Where is the territory of the West Siberian Plain located. Height parameters of the West Siberian Plain

west siberian plain c, west siberian plain

West Siberian Plain on the map of Western Siberia (mountainous regions are separated by a dotted line)
62° N sh. 76° E  / 62° N sh. 76° E d. / 62; 76 (G) (O) (I) Coordinates: 62° N sh. 76° E  / 62° N sh. 76° E d. / 62; 76 (G) (O) (I)
Countries	Russia, Russia Kazakhstan Kazakhstan
Length from north to south	2500 km
Length from west to east	1900 km
Square	2.6 million km²
Rivers	Ob, Irtysh, Yenisei

West Siberian Plain- a plain in northern Asia, occupies the entire western part of Siberia from Ural mountains in the west to the Central Siberian Plateau in the east. In the north it is bounded by the coast of the Kara Sea, in the south it extends to the Kazakh hills, in the southeast the West Siberian Plain, gradually rising, is replaced by the foothills of Altai, Salair, Kuznetsk Alatau and Mountain Shoria. The plain has the shape of a trapezoid narrowing to the north: the distance from its southern border to the northern reaches almost 2500 km, the width is from 800 to 1900 km, and the area is only slightly less than 3 million km².

The West Siberian Plain is the most inhabited and developed (especially in the south) part of Siberia. within its borders are the Tyumen, Kurgan, Omsk, Novosibirsk and Tomsk regions, the eastern regions of the Sverdlovsk and Chelyabinsk regions, a significant part of the Altai Territory, the western regions Krasnoyarsk Territory(about 1/7 of the area of ​​Russia), as well as the northern and northeastern regions of Kazakhstan.

• 1 Relief and geological structure
• 2 Climate
• 3 Hydrography
• 4 Natural areas
• 5 Gallery
• 6 See also
• 7 Notes
• 8 Links

Relief and geological structure

Southern border of Western Siberia: view of the plain from the spurs of the Altai Mountains (mountain Tserkovka in Belokurikha)

The surface of the West Siberian Lowland is flat with a rather insignificant elevation difference. However, the relief of the plain is quite diverse. The lowest parts of the plain (50-100 m) are located mainly in the central (Kondinskaya and Sredneobskaya lowlands) and northern (Nizhneobskaya, Nadymskaya and Purskaya lowlands) parts of it. Low (up to 200-250 m) elevations stretch along the western, southern and eastern outskirts: the North Sosvinskaya and Turinskaya, Ishimskaya plains, the Ob and Chulym-Yenisei plateaus, the Ketsko-Tymskaya, Upper Taz and Lower Yenisei uplands. A distinctly pronounced strip of uplands is formed in the inner part of the plain by the Siberian Uvaly (average height - 140-150 m), extending from the west from the Ob to the east to the Yenisei, and the Vasyugan Plain parallel to them.

The relief of the plain is largely due to its geological structure. The epihercynian West Siberian Plate lies at the base of the West Siberian Plain, the foundation of which is composed of intensely dislocated Paleozoic deposits. The formation of the West Siberian Plate began in the Upper Jurassic, when, as a result of breaking, destruction and regeneration, the vast territory between the Urals and the Siberian platform sank, and a huge sedimentary basin arose. In the course of its development, the West Siberian Plate was more than once captured by marine transgressions. At the end of the Lower Oligocene, the sea left the West Siberian plate, and it turned into a huge lacustrine-alluvial plain. In the middle and late Oligocene and Neogene, the northern part of the plate experienced uplift, which was replaced by subsidence in the Quaternary. The general course of the development of the plate with the subsidence of colossal spaces resembles the process of oceanization that has not reached its end. This feature of the plate is emphasized by the phenomenal development of waterlogging.

The basement of the West Siberian plate is covered with a cover of loose marine and continental Mesozoic-Cenozoic rocks (clays, sandstones, marls, etc.) with a total thickness of more than 1000 m (in the basement depressions up to 3000-4000 m). The youngest, Anthropogenic, deposits in the south are alluvial and lacustrine, often covered with loess and loess-like loams; in the north - glacial, marine and glacial-marine (up to 200 m thick in places). In the northern part of the West Siberian plate (the most submerged) are the Nadym-Tazov and Yamalo-Gydan syneclises, separated by a narrow sublatitudinal Messoyakha megaswell. In the central part of the West Siberian Plate there are several anteclises, syneclises, and narrow deep trenches elongated in the longitudinal direction: the Khanty-Mansi syneclise, the Khantei anteclise (with the Surgut and Nizhnevartovsk arches), the Pursky trench (above southern part Koltogorsk-Urengoy rift), Ket-Vakh anteclise and Khudosey trench with Chulym syneclise. To the south of the Ket-Vakh and Khantei anteclises are the sublatitudinally elongated Middle Irtysh and Kulunda syneclises.

Separate geological structures, despite the thick layer of sediments, are reflected in the relief of the plain: for example, the Verkhnetazovskaya and Lyulimvor uplands correspond to gentle anticlinal uplifts, and the Baraba and Kondinsky lowlands are confined to syneclises of the basement of the plate. However, discordant (inversion) morphostructures are also not uncommon in Western Siberia. These include, for example, the Vasyugan Plain, which formed on the site of a gently sloping syneclise, and the Chulym-Yenisei Plateau, located in the basement trough zone.

The cuff of loose deposits contains horizons groundwater- fresh and mineralized (including brine), there are also hot (up to 100-150 ° C) waters. There is industrial deposits oil and natural gas(West Siberian oil and gas basin). the Khanty-Mansiysk syneclise, Krasnoselsky, Salymsky and Surgutsky regions, in the layers of the Bazhenov formation at a depth of 2 km there are the largest reserves of shale oil in Russia.

Climate

The north of the West Siberian Plain - the Yamal, Tazovsky and Gydan Peninsulas. The West Siberian Plain. Spill of the rivers Taz and Ob. July, 2002

The West Siberian Plain is characterized by a harsh, fairly continental climate. Its large extent from north to south causes a distinct climate zoning and significant differences climatic conditions northern and southern parts of Western Siberia. The proximity of the Arctic Ocean also has a significant effect on the continental climate of Western Siberia. The flat relief contributes to the exchange of air masses between its northern and southern regions.

AT cold period within the plain, there is an interaction of the region with a relatively high atmospheric pressure, located above the southern part of the plain, and the area reduced pressure, which in the first half of winter stretches in the form of a hollow of the Icelandic baric minimum over the Kara Sea and the northern peninsulas. Continental air masses dominate in winter temperate latitudes that come from Eastern Siberia or are formed on the spot as a result of air cooling over the territory of the plain.

Cyclones often pass in the border zone of areas of high and low pressure. Therefore, the weather in the coastal provinces is very unstable in winter; on the coast of Yamal and the Gydan Peninsula occur strong winds, the speed of which reaches 35-40 m / s. The temperature here is even somewhat higher than in the neighboring forest-tundra provinces located between 66 and 69°N. sh. Further south, however, winter temperatures gradually rise again. In general, winter is characterized by stable low temperatures, few thaws. The minimum temperatures throughout Western Siberia are almost the same. Even near the southern border of the country, in Barnaul, there are frosts down to -50 -52 °. Spring is short, dry and comparatively cold; April, even in the forest-marsh zone, is not yet quite a spring month.

AT warm time year, a lower pressure is established over Western Siberia, and an area of ​​more high pressure. Due to this summer, weak northerly or northeasterly winds predominate, and the role of western air transport is noticeably enhanced. In May there is a rapid increase in temperatures, but often, with the intrusions of arctic air masses, there are returns of cold weather and frosts. The warmest month is July, the average temperature of which is from 3.6° on Bely Island to 21-22° in the Pavlodar region. The absolute maximum temperature is from 21° in the north (Bely Island) to 44° in the extreme southern regions (Rubtsovsk). High summer temperatures in the southern half of Western Siberia are explained by the inflow of heated continental air here from the south - from Kazakhstan and Central Asia. Autumn comes late.

Most of the precipitation falls in the summer and is brought by air masses coming from the west, from the Atlantic. the period from May to October Western Siberia receives up to 70-80% of the annual precipitation. There are especially many of them in July and August, which is explained by intensive activity on the Arctic and polar fronts. The amount of winter precipitation is relatively low and ranges from 5 to 20-30 mm/month. In the south, some winter months snow sometimes does not fall at all. Significant fluctuations in the amount of precipitation in different years are characteristic. Yes, in the forest steppe zone, where, with an average long-term precipitation of about 300-350 mm / year, in wet years it falls up to 550-600 mm / year, and in dry years - only 170-180 mm / year. The extreme southern regions of Western Siberia are characterized by droughts, which occur mainly in May and June.

Duration of occurrence snow cover in the northern regions reaches 240-270 days, and in the south - 160-170 days. The thickness of the snow cover in the tundra and steppe zones in February is 20-40 cm, in the swampy zone - from 50-60 cm in the west to 70-100 cm in the eastern Yenisei regions.

The harsh climate of the northern regions of Western Siberia contributes to the freezing of soils and the widespread permafrost. On the Yamal, Tazovsky and Gydansky peninsulas, permafrost is found everywhere. In these areas of its continuous (confluent) distribution, the thickness of the frozen layer is very significant (up to 300-600 m), and its temperatures are low (in watershed spaces - 4, -9 °, in valleys -2, -8 °). Further south, within the northern taiga up to a latitude of approximately 64°, permafrost occurs already in the form of isolated islands interspersed with taliks. Its thickness decreases, temperatures rise to 0.5 -1°, and the depth of summer thawing also increases, especially in areas composed of mineral rocks.

Hydrography

The Ob River near Barnaul The Vasyugan River in its upper course

The territory of the plain is located within the large West Siberian artesian basin, in which hydrogeologists distinguish several basins of the second order: Tobolsk, Irtysh, Kulunda-Barnaul, Chulym, Ob and others. sandstones) and water-resistant rocks, artesian basins are characterized by a significant number of aquifers associated with suites of various ages - Jurassic, Cretaceous, Paleogene and Quaternary. The groundwater quality of these horizons is very different. In most cases, artesian waters of deep horizons are more mineralized than those lying closer to the surface.

More than 2000 rivers flow on the territory of the West Siberian Plain, the total length of which exceeds 250 thousand km. These rivers carry about 1200 km³ of water into the Kara Sea annually - 5 times more than the Volga. The density of the river network is not very large and varies in different places depending on the relief and climatic features: in the Tavda basin it reaches 350 km, and in the Baraba forest-steppe - only 29 km per 1000 km². Some southern regions of the country with a total area of ​​more than 445 thousand km² belong to the territories of closed flow and are distinguished by an abundance of endorheic lakes.

The main sources of food for most rivers are melted snow water and summer-autumn rains. In accordance with the nature of food sources, the runoff is seasonally uneven: approximately 70-80% of its annual amount occurs in spring and summer. Especially a lot of water flows down during the spring flood, when the level of large rivers rises by 7-12 m (in the lower reaches of the Yenisei even up to 15-18 m). for a long time (in the south - five, and in the north - eight months), the West Siberian rivers are ice-bound. Therefore, the winter months account for no more than 10% of the annual runoff.

The rivers of Western Siberia, including the largest ones - the Ob, Irtysh and Yenisei, are characterized by slight slopes and low flow rates. So, for example, the fall of the Ob channel in the section from Novosibirsk to the mouth over 3000 km is only 90 m, and the speed of its flow does not exceed 0.5 m/sec.

There are about one million lakes on the West Siberian Plain, the total area of ​​which is more than 100 thousand km². According to the origin of the basins, they are divided into several groups: occupying the primary irregularities of the flat relief; thermokarst; moraine-glacial; lakes of river valleys, which in turn are divided into floodplain and oxbow lakes. Peculiar lakes - "fogs" - are found in the Ural part of the plain. They are located in wide valleys, flood in the spring, sharply reducing their size in the summer, and by autumn, many disappear altogether. the southern regions of the lake are often filled with salt water. The West Siberian Lowland holds the world record for the number of swamps per unit area (the area of ​​the wetland is about 800 thousand square kilometers). The reasons for this phenomenon are the following factors: excessive moisture, flat relief, permafrost and the ability of peat, which is available here in large quantities, to hold a significant amount of water.

natural areas

Yamal tundra

The large length from north to south contributes to a pronounced latitudinal zonality in the distribution of soils and vegetation cover. within the country there are gradually replacing one another tundra, forest-tundra, forest-bog, forest-steppe and steppe zones. In all zones, rather large areas are occupied by lakes and swamps. Typical zonal landscapes are located on dissected and better drained upland and riverine areas. In poorly drained interfluve spaces, the runoff from which is difficult, and the soils are usually highly moistened, marsh landscapes prevail in the northern provinces, and landscapes formed under the influence of saline groundwater in the south.

A large area is occupied by the tundra zone, which is explained by the northern position of the West Siberian Plain. To the south is the forest-tundra zone. The forest-bog zone occupies about 60% of the territory of the West Siberian Plain. Broad-leaved and coniferous-broad-leaved forests are absent here. Behind the strip coniferous forests followed by a narrow zone of small-leaved (mainly birch) forests. An increase in the continentality of the climate causes a relatively sharp transition, compared to the East European Plain, from forest-bog landscapes to dry steppe spaces in the southern regions of the West Siberian Plain. Therefore, the width of the forest-steppe zone in Western Siberia is much less than on the East European Plain, and among the tree species it contains mainly birch and aspen. the extreme southern part of the West Siberian lowland is the steppe zone, which is mostly plowed up. the flat landscape of the southern regions of Western Siberia is varied by manes - sandy ridges 3-10 meters high (sometimes up to 30 meters), covered with pine forests.

Gallery

Windmills on the Siberian Plain
(S. M. Prokudin-Gorsky, 1912)

Village in Tomsk Oblast

Landscape of the West Siberian Plain

Floodplain Tom

Mariinsky forest-steppes

see also

• West Siberian subtaiga

Notes

1. 1 2 3 Western Siberia: a brief physical and geographical overview
2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
3. Russia. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved June 24, 2013. Archived from the original on August 22, 2011.
4. 1 2 3 4 Western Siberia
5. 1 2
6. Milanovsky E.E. Geology of Russia and neighboring countries ( Northern Eurasia) - M.: Publishing House of Moscow State University, 1996. - 448 p. ISBN 6-211-03387-6
7. About the Bazhenov formation "Expert" No. 12 (746)
8. 1 2 West Siberian Plain: general characteristics
9. 1 2 Western Siberia

Links

• West Siberian Plain - article from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia
• The West Siberian Plain in the book: N. A. Gvozdetsky, N. I. Mikhailov. Physical geography of the USSR. M., 1978.
• Kröner, A. (2015) The Central Asian Orogenic Belt.

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West Siberian Plain

AT Russian Federation one of the largest plains located on the surface is located the globe. In the north, it is bordered by the Kara Sea. In the south, it rubs off to the space of the Kazakh small sandpiper. The eastern part is the Central Siberian Plateau. The frontier in the west is ancient. The total area of ​​this flat space is almost 3 million kilometers.

In contact with

relief features

The territory where the West Siberian Plain is located was formed long ago and successfully survived all tectonic upheavals.

It is severely limited by officially recognized coordinates of extreme points:

• Cape Dezhnev, 169°42′ W, becomes the extreme eastern point on the mainland part of the space. d.;
• in the north, Cape Chelyuskin (Russia) becomes such a point, 77 ° 43′ N. sh.;
• coordinates 60° 00′ s. sh. 100° 00′ E d.

uplands

The height above sea level of the space under consideration is characterized by minimal differences.

It has the shape of a shallow dish. Elevation differences vary from 50 (minimum) to more than 100 meters in low areas, prevailing heights up to 200-250 meters located on the southern, western and eastern outskirts. On the northern outskirts, the elevation of the landscape is about 100-150 meters.

This is due to the location of the plain on the space of the epi-Hercynian plate, the basis of which is the foundation created by the imposition of Paleozoic deposits. This plate began to form in the Upper Jurassic, the so-called Upper Jurassic.

During the formation of the surface layer of the planet, the flat terrain, having sank, turned into a lowland and became a sedimentation basin. The site is located on the site located between the Urals and the Siberian platform.

Averages

This space belongs to the number of large low-lying areas on the planet, to the type of accumulative plains, has an average height of 200 meters. Low-lying areas are located in the central part of the area, on northern sections, on the borders of the Kara Sea. Almost half space is located at an altitude of less than 100 meters above sea level. This ancient part of the earth's space also has its own "heights", smoothed over billions of years since its creation. For example, the North Sosvinskaya Upland (290 meters). The Upper Taz Upland rises to 285 meters.

low-lying places

The surface has a concave shape with minimal heights in the central part. Average minimum height is 100 meters. The reading is carried out according to tradition from sea level.

Fully justifies the name "plain". Elevation differences in a colossal space are minimal.

This feature also forms the continental climate. Frosts in some areas can drop to -50 degrees Celsius. Such indicators are noted, for example, in Barnaul.

By absolute indicators this area also does not differ in large numbers. Altitude here is only 290 meters. The parameters were fixed on the North Sosvenskaya Upland. In most of the plain, the figure is 100-150 meters.

This geographical feature occupies 1/7 of the Russian Federation. The plain stretches from the Kara Sea in the north to the Kazakh steppes in the south. In the west, it is limited by the Ural Mountains. The size is almost 3 million kilometers.

Characteristic

The general characteristic is based on the process of formation of the plain during the most ancient stages of the development of the planet and the long-term leveling of the surface during the passage of glacial masses. This explains the uniformity of the smoothed relief. Due to this, the space is strictly zoned. The north is distinguished by tundra, and south - steppe landscapes. The soil is minimally drained. Most of it is occupied by swampy forests and swamps directly. Such hydromorphic complexes occupy a large area, about 128 million hectares. The south of the plain is characterized by a large number of such spaces as various types of solods, solonetzes and large solonchaks.

Note! The climate of the plain, due to its large area, ranges from temperate continental in the Russian Plain to sharply continental. This indicator is different in Central Siberia.

For a long time people lived on the West Siberian Plain. Novgorodians came here already in the 11th century. Then they reached the lower reaches of the Ob. Opening period for Russian state associated with the legendary Yermak's campaigns from 1581 to 1584. It was at this time that many discoveries of lands were made in Siberia. The study of nature was carried out and described in the 18th century during the Great Northern and academic expeditions. Development in these places continued in the following decades. It was related:

• with the resettlement of the peasantry from Central Russia in the 19th century;
• planning the construction of the Siberian railway

Detailed soil and geographic Maps this land. The active development of the territories continued in the years after the change state power in 1917 and beyond.

As a result, today it has become inhabited and mastered by man. Here are located such large regions of Russia as Pavlodar, Kustanai, Kokchetav regions, Altai region, western regions of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, eastern territories Sverdlovsk and Chelyabinsk regions.

About 150 years ago, the role of Siberia finally took shape as a kind of bridge between the European part of Russia and its eastern part. In our time, the role of this territory as an economic bridge, especially with the construction of the Baikal-Amur Mainline, has finally taken shape, using all types of transport for development.

Note! The active development of the territories is largely associated with large volumes of deposits: natural gas, oil, brown coal, iron ore and many others.

The successful development of the territory was facilitated by a large number of large, which are for the most part navigable, especially such giants as Ob, Irtysh, Yenisei. Rivers are comfortable these days highways, are used to generate energy to provide high level quality of life of the population of the regions.

Age indicator

The basis of a smooth and even flat surface to the east of the Ural Mountains is a plate formed during the Paleozoic period. According to the parameters of the formation of the planet's surface, this plate is quite young. Over millions of years of formation, the surface of the plate was covered with Mesozoic and Cenozoic deposits.

According to their characteristics, they belong to the type of sea and sand- clay deposits. The layer thickness is up to 1000 meters. In the southern part, deposits in the form of loess reach a thickness of 200 meters and were formed due to the presence of lacustrine deposits in these areas.

WEST SIBERIAN PLAIN (West Siberian Lowland), one of the largest plains in the world. It is located in the northern part of Asia, in Russia and Kazakhstan. The area is over 3 million km2, including 2.6 million km2 in Russia. The length from west to east is from 900 km (in the north) to 2000 (in the south), from north to south up to 2500 km. In the north it is washed by the Arctic Ocean; in the west it borders on the Urals, in the south - on the Turgai plateau and the Kazakh hills, in the southeast - on the mountains of Southern Siberia, in the east - along the valley of the Yenisei River with the Central Siberian plateau.

Relief. It is a low accumulative plain with a rather uniform relief, various forms of permafrost (spread up to 59° northern latitude), increased bogging and ancient and modern salt accumulation developed in the south in loose rocks and soils. Heights of about 150 m predominate. In the north, in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bdistribution of marine accumulative and moraine plains, the general flatness of the territory is disturbed by moraine gently sloping and hilly-sloping (North-Sosvinskaya, Lyulimvor, Verkhne-, Srednetazovskaya, etc.) hills 200-300 m high, the southern border of which runs about 61-62 ° north latitude; they are horseshoe-shaped from the south covered by flat-topped elevations Belogorsky Continent, Sibirskie Uvaly, etc. In the northern part, permafrost exogenous processes (thermal erosion, heaving of soils, solifluction) are widespread, deflation occurs on sandy surfaces, and peat accumulation occurs in swamps. There are numerous ravines on the plains of the Yamal and Gydansky peninsulas and on the moraine uplands. To the south, the area of ​​moraine relief is adjoined by flat lacustrine-alluvial lowlands, the lowest (height 40-80 m) and swampy of which are Kondinskaya and Sredneobskaya. The area not covered by the Quaternary glaciation (south of the line Ivdel - Ishim - Novosibirsk - Tomsk - Krasnoyarsk) is a weakly dissected denudation plain, rising (up to 250 m) to the Urals. In the interfluve of the Tobol and the Irtysh, there is an inclined, in places with ridges, lacustrine-alluvial Ishim plain (120-220 m) with a thin cover of loess-like loams and loess occurring on salt-bearing clays. It is adjacent to the alluvial Baraba lowland and Kulunda plain, where the processes of deflation and modern salt accumulation are developing. In the foothills of Altai there are the ridge-ridged Priobskoe plateau (height up to 317 m - the highest point of the West Siberian Plain) and the Chulym Plain. On the geological structure and minerals, see the article The West Siberian Platform, with which the West Siberian Plain is geostructurally connected.

Climate. Continental climate prevails. Winter in the polar latitudes is severe and lasts up to 8 months (the polar night lasts almost 3 months), the average January temperatures are from -23 to -30 ° С; in the central part, winter lasts up to 7 months, average January temperatures are from -20 to -22 °С; in the south, where the influence of the Asian anticyclone intensifies, winters are shorter at the same temperatures (up to 5-6 months). Minimum temperature air -56 °С. In summer, the western transport of the Atlantic air masses with intrusions in the north of cold air from the Arctic, and in the south - dry warm air masses from Kazakhstan and Central Asia. In the north, summer is short, cool and humid with a polar day, in the central part it is moderately warm and humid, in the south it is arid and dry, with dry winds and dust storms. average temperature July increases from 5 °С in the Far North to 21-22 °С in the south. The duration of the growing season in the south is 175-180 days. Precipitation fall mainly in summer. The wettest (400-550 mm per year) are the Kondinskaya and Sredneobskaya lowlands. To the north and south, the annual precipitation gradually decreases to 250 mm.

surface waters. There are more than 2,000 rivers in the West Siberian Plain belonging to the basin of the Arctic Ocean. Their total flow is about 1200 km 3 of water per year; up to 80% of the annual runoff occurs in spring and summer. The largest rivers are the Ob, Yenisei, Irtysh, Taz and their tributaries. The feeding of the rivers is mixed (snow and rain), the spring flood is extended, the low water is long summer-autumn and winter. The ice cover on the rivers lasts up to 8 months in the north, up to 5 months in the south. large reserves hydropower resources. The total area of ​​lakes is more than 100 thousand km2. The largest lakes are located in the south - Chany, Ubinskoe, Kulunda. In the north - lakes of thermokarst and moraine-glacial origin. There are many small lakes in the suffusion depressions (less than 1 km 2): on the Tobol-Irtysh interfluve - more than 1500, on the Baraba lowland - 2500, including fresh, salty and bitter-salty ones; there are self-sustaining lakes.

Landscape types. The uniformity of the relief of the vast West Siberian Plain determines the clearly pronounced latitudinal zonality of landscapes, although, compared with the East European Plain, the natural zones here are shifted to the north. On the Yamal, Tazovsky and Gydansky peninsulas, in conditions of continuous permafrost, landscapes of arctic and subarctic tundra with moss, lichen and shrubs (dwarf birch, willow, alder) cover on gleyzems, peat-gleyzems, peat-podburs and soddy soils were formed. Polygonal mineral grass-hypnum bogs are widespread. The share of primary landscapes is extremely insignificant. To the south, tundra landscapes and swamps (mostly flat-hummocky) are combined with larch and spruce-larch woodlands on podzolic-gley and peat-podzolic-gley soils, forming a narrow forest-tundra zone, transitional to the forest (forest-bog) zone temperate zone, represented by subzones of the northern, middle and southern taiga. Swampiness is common to all subzones: over 50% of the area of ​​the northern taiga, about 70% - middle, about 50% - southern. The northern taiga is characterized by flat and large-hilly raised bogs, the middle taiga is characterized by ridge-hollow and ridge-lake bogs, the southern taiga is characterized by ridge-hollow, pine-shrub-sphagnum, transitional sedge-sphagnum and low-lying tree-sedge bogs. The largest marsh massif is the Vasyugan Plain. The forest complexes of different subzones, formed on slopes with different degrees of drainage, are peculiar. Northern taiga forest complexes on permafrost are represented by sparse and low-growing pine, pine-spruce and spruce-fir forests on gley-podzolic and podzolic-gley soils. The indigenous landscapes of the northern taiga occupy 11% of the area of ​​the West Siberian Plain. Common to forest landscapes In the middle and southern taiga, there is a wide distribution of lichen and shrub-phagnum pine forests on sandy and sandy loamy illuvial-ferruginous and illuvial-humus podzols. On loams in the middle taiga, spruce-cedar forests with larch and birch forests are developed on podzolic, podzolic-gley, peat-podzolic-gley and gley peat-podzols. In the subzone of the southern taiga, on loams, there are spruce-fir small-grass forests and birch forests with aspen on sod-podzolic and sod-podzolic-gley (including those with a second humus horizon) and peat-podzolic-gley soils. Primary landscapes in the middle taiga occupy 6% of the area of ​​the West Siberian Plain, in the southern - 4%. The subtaiga zone is represented by park pine, birch and birch-aspen forests on gray, gray gley and soddy-podzolic soils (including those with a second humus horizon) in combination with steppe meadows on cryptogley chernozems, solonetsous in places. Indigenous forest and meadow landscapes are practically not preserved. Boggy forests turn into lowland sedge-hypnum (with ryams) and sedge-reed bogs (about 40% of the zone). For forest-steppe landscapes of sloping plains with loess-like and loess covers on salt-bearing tertiary clays, birch and aspen-birch groves on gray soils and solods are typical in combination with forb-grass steppe meadows on leached and cryptogleyed chernozems, to the south - from meadow steppes on ordinary chernozems, solonetsous and saline in places. On the sands pine forests. Up to 20% of the zone is occupied by eutrophic reed-sedge bogs. In the steppe zone, the primary landscapes have not been preserved; in the past, these were forb-feather grass steppe meadows on ordinary and southern chernozems, saline in places, and in the drier southern regions - fescue-feather grass steppes on chestnut and cryptogley soils, gley solonetzes and solonchaks.

Environmental problems and protected natural areas. In areas of oil production due to pipeline breaks, water and soil are polluted with oil and oil products. In forestry areas - overcutting, swamping, the spread of silkworms, fires. In agrolandscapes, there is an acute problem of lack of fresh water, secondary salinization of soils, destruction of soil structure and loss of soil fertility during plowing, drought and dust storms. In the north - degradation of reindeer pastures, in particular due to overgrazing, which leads to a sharp reduction in their biodiversity. No less important is the problem of preserving hunting grounds and habitats of fauna.

To study and protect typical and rare natural landscapes Numerous nature reserves, national and natural parks. Among the largest reserves: in the tundra - the Gydansky reserve, in the northern taiga - the Verkhnetazovsky reserve, in the middle taiga - the Yugansky reserve, etc. national park- Priishimskiye Bory. Natural parks are also organized: in the tundra - Deer streams, in the northern taiga - Numto, Siberian Uvaly, in the middle taiga - Kondinsky lakes, in the forest-steppe - Bird's harbor.

Lit.: Trofimov V. T. Patterns of spatial variability of engineering-geological conditions of the West Siberian plate. M., 1977; Gvozdetsky N. A., Mikhailov N. I. Physical geography of the USSR: Asian part. 4th ed. M., 1987; Soil cover and land resources of the Russian Federation. M., 2001.

The West Siberian Plain is one of the largest flat areas in the world, covering approximately 80% of Western Siberia.

Features of nature

By total area West Siberian the plain is surpassed only by the Amazon. The plain stretches from the coast of the Kara Sea south to the north of Kazakhstan. The total area of ​​the West Siberian Plain is about 3 million square kilometers. km 2. Predominantly wide gently sloping and flat interfluves, which separate terraced valleys, prevail here.

The altitude amplitudes of the plain range on average between 20 and 200 m above sea level, but even the highest points reach 250 m.

On the lands of the West Siberian Plain, a continental climate dominates, the level of precipitation here is different: in the tundra and steppe regions - about 200 mm per year, in the taiga area it increases to 700 mm. General average temperatures - - 16°C in winter, + 15°C in summer.

Large full-flowing rivers flow on the territory of the plain, in particular the Yenisei, Taz, Irtysh and Ob. There are also very large lakes (Ubinskoye, Chany), and many smaller ones, some of them are salty. Some regions of the West Siberian Plain are characterized by wetlands. The center of the northern part is continuous permafrost. Solonchaks and solonetzes are common in the extreme south of the plain. The western-northern territory in all respects corresponds to the temperate zone - forest-steppe, steppe, taiga, deciduous forests.

Flora of the West Siberian Plain

The flat relief significantly contributes to zoning in the distribution of vegetation cover. The zonality of this territory has significant differences in comparison with similar zones in Eastern Europe. Due to difficulties in runoff, lichens, mosses and shrubs grow predominantly in wetlands in the north of the plains. Southern landscapes are formed under the influence of groundwater with increased level salinity.

About 30% of the area of ​​the plain is occupied by arrays coniferous trees, many of which are swampy. Smaller areas are covered with dark coniferous taiga - spruces, firs and cedars. Occasionally, broad-leaved tree species are found in the southern regions. In the southern part there are very common birch forests, many of which are secondary.

Fauna of the West Siberian Plain

More than 450 species of vertebrates live in the expanses of the West Siberian Plain, of which 80 species belong to mammals. Many species are protected by law, as they belong to the category of rare and endangered. AT recent times, the fauna of the plain was significantly enriched with acclimatized species - muskrat, hare, teleutka squirrel, American mink.

In reservoirs live mainly carp and bream. In the eastern part of the West Siberian Plain, some eastern species are found: chipmunk, Dzungarian hamster, etc. In most cases, the fauna of this territory is not much different from the animal world of the Russian Plain.

WESTERN SIBERIAN PLAIN, The West Siberian Lowland, one of the largest plains in the world (the third largest after the Amazonian and East European plains), in northern Asia, in Russia and Kazakhstan. It occupies the whole of Western Siberia, stretching from the coast of the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Turgai plateau and the Kazakh uplands in the south, from the Urals in the west to the Central Siberian plateau in the east. The length from north to south is up to 2500 km, from west to east from 900 km in (north) to 2000 (in south). The area is about 3 million km 2, including 2.6 million km 2 in Russia. The prevailing heights do not exceed 150 m. The lowest parts of the plain (50–100 m) are located mainly in its central (Kondinskaya and Sredneobskaya lowlands) and northern (Nizhneobskaya, Nadymskaya and Purskaya lowlands) parts. Highest point The West Siberian Plain - up to 317 m - is located on the Priobsky plateau.

At the base of the West Siberian Plain lies West Siberian platform. To the east it borders on Siberian platform, in the south - with Paleozoic structures of Central Kazakhstan, the Altai-Sayan region, in the west - with the folded system of the Urals.

Relief

The surface is a low accumulative plain with a rather uniform relief (more uniform than that of the East European Plain), the main elements of which are wide flat interfluves and river valleys; various forms of manifestation of permafrost (common up to 59 ° N), increased waterlogging, and developed (mainly in the south in loose rocks and soils) ancient and modern salt accumulation are characteristic. In the north, in the area of ​​​​distribution of marine accumulative and moraine plains (Nadymskaya and Purskaya lowlands), the general flatness of the territory is disturbed by moraine gently sloping and hilly-sloping (North-Sosvinskaya, Lyulimvor, Verkhne-, Srednetazovskaya, etc.) uplands 200–300 m high, the southern boundary of which runs around 61–62 ° N. sh.; they are horseshoe-shaped covered from the south by flat-topped uplands, among which are the Poluyskaya Upland, Belogorsky Mainland, Tobolsky Mainland, Siberian Uvaly (245 m), etc. In the north, permafrost exogenous processes (thermal erosion, heaving of soils, solifluction) are widespread, deflation is common on sandy surfaces, in swamps - peat accumulation. Permafrost is ubiquitous on the Yamal, Tazovsky, and Gydansky peninsulas; the thickness of the frozen layer is very significant (up to 300–600 m).

To the south, the area of ​​moraine relief is adjoined by flat lacustrine and lacustrine-alluvial lowlands, the lowest (40–80 m high) and swampy of which are the Konda lowland and the Sredneobskaya lowland with the Surgut lowland (105 m high). This territory, not covered by the Quaternary glaciation (to the south of the line Ivdel - Ishim - Novosibirsk - Tomsk - Krasnoyarsk), is a poorly dissected denudation plain, rising up to 250 m to the west, to the foothills of the Urals. In the interfluve of the Tobol and the Irtysh, there is an inclined, in places with ridges, lacustrine-alluvial Ishim Plain(120–220 m) with a thin cover of loess-like loams and loess occurring on salt-bearing clays. It is adjacent to alluvial Baraba lowland, Vasyugan Plain and Kulunda Plain, where the processes of deflation and modern salt accumulation are developed. In the foothills of Altai - the Ob plateau and the Chulym plain.

On the geological structure and minerals, see Art. West Siberian platform ,

Climate

The West Siberian Plain is dominated by a harsh continental climate. The significant length of the territory from north to south determines the well-defined latitudinal zonality of the climate and noticeable differences in the climatic conditions of the northern and southern parts of the plain. The nature of the climate is significantly influenced by the Arctic Ocean, as well as the flat relief, which contributes to the unhindered exchange of air masses between north and south. Winter in the polar latitudes is severe and lasts up to 8 months (the polar night lasts almost 3 months); the average January temperature is from -23 to -30 °C. In the central part of the plain, winter lasts almost 7 months; the average January temperature is from -20 to -22 °C. In the southern part of the plain, where the influence of the Asian anticyclone is increasing, at the same average monthly temperatures, winter is shorter - 5–6 months. Minimum air temperature -56 °C. The duration of snow cover in the northern regions reaches 240–270 days, and in the southern regions - 160–170 days. The thickness of the snow cover in the tundra and steppe zones is 20–40 cm; in the forest zone, from 50–60 cm in the west to 70–100 cm in the east. In summer, the western transfer of Atlantic air masses predominates with intrusions of cold Arctic air in the north, and dry warm air masses from Kazakhstan and Central Asia in the south. In the north of the plain, summer, which occurs under polar day conditions, is short, cool, and humid; in the central part - moderately warm and humid, in the south - arid and dry with dry winds and dust storms. The average July temperature rises from 5°C in the Far North to 21–22°C in the south. The duration of the growing season in the south is 175–180 days. Atmospheric precipitation falls mainly in summer (from May to October - up to 80% of precipitation). Most precipitation - up to 600 mm per year - falls in the forest zone; the wettest are the Kondinskaya and Sredneobskaya lowlands. To the north and south, in the tundra and steppe zone, the annual precipitation gradually decreases to 250 mm.

surface water

On the territory of the West Siberian Plain, more than 2,000 rivers flow, belonging to the basin of the Arctic Ocean. Their total flow is about 1200 km 3 of water per year; up to 80% of the annual runoff occurs in spring and summer. The largest rivers - the Ob, Yenisei, Irtysh, Taz and their tributaries - flow in well developed deep (up to 50–80 m) valleys with a steep right bank and a system of low terraces on the left bank. The feeding of the rivers is mixed (snow and rain), the spring flood is extended, the low water is long summer-autumn and winter. All rivers are characterized by slight slopes and low flow rates. The ice cover on the rivers lasts up to 8 months in the north, up to 5 months in the south. Large rivers are navigable, are important rafting and transportation routes, and, in addition, have large reserves of hydropower resources.

There are about 1 million lakes on the West Siberian Plain, the total area of ​​which is more than 100 thousand km2. The largest lakes are Chany, Ubinskoye, Kulundinskoye, and others. Lakes of thermokarst and moraine-glacial origin are widespread in the north. There are many small lakes in the suffusion depressions (less than 1 km 2): on the interfluve of the Tobol and Irtysh - more than 1500, on the Baraba lowland - 2500, among them there are many fresh, salty and bitter-salty ones; there are self-sustaining lakes. The West Siberian Plain is distinguished by a record number of swamps per unit area (the area of ​​the wetland is about 800 thousand km 2).

Landscape types

The uniformity of the relief of the vast West Siberian Plain determines the clearly pronounced latitudinal zonality of landscapes, although, compared with the East European Plain, the natural zones here are shifted to the north; landscape differences within the zones are less noticeable than on the East European Plain, and the zone deciduous forests missing. Due to the poor drainage of the territory, hydromorphic complexes play a prominent role: swamps and swampy forests occupy about 128 million hectares here, and in the steppe and forest-steppe zones there are many solonetzes, solods and solonchaks.

On the Yamal, Tazovsky and Gydansky peninsulas, in conditions of continuous permafrost, landscapes of arctic and subarctic tundra with moss, lichen and shrub (dwarf birch, willow, alder) vegetation have formed on gleyzems, peat-gleyzems, peat-podburs and soddy soils. Polygonal grass-hypnum swamps are widespread. The share of primary landscapes is extremely insignificant. To the south, tundra landscapes and swamps (mostly flat-hummocky) are combined with larch and spruce-larch light forests on podzolic-gley and peat-podzolic-gley soils, forming a narrow forest-tundra zone, transitional to the forest (forest-bog) zone of the temperate zone, represented by subzones of the northern, middle and southern taiga. Swampiness is common to all subzones: over 50% of the area of ​​the northern taiga, about 70% of the middle taiga, and about 50% of the southern taiga. The northern taiga is characterized by flat and large-hummocky raised bogs, the middle taiga is characterized by ridge-hollow and ridge-lake bogs, the southern taiga is characterized by ridge-hollow, pine-shrub-sphagnum, transitional sedge-sphagnum and fen woody-sedge bogs. The largest swamp Vasyugan Plain. The forest complexes of different subzones, formed on slopes with different degrees of drainage, are peculiar.

Northern taiga forests on permafrost are represented by sparse low-growing, heavily waterlogged, pine, pine-spruce and spruce-fir forests on gley-podzolic and podzolic-gley soils. The indigenous landscapes of the northern taiga occupy 11% of the plain area. Indigenous landscapes in the middle taiga occupy 6% of the area of ​​the West Siberian Plain, in the southern - 4%. Common to the forest landscapes of the middle and southern taiga is the wide distribution of lichen and shrub-sphagnum pine forests on sandy and sandy loamy illuvial-ferruginous and illuvial-humus podzols. On loams in the middle taiga, along with extensive swamps, spruce-cedar forests with larch and birch forests are developed on podzolic, podzolic-gley, peat-podzolic-gley and gley peat-podzols.

In the subzone of the southern taiga on loams - spruce-fir and fir-cedar (including urman - dense dark coniferous forests with a predominance of fir) small-grass forests and birch forests with aspen on sod-podzolic and sod-podzolic-gley (including with a second humus horizon) and peat-podzolic-gley soils.

The subtaiga zone is represented by park pine, birch and birch-aspen forests on gray, gray gley and soddy-podzolic soils (including those with a second humus horizon) in combination with steppe meadows on cryptogley chernozems, solonetsous in places. Indigenous forest and meadow landscapes are practically not preserved. Boggy forests turn into lowland sedge-hypnum (with ryams) and sedge-reed bogs (about 40% of the zone). Forest-steppe landscapes of sloping plains with loess-like and loess covers on salt-bearing tertiary clays are characterized by birch and aspen-birch groves on gray soils and solods in combination with forb-grass steppe meadows on leached and cryptogleyed chernozems, to the south - with meadow steppes on ordinary chernozems, in places solonetzic and saline. On the sands are pine forests. Up to 20% of the zone is occupied by eutrophic reed-sedge bogs. In the steppe zone, the primary landscapes have not been preserved; in the past, these were forb-feather grass steppe meadows on ordinary and southern chernozems, sometimes saline, and in drier southern regions - fescue-feather grass steppes on chestnut and cryptogley soils, gley solonetzes and solonchaks.

Environmental issues and protected natural areas

In areas of oil production due to pipeline breaks, water and soil are polluted with oil and oil products. In forestry areas - overcutting, waterlogging, the spread of silkworms, fires. In agricultural landscapes, there is an acute problem of lack of fresh water, secondary salinization of soils, destruction of soil structure and loss of soil fertility during plowing, drought and dust storms. In the north, there is degradation of reindeer pastures, in particular due to overgrazing, which leads to a sharp reduction in their biodiversity. No less important is the problem of preserving hunting grounds and habitats of fauna.

Numerous reserves, national and natural parks have been created to study and protect typical and rare natural landscapes. Among the largest reserves: in the tundra - the Gydansky reserve, in the northern taiga - the Verkhnetazovsky reserve, in the middle taiga - the Yugansky reserve and Malaya Sosva, etc. The national park Pripyshminsky Bory was created in the subtaiga. Natural parks are also organized: in the tundra - Deer streams, in the north. taiga - Numto, Siberian Ridges, in the middle taiga - Kondinsky lakes, in the forest-steppe - Bird's harbor.

The first acquaintance of Russians with Western Siberia took place, probably, as early as the 11th century, when the Novgorodians visited the lower reaches of the Ob River. With the campaign of Yermak (1582–85), a period of discoveries began in Siberia and the development of its territory.