West Siberian Lowland: characteristics

The West Siberian lowland occupies an area of about 3 million square kilometers. It covers 1/7 of the whole territory of Russia. The width of the plain varies. In the northern part, it is about 800 km, and in the southern reaches 1,900 km.

Areas

The West Siberian lowland is considered the most densely populated part of Siberia. On its territory are several large areas, such as the Omsk, Tyumen and Kurgan, as well as Novosibirsk and Tomsk. The greatest development of the lowland is noted in its southern part.

Climatic conditions

The climate in the lowlands is predominantly continental, quite severe. Due to the great length of the West Siberian Plain from north to south, there are significant differences in the climate of the southern part from the northern one. A great role in the formation of weather conditions is played by the proximity of the Arctic Ocean, as well as the fact that on the plain there are no obstacles to the movement of air masses from north to south and their mixing.

In the cold season, a region of high pressure appears over the southern part of the lowland, while in the northern part it decreases. At the boundary of air masses cyclones are formed. Because of this, in the regions on the coast, in the winter very unstable weather. The wind speed can reach 40 meters per second. Winter throughout the whole plains such as the West Siberian lowland is characterized by stable minus temperatures, the minimum can reach -52 ° C. Spring comes late and differs cold and dry, warming occurs only in May.

In the warm season, the situation is reversed. Over the Arctic Ocean, the pressure rises, because of which the northern winds blow throughout the summer. But they are rather weak. The hottest time in the boundaries of the plain, called the West Siberian lowland, is July. During this period, the maximum temperature in the northern part reaches 21 ° C, and in the southern part - 40 ° C. Such high marks in the south are fully explained by the fact that the border with Kazakhstan and Central Asia is passing through. It is from here that the warm air masses come.

The West Siberian lowland, whose height varies from 140 to 250 m, is characterized in winter with a small amount of precipitation. At this time of year, only about 5-20 millimeters fall out. What can not be said about the warm season, when 70% of annual precipitation falls on the earth.

Permafrost is widespread in the northern part of the lowland. The earth freezes to a depth of 600 meters.

Rivers

So, compare the West Siberian lowland and the Central Siberian Plateau. A fairly strong difference is that the plateau is riddled with a huge number of rivers. There are practically no wetlands there. However, there are a lot of rivers on the plain. They number about 2 thousand. All of them together each year bring to the Kara Sea up to 1200 cubic kilometers of water. It's amazing a lot. After all, one cubic kilometer contains 1,000,000,000,000 (trillion) liters. Most of the rivers in Western Siberia are fed by meltwater or precipitation in summer. Most of the water flows down during the warm season. At the onset of a thaw, the level in rivers can rise more than 15 meters, and in winter they are icebound. Therefore, in the cold period, the runoff is only 10%.

The rivers of this part of Siberia are characterized by the slowness of the currents. This is due to the flat terrain and small slopes. For example, the Ob for 3 thousand km falls only by 90 m. Because of this, the velocity of its current does not exceed half a meter per second.

Lakes

Lakes in these parts are even greater than rivers. And at times more. There are about a million of them. But almost all of them are of a small size. The peculiarity of local lakes is that many of them are filled with salt water. They are also very spilled in the spring. But over the summer can significantly decrease in size, and by the autumn and completely disappear. In the last period, thanks to sediments, the lakes are filled with water again, they freeze in winter and the cycle repeats. This is not the case with all water bodies, but with the so-called "foggy" lakes that occupy the territory of this lowland - the West Siberian Plain. It is also characterized by a different type of lakes. They occupy natural roughnesses of a relief, various trenches and hollows.

Marshes

Another feature of Western Siberia is that it beats all records by the number of swamps. It is within the limits of this lowland that the Vasyugan marshes spread , which are considered to be one of the largest on the entire globe. Increased waterlogging is due to the large amount of peat in the land. The substance is able to retain a lot of water, because of this, and there are "dead" areas. It is also facilitated by the formation of the moors itself. The plains without swells do not allow water to drain, and it remains practically stationary, washing and softening the soil.

Natural Areas

Due to the fact that Western Siberia is stretched from north to south, transitions of natural zones are observed in it . They are replaced from the tundra in the north to deserts and semi-deserts in the south. Part of the lowland occupies the tundra zone, which is explained by the general northern position of the entire plain area. South of the tundra gradually turns into forest-tundra, and then into the forest-forest zone. The latter occupies 60% of the entire territory of Western Siberia.

A rather sharp transition to the steppe regions is observed. The most common here is birch, as well as aspen. In addition to them, Siberian cedar is also found . The plowed steppe zone occupies the extreme southern position in the plain. The West Siberian lowland, whose geographic location is directly related to the distribution by zones, also creates favorable conditions for pine forests located on low sandy spits.

The region is rich in representatives of the animal world. For example, there are about 99 species of mammals. Among them are fur-bearing animals, such as arctic fox, weasel and sable. There are large predators - bears and lynx. Also in these parts lives a lot of birds. In the reserves there are peregrine falcons, hawks and golden eagles. There are birds listed in the Red Book. For example, a black stork or a white-tailed eagle.

Mineral resources

Compare the geographical position of the West Siberian lowland with any other, and it becomes clear that it is in the described plain that about 70% of oil production is concentrated. The plain is also rich in coal deposits. The total area of land rich in these resources is estimated at 2 million square meters. Km. The forest industry is also well developed. The greatest advantage is given to coal mining in Kuzbass.

The Central Siberian Plateau

In comparison with the West Siberian lowland, the Central Siberian plateau is not swamped due to the fact that it is on a raised platform. However, the river system is more dense, which also feeds on rain and melting snow. Permafrost is ubiquitous everywhere. The climate on the plateau is sharply continental, because of which, as in the West Siberian lowland, there are large temperature differences in winter. The average in the north reaches -44 ° C, and in the south -22 ° C. This is typical for the summer period. On the Central Siberian plateau there is less variety of animals, but there are also bears, reindeer and hares. The plateau, like Western Siberia, is rich in oil and gas fields. To this are added various ores and rock salt.