raw materials and as technological fuel for the ferrous metallurgy of the region.

Within the Volga-Ural and Timan-Pechora oil and gas regions, oil and natural gas. There are also gas condensate fields in the Astrakhan and Orenburg regions.

oil shale known in the Leningrad, in the Pskov region, in the Middle Volga region and in the north of the Caspian lowland.

Significant reserves peat, which is essential in the fuel balance of some regions of the plain. Only within the Central federal district its reserves amount to $5 billion tons. There are deposits of peat in the Kirov and Nizhny Novgorod regions and in the Republic of Mari El.

Deposits discovered in the Arkhangelsk region diamonds.

Remark 2

Compared with other physical and geographical countries of Russia, the East European Plain has long been inhabited and has a high population density, the greatest development, which means that it has undergone significant anthropogenic changes.

Relief of the East European (Russian) Plain

The East European Plain has the highest rural population density, large cities and many small towns and urban-type settlements, and a variety of natural resources. The plain has long been mastered by man.

Relief and geological structure

The East European Uplifted Plain consists of uplands with heights of 200-300 m above sea level and lowlands along which large rivers flow. The average height of the plain is 170 m, and the highest - 479 m - on the Bugulma-Belebeevskaya Upland in the Ural part. The maximum mark of the Timan Ridge is somewhat less (471 m).

According to the features of the orographic pattern within the East European Plain, three bands are clearly distinguished: central, northern and southern. A strip of alternating large uplands and lowlands passes through the central part of the plain: the Central Russian, Volga, Bugulma-Belebeevskaya uplands and the Common Syrt are separated by the Oka-Don lowland and the Low Trans-Volga region, along which the Don and Volga rivers flow, carrying their waters to the south.

To the north of this strip, low plains predominate, on the surface of which smaller hills are scattered here and there in garlands and singly. From the west to the east-northeast, the Smolensk-Moscow, Valdai uplands and Northern Uvaly stretch, replacing each other. The watersheds between the Arctic, Atlantic and internal (endorheic Aral-Caspian) basins mainly pass through them. From Severnye Uvaly the territory goes down to the White and Barents Seas. This part of the Russian Plain A.A. Borzov called the northern slope. Large rivers flow along it - Onega, Northern Dvina, Pechora with numerous high-water tributaries.

The southern part of the East European Plain is occupied by lowlands, of which only the Caspian is located on the territory of Russia.

Figure 1 - Geological profiles across the Russian Plain

Almost all large uplands and lowlands are plains of tectonic origin, while a significant part is inherited from the structure of the crystalline basement. In the process of a long and complex path of development, they were formed as unified in the morphostructural, orographic and genetic terms of the territory.

At the base of the East European Plain lie the Russian plate with a Precambrian crystalline basement and in the south the northern edge of the Scythian plate with a Paleozoic folded basement. The boundary between the plates in the relief is not expressed. On the uneven surface of the Precambrian basement of the Russian Plate, there are strata of Precambrian (Vendian, in some places Riphean) and Phanerozoic sedimentary rocks with slightly disturbed occurrence. Their thickness is not the same and is due to the unevenness of the basement topography (Fig. 1), which determines the main geostructures of the plate. These include syneclises - areas of deep basement (Moscow, Pechora, Caspian, Glazov), anteclises - areas of shallow basement (Voronezh, Volga-Ural), aulacogens - deep tectonic ditches, on the site of which syneclises subsequently arose (Kresttsovsky, Soligalichsky, Moskovsky and others), ledges of the Baikal basement - Timan.

The Moscow syneclise is one of the oldest and most complex internal structures of the Russian plate with a deep crystalline basement. It is based on the Central Russian and Moscow aulacogenes, filled with thick Riphean sequences, above which the sedimentary cover of the Vendian and Phanerozoic (from Cambrian to Cretaceous) occurs. In the Neogene-Quaternary time, it experienced uneven uplifts and is expressed in the relief by rather large uplands - Valdai, Smolensk-Moscow and lowlands - Upper Volga, North Dvinskaya.

The Pechora syneclise is located wedge-shaped in the northeast of the Russian Plate, between the Timan Ridge and the Urals. Its uneven block foundation is lowered to various depths - up to 5000-6000 m in the east. The syneclise is filled with a thick layer of Paleozoic rocks overlain by Meso-Cenozoic deposits. In its northeastern part is the Usinsky (Bolshezemelsky) vault.

In the center of the Russian Plate there are two large anteclises - Voronezh and Volga-Urals, separated by the Pachelma aulacogen. The Voronezh anteclise slopes gently to the north into the Moscow syneclise. The surface of its basement is covered with thin deposits of the Ordovician, Devonian and Carboniferous. Rocks of the Carboniferous, Cretaceous and Paleogene occur on the southern steep slope. The Volga-Ural anteclise consists of large uplifts (arches) and depressions (aulacogens), on the slopes of which flexures are located. The thickness of the sedimentary cover here is at least 800 m within the highest arches (Tokmovsky).

The Caspian marginal syneclise is a vast area of deep (up to 18-20 km) subsidence of the crystalline basement and belongs to the structures of ancient origin, almost on all sides of the syneclise is limited by flexures and faults and has an angular outline. From the west it is framed by the Ergeninskaya and Volgograd flexures, from the north by the flexures of the General Syrt. In places they are complicated by young faults. In the Neogene-Quaternary, further subsidence (up to 500 m) and accumulation of a thick layer of marine and continental deposits took place. These processes are combined with fluctuations in the level of the Caspian Sea.

The southern part of the East European Plain is located on the Scythian epi-Hercynian plate, lying between the southern edge of the Russian plate and the Alpine folded structures of the Caucasus.

The tectonic movements of the Urals and the Caucasus led to some disturbance of the sedimentary deposits of the plates. This is expressed in the form of dome-shaped uplifts, significant along the shafts (Oksko-Tsniksky, Zhigulevsky, Vyatsky, etc.), individual flexural bends of layers, salt domes, which are clearly visible in the modern relief. Ancient and young deep faults, as well as ring structures, determined the block structure of the plates, the direction of river valleys, and the activity of neotectonic movements. The predominant direction of the faults is northwestern.

The development of the morphostructure of the north-west of the plain is associated with the movements of the marginal part of the Baltic Shield and the Moscow syneclise, therefore, monoclinal (sloping) layered plains are developed here, expressed in orography in the form of uplands (Valdai, Smolensk-Moscow, Belorusskaya, Northern Uvaly, etc.), and layered plains occupying a lower position (Upper Volga, Meshcherskaya). The central part of the Russian Plain was affected by intense uplifts of the Voronezh and Volga-Ural anteclises, as well as subsidence of neighboring aulacogenes and troughs. These processes contributed to the formation of layer-tier, stepped uplands (Central Russian and Volga) and the layered Oka-Don plain. The eastern part developed in connection with the movements of the Urals and the edge of the Russian Plate, therefore, a mosaic of morphostructures is observed here. In the north and south, accumulative lowlands of the marginal syneclises of the plate (Pechora and Caspian) are developed. Interspersed between them are layered-stage uplands (Bugulma-Belebeevskaya, General Syrt), monoclinal-stratified uplands (Verkhnekamskaya) and the intra-platform folded Timan Ridge.

In the Quaternary, the cooling of the climate in the northern hemisphere contributed to the spread of ice sheets. Glaciers had a significant impact on the formation of the relief, Quaternary deposits, permafrost, as well as on the change in natural zones - their position, floristic composition, fauna and migration of plants and animals within the East European Plain.

Three glaciations are distinguished on the East European Plain: the Okskoe, the Dnieper with the Moscow stage, and the Valdai. Glaciers and fluvioglacial waters created two types of plains - moraine and outwash. In a wide periglacial (preglacial) zone, permafrost processes dominated for a long time. The relief was especially intensively affected by snowfields during the period of reduction of glaciation.

The moraine of the most ancient glaciation, the Oka, was studied on the Oka, 80 km south of Kaluga. The lower, strongly washed Oka moraine with Karelian crystalline boulders is separated from the overlying Dnieper moraine by typical interglacial deposits. In a number of other sections to the north of this section, under the Dnieper moraine, the Oka moraine was also found.

Obviously, the moraine relief that arose during the Oka Ice Age has not survived to our time, since it was first washed away by the waters of the Dnieper (Middle Pleistocene) glacier, and then it was blocked by its bottom moraine.

The southern boundary of the maximum distribution of the Dnieper ice sheet crossed the Central Russian Upland in the Tula region, then descended along the Don valley to the mouth of the Khopra and Medveditsa, crossed the Volga Upland, then the Volga near the mouth of the Sura River, then went to the upper reaches of the Vyatka and Kama and crossed the Urals in area 60° N In the basin of the Upper Volga (in Chukhloma and Galich), as well as in the basin of the Upper Dnieper, the upper moraine lies above the Dnieper moraine, which is attributed to the Moscow stage of the Dnieper glaciation *.

Before the last Valdai glaciation in the interglacial period, the vegetation middle lane The East European Plain had a more thermophilic composition than the modern one. This indicates the complete disappearance of its glaciers in the north. In the interglacial epoch, peat bogs with brazenia flora were deposited in lake basins that arose in the depressions of the moraine relief.

In the north of the East European Plain, a boreal ingression arose in this era, the level of which was 70–80 m higher than the present-day sea level. The sea penetrated along the valleys of the rivers of the Northern Dvina, Mezen, Pechora, creating wide branching bays. Then came the Valdai glaciation. The edge of the Valdai ice sheet was located 60 km north of Minsk and went to the northeast, reaching Nyandoma.

Changes occurred in the climate of the more southern regions due to glaciation. At that time, in the more southern regions of the East European Plain, the remnants of seasonal snow cover and snowfields contributed to the intensive development of nivation, solifluction, and the formation of asymmetric slopes near erosional landforms (ravines, gullies, etc.).

Thus, if ices existed within the limits of the Valdai glaciation, then in the periglacial zone, a nival relief and deposits (non-rock loams) were formed. The extra-glacial, southern parts of the plain are covered with thick strata of loess and loess-like loams, synchronous with ice ages. At that time, in connection with the humidification of the climate, which caused glaciation, and also, possibly, with neotectonic movements, marine transgressions occurred in the basin of the Caspian Sea.

Natural processes of the Neogene-Quaternary time and modern climatic conditions on the territory of the East European Plain, they caused various types of morphosculptures, which are zonal in their distribution: on the coast of the seas of the Arctic Ocean, marine and moraine plains with cryogenic landforms are common. To the south lie the moraine plains, at various stages transformed by erosion and periglacial processes. Along the southern periphery of the Moscow glaciation, there is a strip of outwash plains interrupted by remnant elevated plains covered with loess-like loams, dissected by ravines and gullies. To the south there is a strip of fluvial ancient and modern landforms on uplands and lowlands. On the coast of the Azov and Caspian Seas there are Neogene-Quaternary plains with erosional, depression-subsidence and eolian relief.

The long geological history of the largest geostructure - the ancient platform - predetermined the accumulation of various minerals on the East European Plain. The richest iron ore deposits (Kursk magnetic anomaly) are concentrated in the foundation of the platform. The sedimentary cover of the platform is associated with deposits of coal (the eastern part of the Donbass, the Moscow basin), oil and gas deposits in the Paleozoic and Mesozoic deposits (the Ural-Volga basin), oil shale (near Syzran). Building materials (songs, gravel, clays, limestones) are widespread. Brown ironstones (near Lipetsk), bauxites (near Tikhvin), phosphorites (in a number of regions), and salts (near the Caspian Sea) are also associated with the sedimentary cover.

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