Abstract: Relief of the East European Russian Plain. Tectonic structure of the East European Plain

Relief, history of development

Geostructurally, the East European Plain basically corresponds to the East European Platform. At its base lie strongly dislocated crystalline rocks protruding to the day surface within the Baltic and Ukrainian shields. In the rest of the much larger part of the platform, crystalline rocks are hidden under a layer of gently sloping sedimentary rocks that make up the Russian Plate. The southern part of the East European Plain (from the Sea of ​​Azov to the Caspian Sea) corresponds to the Scythian Plate, where rocks of a strongly deformed Hercynian basement lie under the cover of platform sedimentary formations.

The East European Plain is divided into two unequal parts: the socle-denudation plain on the Baltic crystalline shield and the Russian Plain proper with layered erosion-denudation and accumulative relief on the Russian and Scythian plates. Socle-denudation lowlands and uplands on the Baltic Shield with a height of up to 300-600 m (Manselkya, Suomenselkya, West Karelian, etc.) include areas of massive hills and plateaus with heights of more than 1000 m (massif up to 1190 m). The relief of the shield arose as a result of long-term continental denudation and preparation of structural forms composed of relatively strong rocks. Recent tectonic movements had a direct impact on the relief, especially faults that bound massifs and depressions, river valleys and the basins of numerous lakes. During the Anthropogenic time, the territory of the Baltic Shield served as the center of glaciation, so fresh forms of glacial relief are widespread here.

Within the limits of the Russian Plain proper, a thick cover of platform deposits lies almost horizontally, composing accumulative and stratal-denudation lowlands and uplands, mainly corresponding to depressions and elevations of the folded base. In some places, the folded basement protrudes to the surface, forming socle-denudation uplands and ridges (the Dnieper and Azov uplands, the Timan and Donetsk ridges).

The average height of the Russian Plain is about 170 m. The lowest heights are on the coast of the Caspian Sea, the level of which is 27.6 m lower. The heights rise up to 300-350 m above sea level (Podolsk Upland, up to 471 m). The relative excess of watersheds over valleys averages 20-60 m.

The Russian Plain is subdivided into three morphological zones. In the northern part, stratal-denudation lowlands and uplands of pre-anthropogenic age are widespread with landforms of glacial and water-glacial origin superimposed on them. Glacial-accumulative forms are most pronounced in the northwest, in the area of ​​the last (Valdai) glaciation, where hilly ridges and uplands stretch: Baltic, Valdai, Vepsovskaya, Belozerskaya, Konoshsko-Nyandoma. This is the region of the Lake District with its characteristic abundance of lakes (, Kubenskoye, Vozhe, etc.).

To the south, southeast, and east, there is an area that was subjected only to more ancient glaciations, where the original glacial-accumulative relief was reworked by erosion-denudation processes. Moraine-erosion uplands and ridges (Belarusian, Smolensk-Moscow, Borisoglebskaya, Danilevskaya, Galichsko-Chukhloma, Onego-Dvinskaya, Dvinsko-Mezenskaya, Northern Uvaly) alternate with extensive moraine, outwash, lacustrine-glacial and alluvial lowland plains (Upper Volga, Dvinsko - Mezenskaya, Pechorskaya, etc.).

To the south there is a zone of erosion-denudation layer-monoclinal uplands and accumulative lowlands, elongated mainly in the meridional and submeridional directions and caused by the alternation of waves of recent uplifts and relative subsidence. In the direction from the southwest to the northeast, elevations are traced: Bessarabian, Volyn, Podolsk, Pridneprovsk, Azov, Ergeni, upland, Poduralskoe plateau. Uplands alternate with outwash and alluvial-terraced lowland plains: Pripyat, Dnieper, Gorky Trans-Volga, Meshcherskaya, Oka-Don, Ulyanovsk and Saratov Trans-Volga.

In the extreme south and southeast of the East European Plain, a strip of coastal lowlands extends, which experienced tectonic subsidence and partial subsidence under sea level in the Neogene and Anthropogene. The original flat plain relief of marine accumulation here has been reworked to varying degrees by the processes of water erosion and loess accumulation (Black Sea lowland), alluvial-proluvial accumulation (Azov-Kuban lowland), fluvial and eolian processes ().

Hydrography

Hydrographically, the territory of the East European Plain is divided into two parts. Most of them have a drain into the ocean. The northern rivers ( , ) belong to the basin , the western and southern rivers belong to the basin . The latter include rivers flowing into the Baltic (, rivers and), Black (,) and Azov () seas. The rivers of the basins, and some others, flow into, which have lost contact with.

Climate

Most of the East European Plain belongs to the region of the temperate zone, where there is a gradual transition from maritime to continental climate. Western winds prevail. The influence of the air masses of the Atlantic Ocean weakens from the northwest to the southeast, in connection with which there is excessive moisture in the north and northwest, sufficient moisture in the central zone, and insufficient moisture in the southeast. The extreme north of the East European Plain belongs to the subarctic zone with a predominance of temperate types of air masses in summer and arctic types of air masses in winter, with significant seasonal fluctuations in air temperature, with the development of permafrost rocks and soils. In the extreme southeast of the plain, the climate is continental, arid, with large seasonal fluctuations in air temperature.

natural areas

The East European Plain is characterized by a distinct natural zonality. In a narrow strip of the coast of the Barents Sea, subarctic moss-lichen tundra dominates. To the south are the temperate zones. The most significant strip of forests, stretching from and to. Along the line - it is divided into dark coniferous taiga and mixed (coniferous-broad-leaved) forests, turning into broad-leaved forests in the extreme south-west of the plain. To the south, from the Carpathians to the Urals, a forest-steppe zone stretches, beyond which a steppe zone extends to the Black and Azov Seas and to the Caucasus. The vast territory of the Caspian lowland and the Sub-Ural plateau is occupied by semi-deserts and deserts.

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, and a variety of 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 temperate 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 of natural zones in the east to the 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. 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

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 aspects 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 occurrence of the foundation (Moscow, Pechora, Caspian, Glazov), anteclises - areas of shallow occurrence of the foundation (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 strata, 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 - the Valdai, Smolensk-Moscow and lowlands - the Upper Volga, North Dvina.

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.

A brief description of the tectonics of the East European Plain and a comparison of the tectonic map with the hypsometric and neotectonic ones 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 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 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 epoch, the vegetation of the middle belt of 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 determined 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.

The East European Plain occupies about 4 million km 2 in area, which is approximately 26% of the territory of Russia. In the north, east and south, its borders run along natural boundaries, in the west - along the state border. In the north, the plain is washed by the Barents and White Seas, in the south - by the Caspian, Black and Azov, in the west - by the Baltic Sea. The Ural Mountains border the plain from the east.

Large tectonic structures lie at the base of the plain - the Russian platform and the Scythian plate. In most of the territory, their foundation is deeply submerged under thick layers of sedimentary rocks of different ages, lying horizontally. Therefore, flat relief prevails on the platforms. In a number of places the foundation of the platform is raised. There are large hills in these areas.

The Dnieper Upland is located within the Ukrainian shield. The relatively elevated plains of Karelia and the Kola Peninsula, as well as the low mountains of the Khibiny, correspond to the Baltic Shield. The uplifted foundation of the Voronezh anticlise serves as the core of the Central Russian Upland. The same rise in the basement is located at the base of the highlands of the High Trans-Volga region. A special case is the Volga Upland, where the foundation lies at great depths. Here, during the entire Mesozoic and Paleogene, the earth's crust sagged and thick strata of sedimentary rocks accumulated. Then, during the Neogene and Quaternary time, this area of ​​the earth's crust was uplifted, which led to the formation of the Volga Upland.

A number of large hills were formed as a result of repeated Quaternary glaciations, the accumulation of glacial material - moraine loams and sands. Such are the Valdai, Smolensk-Moscow, Klinsko-Dmitrovskaya, Northern Ridges hills.

Between the large hills are lowlands, in which the valleys of large rivers - the Dnieper, Don, Volga - were laid.

On the outskirts of the East European Plain, where the foundation of the platform is lowered very deeply, there are large lowlands - the Caspian, Black Sea, Pechora, etc. Sea advances have repeatedly occurred in these territories, including recently in the Quaternary, therefore they are blocked by heavy marine sediments and have a flat topography. The average height of the Russian Plain is about 170 m, some elevations reach 300-400 m or more.

On the territory of the East European Plain there are rich deposits of various minerals. Iron ores of the Kursk magnetic anomaly are connected with the foundation of the platform. The Kola Peninsula is especially rich in minerals, where there are significant reserves of iron, copper, nickel, aluminum ores, huge reserves of apatite. The sedimentary cover of the platform is associated with such minerals as oil shale, mined in the strata of the Ordovician and Silurian ages in the Baltic. Carbon deposits are associated with brown coal deposits of the Moscow region, Permian - bituminous coals of the Pechora basin, oil and gas of the Urals and the Volga region, salt and gypsum of the Cis-Urals. Phosphorites, chalk and manganese are mined in the sedimentary layers of the Mesozoic.

The East European Plain is located in temperate latitudes. It is open to the north and west and as a result is exposed to the air masses that form over the Atlantic and Arctic oceans. Atlantic air masses bring a significant amount of precipitation to the East European Plain, so forests grow in most of its territory. The amount of precipitation decreases from 600-900 mm per year in the west to 300-200 mm in the south and southeast. As a result, in the south of the East European Plain there are dry steppes, and in the extreme southeast, in the Caspian lowland, there are semi-deserts and deserts. Atlantic air masses throughout the year have a moderating effect on the climate. Therefore, in the western regions of the plain it is much warmer than in the east. Average January temperatures drop from -4°C in the Kaliningrad region to -18°C in the Cis-Urals. As a result, winter isotherms in most of the plain (except for the extreme south) stretch almost meridionally, from north-northwest to south-southeast.

Arctic air in winter spreads over the entire territory of the East European Plain up to the extreme south. It brings with it dryness and coldness. In summer, the invasion of the Arctic air is accompanied by cold snaps and droughts. The alternating invasion of the Atlantic and Arctic air masses causes the instability of weather phenomena and the dissimilarity of the seasons of different years.

Summer temperatures naturally increase from north to south: average temperatures in the north are +8...+10°С, in the south +24...+26°С, and the isotherms stretch almost in the latitudinal direction. In general, the climate in most of the East European Plain is temperate continental.

Unlike other large parts of Russia, the largest rivers of the East European Plain flow south. These are the Dnieper, Dniester, Southern Bug, Don, Volga, Kama, Vyatka, Ural. This allows their water to be used to irrigate the arid lands of the south. Large irrigation systems have been created in the North Caucasus, which use the water of the Volga, Don and local rivers. Extensive irrigation systems have been created on the lower Don, they also exist in the Volga region.

To the north, such high-water, but relatively short rivers as the Pechora, Northern Dvina, Onega carry their water, to the west - the Western Dvina, Neva and Neman.

The upper reaches and channels of many rivers are often located close to each other, which, in conditions of flat terrain, contributes to their connection by channels. These are the channels. Moscow, Volga-Baltic, Volga-Don, White Sea-Baltic. Thanks to canals, ships from Moscow can sail along rivers, lakes and reservoirs to the Caspian, Azov, Black, Baltic and White Seas. Therefore, Moscow is called the port of five seas.

In winter, all the rivers of the East European Plain freeze.. In the spring, when the snow melts, floods occur in most parts. Numerous reservoirs and hydroelectric power stations have been built on the rivers to retain and use spring water. The Volga and Dnieper turned into a cascade of reservoirs used both for generating electricity and for navigation, land irrigation, water supply to cities and industrial centers.

A characteristic feature of the East European Plain is a vivid manifestation of latitudinal zonality. It is expressed more fully and more clearly than on other plains of the globe. It is no coincidence that the law of zoning, formulated by the famous Russian scientist Dokuchaev, was primarily based on his study of this very territory.

The flatness of the territory, the abundance of minerals, the relatively mild climate, sufficient rainfall, the diversity of natural landscapes favorable for various branches of agriculture - all this contributed to the intensive economic development of the East European Plain. In economic terms, this is the most important part of Russia. More than 50% of the country's population lives on it and two-thirds of the total number of cities and workers' settlements are located. Most of the largest rivers - the Volga, Dnieper, Don, Dniester, Western Dvina, Kama - are regulated and transformed into a cascade of reservoirs. Large areas of forests have been cut down and forest landscapes have turned into a combination of forests and fields.

Many forests are now secondary forests, where coniferous and broad-leaved species have been replaced by small-leaved species - birch, aspen. On the territory of the East European Plain there is half of the entire arable land of the country, about 40% of hayfields, 12% of pastures. Of all the large parts of the East European Plain, the most developed and changed by human activities.

The East European Plain is one of the largest on the planet. Its area exceeds 4 million km2. It is located on the continent of Eurasia (in the eastern part of Europe). On the northwestern side, its borders run along the Scandinavian mountain formations, in the southeast - along the Caucasian, in the southwest - along the Central European massifs (Sudet, etc.) There are more than 10 states on its territory, most of which is occupied by the Russian Federation . It is for this reason that this plain is also called Russian.

East European Plain: climate formation

In any geographic area, the climate is formed due to some factors. First of all, this is the geographical location, relief and neighboring regions with which a certain territory borders.

So, what exactly affects the climate of this plain? To begin with, it is worth highlighting the ocean areas: the Arctic and Atlantic. Due to their air masses, certain temperatures are established and the amount of precipitation is formed. The latter are unevenly distributed, but this is easily explained by the large territory of such an object as the East European Plain.

Mountains have no less impact than the oceans. along its entire length is not the same: in the southern zone it is much larger than in the northern one. Throughout the year, it changes, depending on the change of seasons (more in summer than in winter due to mountain snow peaks). In July, the highest level of radiation is reached.

Considering that the plain is located in high and temperate latitudes, it mainly dominates on its territory. It prevails mainly in the eastern part.

Atlantic masses

The air masses of the Atlantic dominate the East European Plain throughout the year. In the winter season, they bring rainfall and warm weather, and in the summer, the air is saturated with coolness. Atlantic winds, moving from west to east, change somewhat. Being above the earth's surface, they become warmer in summer with little moisture, and cold in winter with little rainfall. It is during the cold period that the East European Plain, whose climate directly depends on the oceans, is under the influence of Atlantic cyclones. During this season, their number can reach 12. Moving eastward, they can change dramatically, and this, in turn, brings warming or cooling.

And when Atlantic cyclones come from the southwest, the southern part of the Russian Plain is influenced by subtropical air masses, as a result of which a thaw occurs and in winter the temperature can rise to +5 ... 7 ° С.

Arctic air masses

When the East European Plain is under the influence of the north Atlantic and southwestern Arctic cyclones, the climate here changes significantly, even in the southern part. In its territory comes a sharp cooling. Arctic Air Forces tend to move in a north-west direction. Due to anticyclones, which lead to cooling, the snow lies for a long time, the weather is set to be cloudy with low temperatures. As a rule, they are distributed in the southeastern part of the plain.

winter season

Considering how the East European Plain is located, the climate in the winter season differs in different areas. In this regard, the following temperature statistics are observed:

• Northern regions - winter is not very cold, in January, thermometers show an average of -4 ° C.
• In the western zones of the Russian Federation, the weather conditions are somewhat more severe. The average temperature in January reaches -10 °С.
• The northeastern parts are the coldest. Here on thermometers you can see -20 ° C and more.
• In the southern zones of Russia, there is a temperature deviation in the southeast direction. The average is a revenge of -5 ° C.

Temperature regime of the summer season

In the summer season, the East European Plain is under the influence of solar radiation. The climate at this time depends, directly, on this factor. Here, oceanic air masses are no longer of such importance, and the temperature is distributed in accordance with geographic latitude.

So, let's look at the changes by region:

Precipitation

As mentioned above, most of the East European Plain has a temperate continental climate. And it is characterized by a certain amount of precipitation, which is 600-800 mm / year. Their loss depends on several factors. For example, the movement of air masses from the western parts, the presence of cyclones, the location of the polar and arctic fronts. The highest humidity index is observed between the Valdai and Smolensk-Moscow Uplands. During the year, about 800 mm of precipitation falls in the west, and a little less in the east - no more than 700 mm.

In addition, the relief of this territory has a great influence. On the uplands located in the western parts, precipitation falls by 200 millimeters more than on the lowlands. The rainy season in the southern zones falls on the first month of summer (June), and in the middle lane, as a rule, it is July.

In winter, snow falls in this region and a stable cover is formed. The elevation level may vary, given the natural areas of the East European Plain. For example, in the tundra, the snow thickness reaches 600-700 mm. Here he lies for about seven months. And in the forest zone and forest-steppe, the snow cover reaches a height of up to 500 mm and, as a rule, covers the ground for no more than two months.

Most of the moisture falls on the northern zone of the plain, and evaporation is less. In the middle band, these indicators are compared. As for the southern part, here moisture is much less than evaporation, for this reason drought is often observed in this area.

types and brief characteristics

The natural zones of the East European Plain are quite different. This is explained extremely simply - by the large size of this area. There are 7 zones on its territory. Let's take a look at them.

East European Plain and West Siberian Plain: Comparison

The Russian and West Siberian plains have a number of common features. For example, their geographical location. They are both located on the Eurasian continent. They are influenced by the Arctic Ocean. The territory of both plains has such natural zones as forest, steppe and forest-steppe. There are no deserts and semi-deserts in the West Siberian Plain. The prevailing Arctic air masses have almost the same effect on both geographic areas. They also border on mountains, which directly affect the formation of the climate.

The East European Plain and the West Siberian Plain also have differences. These include the fact that although they are on the same mainland, they are located in different parts: the first is in Europe, the second is in Asia. They also differ in relief - the West Siberian is considered one of the lowest, so some of its sections are swampy. If we take the territory of these plains as a whole, then in the latter the flora is somewhat poorer than that of the East European.

The Russian Plain is otherwise called the East European Plain. This is its physical and geographical name. The total area of ​​this land area is 4 million km2. Larger is only the Amazonian lowland.

The East European Plain occupies a significant part of the territory of Russia. It starts off the coast of the Baltic Sea and ends near the Ural Mountains. From the north and from the south, the plain is immediately limited by 2 seas. In the first case, these are the Barents and White Seas, in the second, the Caspian and Azov. From different sides the plain is limited by mountain ranges. The situation is this:

• Northwestern border - Scandinavian mountains;
• Western and southwestern borders - the mountains of Central Europe and the Carpathians;
• Southern border - the Caucasus Mountains;
• The eastern border is the Ural Mountains.

In addition, Crimea is located on the territory of the Russian Plain. In this case, the northern one from the foothills of the Crimean Mountains acts as a border.

Scientists attributed the East European Plain to the rank of physiographic countries due to the fact that it is characterized by the following features:

1. Placement on one of the plates of the platform of the same name, which, unlike the others, is slightly elevated;
2. Being in a temperate climate zone, as well as a small amount of precipitation. This is a consequence of the influence of two oceans, the first of which is the Atlantic, the second is the Arctic;
3. The presence of a clear natural zonality, which is explained by the flatness of the relief.

The described plain is divided into two other plains, namely:

1. Socle-denudation, occupying the Baltic crystalline shield;
2. East European, located on two plates at once: Scythian and Russian.

The crystalline shield has a unique relief. It was formed during a continental denudation that lasted more than one thousand years. Certain features were obtained by relief as a result of tectonic movements that occurred in recent times. As for the past, in the Quaternary period, the center of the glacier was located on the site of the modern Baltic crystalline shield. It is for this reason that the local relief is glacial.

Platform deposits, which are part of the Russian Plain, are a kind of cover that is in a horizontal position. Thanks to them, the formation of two types of uplands and lowlands occurred. The first of them are reservoir-denudation, and the second are accumulative. In some areas of the plain there are ledges of a folded basement. They are represented by socle-denudation hills and ridges: Donetsk, Timan, etc.

If we take into account the average indicator, then the height of the East European Plain above sea level is 170 meters. This indicator is the lowest on the coast of the Caspian Sea, and the highest - on the hills. For example, the Podolsk Upland is located 417 meters above sea level.

Settlement of the East European Plain

Some scientists are of the opinion that Eastern Europe was inhabited by Slavs, but some researchers are convinced of the opposite. It is known for certain that about 30 thousand years BC Cro-Magnons settled on the Russian Plain. Outwardly, they slightly resembled Caucasians, and over time they became similar to modern people. The process of adaptation of the Cro-Magnons proceeded in the conditions of the glacier. In the 10th millennium BC, the climate became milder, so the descendants of the Cro-Magnons, called Indo-Europeans, began to explore the territories located in the southeast of modern Europe. Where they were before is unknown, but there is reliable evidence that the settlement of this territory by the Indo-Europeans occurred 6 thousand years before our era.

The first Slavs appeared on European territory much later than the Indo-Europeans. Historians claim that their active resettlement falls on the 5th-6th centuries AD. For example, the Balkan Peninsula and the territories adjacent to it were occupied by the southern Slavs. Western Slavs moved in a direction from north to west. Many of them became the ancestors of modern Germans and Poles. Some settled on the coast of the Baltic Sea, while others settled in the Czech Republic. At the same time, serious changes took place in primitive society. In particular, the community became obsolete, the tribal hierarchy faded into the background, and associations began to replace them, which became the first states.

The Slavs, without apparent difficulties, settled the eastern lands of a large territory called Europe. At first, their relations with each other were based on the primitive communal system, and then on the tribal system. The number of settlers was small, so their tribes did not lack free lands.

In the process of settlement, the assimilation of the Slavs with representatives of the Finno-Ugric tribes took place. Their tribal unions are considered the first similarities of states. In parallel with this, the climate of Europe became warmer. This led to the development of agriculture and cattle breeding, but at the same time, fishing and hunting continued to play an important role in the economic activities of primitive people.

A favorable combination of circumstances for the colonists explains that the Eastern Slavs became the largest group of peoples, including Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians. If in the early Middle Ages the settlement of the Slavs only originates, but in the VIII century its "flourishing" falls. Simply put, it was at this time that the Slavic tribes were able to take a dominant position. Their neighbors were representatives of other nations. This has its pros and cons.

Speaking about the settlement of the Slavs, it should be noted that the main feature of this historical process is unevenness. First, the territories that were located near the route “from the Varangians to the Greeks” were developed, and only then the eastern, western and southwestern lands were colonized.

The settlement of the Slavs on the territory of the Russian Plain has a number of features. Among them it is necessary to highlight:

1. Significant influence of climate on the duration of colonization;
2. Dependence of population density on natural and climatic conditions. This means that the southern territories were more densely populated than the northern ones;
3. Absence of military conflicts caused by lack of land;
4. Imposing tribute on other peoples;
5. Complete assimilation of representatives of small tribes.

After the Slavic tribes occupied the East European Plain, they began to develop new types of economic activity, made adjustments to the existing social system and created the prerequisites for the creation of the first states.

Modern exploration of the East European Plain

Many well-known scientists were engaged in the study of the East European Plain. In particular, a huge contribution to the development of science was made by the mineralogist V.M. Severgin.

In the early spring of 1803, Severgin was studying the Baltic. While conducting research, he noticed that in the southwestern direction from Lake Peipsi, the relief becomes more hilly. Subsequently, Vasily Mikhailovich made a multi-stage transition. First, he went from the Gauja River to the Neman, and then to the Bug. This allowed him to establish that the area is either hilly or elevated. Realizing that such an alternation is a regularity, Severgin accurately determined its direction, going from the southwest to the northeast.

The territory of Polissya was studied by scientists no less closely. In particular, numerous studies began after the lands on the right bank of the Dnieper “opened up”, which led to a decrease in the number of meadows. So, in 1873 the Western Expedition was organized. A group of scientists led by topographer I.I. Zhilinsky planned to study the features of local swamps and determine the best ways to drain them. Over time, the expedition members were able to map Polissya, studied the land with a total area of ​​more than 100 thousand km2 and measured about 600 heights. The information received by Zhilinsky allowed A.A. Tillo to continue the undertakings of a colleague. This led to the appearance of the hypsometric map. It served as a clear proof that Polissya is a plain with raised borders. In addition, it was found that the region is rich in rivers and lakes. There are about 500 of the first here, and 300 of the second. The total length of both of them exceeds 9 thousand kilometers.

Later, G.I. Tanfiliev. He established that the destruction of the swamps would not cause the shallowing of the Dnieper. P.A. also came to the same conclusion. Tutkovsky. The same scientist finalized the map created by Tillo by adding several hills to it, among which the Ovruch ridge should be highlighted.

E.P. Kovalevsky, being an engineer at one of the factories in Luhansk, devoted himself to the study of the Donetsk Ridge. He conducted a lot of research and determined that the ridge is a pool of enormous size. Later, Kovalevsky was recognized as the discoverer of Donbass, because. it was he who created his first geological map and suggested that the region is rich in minerals.

In 1840, the famous geologist R. Murchison came to Russia. Together with domestic scientists, he explored the coast of the White Sea. As a result of the work carried out, many rivers and hills were studied, which were then mapped.

The study of the southern part of the Russian Plain was carried out by V.V. Dokuchaev, who was later recognized as the "father" of domestic soil science. This scientist found that a part of Eastern Europe is occupied by a unique zone, which is a mixture of black soil and steppe. In addition, in 1900, Dokuchaev compiled a map on which he divided the plain into 5 natural zones.

Over time, the interest of scientists in the East European Plain has not weakened. This led to the organization of many expeditions and various studies. Both those and others made it possible to make many scientific discoveries, as well as create new maps.