Characteristics of the natural conditions of Western Siberia. Natural conditions and resources
Natural conditions usually mean a complex of factors such as the geographical location of an area, climate, topography, natural resources, flora and fauna, which exist independently of human activity. has a significant impact on people's activities and lifestyles.
Due to the large extent and predominance of the temperate climate zone, a wide range of natural conditions are found on the territory of Russia. The need for a special diet, clothing, infrastructure and housing depends on them. A quarter of the country's land is unsuitable for human habitation. The Volga and Chernozem regions are considered the most favorable. Below we consider the main components of the geographical environment that shape the natural conditions of Russia.
Climate
Due to the length of the territory, it is diverse. Basically, the country's territory lies at a moderate latitude. The seasons follow each other rhythmically. Winter is colder than in , summer is warm. In cold times, thaws often occur, and precipitation falls in the summer in the form of rain. Continental climate dominates in the west of Siberia, sharply continental - in the territory Central Siberia. The Far East is influenced by the monsoon climate.
The lands near the Arctic Ocean are under the rule of the Arctic climate zone. Winter temperatures drops to -30°C. Heat deficiency and polar nights make this area unsuitable for economic activity. The subarctic belt is formed in the north. Within its borders lie the territories of the Russian and West Siberian Plains. Due to the swampiness, it is difficult to conduct economic activities here. The Black Sea coast has a subtropical climate. It is relatively warm here even in winter. Agriculture is well developed here.
Due to the flat terrain of the European part of the country, winds from the north penetrate the entire plain. Currents Atlantic Ocean bring warmth to . Half of Russia feels the influence of the Atlantic. In winter, warm winds from the south mitigate negative temperatures. They also bring precipitation with them. Without warm air coming from the Atlantic, the Russian climate would be much harsher.
Mountain ranges Far East do not allow Pacific air to penetrate deep into the continent. This is a unique region with a monsoon climate. Summer cyclones bring persistent rains. Winds rage in winter in coastal regions. In Siberia there are practically none, air humidity is low, so cold weather is more easily tolerated. The densely populated regions of the country are the center, southern regions and regions of Western Siberia. The average winter here is 60 days.
Relief and geology
The contours of a country's lands significantly influence people's living conditions. Russia is located on several plates at once, differing in age from each other. The European part lies on the Russian Platform, which is billions of years old. It is dominated by flat land. The Siberian platform, on which the northeast of the country lies, is much older. The West Siberian Platform is a relatively young tectonic formation. It is pressed on both sides by neighboring plates, so there are many mountain ranges here.
The relief of the south of the country was formed under the influence of the wind. The mountains have been affected by glaciers over time. The coastal plains changed shape under the influence of the tides. Centuries-old floods have formed river valleys, ravines and ravines. They are widespread everywhere.
Three quarters of the country's lands are located on. The largest of them, East European, occupies 4 million km². Here the lowlands gradually give way to hills. Rarely do relief elevations exceed 500 m. From the Ural ranges in the east begins the West Siberian Plain, with an area of 2.6 million km². The third largest area, the Central Siberian Plateau, occupies a little more than 3 million km².
High mountain ranges predominate in the southern and eastern regions. Mount Elbrus has a height of 5642 m and is the highest point in the country. The Altai ranges are located between China, Mongolia, Russia and Kazakhstan. The maximum height is 2000 m. The Urals are considered to be the natural border between and. The highest point of the complex is Mount Nagornaya, 1895 m. There are many mineral deposits in the Ural Mountains. The easternmost are the hills of Kamchatka, which still periodically erupt lava.
There are large islands and archipelagos in all of them. The New Siberian Islands, Franz Josef Land, Severnaya Zemlya and Wrangel Island are distinguished by mountainous terrain. to the east is Sakhalin. Not far from Kamchatka are the Commander Islands. The Kuril Islands separate the Sea of Okhotsk and the Pacific Ocean. Large islands exist on. These include the Valaam and Solovetsky Islands, Olkhon.
Natural resources
Russia has a quarter of the world's reserves. Most of them grow in the Far East and Siberia. On the territory of Europe, green areas remained along. The use of wood is poorly developed, and many trees are lost during transportation.
Forests provide people with animals, mushrooms and berries. People actively collect plants that are popular in folk medicine. A hunt for fur-bearing animals is underway. Species diversity of fish is observed in all the seas washing the country. Large inland reservoirs are generous with their catch.
Thanks to its diverse tectonic structure, the country is rich in mineral resources. More often, deposits are located in folded relief forms. The Kola and the lands of the Kursk magnetic anomaly are the main sources of ores. Cuprous sandstones, polymetals and iron ores occur in the Urals and Trans-Baikal Territory. Rich springs natural gas and oil are located in the Stavropol region, Tatarstan and Bashkortostan. These non-renewable resources lie deep in the West Siberian Platform. Coal is mined in the depths of the East European Valley.
The country has so many mineral resources that they can fully satisfy the needs of the population. Expensive ones are sold on world markets, but sales volumes are gradually declining. State policy is aimed at implementing, rather than conserving, its own resources. The supply of some minerals is measured in just a few decades.
Forests
Forests occupy slightly less than half of the state's land. There are more of them in the Asian region. grows in the temperate climate zone. The forests are represented by evergreen trees: spruce, fir, pine. Larch is widespread throughout the taiga.
Broad-leaved and mixed forests are located just to the south. These include maple, elm, beech, oak, and linden. People destroyed most of the green zone for the sake of grazing livestock and building settlements. Tree harvesting is carried out in the Arkhangelsk, Perm, Tomsk, Irkutsk, and Amur regions.
A strip of small-leaved forests stretches from Europe to the Far East. The main representatives of vegetation are alder and birch. They contribute to the restoration of green areas.
All forests are federal property. The state can transfer them for rent or free-of-charge temporary use. There are protective, reserve and operational forests. In areas with high population density, forests are completely developed.
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Western Siberia is the greatest plain of Eurasia with huge areas of swamps, oil and gas reserves of world importance; Russia's main fuel base.
The region occupies the territories of the West Siberian Lowland and the mountainous regions of Altai, Kuznetsk Alatau and Salair Ridge.
How is the nature of Western Siberia different?
In formation modern relief The West Siberian Lowland was played by repeated advances of the sea and glaciers, which deposited a thick layer of sedimentary rocks. Therefore, the relief is leveled. A system of moraine hills, the Siberian Uvaly, with a maximum height of 286 m, stretches across Western Siberia from the Ob to the Yenisei in a latitudinal direction of 900 km.
Rivers flow very slowly along this slightly inclined surface of the huge West Siberian “bowl”. There are over 2 thousand of them. Distinctive feature Siberian rivers are characterized by their shallow, but extremely wide valleys with numerous channels and oxbow lakes. In spring, rivers overflow for many kilometers around. Western Siberia accounts for a quarter of the flow of Russian rivers. Large rivers have great importance for shipping. In the arid southern part of Western Siberia, on the border with Kazakhstan, river water used for irrigation.
The climate of Western Siberia is characterized by continental features, which intensify in the south of the plain. In winter, windless, sunny, frosty weather prevails. In the summer, when the arctic meets air masses With heated southern air, cyclones occur, accompanied by precipitation. The hot Western Siberian summer is very difficult to endure due to high humidity and countless hordes of midges: mosquitoes, midges and horse flies.
The kingdom of swamps and taiga of Western Siberia is home to countless, incalculable clouds of all kinds of blood-sucking insects. And here, perhaps, with full right to call the owner of the taiga not a bear, wolverine or sable, but an ordinary mosquito. Special accounting has established that in places where there are a lot of midges, over a thousand mosquitoes, more than 2 thousand midges, attack a person within 3 minutes!
D. Utenkov. Discovery of Siberia
What natural and economic zones are represented in the area?
The enormous extent in the meridional direction has led to a clear manifestation of latitudinal zoning in the nature of Western Siberia.
Rice. 141. Natural areas of Western Siberia
There are only zones of broad-leaved and mixed broad-leaved-coniferous forests here.
The far north of Western Siberia (the Yamal, Tazovsky and Gydansky peninsulas) is occupied by the tundra zone.
Forest-tundra is a larch and birch forest, to which pine and cedar are added at the southern border. Forest areas in forest-tundras are confined to river valleys, which are the most drained and warm, since river water brings heat here from the south. The main reindeer pastures are concentrated in the tundra and forest-tundra.
Due to the widespread occurrence of swamps in the forest zone of Western Siberia, it is called the forest-swamp zone. Flat undrained areas are occupied by swamps, and taiga forests themselves occupy mainly the slopes of river valleys, sloping and elevated areas of interfluves. The forests of Western Siberia constitute its most important natural resource However, local wood grown in wetlands is generally of poor quality.
Almost 40% of the region's territory is occupied by swamps. The Vasyugan Plain (Tomsk region), located between the Ob and Irtysh rivers, is one giant impenetrable swamp, stretching for many hundreds of kilometers.
High swampiness complicates the development of the richest resources of this region and complicates the construction of roads and settlements. In many areas, travel by land is only possible in winter, when the swamps freeze. At the same time, Western Siberian swamps have countless reserves of peat, which can be used as chemical raw materials, fuel, organic fertilizer, bedding material in livestock farming.
The extreme south of Western Siberia is a steppe zone with plowed chernozem and chestnut soils. Vast tracts of former virgin lands are occupied primarily by fields of spring wheat.
The floodplain meadows of the largest West Siberian rivers - the most important pasture and hayfields in the region - are of especially high value. The meadows of the Barabinsky forest-steppe (Novosibirsk region) are the most important oil production area in Western Siberia.
How can we explain that Western Siberia is concentrated largest deposits oil and gas?
The West Siberian Lowland formed on the West Siberian Plate with a deeply depressed folded Paleozoic basement. It contains a thick, almost six-kilometer thick layer of “layer cake”, consisting of sedimentary rocks represented by clays, sandstones and sands of marine and continental origin.
The country's largest oil and natural gas deposits (West Siberian oil and gas region) are associated with the sedimentary cover of the West Siberian Plain. More than 500 deposits of these important combustible minerals have been identified here, containing more than 60% of Russian oil reserves and about 90% of natural gas. The most important oil fields are concentrated in the Khanty-Mansiysk (Samotlorskoye, Megionskoye, Salymskoye, Mamontovskoye, Ust-Balykskoye and others), and natural gas fields are concentrated in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug (the world's largest Urengoyskoye and Yamburgskoye fields, as well as Medvezhye near the city of Nadym , Zapolyarnoe, etc.). Intensive oil production and an ever-expanding web of pipelines have already caused irreparable harm natural complexes Western Siberia: oil “spills” during production and transportation (pipes laid directly on the surface of the earth burst in winter) resulted in ruined reindeer pastures and forest lands, dead fish in tundra and taiga rivers and lakes.
Intensive industrial development natural resources Western Siberia caused serious damage not only to nature, but also to indigenous peoples (Nenets, Khanty, Mansi and others), depriving them of a significant part of their hunting and fishing grounds. In order to protect the traditional types of economic activity and culture of these peoples, in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug, for example, special territories of priority environmental management were allocated - ancestral lands.
conclusions
The greatest plain in the world, the West Siberian Lowland has enormous resources: forest, mineral, agroclimatic, soil and others. These riches are the basis for the development of the region's economy; strategic reserve of our country.
Questions and tasks
- Lowland is also a plain. Using a physical map, provide evidence that the topography of Western Siberia would be correctly called flat. What events in geological history explain the structure of its relief?
- Show on the map the main natural zones of Western Siberia. What natural resources do they bestow on humans? How are these resources used?
- Most of Western Siberia is characterized by an abundance surface waters, while the south suffers from their lack. Do you think it is necessary to eliminate this imbalance?
- The south of Western Siberia is the absolute opposite of its central and northern parts. Nevertheless, find similarities and determine their mutual influence.
To understand the history of the population of a particular region, one must have a clear understanding of its inherent natural and climatic conditions. About this back in the 18th century. wrote the Russian scientist I.N. Boltin: “At every step of a historian who does not have geography in his hands, there is a stumbling block” (according to L.N. Gumilyov). Since our manual is devoted to the archeology of the West Siberian Plain, we will briefly characterize the natural and climatic features of this region.
GEOGRAPHICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Western Siberia occupies a huge area - about 3.5 million km2. The boundaries of the studied region are: the Trans-Urals in the west, the Yenisei current in the east, the northern spurs of Altai in the south and the coast of the Arctic Ocean in the north.
The study area makes up the main part of the West Siberian Plain, passing in the south into the foothills of Altai and Kuznetsk Alatau. Western Siberia occupies the area of the Ob Basin, which is the largest in Eurasia. Here is the largest swamp system in the world - the Vasyugan swamps (800 x 350 km). Western Siberia is considered one of the most swampy regions on Earth.
One of the features of Western Siberia is the abundance of lakes (several thousand). There are more than three thousand of them in Baraba alone. Among the lakes there are both very small and large (for example, Lake Chany has an area of about 3 thousand km2). Most of them (especially flowing ones) are rich in fish. The lakes of Western Siberia are characterized by periodic drying and renewal of the water level. This phenomenon is not directly related to an increase or decrease in precipitation, but depends on the groundwater level. Several years may pass between large amounts of rainfall and lakes rising. Changes occur on average every 25 to 40 years. M.F. Kosarev in his book “Western Siberia in Antiquity” provides the following data. In the vicinity of one of the villages of the Kurgan district, before 1854 there were only 6 lakes, and after 1854 there were 30 of them. In the Chistoozernaya and Loktinskaya volosts there were none at all, and after 1884 in the Loktinskaya volost alone there were about 50 of them. High water lasted for several years (until about 1860), then drying out began. In 1883 - 1886 new flooding occurred.
Interestingly, soon after the lakes appear, fish are found in them. IN in some cases water appears suddenly. A.K. Heine described the events that took place in the north of what is now the Kustanai region: “With a crash and thunder, like a cannon, springs of excellent water opened between two rivers, flowing very high. Water began to fill the space between the rivers... In a very short time, a vast lake was formed... It is strange that in a short time after the lake was formed, a lot of fish appeared there.” Western Siberia is equally rich in its developed river system. The Ob River crosses it along its entire length from south to north. A large tributary of the Ob, the Irtysh, its tributary, the Tobol, as well as numerous small rivers form the characteristics of the region. The Ob and Irtysh have a wide floodplain with water meadows rich in herbs. Its width increases as you move north. Various bodies of water are concentrated in the floodplain: lakes, oxbow lakes, channels, small rivers. They are very rich in fish, as they contain sufficient quantities of the organisms that they feed on. Thanks to the developed floodplain, the fish catch in the Ob basin, according to modern data, is 8-10 times higher than in the Yenisei and Lena basins. Birds, especially waterfowl, also show a strong connection with the floodplain.
Thus, the rivers and their floodplains provided the population with a rich fish catch and hunting catch. Hunting for moulting game was especially effective, because During molting, the bird cannot fly. Currently, such hunting is prohibited, but in ancient times, with a small population, the damage to nature was minimal.
Based on the characteristics of the landscape, the Ob region can be divided into three regions. The Upper Ob region is a steppe and forest-steppe region from the confluence of the Biya and Katun rivers to the mouth of the river. Tomi.
The Middle Ob region is a taiga massif from the mouth of the Tom to the mouth of the Irtysh. To the north of it is the Lower Ob region, which occupies the taiga, forest-tundra and tundra zones. The Irtysh River crosses the steppe, forest-steppe and taiga zones and has a significant number of tributaries. The left bank tributaries of the Irtysh include such large rivers as Ishim, Tobol and Konda. River pool Kondy is called the Kandinskaya Lowland. It should be noted that the steppe zone in Western Siberia occupies only a narrow strip in the south. Thus, all zones are, as it were, strung on one thread. This was of great importance for the interaction of the population in the process of historical development.
For river reservoirs flowing in swampy areas, dead water is typical (depletion of water in oxygen due to the entry of swamp waters into rivers). Therefore, in the Middle Ob region, where rivers flow into the Ob and take their waters in swamps, there is little fish. But she's in large quantities found in floodplain sor lakes (temporary, occurring after the water recedes).
CLIMATIC CHARACTERISTICS
The climate of Western Siberia is harsh and sharply continental. The plain is open to cold arctic air from the north in winter and hot winds from Kazakhstan and Central Asia in summer. The very location of the plain (mainly in temperate latitudes) reduces the number solar heat and determines the severity of the climate. The Ural Mountains, despite their small height, change the speed and direction of moist Atlantic winds from the west.
Throughout history, the climate has changed periodically. At present, no one doubts the hypothesis put forward by O. Petterson, and supplemented and refined for the northern hemisphere by paleoclimatologist A.V. Shnitnikov. According to it, there are certain climatic rhythms associated with the influence of the tidal forces of the Moon, Sun and planets on the Earth solar system. After an equal number of years, the Earth, Moon and Sun find themselves aligned in one straight line, which causes certain changes in the Earth’s atmosphere and hydrosphere. According to the Shnitnikov-Petterson theory, these rhythms can be determined with sufficient accuracy for post-glacial time. The entire cycle lasts approximately 1850 years. It consists of phases of wetness (300 - 500 years), transition period (700 - 800 years) and dryness (600 - 800 years). Archaeological materials have confirmed the existence of such phases and even made it possible to date them. Thus, the period of humidity covered the second half of the 3rd - beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. This was followed by a period of dryness. The second humidification occurred in the 1st millennium BC. e. Climate of the 1st millennium AD characterized by low humidity. However, within this period there were dry and wet centuries. Judging by Chinese chronicles, II, III and VIII centuries. were wet, and the 4th, 6th and 7th centuries. - arid. The 10th and 11th centuries turned out to be especially dry. Since the 14th century Active drying out of the steppes began. Small cycles of 35 years (moistening and drying out of lakes) fit well into the longer Shnitnikov-Peterson cycles, because existed in parallel.
Climatic changes made certain adjustments to the boundaries of zones, especially between the forest-steppe and taiga. During wet phases, there is some advance of the taiga to the south, and during dry phases, the steppe spreads to the north. These changes occurred in specific areas. Thus, during the dry period, forest fires often occurred. To restore areas coniferous forest it takes about 90 years. During this period, forest-steppe areas may become wedged to the north. During wet periods, there is an increase in groundwater and an increase in swampiness in the taiga, as a result of which the area occupied by coniferous forests decreases.
NATURAL RESOURCES
Let us dwell on those natural resources of Western Siberia that could have been in demand by man in ancient times and the Middle Ages. Some modern wealth, such as oil and gas, were not used in the economy. For the life of the population, waters rich in fish and waterfowl, which are especially abundant in the taiga zone, were of great importance. One of the main resources of these places was the forest. To the south there was a forest-steppe with coniferous and birch forests stretching along the banks of the Ob and in the lower reaches of its tributaries. These Priob forests, like the ribbon forests located along the old riverbeds of the Praobi, connecting with the Irtysh, are relict forests. The microclimatic conditions in them differ from the surrounding forest-steppe and steppe due to their high humidity.
Outside the pine forests stretch areas of steppe and ordinary forest-steppe with stripes and patches of deciduous forest, which provided man with fuel, construction material and food (game, gathering products). In the forests there are various objects of hunting: large animals (elk, deer) and small fur-bearing game (especially abundant in the taiga).
Raw material reserves were not rich. The stone raw materials needed to make tools were not available best quality. Therefore, it was necessary either to use coastal pebble rocks, or to obtain good raw materials from the Urals (jasper), Angara-Baikal region (jade), Kazakhstan, Altai and Kuznetsk Alatau (high-quality flint and other rocks).
Raw materials for bronze metallurgy were brought from mountainous regions Southern Urals(copper pyrite), Kuznetsk Alatau (copper) and Altai (Kolbinsky tin mines). To obtain iron, ores containing small amounts of this metal were used. As studies by N.M. have shown. Zinyakov, the largest reserves of iron ore (for example, the West Siberian iron ore basin) in ancient times and the Middle Ages remained inaccessible for mining. It was easier to obtain iron from thin swamp ores, scattered deposits of brown iron ores, etc. The percentage of iron in them is low, but these ores are widespread and easy to mine.
Western Siberia has a sufficient amount of clay and loam, which to this day meet the needs of ceramic production. The soil cover is quite fertile.
NATURE AND DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIETY
All of the listed natural and climatic conditions influenced the development of the economy of the population living here. First of all, it should be noted favorable conditions to engage in appropriative farming. Until the beginning of the Bronze Age, hunting and fishing flourished throughout Western Siberia. Later, with the advent of cattle breeding and agriculture, two regions emerged: the southern one with a producing economy and the northern one with an appropriating economy.
Natural and climatic conditions did not allow productive cattle breeding (reindeer husbandry developed only in the 16th century) and agriculture in the north. Here and at the present time, the local population continues to conduct appropriative farming. In the contact zone (the northern part of the forest-steppe and the southern zone of the taiga), a diversified economy was developed, where farming and cattle breeding were, to one degree or another, combined with hunting and fishing.
The natural conditions of the Ob region provided the basis for dividing the population into those who were engaged in an appropriating economy and those whose economy was producing. The border ran approximately between the Middle and Upper Ob, at the latitude of the mouth of the river. Tomi.
In the Middle Ob region, the main economic base was the floodplain (fish and waterfowl) and the taiga (upland game, furs, wild ungulates, etc.). The floods made it impossible to farm in the floodplain. On the terraces there was little land free from forest, and the temperature was not favorable for farming. In the south of the Middle Ob region, horse breeding could be productive (horses are able to get food from under the snow). Thus, in the Middle Ob region the main occupations were hunting and fishing; only in the south did cattle breeding and agriculture partially take root.
In the Upper Ob region, the basis for the development of the economy was a floodplain with rich forbs, ribbons of mixed forest and treeless areas on terraces. Temperature and landscape conditions made it possible to engage in complex farming with an emphasis on its producing sectors. The northernmost section of the Upper Ob region, where it was possible to effectively engage in farming, the lower reaches of the river. Tomi. By the way, this region is currently the main grain base of the Tomsk region. To the north, grain is not produced on such a scale.
Climate fluctuations led to significant changes in the life of society. The population was forced to either change their occupations or at least partially migrate to a new territory.
Large positive role played by the fact that all of the listed zones were connected by a single transport system, going far beyond the borders of Western Siberia. This contributed to active contacts between different regions Siberia, Altai, Kazakhstan and Central Asia. Through them, metal mirrors from China, Iran and Central Asia penetrated into Western Siberia. Chinese, Khorezmian and Iranian coins, toreutics products from Byzantium and other countries appeared. Fur came from the forested areas of the north to the south. From the famous Silk Road Separate branches went to Western Siberia, along which caravan trade was carried out. It is no coincidence that in the forest-steppe monuments of the Early Iron Age, the bones of camels were discovered, apparently unable to withstand the difficult journey.
Natural conditions had a certain influence on the level social development. In the northern taiga zone, where the appropriating economy prevailed, property differentiation did not reach the level that was characteristic of the forest-steppe and southern taiga zones. Materials from the monuments of the forest-steppe territory, where there was a productive economy, indicate that here, since the Bronze Age, social relations were quite complex. Property differentiation is clearly visible. Decomposition continued here in the early Iron Age primitive society, and chiefdom-type formations took shape. The northern edge of the forest-steppe and the southern strip of the taiga with their diversified economy in conditions of climatic fluctuations were in the most advantageous position. The producing industries (predominant in the north of the forest-steppe) and appropriating industries (prevalent on the edge of the taiga) were well developed here. With climate change, there has been some fluctuation of these boundaries. The population has adapted well to this, maintaining a diversified economy with a change in emphasis in one direction or another. Researchers believe that it is no coincidence that the major political and economic center of the Siberian Khanate - its capital Isker - was located in the Middle Irtysh region.
Thus, historical processes in Western Siberia are closely related to the natural conditions of this region.
Western Siberia is the greatest plain of Eurasia with vast areas of swamps, oil and gas reserves of world importance; Russia's main fuel base. The region occupies the territories of the West Siberian Lowland and the mountainous regions of Altai, Kuznetsk Alatau and Salair Ridge.
How is the nature of Western Siberia different? In the formation of the modern relief of the West Siberian Lowland, repeated advances of the sea and glaciers, which deposited a thick layer of sedimentary rocks, played a major role. Therefore, the relief is leveled. A system of moraine hills, the Siberian Uvaly, with a maximum height of 286 m, stretches across Western Siberia from the Ob to the Yenisei in a latitudinal direction of 900 km.
Rivers flow very slowly along this slightly inclined surface of the huge Western Siberian “bowl”. There are over 2 thousand of them. A distinctive feature of Siberian rivers is their shallow, but extremely wide valleys with numerous channels and lakes - oxbow lakes. In spring, rivers overflow for many kilometers around. Western Siberia accounts for a quarter of the flow of Russian rivers. Large rivers are of great importance for navigation. In the arid southern part of Western Siberia, on the border with Kazakhstan, river water is used for irrigation.
The climate of Western Siberia is characterized by continental features, which intensify in the south of the plain. In winter, windless, sunny, frosty weather prevails. In summer, when arctic air masses collide with heated southern air, cyclones occur, accompanied by precipitation. The hot Western Siberian summer is very difficult to endure due to high humidity and countless hordes of midges: mosquitoes, midges and horse flies.
D. Utenkov. Discovery of Siberia. The kingdom of swamps and taiga of Western Siberia is home to countless, uncountable clouds of all kinds of blood-sucking insects. And here, perhaps, with full right to call the owner of the taiga not a bear, wolverine or sable, but an ordinary mosquito. Special accounting has established that in places where there are a lot of midges, over a thousand mosquitoes, more than 2 thousand midges, attack a person within 3 minutes!
Forest-tundra is a larch and birch forest, to which pine and cedar are added at the southern border. Forest areas in forest-tundras are confined to river valleys, which are the most drained and warm, since river water brings heat here from the south. The main reindeer pastures are concentrated in the tundra and forest-tundra.
Due to the widespread occurrence of swamps in the forest zone of Western Siberia, it is called the forest-swamp zone. Flat undrained areas are occupied by swamps, and taiga forests themselves occupy mainly the slopes of river valleys, sloping and elevated areas of interfluves. The forests of Western Siberia constitute its most important natural resource, although local wood grown in wetlands is generally of poor quality.
High swampiness complicates the development of the richest resources of this region and complicates the construction of roads and settlements. In many areas, travel by land is only possible in winter, when the swamps freeze. At the same time, Western Siberian swamps have countless reserves of peat, which can be used as chemical raw materials, fuel, organic fertilizer, and bedding material in livestock farming.
How can we explain that the largest oil and gas fields are concentrated in Western Siberia? The West Siberian Lowland formed on the West Siberian Plate with a deeply depressed folded Paleozoic foundation. It contains a thick, almost six-kilometer-long layer of “layer cake”, consisting of sedimentary rocks represented by clays, sandstones and sands of marine and continental origin.
The country's largest oil and natural gas deposits (West Siberian oil and gas region) are associated with the sedimentary cover of the West Siberian Plain. More than 500 deposits of these important combustible minerals have been identified here, containing more than 60% of Russian oil reserves and about 90% of natural gas. The most important oil fields are concentrated in the Khanty-Mansiysk (Samotlorskoye, Megionskoye, Salymskoye, Mamontovskoye, Ust-Balykskoye and others), and natural gas fields in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug (the world's largest Urengoyskoye and Yamburgskoye fields, as well as Medvezhye near the city of Nadym, Zapolyarnoye, etc.)
Intensive oil production and an ever-expanding network of pipelines have already caused irreparable damage to the natural complexes of Western Siberia: oil “spills” during production and transportation (in winter, pipes laid directly on the surface of the earth burst) have resulted in ruined reindeer pastures and forest lands, dead fish in the tundra and taiga rivers and lakes.
Intensive industrial development of the natural resources of Western Siberia caused serious damage not only to nature, but also to indigenous peoples (Nenets, Khanty, Mansi and others), depriving them of a significant part of their hunting and fishing grounds. In order to protect the traditional types of economic activity and culture of these peoples, in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug, for example, special territories of priority nature management, ancestral lands, were allocated.
2. Give a rating geographical location Siberia.
The physical map of Russia clearly shows that the region (about 10 million km2) stretches from the Ural Mountains in the west to the mountain ranges of the Pacific Divide in the east and from the cold northern seas to the southern border of Russia. All of Siberia is located in the Asian part of Russia. Siberia is located in the Arctic, subarctic and temperate climate zones. Moreover, most of its territory lies in the area of continental and sharply continental climate. Between Ural mountains and the Yenisei lies one of the greatest plains in the world - West Siberian. Feature its nature is swampy. More than 60% of Russian peat is concentrated in the swamps of Western Siberia. The largest rivers of Russia flow through the territory of Siberia - the Ob with the Irtysh, the Yenisei, belonging to the Arctic Ocean basin. They are practically clear natural boundaries separating the regions of the Asian part of Russia from one another.
3. Choose the correct answer. The area of the Siberian region is about: a) 5 million km2; b) 7 million km2; c) 10 million km2; d) 20 million km2.
4. Choose the correct answer. Western and Eastern Siberia are separated by the river: a) Ob; b) Yenisei; c) Lena.
5. Choose the correct answer. In Siberia largest area takes natural area: a) taiga; b) tundra; c) steppes.
6. Using the map (see p. 185), trace which railway Siberia is connected to the European part of Russia and the Far East. What is the name of this highway? What is its length?
Trans-Siberian Railway (Transsib), Great Siberian Way (historical name) - Railway through Eurasia, connecting Moscow with the largest East Siberian and Far Eastern industrial cities of Russia. The length of the main line is 9288.2 km, it is the longest railway in the world.
7. Give an assessment of the natural conditions of Siberia for the life, everyday life and economic activities of people.
The natural conditions of Siberia are varied - from arctic tundras to dry steppes and semi-deserts. In most of the territory they are harsh and unfavorable for human life and economic activity due to the sharp continental climate and the inherent large amplitude of annual and daily temperatures, openness to the influence of cold air masses of the Arctic Ocean, and the widespread occurrence of permafrost. The region's topography is varied: there are South part The West Siberian Plain, the Altai Mountains, the Kuznetsk Alatau, the Salair Ridge, a huge territory is occupied by the Central Siberian Plateau, which to the north is replaced by the North Siberian Lowland, and to the south by the system of mountain ranges of the Western and Eastern Sayan, the mountains of Transbaikalia. The basis of the region’s economic complex is its unique natural resource potential, and primarily the reserves of hard and brown coal, oil and gas, hydropower, and timber. coniferous species. A significant portion of ferrous and non-ferrous metal ores and large reserves of chemical raw materials are also concentrated here.
Siberia, which seems so distant, harsh and cold, is, of course, in fact a completely inhabited region. To live here, you have to adapt to many things. Snow in Siberian cities lies from the beginning of November (sometimes October), becoming a familiar and integral part of the landscape until April. Summer seems successful if there have been at least a dozen hot days, which usually occur in July, and in September people already put on their hats.
8. Write down at least five sentences that, in your opinion, most clearly characterize Siberia.
1. Siberia is a vast geographical region in the northeastern part of Eurasia
2. Siberia makes up about 73.56% of the territory of Russia; its area, even without the Far East, is larger than the territory of the second largest country in the world after Russia - Canada.
3. Average density The population of Siberia and the Far East is 2 people per 1 km².
4. Siberia has a huge variety of zonal and intrazonal landscapes, which could not but affect the number and species diversity of the animal world of these places.
5. Siberia is rich in resources, and its territory contains: 85% of all-Russian reserves of lead and platinum, 80% of coal and molybdenum, 71% of nickel, 89% of oil, 95% of gas, 69% of copper, 44% of silver and 40% of gold.
6. The natural conditions of Siberia are varied - from arctic tundras to dry steppes and semi-deserts.
9. Using knowledge of geography and biology, additional literature, find out how the West Siberian taiga differs from the East Siberian taiga. Why do you think, despite the fact that the Siberian taiga occupies huge areas, does it need protection? Give at least 6-7 arguments.
The West Siberian taiga consists almost exclusively of Siberian fir and Siberian cedar. The undergrowth in it is formed by rowan, bird cherry, yellow acacia (caragana) and rose hips. In Western Siberia, especially on the Ob-Irtysh and Ob-Yenisei watershed, the taiga is interrupted by colossal swamps occupying tens of thousands of square kilometers. The variety of swamps is great - there are sedge bogs, peat bogs with swamp pine - “ryams”, and “galyas”, and swampy forests.
The taiga of Eastern Siberia is characterized by a sharply continental climate and slight swampiness. The Central Siberian taiga is predominantly light-coniferous taiga, consisting mainly of Naur larch and pine with a slight admixture of dark coniferous species - cedar, spruce and fir. The main reasons for the scarcity of species composition in the eastern taiga are permafrost and extreme continental climate.
Arguments in favor of protecting the taiga:
1. The massifs of the Siberian taiga are called the green “lungs” of the planet (by analogy with the South American Hylea), since the oxygen and carbon balance of the surface layer of the atmosphere depends on the state of these forests.
2. Reserves of industrial wood are concentrated in the taiga
3. Unique natural landscapes
4. Unique flora
5. Unique fauna
6. Forest litter absorbs rainfall, melt water, replenishes groundwater reserves.
