Highlands and elevated plains are usually called the earth's surface with a height of 200 to 500 meters above sea level (absolute height). Such surfaces, although called plains, often show an uneven surface, punctuated by hills, gently sloping hills.
In addition, for an elevated plain that stands out in comparison with neighboring flat areas of the earth's surface, the concept of a plateau is used. The plateau usually has a flat surface with clear ledges, in fact it is a mountain with a "truncated" top.
Spread over two countries
One of the largest elevated plains is the Central Russian Upland. Most of it is located on the territory of Russia, and distant spurs are located on the territory of Ukraine. This elevated plain is 1,000 kilometers long and 500 kilometers wide.
The highest point of the massif is 320 meters with an average surface height of 200-300 meters above sea level.
Scientists suggest that the Central Russian Upland Plain was formed in the Jurassic period from deposits of limestone, chalk,brown coal. Other minerals are also present here, such as uranium and iron ore.
There are many hills, valleys, ravines on the surface. The Don, Oka, Desna, Vorskla and many other, smaller rivers and streams flow through the territory of the hill.
The flora is dominated by steppes, forest-steppes and black forests or deciduous forests.
Romance of the Valdai plains system
In the north-west of Russia is the Valdai Upland (or elevated plain) with a length of about 600 kilometers.
The highest point or "crown" of Valdai is approximately 347 meters above sea level, the average absolute height is 150-25o meters.
The Valdai Upland Plain is located in the northwestern part of Russia.
Extraordinarily beautiful places, protected forests contributed to the creation of national parks and reserves: Sebezhsky National Park, Valdai Park, Rdeisky and Polistovsky Reserves.
There are many beautiful lakes on the Valdai Upland (for example, Seliger), forests of the Ice Age origin. This flat highland is the cradle of eight major rivers in Russia.
The largest river in Europe, the Volga, originates here, starting from a small stream and turning into large lakes, rapidly gaining strength and smoothly tending to the Caspian Sea.
Vyatka beauties
On the territory of the Kirov region and the Republic of Mari Elthere is a small elevated plain - Vyatsky Uval. Its height is 284 meters, and its length is about 40 kilometers wide and several hundred kilometers from north to south.
The elevated plain is composed of many minerals: gypsum, dolomites, oil shale and others. There are a large number of karst lakes formed in the sinkholes of the earth: Tair, Yalchik, Glukhoe and others.
Vyatka flows through the territory of the ridge, which gave the name to this elevated plain. Red forests or pine and fir forests serve not only to decorate the territory, but also supply the national economy with high-quality wood.
Small but significant
On the territory of our country there are other hills, not as grandiose as described above, but no less significant in the formation of the ecological system of nature. These are the following elevated plains of Russia:
- Privolzhskaya. It is located on the right bank of the Volga, therefore it is named after the river. With a total length of up to 810 kilometers in length, in some places it reaches 500 kilometers in width, although in most cases it is from 60 to 100 kilometers.
- Smolensk-Moscow. It captures the territory of Russia and Belarus, is subdivided into Moscow and Smolensk with a total length of about 500 kilometers. Important rivers originate here: the Moskva River, Klyazma, Istra, Ruza and others. Such an abundance of rivers, as on this flat hill, perhaps, is not on any other. Winding streams feed all living things with their waters, decorate hilly landscapes. Sometimes in one sandyTwo rivers flow through the hollow, and they move in different directions. This is a distinctive feature of this territory.
There are small formations in the Pskov (Luga Upland) and Danilov regions. Their height does not exceed 200 meters, their area is not more than 3,000 square kilometers.
There are undulating and gentle reliefs, a lot of chalk and limestone rocks, dense woodland and a diverse wildlife.
