Which part of the plain is the highest. Great Plains: description, area, geography

At the heart of the territory of the Russian Federation are large tectonic formations - shields, platforms, folded belts, the impact of which is expressed in the versatility of the relief of our state. So, Russia is characterized by numerous lowlands, uplands, as well as mountain systems.

Russian and Siberian Plains

Most of the territory of the state, which is located on two platforms formed in the Precambrian period (Russian and Siberian), is occupied by plains. In the Russian Federation, three flat spaces are distinguished - the Central Siberian Plateau, the West Siberian Plain and the East European Plain. The height level of the plains does not reach 200 m above sea level, however, there are some elevations within them, in particular: the Smolensk-Moscow, Central Russian, Volga Uplands and the Timan Ridge. An interesting fact is that in the south of the Russian Federation, the plain abruptly passes into the mountain system of the Caucasus, which was formed in the modern cycle of alpine orogeny.

East European and West Siberian Plains

The East European and West Siberian plains are separated by the Ural Mountains, which stretch in the north-south direction for more than 2.5 thousand km. From the southeast, the West Siberian Plain is framed by the Altai mountain system.

The Central Siberian plateau reaches a height of 500-700 m above sea level. In the south, this platform is adjacent to the most ancient Baikal folding. The territory between the coast of Lena and Chukotka is located on the Mesozoic folding, which explains the presence of mountain formations here - the Verkhoyansk, Chersky, Kolyma Uplands.

The Pacific folding belt, which runs through the territory of the extreme northeast, includes Sakhalin Island, the Kuril Islands and Kamchatka. These islands are the peaks of sea mountains that continue to grow to this day, as evidenced by the intense earthquakes in the region.

The northwestern territory of Russia, between the White Sea and the border with Finland, is located on the Baltic Crystalline Shield. The relief here has its own characteristics - the presence of denudation hills, sea and lake plains. Low mountains in this area border on swampy lowlands.

Mountain systems of Russia

In the south of the state is the Greater Caucasus mountain system, which forms a natural border with Azerbaijan and Georgia. Mount Elbrus is the highest point of the Caucasus, its height reaches 5600 m. The Caucasus Mountains are part of the Carpathians - Crimea - Pamir mountain belt.

Altai Mountains are located in the south of Siberia (the highest point is Mount Belukha, 4500m.). The Altai mountain system incorporates subparallel ridges that pass into the Sayan mountain system. The mountains that surround Lake Baikal are mostly low, but their growth continues. The highest is the Daursky vault with a height of about 2500 m.

The oldest and longest, but at the same time low are the mountains of the Urals, the average height of which is 400m. The highest point of the Ural mountain system is Mount Narodnaya, the height of which becomes 1895 m.

Plains and mountains are the main forms of the earth's surface. They were formed as a result of geological processes that have shaped the face of the Earth throughout geological history. Plains are vast spaces with a calm, flat or hilly terrain and a relatively small fluctuation in relative heights (no more than 200 m).

Plains are subdivided by absolute height. Plains with an absolute height of no more than 200 m are called lowlands, or lowlands (West Siberian). Plains, the absolute height of which is from 200 to 500 m, are called elevated, or hills (East European, or Russian). Plains whose height is more than 500 m above sea level are called high, or plateaus (Central Siberian).

Plateaus and uplands, in comparison with lowlands, due to their considerable height, usually have a more dissected surface and rugged relief. Elevated plains with a flat surface are called plateaus.

The largest lowlands: Amazonian, Mississippi, Indo-Gangetic, German-Polish. represents an alternation of lowlands (Pridneprovskaya, Black Sea, Caspian, etc.) and uplands (Valdai, Central Russian, Volyn-Podolsk, Volga, etc.). Plateaus are most widespread in Asia (Central Siberian, Arabian, Deccan, etc.), in (East African, South African, etc.), in (West Australian).

The plains are also subdivided according to their origin. On the continents, the majority (64%) of the plains formed on platforms; they are composed of layers of sedimentary cover. Such plains are called stratal, or platform. The Caspian lowland is the youngest plain, and are ancient platform plains, their surface has been largely altered by flowing waters and other external processes.

The plains that arose as a result of the demolition of the products of the destruction of mountains (denudation) from the destroyed base of the mountains (basement) are called denudation, or basement, plains. The destruction of mountains and transport usually occurs under the influence of water, ice and gravity. Gradually, the mountainous country is smoothed out, leveled off, turning into a hilly plain. Denudation plains are usually composed of hard rocks (small hills).

The main lowlands and plateaus of the parts of the world

lowlands	Plateau

German-Polish london pool paris basin Middle Danubian Lower Danube	Norland Manselka (ridge) Maladeta

Mesopotamian Great Plain of China coromandel coast Malabar Coast Indo-Gangetic	Anatolian Changbaishan

Mississippi Mexican Atlantic mosquito coast	great plains Central Plains Yukon (plateau)

Amazonian (Selvas) Orinoco (Llanos) La Platskaya	Patagonian

Central (Great Artesian Basin) Carpentaria

Earth's surface. On land, plains occupy about 20% of the area, the most extensive of them are confined to and. All plains are characterized by small fluctuations in elevation and slight slopes (slopes reach 5 °). According to the absolute height, the following plains are distinguished: lowlands - their absolute height is from 0 to 200 m (Amazonian);

elevations - from 200 to 500 m above ocean level (Central Russian);
upland, or plateaus - over 500 m above ocean level ();
Plains lying below ocean level are called depressions (Caspian).

According to the general nature of the surface of the plain, there are horizontal, convex, concave, flat, hilly.

According to the origin of the plains, the following types are distinguished:

marine accumulative(cm. ). Such, for example, is the lowland with its sedimentary cover of young marine strata;
continental accumulative. They were formed as follows: at the foot of the mountains, the products of destruction carried out from them by water flows are deposited. Such plains have a slight slope to sea level. These most often include marginal lowlands;
river accumulative. They are formed due to the deposition and accumulation of loose rocks brought ();
abrasion plains(see Abrasion). They arose as a result of the destruction of the coast by the activity of the sea. These plains arise the faster, the weaker the rocks and the more often the unrest;
structural plains. They have a very complex origin. In the distant past they were mountainous countries. Over the course of millions of years, the mountains were destroyed by external forces, sometimes to the stage of almost plains (peneplains), then as a result, cracks and faults appeared, along which it poured out to the surface; she, like armor, covered the former unevenness of the relief, her own surface was preserved even or stepped as a result of the outpouring of traps. These are the structural plains.

The surface of the plains, which receive sufficient moisture, is dissected by river valleys, dotted with complex systems of gullies and.

The study of the origin of the plains and the modern forms of their surface is of great economic importance, since the plains are densely populated and developed by man. There are many settlements on them, a dense network of communication lines, large lands. Therefore, it is precisely with the plains that one has to deal with when developing new territories, designing the construction of settlements, communication lines, and industrial enterprises. As a result of human economic activity, the relief of the plains can change significantly: ravines are filled up, embankments are built, quarries are formed during open-pit mining, and man-made hills from waste rock - waste heaps grow near the mines.

The change in the relief of the ocean plains is affected by:

, eruptions, faults of the earth's crust. The irregularities created by them are transformed by external processes. Sedimentary rocks, settling to the bottom, level it. Most accumulates at the foot of the continental slope. In the central parts of the ocean, however, this process occurs slowly: a layer of 1 mm is created in a thousand years;
natural currents that erode and transport loose rocks sometimes form underwater dunes.

The largest plains on earth

The Russian Federation occupies a vast territory. Due to the impressive area, the country's relief is very diverse. The rivers, plains and mountains of Russia constitute a unique natural system that reflects the entire identity of the Eurasian continent.

Plains of Russia

Plains are areas of land with a flat or hilly surface, in which elevation fluctuations will be very small. The main feature of all plains is a relatively flat relief. But in fact, it is more diverse: in some places, parts of the plains are really flat, in others - hilly.

On a physical map, the plains are marked in green with varying degrees of saturation. So, the lighter the green color, the higher the flat area above sea level is located. Dark green color indicates lowlands.

Rice. 1. Plains on the physical map.

Plains dominate in Russia: they occupy about 70% of the country's territory. In the Russian Federation, there are three largest plains:

East European or Russian Plain . It is located to the west of the Ural Mountains and occupies more than 4 million square meters. km. Its surface does not have an ideally even relief, since it consists of lowlands, uplands and hilly areas. Such plains are called hilly.
West Siberian Plain . It is located to the east of the Ural Mountains and occupies 2.5 million square meters. km. This is one of the lowest plains in the world. Its distinguishing feature is an almost perfectly flat surface. Such plains are called flat. Only occasionally there are small hills, not exceeding 300 m in height.
Central Siberian Plateau . It is located to the east of the West Siberian Plain and occupies about 3 million square meters. km. A plateau is a flat area of land that lies high above sea level. The plateau has much in common with the highlands, but only near the mountains their peaks are "cut off".

Rice. 2. Central Siberian Plateau

Mountains of Russia

On the territory of Russia, mountains are located in the southern and eastern parts. The mountains were formed in ancient times: hundreds of thousands of years ago, when there were active displacements of the earth's crust.

Mountains are young and old. Young mountains continue to "grow" up. As a rule, they are very tall, with sharp peaks. They often contain active volcanoes. The ancient mountains are relatively low, gently sloping, which have been exposed to the destructive effects of wind and melt water for many years.

In Russia, there are both young and old mountains:

Deep sea trenches

Gutter name	Depth, m	Ocean
marian
Tonga (Oceania)
Philippine
Kermaden (Oceania)
Izu-Ogasawara
Kuril-Kamchatsky
Puerto Rico		Atlantic
Japanese
Yuzhno-Sandvichev		Atlantic
Chilean
Aleutian
Sunda		Indian
Central American

Processes affecting the formation of the earth's crust.

The processes that contribute to the formation of relief are divided into:

external (exogenous) expressed in the action of the force of attraction of the Moon and the Sun, the activity of flowing waters (fluvial processes), wind (eolian processes), the activity of a glacier (glacial processes). External processes can manifest themselves in the following:

mudflow - a stream of water, mud, stones merged into a viscous single mass;

landslides - displaced masses of loose rocks sliding under the action of gravity;

landslides - the collapse of large boulders and slopes of mountain systems;

avalanches - masses of snow falling from mountain slopes;

weathering is the process of destruction and chemical change of rocks.

External processes form small landforms (for example, ravines).

Such landforms as shields, "ram's foreheads" (low rocks in the Polar Urals), moraine hills, sandy plains - sanders, troughs, were formed during the movement of the glacier. About a million years ago, a noticeable cooling of the climate occurred on the globe. The last ice age of the Earth in 1832 was named by the English naturalist C. Lyol Pleistocene. This glaciation covered North America and Eurasia (Scandinavian Mountains, the Polar Urals, the Canadian Arctic Archipelago).

internal (endogenous) raise individual sections of the earth's crust and form large landforms (mountains).

The main sources of these processes are internal heat in the bowels of the Earth, which causes the movement of magma, volcanic activity, earthquakes.

Tests for self-control:

Exogenous processes include:

Weathering

Volcanism

Earthquake

Glacier activity

2. Determine the mountain range within which the peak with the highest absolute height is located:

Pyrenees 2. Andes 3. Cordillera 4. Alps

3. In one era of folding formed:

Cordillera and Pyrenees 2. Atlas and Sikhote-Alin

3. Andes and Scandinavian mountains 4. Altai and the Great Dividing Range

4. Plains with absolute heights of more than 500 m are called:

plateaus 2) lowlands 3) hills 4) depressions.

5. Philippine chute is an element:

geosynclinal zone

mid-ocean ridge

the central part of the ocean basin

young platform

6. Are the following statements correct (yes, no):

in the central parts of the oceanic basins, sedimentation is slower than near the continents

Volcanic eruptions can occur both on land and at the bottom of the oceans

The Antarctic Peninsula formed in the Ordovician.

7. The longest mountains ___________________________________

8. The highest peak of Antarctica ____________________________

9. The greatest heights and the degree of dissection of the relief are characteristic:

Central Siberian Plateau

The East European Plain

West Siberian Plain

Amazonian lowland

10. Find a logical connection between the listed pairs and insert the missing:

Central Russian Upland - Precambrian;

Ural - Paleozoic;

Verkhoyansk Ridge - Mesozoic;

The median ridge of Kamchatka is Cenozoic;

Siberian Uvaly - _________________.

11. Moraine hills and ridges were formed as a result of geological activity ...

flowing waters

12. On all continents, with the exception of Antarctica, there are landforms created by geological activity ...

permafrost and flowing waters

flowing waters and wind

wind and glaciers

glaciers and permafrost

13. South America east of the Andes is dominated by

high and mid-altitude mountains

lowlands and plateaus

lowlands and highlands

low and mid-altitude mountains

14. According to the general features of their relief, they are most similar ...

Africa and South America

South America and North America

North America and Australia

Australia and Eurasia

Mainland	Plain	Country
	Great Chinese
	Eastern European	RF, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova.
	Deccan Plateau
	Dzungarian lowland
	West Siberian Lowland
	Indo-Gangetic lowland	India, Pakistan, Bangladesh
	Mesopotamian lowland	Iraq, Iran, Syria, Kuwait.
	Caspian lowland	RF, Kazakhstan
	Central Siberian Plateau
	Tarim (Kashgar)
	Turan lowland	Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan
	East African Plateau	Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Somalia, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia.
South America	Guiana Plateau	Venezuela, Brazil, Guyana, Suriname, Guyana
	brazilian plateau	Brazil
	Amazonian lowland	Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru
North America	Mississippi lowland
	Atlantic lowlands
	Mexican lowland
	great plains	USA, Canada
	Central Plains	USA, Canada

Portal for the student. Self-training