This large and unique lowland is located in the very center of the East European Plain. It covers the northern part of the Ryazan, the eastern part of the Moscow and the southern part of the Vladimir regions. And they divide it, respectively, into Ryazan, Moscow Region and Vladimir Meshchery. And the latter has another name - the Meshcherskaya side.
Where is the Meshcherskaya lowland? Feature
The lowland in its view from above is a triangle bounded by the rivers: Oka (in the south), Klyazma (in the north), Sudogda and Kolpyu (in the west). Moreover, its western border reaches the city of Moscow (the remains of the forests of Meshchera - Sokolniki Park and Losiny Ostrov).
In the northern part of the area, its height is 120-130 meters above sea level, it drops to the southern part to 80-100 m. its average height is about 140 m, the maximum is 214 m). It serves as a kind of watershed between the basins of the Klyazma and Oka rivers. And all around are impenetrable swamps.
Meshcherskaya lowland: the meaning of the word. Lowland Definition
Lowland, or lowlandplain - an extended piece of land, located above sea level no higher than 200 m, with a flat and slightly hilly surface.
Initially, Meshchera is the name of a tribe (Finno-Ugric), which lived, according to ancient chronicles, between the Mordvins and the Muroma. There is a Meshcheryak in the documents of the 15th century, designated as Mocharin. Such a name, by its very sound, corresponds to the above. Thus, it is assumed that the ancestors of all these groups (Magyars, Meshchers, Mishars and Mozhars) once represented an ethnic community.
The habitat of this ancient tribe ("Great Hungary", according to LN Gumilyov) was in the Middle Volga region (modern Bashkiria). Then the Hungarian ancestors went to Pannonia and founded their own state there, which exists today (Hungary). And the Meshcheryaks ended up on the territory of the Middle Oka.
There are other versions. In any case, the meaning of the term "Meshcherskaya lowland" may come from any of these versions. They all have almost the same right to exist.
Climate
Meshcherskaya lowland has a temperate continental climate, with relatively cold winters and warm or hot summers. The average annual air temperature is +4, 3 ˚С. Winter is snowy, with moderate frosts. The most common winters have temperatures ranging from minus 25 to minus 30 ˚С.
Snow cover falls up to 80 centimeters. July is the hottest month in which the air temperature reaches plus 40 ˚С. Summers are usually warm, with heavy rainfall and severe thunderstorms.
Winds prevail here from the west and southwest.
Meshcherskaya lowland has a natural feature of these unique places. This is a plentiful spring flood, which has a significant impact on the life of birds and a wide variety of animals.
Geology of Meshchera
How was the lowland formed? It has to do with glaciers. Their activities have turned the surface of these places into a completely smooth plain. After the glacier melted, a mixture of gravel, sand and clay lay down in an even layer on dense waterproof clays (Jurassic period). All depressions and depressions were filled with thawed water from glaciers, thereby forming numerous swamps and lakes.
There are deposits of quartz sand, peat and clay here.
Soil and water resources
The soil is mostly podzolic, composed of loams (cover and loess-like) and fairly fertile forest gray soils.
Meshcherskaya lowland - the land of numerous lakes and swamps.
There are few rivers in the lowlands, and they are located mainly along its border. They enter the river basin. Okie. The largest rivers here are Tsna, Polya, Pra, Polya, Buzha and Gus.
The Meshcherskaya lowland has one more feature: the rivers on it have a small number of tributaries and a relatively slow flow. They mainly flow from numerous swamps and lakes, which are fed by water from melting snow and rain.
There are a huge number of lakes in the hollow - large and small. Slowly overgrown with greenery, they turn intoswamps. There are also floodplain lakes - the remains of riverbeds. They get sick too. Almost all lakes in Meshchera are small. Their average depth is only 2 m.
But there are also large lakes that have a depth of up to 50 meters or more. Such reservoirs are of thermokarst origin. Their water is clear. One of these lakes is Beloe in the Ryazan region (the town of Spas-Klepiki).
Famous swamps
The Meshcherskaya lowland is also rich in swamps. They stretch here in an almost uninterrupted wide strip. The locals call them mshars or omshars.
The swamps have already swallowed up about 600 thousand hectares of lowland land.
Most of all swamps are swamps covered with moss and forest growth. They do not have clearly defined boundaries. And in the spring they are flooded with water and become absolutely impassable. Therefore, Meshchera is characterized by the following unpleasant phenomena for humans: marsh fumes, a huge number of midges, horseflies and mosquitoes.
Animals and vegetation
Meshchera was once part of a single huge forest that stretched from the forests of Murom to the Polish forests. Subsequently, as a result of the gradual destruction of forests, an increase in arable land and numerous fires, the number of forests has significantly decreased.
Here there are pine forests, oak forests, aspens and birches, on the watersheds - spruce. There are mountain ash and alder. A variety of berries and mushrooms grow in forests and meadows. Lothere and hazel. There is an abundance of forbs in the meadows. Animals are found in the forests: bears, lynxes, wolves, ermines, etc. Desmans and beavers live on floodplain lakes. A lot of different game. Local lakes and rivers are rich in fish (30 species).
Here is the famous Oka Nature Reserve (225 species of various birds, 10 species of amphibians, 39 species of fish, 6 species of reptiles and 49 species of mammals). Bison and cranes are also bred in this amazing reserve.
What attracts this lowland? Maybe because there are a lot of swamps and there are a huge number of small and large Meshchersky lakes? Or does the Meshcherskaya lowland have slow-flowing rivers? Lots of amazing natural attractions here. And yet, the Oksky Nature Reserve is the rarest and most amazing attraction of these places.
