North-eastern European Plain. The largest plains in Russia: names, map, borders, climate and photos. Contemporary exploration of the East European Plain

The East European Plain is second only to the Amazon Plain, located in South America. The second largest plain of our planet is located on the continent of Eurasia. Most of it is located in the eastern part of the mainland, a smaller part in the western part. Since the geographical position of the East European Plain is mainly located in Russia, it is often called the Russian Plain.

East European Plain: its boundaries and location

The plain has a length of more than 2,500 kilometers from north to south, and 1,000 kilometers from east to west. Its flat relief is explained by its almost complete coincidence with the East European platform. This means that large natural phenomena do not threaten it, small earthquakes and flooding are possible. In the northwest, the plain ends with the Scandinavian mountains, in the southwest with the Carpathians, on the south with the Caucasus, in the east with the Mugodzhars and the Urals. Its highest part is in the Khibiny (1190m), the lowest is located on the Caspian coast (28 m below sea level). Most of the plain is located in the forest zone, the southern and central parts are forest-steppe and steppe. The extreme south and eastern part is covered with desert and semi-desert.

East European Plain: its rivers and lakes

Onega, Pechora, Mezen, Northern Dvina are large rivers of the northern part that belong to the Arctic Ocean. The basin of the Baltic Sea includes such large rivers as the Western Dvina, Neman, Vistula. The Dniester, the Southern Bug, and the Dnieper flow to the Black Sea. The Volga and the Urals belong to the basin of the Caspian Sea. The Don aspires to the Sea of Azov. In addition to large rivers, there are several large lakes on the Russian Plain: Ladoga, Beloe, Onezhskoe, Ilmen, Chudskoe.

East European Plain: Wildlife

The Russian Plain is inhabited by animals of the forest group, arctic and steppe. Forest fauna are more widespread. These are lemmings, chipmunks, gophers and marmots, antelopes, martens and forest cats, minks, black polecats and wild boars, garden, hazel and forest dormouse and so on. Unfortunately, man has caused significant damage to the fauna of the plain. Even before the 19th century, the tarpan (wild forest horse) lived in mixed forests. Today they are trying to preserve bison in Belovezhskaya Pushcha. There is a steppe reserve Askania-Nova, where animals from Asia, Africa and Australia have settled. And the Voronezh Nature Reserve successfully protects beavers. Moose and wild boars, previously completely exterminated, reappeared in this area.

Minerals of the East European Plain

The Russian Plain contains many mineral resources that are of great importance not only for our country, but also for the rest of the world. First of all, these are the Pechora coal basin, Kursk magnetic ore deposits, nepheline and apathetic ores on the Kola Peninsula, Volga-Ural and Yaroslavl oil, brown coal in the Moscow region. No less important are the aluminum ores of Tikhvin and the brown iron ore of Lipetsk. Limestone, sand, clay and gravel are widespread throughout the plain. Salt is mined in the Elton and Baskunchak lakes, and potash salt is mined in the Kama Cis-Urals. In addition to all this, gas is being produced (region of the Azov coast).

The East European (Russian) Plain is one of the largest plains in the world in terms of area .; It stretches from the coast of the Baltic Sea to the Ural Mountains, from the Barents and White Seas to the Azov and Caspian Seas.

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

Relief and geological structure

The East European elevated plain consists of elevations 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-Belebey Upland in the Urals part. The maximum elevation of the Timan Ridge is somewhat lower (471 m).

According to the peculiarities of the orographic pattern, three stripes are clearly distinguished within the East European Plain: 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-Belebey uplands and General 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 prevail, on the surface of which, here and there, smaller uplands are scattered here and there in garlands and singly. From west to east-northeast, the Smolensk-Moscow, Valdai Uplands and the Northern Uvaly stretch here, replacing each other. They are mainly used for watersheds between the Arctic, Atlantic and internal (closed-drainage Aral-Caspian) basins. From the Northern Ridges, 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 region is located on the territory of Russia.

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 manifestation of the latest tectonic movements.

Almost all large uplands and lowlands of the plain are of tectonic origin, with a significant part inherited from the structure of the crystalline basement. In the course of a long and complex path of development, they were formed as a single territory in the morphostructural, orographic and genetic relations.

At the base of the East European Plain lies the Russian plate with a Precambrian crystalline basement and in the south the northern edge of the Scythian plate with a Paleozoic folded basement. These include syneclises - areas of deep bedding of the basement (Moscow, Pechora, Caspian, Glazovskaya), anteclises - areas of shallow bedding of the basement (Voronezh, Volga-Ural), aulacogenes - deep tectonic ditches, in the place of which syneclises subsequently appeared (Krestgalichsky, So-Li Moskovsky and others), protrusions of the Baikal basement - Timan.

The Moscow syneclise is one of the most ancient and complex internal structures of the Russian plate with a deep crystalline basement. It is based on the Central Russian and Moscow aulacogens, filled with thick Riphean strata and in the relief is expressed by rather large uplands - Valdai, Smolensk-Moscow and lowlands - Verkhnevolzhskaya, Severo-Dvinskaya.

The Pechora syneclise is located wedge-shaped in the northeast of the Russian plate, between the Timan ridge and the Urals. Its uneven block foundation is lowered to various depths - up to 5000-6000 m in the east. The syneclise is filled with a thick stratum of Paleozoic rocks overlain by Meso-Cenozoic sediments.

In the center of the Russian plate, there are two large anteclises, the Voronezh and Volga-Ural, separated by the Pachelm aulacogen.

The southern part of the East European Plain is located on the Scythian Epigercyn Plate, which lies between the southern edge of the Russian Plate and the Alpine folded structures of the Caucasus.

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 (Fig. 6).

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 (inclined) stratal plains are developed here, expressed in orography in the form of uplands (Valdai, Smolensk-Moscow, Belorusskaya, Severnye Uvaly, etc.), and stratal plains, occupying a lower position (Verkhnevolzhskaya, Meshcherskaya). The central part of the Russian Plain was influenced by the intense uplifts of the Voronezh and Volga-Ural anteclises, as well as the subsidence of neighboring aulacogens and troughs. These processes contributed to the formation of stratal-tiered, stepped uplands (Central Russian and Volga) and stratal 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. Between them there are alternating stratal-layer uplands (Bugulma-Belebeevskaya, General Syrt), monoclinal-layer uplands (Verkhnekamskaya) and the intra-platform folded Timan ridge.

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

Three glaciations are distinguished on the East European Plain: Okskoe, Dnieper with the Moscow stage, and Valdai. Glaciers and fluvioglacial waters created two types of plains - moraine and outwash.

The southern border of the maximum distribution of the Dnieper ice sheet crossed the Central Russian Upland in the Tula region, then descended with the tongue 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 Ural to in the area of 60 ° N lat. 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.

Natural processes of the Neogene-Quaternary time and modern climatic conditions on the territory of the East European Plain have led to various types of morphosculptures, which are zonal in their distribution: on the coast of the seas of the Arctic Ocean, sea and moraine plains with cryogenic relief forms are widespread. To the south lie moraine plains, transformed at various stages by erosion and periglacial processes. Along the southern periphery of the Moscow glaciation, a strip of outwash plains is observed, 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 in the highlands and lowlands. On the coast of the Azov and Caspian Seas, there are Neogene-Quaternary plains with erosional, depression-subsidence and aeolian relief.

The long geological history of the largest geostructure - the ancient platform - predetermined the accumulation of various minerals in the East European Plain. The basement of the platform contains the richest deposits of iron ores (Kursk magnetic anomaly). The sedimentary cover of the platform is associated with deposits of coal (the eastern part of the Donbass, the Moscow basin), oil and gas in the Paleozoic and Mesozoic deposits (the Ural-Volga basin), and oil shale (near Syzran). Building materials (songs, gravel, clay, limestone) are widespread. Brown iron ore (near Lipetsk), bauxite (near Tikhvin), phosphorites (in a number of areas) and salts (Caspian region) are also associated with the sedimentary cover.

Climate

The climate of the East European Plain is influenced by its position in temperate and high latitudes, as well as in neighboring territories (Western Europe and North Asia) and the Atlantic and Arctic oceans. The total solar radiation per year in the north of the plain, in the Pechora basin, reaches 2700 mJ / m2 (65 kcal / cm2), and in the south, in the Caspian lowland, 4800-5050 mJ / m2 (115-120 kcal / cm2). The distribution of radiation across the plain varies dramatically with the seasons. In winter, radiation is much less than in summer, and more than 60% of it is reflected by the snow cover. In January, the total solar radiation at the Kaliningrad - Moscow - Perm latitude is 50 mJ / m2 (about 1 kcal / cm2), and in the southeast of the Caspian lowland, about 120 mJ / m2 (3 kcal / cm2). The greatest value of radiation reaches in summer and July its total values in the north of the plain about 550 mJ / m2 (13 kcal / cm2), and in the south - 700 mJ / m2 (17 kcal / cm2). All year round, the western transport of air masses dominates over the East European Plain. Atlantic air brings coolness and rainfall in summer and warmth and rainfall in winter. When moving to the east, it transforms: in summer it becomes warmer and drier in the surface layer, and colder in winter, but it also loses moisture

During the warm period of the year, from April, cyclonic activity proceeds along the lines of the Arctic and polar fronts, shifting to the north. Cyclonic weather is most typical for the northwest of the plain, so the cool sea air of temperate latitudes often comes to these areas from the Atlantic. It lowers the temperature, but at the same time heats up from the underlying surface and is additionally saturated with moisture due to evaporation from the moistened surface.

The position of the January isotherms in the northern half of the East European Plain is submeridional, which is associated with a greater frequency of occurrence in the western regions of the Atlantic air and its lesser transformation. The average January temperature in the Kaliningrad region is -4 ° C, in the western part of the compact territory of Russia, about -10 ° C, and in the northeast, -20 ° C. In the southern part of the country, isotherms deviate to the southeast, amounting to -5 ...- 6 ° С in the lower reaches of the Don and Volga.

In summer, almost everywhere on the plain, the most important factor in the temperature distribution is solar radiation; therefore, the isotherms, in contrast to winter, are located mainly in accordance with the geographical latitude. In the extreme north of the plain, the average July temperature rises to 8 ° C, which is associated with the transformation of the air coming from the Arctic. The average July isotherm of 20 ° С goes through Voronezh to Cheboksary, roughly coinciding with the border between the forest and forest-steppe, and the Caspian lowland is crossed by the 24 ° С isotherm.

The distribution of precipitation over the territory of the East European Plain is primarily dependent on circulation factors (western transport of air masses, the position of the Arctic and polar fronts, and cyclonic activity). Especially many cyclones move from west to east between 55-60 ° N. (Valdai and Smolensk-Moscow Uplands). This strip is the most humid part of the Russian Plain: the annual precipitation here reaches 700-800 mm in the west and 600-700 mm in the east.

The relief has an important effect on the increase in the annual precipitation amount: on the western slopes of the hills, precipitation falls by 150-200 mm more than on the lowlands lying behind them. In the southern part of the plain, the maximum precipitation occurs in June, and in the middle lane - in July.

The degree of moistening of the territory is determined by the ratio of heat and moisture. It is expressed in different quantities: a) the moisture coefficient, which in the East European Plain varies from 0.35 in the Caspian lowland to 1.33 and more in the Pechora lowland; b) dryness index, which varies from 3 in the deserts of the Caspian lowland to 0.45 in the tundra of the Pechora lowland; c) the average annual difference in precipitation and evaporation (mm). In the northern part of the plain, moisture is excessive, since precipitation exceeds evaporation by 200 mm or more. In the zone of transitional moisture from the upper reaches of the Dniester, Don and the Kama estuary, the amount of precipitation is approximately equal to the evaporation rate, and the farther south from this strip, the more evaporation exceeds precipitation (from 100 to 700 mm), i.e., the moisture becomes insufficient.

Differences in the climate of the East European Plain affect the nature of vegetation and the presence of a fairly pronounced soil-vegetation zoning.

Plain is a kind of relief, which is a flat vast space. More than two-thirds of the territory of Russia is occupied by plains. They are characterized by a slight slope and slight fluctuations in the heights of the terrain. A similar relief is found at the bottom of sea areas. The territory of the plains can be occupied by any: deserts, steppes, mixed forests, etc.

Map of the largest plains of Russia

Most of the country is located on a relatively flat type of terrain. Favorable ones allowed a person to engage in cattle breeding, build large settlements and roads. It is easiest to carry out construction activities on the plains. Many minerals and others are concentrated on them, including, and.

Below are maps, characteristics and photos of landscapes of the largest plains in Russia.

the East European Plain

East European Plain on the map of Russia

The area of the East European Plain is approximately 4 million km². The natural northern border is the White and Barents Seas; in the south, the land is washed by the Azov and Caspian Seas. The Vistula River is considered the western border, and the Ural Mountains - the eastern one.

At the base of the plain lies the Russian platform and the Scythian plate, the foundation is covered with sedimentary rocks. Where the base is raised, heights were formed: Pridneprovskaya, Central Russian, Privolzhskaya. In places where the foundation is deeply lowered, there are lowlands: Pechora, Prichernomorskaya, Caspian.

The territory is located in a temperate latitude. Atlantic air masses penetrate the plain, bringing precipitation with them. The western part is warmer than the east. The minimum January temperature is -14˚C. In summer, the air from the Arctic gives you coolness. The largest rivers flow south. Short rivers, Onega, Northern Dvina, Pechora, are directed to the north. The Neman, Neva and Zapadnaya Dvina carry waters in a westerly direction. For the winter, they all freeze. Floods begin in the spring.

Half of the country's population lives on the East European Plain. Almost all woodlands are secondary forest, there are a lot of fields and arable land. There are many minerals on the territory.

West Siberian Plain

West Siberian Plain on the map of Russia

The area of the plain is about 2.6 million km². The western border is the Ural Mountains, in the east the plain ends in the Central Siberian Plateau. The Kara Sea washes the northern part. The southern border is considered to be the Kazakh fine sand field.

At the base lies the West Siberian plate, sedimentary rocks lie on the surface. The southern part is higher than the northern and central. The maximum height is 300 m. The edges of the plain are represented by the Ket-Tym, Kulunda, Ishim and Turin plains. In addition, there is the Lower Yeniseiskaya, Verkhnetazovskaya and Severo-Sosvinskaya Uplands. Siberian ridges are a complex of hills in the west of the plain.

The West Siberian Plain lies in three: arctic, subarctic and temperate. Due to the reduced pressure, the Arctic air penetrates into the territory, cyclones are actively developing in the north. Precipitation is unevenly distributed, the maximum number falls on the middle part. Most rainfall occurs between May and October. In the southern lane, thunderstorms often occur in summer.

Rivers flow slowly, many swamps have formed on the plain. All reservoirs are flat in nature, they have a small slope. Tobol, Irtysh and Ob originate in mountainous terrain, so their regime depends on the melting of ice in the mountains. Most of the reservoirs have a northwest direction. In the spring there is a long flood.

Oil and gas are the main resources of the plain. In total, there are more than five hundred deposits of combustible minerals. In addition to them, there are deposits of coal, ore and mercury in the depths.

The steppe zone, located in the south of the plain, is almost completely plowed up. On the black earth, there are fields of spring wheat. The plowing, which lasted for many years, led to the formation of erosion and dust storms. There are many salt lakes in the steppes, from which table salt and soda are extracted.

Central Siberian plateau

Central Siberian plateau on the map of Russia

The area of the plateau is 3.5 million km². In the north, it borders on the North Siberian Lowland. The Eastern Sayan Mountains are a natural border in the south. In the west, the lands originate at the Yenisei River, in the east they end at the Lena River valley.

The plateau is based on the Pacific lithospheric plate. Because of it, the earth's crust has risen significantly. Average values of heights are 500 m. The Putorana Plateau in the northwest reaches 1701 m in height. The Byrranga mountains are located in Taimyr, their height exceeds a thousand meters. In Central Siberia, there are only two lowlands: the North Siberian and Central Yakutsk. There are many lakes here.

Most of the territories are located in the arctic and subarctic belts. The plateau is fenced off from the warm seas. Due to the high mountains, precipitation is unevenly distributed. They fall in large numbers in the summer. The lands are very cold in winter. The minimum January mark is -40˚C. Dry air and lack of winds help to cope with such challenging conditions. In the cold season, powerful anticyclones are formed. Little precipitation in winter. In summer, the cyclonic type of weather is established. The average temperature during this period is + 19˚C.

The largest rivers Yenisei, Angara, Lena, Khatanga flow through the lowland. They cross the faults of the earth's crust, therefore they have many rapids and gorges. All rivers are navigable. Central Siberia has colossal hydropower resources. Most of the large rivers are located in the north.

Almost the entire territory is located in the zone. Forests are represented by larch species, which shed needles for the winter. Pine forests grow in the Lena and Angara valleys. Shrubs, lichens and mosses are found in the tundra.

There are a lot of minerals in Siberia. There are deposits of ore, coal, oil. Platinum deposits are located in the southeast. There are salt deposits in the Central Yakutsk lowland. There are graphite deposits on the rivers Nizhnaya Tunguska and Kureika. Diamond deposits are located in the northeast.

Due to difficult climatic conditions, large settlements are located only in the south. Human economic activity is focused on the mining and logging industries.

Azov-Kuban Plain

Azov-Kuban plain (Kuban-Azov lowland) on the map of Russia

The Azov-Kuban Plain is a continuation of the East European Plain, its area is 50 thousand km². The Kuban River is the southern border, and the northern is the Yegorlyk River. In the east, the lowland ends with the Kumo-Manych depression, the western part goes to the Sea of Azov.

The plain lies on the Scythian plate and is a virgin steppe. The maximum height is 150 m. In the central part of the plain there are large rivers Chelbas, Beysug, Kuban, there is a group of karst lakes. The plain is located in the continental belt. Warm ones soften the local climate. In winter, temperatures rarely drop below -5˚C. In summer, the thermometer reads + 25˚C.

The plain includes three lowlands: Prikubanskaya, Priazovskaya and Kubansko-Priazovskaya. Rivers often flood settlements. There are gas fields on the territory. The region is famous for its fertile black earth soils. Almost the entire territory has been developed by humans. People grow cereals. The diversity of flora has been preserved only along rivers and in woodlands.

East European (aka Russian) has the second largest area in the world, second only to the Amazon lowland. It is classified as a low plain. In the north, the area is washed by the Barents and White Seas, in the south - by the Azov, Caspian and Black Seas. In the west and south-west, the plain is adjacent to the mountains of Central Europe (Carpathians, Sudetes, etc.), in the north-west - with the Scandinavian mountains, in the east - with the Urals and Mugodzhars, and in the southeast - with the Crimean mountains and The Caucasus.

The length of the East European Plain from west to east is about 2500 km, from north to south - about 2750 km, the area is 5.5 million km². The average height is 170 m, the maximum was recorded in the Khibiny (Mount Yudychvumchorr) on the Kola Peninsula - 1191 m, the minimum height is noted on the coast of the Caspian Sea, it has a minus value of -27 m.The following countries are located on the territory of the plain in whole or in part: Belarus, Kazakhstan , Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Russia, Ukraine and Estonia.

The Russian Plain almost completely coincides with the East European Platform, which explains its relief with a predominance of planes. This geographical location is characterized by very rare and manifestations of volcanic activity.

Such a relief was formed due to tectonic movements and faults. Platform deposits on this plain lie almost horizontally, but in some places they exceed 20 km. Uplands in this area are quite rare and mostly represent ridges (Donetsk, Timansky, etc.), in these areas the folded foundation protrudes to the surface.

Hydrographic characteristics of the East European Plain

In terms of hydrography, the East European Plain can be divided into two parts. Most of the waters of the plain have an outlet to the ocean. The western and southern rivers belong to the Atlantic Ocean basin, while the northern ones belong to the Arctic Ocean. From the northern rivers on the Russian Plain there are: Mezen, Onega, Pechora and Northern Dvina. Western and southern water streams flow into the Baltic Sea (Vistula, Western Dvina, Neva, Neman, etc.), as well as into the Black (Dnieper, Dniester and Southern Bug) and Azov (Don).

Climatic characteristics of the East European Plain

The temperate continental climate prevails on the East European Plain. Summer average recorded temperatures range from 12 (near the Barents Sea) to 25 degrees (near the Caspian lowland). The highest winter average temperatures are observed in the west, there in winter about -

NATURAL ZONES OF RUSSIA

EASTERN EUROPEAN (RUSSIAN) PLAIN

See photos of the nature of the East European Plain: Curonian Spit, Moscow Region, Kerzhensky Reserve and the Middle Volga in the Nature of the World section of our website.

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 comes out 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 Seas.

The following signs serve as the rationale for its determination to the rank of a physico-geographical country: 1) an uplifted stratal plain formed on the plate of the ancient East European platform; 2) Atlantic-continental, predominantly moderate 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 elevated plain consists of elevations 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 Bugulma-Belebey Upland in the Urals part. Maximum elevation Timan ridge slightly less (471 m).

According to the peculiarities of the orographic pattern, three stripes are clearly distinguished within the East European Plain: central, northern and southern. Through the central part of the plain runs a strip of alternating large hills and lowlands: Central Russian, Volga, Bugulma-Belebey Uplands and Common Syrt divided 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 prevail, on the surface of which, here and there, smaller uplands are scattered here and there in garlands and singly. From west to east-northeast, they stretch here, replacing each other, Smolensk-Moscow, Valdai Uplands and Northern Uvaly... They are mainly used for watersheds between the Arctic, Atlantic and internal (closed-drainage Aral-Caspian) basins. From the Northern Ridges, 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 region is located on the territory of Russia.

Rice. 25. Geological profiles across the Russian Plain

At the base of the East European Plain lie Russian plate with Precambrian crystalline basement and northern edge in the south Scythian plate with a Paleozoic folded basement. The border between the slabs is not expressed in the relief. On the uneven surface of the Precambrian basement of the Russian Plate, there are strata of Precambrian (Vendian, in places Riphean) and Phanerozoic sedimentary rocks with slightly disturbed bedding. Their thickness is not the same and is caused by the unevenness of the basement relief (Fig. 25), which determines the main geostructures of the slab. These include syneclises - areas of deep basement (Moscow, Pechora, Caspian, Glazovskaya), anteclises - areas of shallow basement (Voronezh, Volga-Ural), aulacogenes - deep tectonic ditches, in the place of which syneclises subsequently appeared (Kresttsovsky, Soligalichsky, Moskovsky, etc.), protrusions of the Baikal basement - Timan.

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

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

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

The southern part of the East European Plain is located on the Scythian Epigercyn Plate, which lies between the southern edge of the Russian Plate and the Alpine folded structures of the Caucasus.

Tectonic movements of the Urals and the Caucasus have led to some disruption in the occurrence of sedimentary plate deposits. This is expressed in the form of dome-shaped uplifts, significant along the length of the swells ( Oksko-Tsniksky, Zhigulevsky, Vyatsky and others), individual flexural bends of layers, salt domes, which can be clearly traced 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 northwest.

A brief description of the tectonics of the East European Plain and a comparison of the tectonic map with the hypsometric and neotectonic maps allow 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.

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, there are developed monoclinal (inclined) bed plains, expressed in orography in the form of hills (Valdai, Smolensk-Moscow, Belorusskaya, Northern Uvaly, etc.), and stratal plains occupying a lower position (Verkhnevolzhskaya, Meshcherskaya). The central part of the Russian Plain was influenced by the intense uplifts of the Voronezh and Volga-Ural anteclises, as well as the subsidence of neighboring aulacogens and troughs. These processes contributed to the formation layer-tiered, stepped elevations(Central Russian and Volga) and the Oksko-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. Developed in the north and south accumulative lowlands edge syneclises of the plate (Pechora and Caspian). Alternating between them stratal-tiered uplands(Bugulminsko-Belebeevskaya, General Syrt), monoclinal-bed Uplands (Verkhnekamskaya) and intra-platform folded Timansky ridge.

In the Quaternary, a 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 sediments, permafrost, as well as on changes 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: Okskoe, Dnieper with the Moscow stage, and Valdai. Glaciers and fluvioglacial waters created two types of plains - moraine and outwash. Permafrost processes prevailed in the wide periglacial (preglacial) belt for a long time. Snowfields had an especially intense effect on the relief during the period of reduced glaciation.

Morena of the most ancient glaciation - Oksky- was studied on the Oka, 80 km south of Kaluga. The lower, heavily washed-out 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 in the Oka Ice Age has not survived to our time, since it was first washed out by the waters of the Dnieper (Middle Pleistocene) glacier, and then it was covered by its bottom moraine.

Southern boundary of maximum spread Dniprovsky integumentary glaciations crossed the Central Russian Upland in the Tula region, then descended with the tongue along the Don valley - to the mouth of the Khopr 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 Ural in the area of 60 ° N. In the basin of the Upper Volga (in Chukhloma and Galich), as well as in the basin of the Upper Dnieper above the Dnieper moraine, the upper moraine occurs, 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 zone of the East European Plain had a more thermophilic composition than the modern one. This testifies to the complete disappearance of its glaciers in the north. In the interglacial epoch, peat bogs with Brazen flora were deposited in lacustrine basins formed in depressions of the moraine relief.

In the north of the East European Plain, the boreal ingression arose during this era, the level of which was 70-80 m above the present-day sea level. The sea penetrated along the river valleys 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.

In the climate of the more southern regions, due to glaciation, there have been changes. At this time, in the more southern regions of the East European Plain, remnants of seasonal snow cover and snowfields contributed to the intensive development of nivation, solifluction, and the formation of asymmetric slopes in erosional landforms (ravines, gullies, etc.).

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