There are many places on our planet that are of interest not only to researchers and scientists, but also to ordinary travelers. These are high mountains, impenetrable forests, turbulent rivers. But in this article, we will introduce you to the great plains of the world. Do not think that these vast territories are not too interesting to explore. After reading our article, you will understand that this opinion is wrong.
Where is the Great Plains?
Boundless high plateaus are located between the Cordillera in the west and the Central Plains in the east. The researchers gave the name of this territory - the Great Plains. The mainland of North America is also famous for the Central Plains, but the Great Plains are distinguished by their absolute heights, dry climate and the thickness of sedimentary rocks. Layers of Paleogene and Cretaceous rocks lie under the thickness of loess-like rocks and forests. Since the steppe vegetation dominates here, the Great Plains are often called the Prairie Plateau.
Continental climate, position (rather high) above sea level, easy erosion of soils have become the reasons for the development of erosion processes in these territories. The most characteristic feature of the relief is ravines. Erosion sometimesreaches gigantic proportions - thousands of hectares of once fertile soil are turning into badlands.
Great Plains Sizes
This foothill plateau in Canada and the US is located east of the Rocky Mountains. Its height is from 800 to 1,700 meters above sea level. Length - three thousand six hundred kilometers. Width - from five hundred to eight hundred kilometers. The map shows that this is a huge territory - the Great Plains. Their area is 1,300,000 square kilometers.
Relief
The plains stretch for 3600 km from north to south. They represent a heterogeneous area. On the land of Canada (Saskatchewan River Basin) is their northern part - the Alberta Plateau. Moraine landforms predominate here. The plateau is distinguished by forest landscapes located on soddy-podzolic soils. Individual aspen pegs are not uncommon.
In the Missouri basin (Missouri Plateau) there is an undulating moraine relief with strong erosional dissection, forest-steppe vegetation of aspen and birch copses separated by forb steppes. Such a landscape is typical for the Ishim steppe (Southern Siberia). In the middle part of the plateau there is a ridge of terminal moraines.
South of the Missouri plateau is the High Plains. These territories are not affected by glaciation; the surface is dissected by rivers, slightly undulating. There is no forest vegetation here - this plateau is dominated by forb steppe, densely covered with ravines. In this part of the Great Plains have long been plowed open, and erosion is especially progressing here.
Moreto the south is the Llano Estacado plateau. It has a more even relief, which is diluted in some places by karst funnels. The vegetation of this plateau is steppe, here you can find single yuccas and columnar cacti.
In the very south of the Great Plains is the Edwards Plateau, which in terms of landscapes resembles the neighboring regions of Mexico with its characteristic succulents (yuccas, cacti). This plateau is poorly dissected and is characterized by the predominance of chestnut soils.
Animal world
The Great Plains, whose area is huge, are distinguished by a rather diverse fauna, which is directly related to the nature of the landscapes. In the northern part one can meet the steppe bison, pronghorn antelope, in the southern and central regions the steppe fox, wolf, prairie dogs live. Of the birds, the steppe falcon and prairie black grouse are common.
Russian Plain
Specialists often call this territory the East European Plain. This is a real natural pantry of Russia. Judge for yourself: coal, iron ore, oil and natural gas, and other useful resources lie in its foundation. Its fertile soils, according to experts, can easily feed the Russians.
The Great Russian Plain ranks second in terms of area in the world, second only to the Amazonian Lowland. It belongs to the low plains. From the north, this territory is washed by the White and Barents Seas, the Caspian, Azov and Black - in the south.
Like many other great plains of the world, Russian to the southin the west and west and is adjacent to the mountains - the Sudetes, the Carpathians, in the northwest it is limited by the Scandinavian mountains, in the east - the Urals and Mugodzhary, and in the southeast - the Caucasus and the Crimean mountains.
Sizes
The Russian Plain stretches from east to west for 2.5 thousand kilometers. From south to north - 2750 kilometers. The total area of the territory is five and a half million square kilometers. The maximum height was recorded on Mount Yudychvumchorr (Kola Peninsula - 1191 meters). The lowest point is located on the coast of the Caspian Sea, it is characterized by a minus value of -27 meters.
On the territory of the Russian Plain there are partially or completely countries such as:
- Kazakhstan.
- Belarus.
- Lithuania.
- Latvia.
- Poland.
- Moldova.
- Russia.
- Estonia.
- Ukraine.
Relief
The relief of the Russian Plain is dominated by planes. This geographical location is characterized by rare earthquakes, as well as volcanic activity.
Hydrography
The main part of the waters of the Russian Plain has access to the ocean. The southern and western rivers belong to the Atlantic Ocean basin. The rivers of the northern regions flow into the Arctic Ocean. The northern rivers include Onega, Mezen, Northern Dvina Pechora. The southern and western rivers carry their waters to the B altic Sea. These are the Western Dvina, Vistula, Neman, Neva, etc. The Dniester and Dnieper, the Southern Bug flow into the Black Sea, and the Don intoAzov.
Climate
The Russian Plain has a temperate continental climate. Average summer temperatures can range from -12 degrees (in the Barents Sea area) to +25 degrees (in the Caspian lowland). The maximum winter temperatures are recorded in the west. In these areas, the air temperature does not drop below -3 degrees. In Komi, this figure reaches -20 degrees.
Precipitation in the southeast falls up to 400 mm (during the year), in the west their amount doubles. Natural areas vary from semi-desert in the south to tundra in the north.
Chinese Plain
Many people have probably heard about this plain, but perhaps not everyone knows where the Great Plain of China is located. One of the largest plains in Asia. In the east it is washed by the Yellow Sea, in the north it is limited by the Yanshan Mountains, and in the west by the Taihangshan Range. Its eastern slopes have steep ledges, more than a thousand meters high. In the southwest are the Dabeshan and Tongboshan ranges. The total area of the plain is more than 325 thousand square kilometers.
In the piedmont, western part, which is composed of ancient alluvial fans, the plain reaches a height of one hundred meters. Closer to the sea, it drops to less than fifty meters.
Relief
On the sea coast, the plain is almost flat, only slight slopes are noticeable. There are swampy and depressions occupied by small lakes. Within the plain are the Shandong Mountains.
Rivers
Besides the largest river, the Yellow River, there are riversHuaihe, Heihe. They are characterized by rather sharp fluctuations in runoff and monsoonal regime.
Maximum summer flow often exceeds spring minimum by almost a hundred times.
Climatic conditions
The Chinese Plain has a monsoonal subtropical climate. In winter, dry and cold air dominates here, which comes from Asia. In January, the average temperature is -2…-4 degrees.
In summer the air warms up to +25…+28 degrees. Up to 500 mm of precipitation falls annually in the north and up to 1000 mm in the south.
Vegetation
Today, the forests that grew here earlier with an admixture of subtropical evergreens have not been preserved. There are groves of ash, thuja, poplar, pine.
The soils are mainly alluvial, which have undergone significant changes in the course of agricultural processing.
Amazon lowlands
This is the greatest plain in the world. It covers an area of more than 5 million square kilometers. Its maximum height is 120 meters.
The vast areas of lowland are inextricably linked with the life of the Amazon River - the largest watershed in the world. A huge part of its territory near the floodplain is regularly flooded, resulting in marshy areas (marches).
