§40. the East European Plain

Geographical position. The East European Plain is one of the largest on Earth. Since she takeseasternpart of the whole of Europe, it is called EastvRopean, or Russian, plain. Only the southeastern part of this plain is located on the territory of Kazakhstan. In the east, it borders on the Mugalzhar mountains, to the south in the current - on the Ustyrt plateau, and in the south - on the mountains. angyst. To the East European Plain in Kazakhstan ottn itselevationGeneral Syrt,Zhaiyk-Zhemskoeplateau and the Caspian lowland.

Relief and geological structure. In their own wayrco. ioiand to whom the development and tectonic structure of the plain belongs to the East European platform. The ancient basement of the platform is covered with sedimentary deposits of the Pazozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic. After the retreat of the sea posttsps, the modern relief was formed. With continental. during its development, relief, soil and vegetation cover, characteristic for each district, were formed. a Zhemskoe plateau arose at the end of the Upper Cretaceous, General Syrt - after the retreat of the sea in the PaleogeneiRiod. The Caspian lowland was formed at the endonly at the end of the glacial epoch. The highest point is about 300 m above sea level. The climate is dry continental, which is due to a decrease in cyclonic activity.

Common Syrtis a vast flat upland located between the Volga and the lower course of the Zhaiyk. Only a small southern part of it belongs to Kazakhstan. The relief is cut by the channels of the rivers Derkol, Shagan, Elek, Rostosh and others flowing into Zhaiyk from the right side. Common Syrt is composed of limestones, chalk and other sedimentary rocks, collected in short, low folds in the northwestern direction. They descend from the north (100-150 m) to the south (60-70 m). The Kazakhstani part is smoother.

Zhaiyk Zhemskoe plateauoccupies the territory between the Caspian lowland and Mugalzhar. Its northeastern side is raised (up to 400 -450 m), the south-western side gradually decreases (up to 100-150 m). The plateau is irrigated by the waters of the rivers Zhem, Kainar, Sagyz, Oyil, Elek, Or, Ulken Khobda, etc.

Caspian lowlandIt is located between the General Syrt Upland in the north, the Zhayik-Zhemsky plateau in the east and the Volga River in the west. This lowland is a wide flat steppe with separate hilly areas, salt lakes, sandy deposits along the rivers. The modern relief was formed at the end of the Paleogene from sandy-argillaceous and argillaceous deposits. The northern part of the lowland is located above sea level, the southern part - the flat steppe - lies below sea level. At the base of the hill, there are layers of rock salt, which have formed salt domes. Compared to the north hourThere are more saline and salty soils here. The Zhaiyk River and its tributaries - Derkol, Kushum, Karaozen, Saryozen, Shiderty, Zhympity, Kaldykayty, etc. flow through the lowland. In the summer, some of them dry up or disintegrate into stretches. In the lowlands there are lakes such as Shalkar, Balykty, Aralsor, Besoba, Inder.

The Caspian lowland was once the bottom of the sea. Back in the 70s of the XIX century, the basin of the Tentek salt lake, on which the Dossor and Makat oil wells were located, was also under water.

Water left the Kaydak and Komsomolets bays only in the 30s of the last century. The sea gradually receded, became shallow, and its bottom. drying up, turned into a lowland. This is how the modern type of relief, soil and vegetation cover of the lowland was formed. The continentality of the climate negatively affects the development of the flora. In the south of the Caspian lowland there is a sandy territory occupying 60 thousand km 2 - these are the sands of Naryn, Taisoigan, Kosdaulet, Mynteke, Bozanai, etc. Despite the youth of the territory, weathering turned it into a desert with sparse vegetation. Sandy hillocks alternate with shallow depressions.

Minerals. The main riches of the East European Plain are concentrated in the Caspian Lowland and are oil and gas. They accumulated in cracks in the earth's crust, which appeared as a result of the simultaneous uplift of salt domes and river deposits of the Permian-Triassic, Middle Jurassic, Cretaceous and Paleogene periods. Oil and gas wells have been drilled in Teniz, Karashyganak, Zhanazhol. Salt, chalk, building materials (sand, clay, etc.) are also mined.

Climate. The Kazakhstani part of the East European Plain is characterized by a dry continental climate. Winter is cold here, the average January temperature in the north is -15 * C, in the south is 8 * C. With the penetration of the Arctic air masses and the Siberian anticyclone, the temperature drops to -40 ° C. There are frosts in spring and autumn. Summer is hot, the average temperature in July is 22-24 * С. Dry winds often blow. Average annual precipitation in the north is 350 mm, in the south - 140 mm.


Rivers and lakes. The largest rivers in the Kazakh part of the East European Plain are Zhaiyk. Oyil, Zhem.

Zhaiyk (1082 km) originates from the Ural Mountains and flows into the Caspian Sea. The power source is melted snow water. In the Caspian lowland, the Zhaiyk becomes a flat river with a wide valley (300-500 m). In spring, during high water, the river overflows its banks, spreads widely for tens of kilometers, forming flooded floodplains and shallow lakes. Forests grow along the river, there are many flooded hay meadows.

Oyil(800 km) - one of the tributaries of the Zhaiyk - begins in the Ural Mountains. It feeds mainly on melted snow water. The waters of the river are used for irrigation of crops and meadows. In recent years, the river has become shallow in summer, often dries up, and its runoff does not reach the mouth of the Zhaiyk.

Press(712 km) begins in the northwest of Mu gal zhar and flows into the Caspian Sea. The main source of food is melted snow water. In recent years, the river has been shallow and dries up in the sands, not reaching the sea.

In the south of the East European Plain, there is the largest inland lake -Caspian Sea,which is also the largest closed lake in the world. The territory of Kazakhstan includes the northern and northeastern parts of the sea. The Caspian Sea feeds mainly on the waters of the rivers flowing into it, freezes in winter. The sea is rich in valuable species of commercial fish.

Remember the description of the Caspian Sea on the topic “Internalwaters of Kazakhstan ".

Natural areas. Flora and fauna. Natural complexes of the Kazakh part of the East European Plain are represented bysteppe, semi-desert and desert zones.Each zone is distinguished by its characteristic flora and fauna.

The plain territories of the Common Syrt and the Zhayik-Zhemsky plateau are feather-grass steppes. To the north of the Caspian there are wormwood steppes. There are manyfescue, feather grassand others. In lowlands and gullies growbirch, poplar, steppe acacia, meadowsweet.

In the northern part of the Caspian lowland and on the Zhayk-Zhemsky plateau, there is a semi-desert zone. The main soils of the semi-deserts are light chestnut. Growthe body cover consists of steppe grasses, wormwood and saltwort plants.

In the south of the Caspian lowland there is a desert zone. Saline and saline soils prevail here.

Vegetation presentedwormwood, barberry, swan, tamarisk.Wilds grow in the sandy desertscereals, feather grass. zhuzgun. teresken. sand acacia, black saxauland etc.

The fauna of the area is strongly influenced by the European fauna. In the north of the Caspian Sea, along with western views(woodchucks, black ferrets, raccoons, water voles)there are animals that are characteristic only of the Kazakh steppes. The Caspian Sea ranks first in the world in the production of commercial fish:sturgeon, stellate sturgeonetc. A valuable animal is consideredCaspian seal.On the banks of the rivers, in the tugai thickets, there are a lot of birds. In deserts, semi-deserts livegazelles, foxes, eared hedgehogs. jerboas, mice, larks.

The development of oil and gas fields has led to a complication of the environmental situation in the region. To solve this problem, it is necessary to improve clean technologies for the extraction of oil and gas, which will reduce the level of water and air pollution, organize the treatment of industrial wastewater and their reuse, increase the area of ​​forests planted in order to combat dry winds, increase the fertility of sown land, improve vegetation cover of pastures, etc.


5.Does the development of oil fields affect the ecological state of the territory? What measures should be taken to protect them and use them wisely?

In zoogeographic terms, almost the entire Russian Plain belongs to the European-Siberian zoogeographic subregion of the Palaearctic region. Only a small southeastern part of it - semi-desert and desert of the Caspian lowland - belongs to the Central Asian subregion. In accordance with the dominant landscapes on the Russian Plain, there are three main groups of animals: arctic (tundra), forest and steppe. Forest animals are most widespread: some of their species along the floodplain and island forests go to the Barents Sea in the north and to the Black Sea in the south.

As in the vegetation cover, a mixture of western and eastern species is observed in the fauna of the Russian Plain. The western border of the range is on the Russian Plain, for example, such eastern species as lemmings (hoofed and Ob) - representatives of the tundra, Siberian weasel and the chipmunk - inhabitants of the taiga, the marmot (bobak) and the reddish gopher inhabiting the open Steppe, the saiga antelope, found in Caspian semi-desert and desert, and many others. Western species gravitate towards mixed and deciduous forests. These will be: pine marten, mink, forest cat, wild boar, garden dormouse, forest dormouse, hazel dormouse, regiment, black polecat.

The fauna of the Russian Plain, more than any other part of the USSR, has been changed by human intervention. The modern ranges of many animals are not determined by natural factors, but by human activities - hunting or changes in the habitat of animals (for example, deforestation).

Fur-bearing animals and ungulates suffered the most, the former for their valuable fur, and the latter for their meat. River beaver, marten and squirrel were the main subjects of fur trade and trade among the Eastern Slavs inIX- XIIIcenturies Even then, a thousand years ago, the beaver was highly valued, and as a result of the unregulated hunting to the beginning XXcenturies, only a few individuals of this animal have survived.

Sable in Xviv. mined in the forests of Belarus and Lithuania. Several centuries ago, the brown bear was a common animal of the island forests of the forest-steppe and steppes.

To end Xviiiv. in the mixed and deciduous forests, the wild forest horse, the tarpan, lived. Another subspecies of tarpan was found in the steppes; in the 60s Xviiiv. it was described in detail by S. Gmelin.

In the west of mixed and deciduous forests, tur and bison were found. Tur, the ancestor of the gray Ukrainian breed of cattle, has long been completely exterminated, like the tarpan, and bison have survived to this day in very small numbers, taken under protection and are not found in the wild.

V XVII- Xviiicenturies the common animal of the steppes of the Russian Plain was the saiga antelope, which now lives only in semi-deserts and deserts. Caspian lowland. Wild hoofed animals were characterized by seasonal migrations. Huge herds of saigas in late spring, when the southern steppe began to burn out, moved north to the forest-rich forest-steppe, I am in the fall, under the influence of cold weather, they returned to the south again. According to P.S.Pallas v In 1768, under the influence of drought, numerous herds of saigas reached the Samara River in the Volga region and even moved further north. Back in the middle XIXc., according to E.A. Eversmann, there were mass migrations of saigas from the semi-deserts of Kazakhstan to the Ural valley in the north.

Other were the seasonal migrations of roe deer in the west of the forest-steppe. In the spring they headed south, from the forests to the steppe, and in the fall they moved back north into the forests.

As a result of centuries of human economic activity, the fauna of the Russian Plain was greatly depleted. In the Soviet years, a lot of work was done to enrich the animal world: hunting is strictly regulated, reserves for the protection of rare animals have been created, re-acclimatization and acclimatization of valuable species is being carried out.

Among the reserves located on the Russian Plain, the most interesting are: Belovezhskaya Pushcha, Voronezh, Askania-Nova, Astrakhansky. Bison are protected in the dense mixed forests of Belovezhskaya Pushcha (Western Belarus). For the first time in the world practice, beavers have been successfully bred in captivity in the Voronezh Reserve. From here, beavers are taken from the Voronezh Nature Reserve for re-acclimatization to various regions of the USSR. The Askania-Nova Steppe Reserve (south of the Ukrainian SSR) is known for its work on the acclimatization and hybridization of a wide variety of animals in Asia, Africa and even Australia. The reserve is administered by the All-Union Scientific Research Institute of Acclimatization and Hybridization of Animals named after V. MF Ivanov, whose employees bred valuable breeds of domestic sheep and pigs. Astrakhan Nature Reserve was created in the Volga delta to protect waterfowl and fish spawning grounds.

The experience of acclimatization on the Russian Plain of such valuable fur-bearing animals of North America as muskrat and mink, South American nutria, Ussuri raccoon and Far Eastern sika deer turned out to be successful.

Thanks to the protection, the number of elk has increased dramatically. In recent years, elk, marten, and some other forest animals have been vigorously moving southward, which is obviously facilitated by forest plantations carried out here on large areas. Elk appeared, for example, in the Stalingrad and Voronezh regions. In many forests, the previously knocked-out wild boar is also being restored (Voronezh, Lipetsk, Belgorod and other regions).

Despite the strong disturbance by man, the wild fauna of the Russian Plain retains its great national economic importance. Many animals are the subject of a trade (squirrel, fox, marten, ermine, mole, white hare and brown hare, from birds - wood grouse, hazel grouse and many others).

- A source-

Milkov, F.N. Physical geography of the USSR / F.N. Milkov [and others]. - M .: State publishing house of geographical literature, 1958.- 351 p.

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For centuries the Russian plain served as a territory connecting the western and eastern civilizations by trade routes. Historically, two lively trade arteries have run through these lands. The first is known as “the way from the Varangians to the Greeks”. According to him, as is known from school history, medieval trade in goods of the peoples of the East and Russia with the states of Western Europe was carried out.

The second was the route along the Volga, which made it possible to transport goods by ships to Southern Europe from China, India and Central Asia and in the opposite direction. The first Russian cities were built along the trade routes - Kiev, Smolensk, Rostov. Veliky Novgorod became the northern gateway of the route from the "Varangians", protecting the safety of trade.

Now the Russian Plain is still a territory of strategic importance. The capital of the country and the largest cities are located on its lands. The most important administrative centers for the life of the state are concentrated here.

Geographical location of the plain

The East European Plain, or Russian, occupies territories in the east of Europe. In Russia, these are its extreme western lands. In the northwest and west, it is bounded by the Scandinavian Mountains, the Barents and White Seas, the Baltic coast and the Vistula River. In the east and southeast, it is adjacent to the Ural Mountains and the Caucasus. In the south, the plain is bounded by the shores of the Black, Azov and Caspian Seas.

Features of the relief and landscape

The East European Plain is represented by a gentle flat relief, formed as a result of faults in tectonic rocks. On the basis of relief features, the massif can be divided into three bands: central, southern and northern. The center of the plain consists of extensive highlands and lowlands alternating with each other. The north and south are mostly lowlands with rare low elevations.

Although the relief is formed in a tectonic manner and minor tremors are possible on the territory, there are no tangible earthquakes here.

Natural areas and regions

(The plain has planes with characteristic smooth gradients)

The East European Plain includes all natural zones found on the territory of Russia:

  • Tundra and forest-tundra are represented by the nature of the north of the Kola Peninsula and occupy a small part of the territory, slightly expanding to the east. The vegetation of the tundra, namely, shrubs, mosses and lichens, is replaced by birch forests of the forest-tundra.
  • Taiga, with its pine and spruce forests, occupies the north and center of the plain. On the borders with mixed deciduous forests, the places are often swampy. Typical Eastern European landscape - coniferous and mixed forests and swamps are replaced by small rivers and lakes.
  • In the forest-steppe zone, you can see alternating hills and lowlands. This zone is characterized by oak and ash forests. You can often find birch and aspen forests.
  • The steppe is represented by valleys, where oak forests and groves, alder and elm forests grow near the river banks, and tulips and sage bloom in the fields.
  • Semi-deserts and deserts are located on the Caspian lowland, where the climate is harsh and the soil is saline, but even there you can find vegetation in the form of various varieties of cacti, wormwood and plants that adapt well to a sharp change in daily temperatures.

Rivers and lakes plains

(A river on the flat terrain of the Ryazan region)

The rivers of the "Russian valley" are majestic and slowly carry their waters in one of two directions - to the north or south, to the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, or to the southern inland seas of the mainland. The rivers of the northern direction flow into the Barents, White or Baltic Seas. Rivers of the southern direction - to the Black, Azov or Caspian Seas. The largest river in Europe, the Volga, also “flows lazily” through the lands of the East European Plain.

The Russian plain is the kingdom of natural water in all its manifestations. The glacier, which passed through the plain thousands of years ago, formed many lakes on its territory. There are especially many of them in Karelia. The consequences of the presence of the glacier were the emergence in the North-West of such large lakes as Ladoga, Onega, Pskov-Peipsi reservoir.

Under the earth in the localization of the Russian Plain, artesian water reserves are stored in the amount of three underground basins of huge volumes and many located at a shallower depth.

Climate of the East European Plain

(Flat terrain with small drops near Pskov)

The Atlantic dictates the weather regime on the Russian Plain. Western winds, air masses that move moisture, make summer on the plain warm and humid, winter cold and windy. In the cold season, winds from the Atlantic bring about ten cyclones, contributing to changeable heat and cold. But the air masses from the Arctic Ocean also tend to the plain.

Therefore, the climate becomes continental only in the interior of the massif, closer to the south and southeast. The East European Plain has two climatic zones - subarctic and temperate, increasing continentality to the east.

The Russian, or East European, plain is the second largest (after the Amazonian) plain of the Earth. Most of it is located within Russia. The length of the plain from north to south is more than 2500 km, from west to east - about 1000 km.

Features of nature. At the base of the East European Plain lies the ancient Precambrian Russian Platform, which determines the main feature of the relief - flatness. The folded foundation lies at different depths and comes to the surface within the plain only on the Kola Peninsula and in Karelia (Baltic shield). In the rest of its territory, the basement is covered by a sedimentary cover of varying thickness. To the south and east of the shield, one can distinguish its "underground" slopes and the Moscow depression (more than 4 km deep), bounded in the east by the Timan ridge.

The irregularities of the crystalline basement determine the location of the largest highlands and lowlands. The Central Russian Upland and the Timan Ridge are confined to the uplifts of the basement. Depressions correspond to the lowlands - Caspian and Pechora.

The varied and picturesque relief of the Russian Plain was formed under the influence of external forces, and above all of the Quaternary glaciation. Glaciers were advancing on the Russian Plain from the Scandinavian Peninsula and from the Urals. Traces of glacial activity were manifested everywhere in different ways. At first, the glacier "plowed out" 11-shaped valleys on its way and expanded tectonic depressions; polished rocks, forming the relief of "ram's foreheads". Narrow, winding, long and deep bays, protruding far into the land on the Kola Peninsula, are the result of the "plowing" ice activity.

At the edge of the glacier, along with rubble and boulders, clay, loam and sandy loam were deposited. Therefore, in the northwest of the plain, a hilly-moraine relief predominates, as if superimposed on the protrusions and depressions of the ancient relief; for example, the Valdai Upland, reaching a height of 343 m, has at its base the rocks of the Carboniferous period, on which the glacier deposited moraine material.

During the retreat of the glacier, huge dammed lakes formed in these areas: Ilmen, Chudskoe, Pskovskoe. Along the southern boundary of the glaciation, melted glacial waters deposited a mass of sandy material. Flat or slightly concave sandy lowlands have developed here. The erosional relief prevails in the southern part of the plain. The Valdai, Central Russian, Volga Uplands are especially strongly dissected by ravines and ravines. Lowlands are located between them, along which such large rivers as the Volga, Dnepr, Don flow.

Despite the fact that, with the exception of the Far North, the entire territory of the Russian Plain is located in a temperate climatic zone, the climate here is diverse. The continentality of the climate grows towards the southeast. The Russian plain is influenced by the western transport of air masses and cyclones coming from the Atlantic, and receives the largest amount of precipitation compared to other plains in Russia. The abundance of precipitation in the north-west of the plain contributes to the widespread occurrence of swamps here, and the abundance of rivers and lakes.

The absence of any obstacles in the path of the Arctic air masses leads to the fact that they penetrate far to the south. In spring and autumn, the arrival of Arctic air is associated with a sharp drop in temperature and freezing temperatures. Along with the Arctic air masses, polar masses from the northeast and tropical masses from the south enter the plain (droughts and dry winds in the southern and central regions are associated with the latter).

Many rivers and rivulets flow along the Russian Plain. The most abundant and longest river on the Russian Plain and in Europe is the Volga. The largest rivers are the Dnieper, Don, Severnaya Dvina, Pechora, Kama - the largest tributary of the Volga.

The most characteristic feature of the nature of the Russian Plain is the well-pronounced zoning of its landscapes. In the Far North, on the cold, in summer, highly waterlogged coasts of the Arctic Ocean, there is a tundra zone with thin and nutrient-poor tundra gley or humus-peaty soils,

with the predominance of moss-lichen and shrub plant communities. To the south, near the Arctic Circle, first in the river valleys, and then along the interfluves, forest-tundras appear.

Forest landscapes prevail in the middle zone of the Russian Plain. In the north, it is a dark coniferous taiga on podzolic, often swampy soils, in the south - mixed, and then broad-leaved forests of oak, linden and maple. Further south, they are replaced by forest-steppe and steppe with fertile, mainly chernozemic soils and herbaceous vegetation. In the extreme southeast, in the Caspian lowland, under the influence of a dry climate, semi-deserts with chestnut soils and even deserts with gray soils, salt marshes and salt licks were formed. The vegetation of these places has pronounced features of aridity.

Natural resources. The long geological history of the ancient platform, which lies at the base of the plain, predetermined the richness of its plain in various minerals. The crystalline basement and sedimentary cover of the platform contain reserves of minerals that are important not only for our entire country, but also for the world. First of all, these are the rich iron ore deposits of the Kursk Magnetic Anomaly (KMA). The sedimentary cover of the platform is associated with deposits of stone (Vorkuta) and brown coal - the Moscow region basin and oil - the Ural-Vyatka, Timan-Pechora and Caspian basins. Oil shale is mined in the Leningrad region and in the Samara region on the Volga. Ore minerals are also known in sedimentary rocks: brown iron ores near Lipetsk, aluminum ores (bauxites) near Tikhvin. Building materials (sand, gravel, clay, limestone) are found almost everywhere. Deposits of apatite-nepheline ores and fine building granites are associated with outcrops of crystalline Precambrian rocks of the Baltic Shield on the Kola Peninsula and in Karelia. In the Volga region, deposits of table salt (lakes Elton and Baskunchak) and potassium salts in the Kama Cis-Urals have long been known. Diamonds were discovered relatively recently in the Arkhangelsk region. In the Volga region and the Moscow region, valuable raw materials for the chemical industry are mined - phosphorites.

The northwestern and central regions of the Russian Plain are most well supplied with water resources. The abundance of lakes and high-water rivers is not only fresh water and hydropower reserves, but also cheap transport routes, and fisheries, and recreation sites. The dense river network of the plain, the location of watersheds on low flat elevations are favorable for the construction of canals, of which there are so many on the Russian Plain. Thanks to the system of modern canals - Volga-Baltic, White-Baltic and Volga-Don, as well as the Moscow-Volga canal, Moscow, located on a relatively small river Moscow and relatively far from the seas, has become a port of five seas.

The agro-climatic resources of the plain are of great value. The predominant part of the Russian Plain receives enough heat and moisture for the cultivation of many agricultural crops. In the north of the forest zone, fiber flax is grown, a crop that requires cool, cloudy and humid summers, rye and oats. The middle strip of the plain and the southern regions are distinguished by fertile soils: sod-podzolic chernozems, gray forest and chestnut soils. The plowing of the soil is facilitated by the conditions of the calm flat terrain, which makes it possible to cut the fields in the form of large tracts, easily accessible for machine cultivation. In the middle lane, mainly grain and fodder crops are cultivated, to the south - grain and industrial crops (sugar beets, sunflowers), horticulture and melon growing are developed. The famous Astrakhan watermelons are known and loved by everyone.

The forest resources of the plain are both taiga and mixed forests, rich in valuable timber, fur-bearing game animals, mushrooms, berries, and medicinal plants.

The recreational resources of the plain are varied, but not yet very well developed. The rivers and lakes of Karelia, its white nights, the museum of wooden architecture in Kizhi, the magnificent Solovetsky monastery, the brooding Valaam attract tourists. Ladoga and Onega lakes, Valdai and Seliger, the legendary Ilmen, the Volga with Zhiguli and the Astrakhan delta, ancient Russian cities that are part of the Golden Ring of Russia - this is not a complete list of areas developed for tourism and recreation.

Problems of the rational use of natural resources. The Russian plain is distinguished by a variety of natural resources, favorable conditions for life, therefore, it has the highest population density in Russia, the largest number of large cities with highly developed industries.

At present, more and more actively work is underway to reclaim lands, that is, to return the territories to their original appearance, to bring the devastated landscape into a productive state. A lot of work is being done in the vicinity of large cities to improve the cultural landscape. Green belts and forest parks are being created, suburban water basins - picturesque reservoirs that are used as recreation areas.

In large industrial cities, more and more attention is paid to measures to purify water and air from industrial emissions, to combat dust and noise. The environmental control over vehicles, including private cars, which is becoming more and more numerous, has been strengthened and toughened.

The Russian plain is one of the largest plains on the planet. It is located in the eastern part of Europe, therefore its second name is the East European Plain. Since most of it is located on the territory of the Russian Federation, it is also called the Russian Plain. Its length from north to south is more than 2.5 thousand kilometers.

The relief of the Russian plain

This plain is dominated by a gentle flat relief. There are many natural resources of Russia here. Hilly areas on the Russian Plain were formed as a result of faults. The height of some hills reaches 1000 meters.

The height of the Russian Plain is approximately 170 meters above sea level, but there are some areas that are 30 meters below sea level. As a result of the passage of the glacier, many lakes, valleys arose in this area, some tectonic depressions expanded.

Rivers

The rivers flowing along the East European Plain belong to the basins of two oceans: the Arctic and Atlantic, while others flow into the Caspian Sea and are not connected with the world's oceans. The longest river, the Volga, flows along this plain.

Natural areas

On the Russian Plain, there are all types of natural zones, as on the territory of Russia. There are no earthquakes or volcanic eruptions in this area. Tremors are quite possible, but they are not harmful.

The most dangerous natural phenomena in the East European Plain are tornadoes and floods. The main environmental problem is the pollution of soil and atmosphere with industrial waste. there are many industrial enterprises in this area.

Flora and fauna of the Russian Plain

On the Russian Plain, there are three main groups of animals: arctic, forest and steppe. Forest animals are more common. Eastern species - lemmings (tundra); chipmunk (taiga); marmots and ground squirrels (steppes); saiga antelope (Caspian deserts and semi-deserts). Western species - pine marten, mink, forest cat, wild boar, garden dormouse, forest dormouse, hazel dormouse, black polecat (mixed and broad-leaved forests).

The fauna of the East European Plain is larger than any other part of Russia. Due to hunting and changes in the habitat of animals, many fur-bearing animals have suffered because of their valuable fur, and ungulates because of their meat. River beaver and squirrel were trade items among the Eastern Slavs.

Almost until the 19th century, the wild forest horse, the tarpan, lived in mixed and deciduous forests. Bison are protected in the reserve of Belovezhskaya Pushcha, and beavers have been successfully raised in the Voronezh reserve. A variety of animals from Africa, Asia and Australia live in the Askania-Nova steppe reserve.

In the Voronezh regions, an elk appeared and a previously destroyed wild boar revived. Astrakhan Nature Reserve was created in the Volga delta to protect waterfowl. Despite the negative influence of man, the fauna of the Russian Plain is still great.