Northeastern siberia rural natural areas. natural areas

Western Siberia is a vast territory stretching over five natural zones. natural areas Western Siberia- this is the tundra, forest-tundra, forest, forest-steppe and steppe. In this article, we will briefly talk about each of them.

Tundra

This zone occupies the most northern part maps of Western Siberia - Tyumen region. More precisely, the Yamal and Gydan Peninsulas are the tundra. This zone has an area of ​​about 160 thousand square meters. km. The vegetation here is represented by lichens and mosses, and there are no forests at all. A large number of northern berries grow in the tundra - cloudberries, blueberries, cranberries and lingonberries. Animal world represented by deer, wolves, foxes, arctic foxes, owls and partridges. There are a lot of swamps in the Siberian tundra. The climate here is arctic, rather cool.

Rice. 1. West Siberian tundra

forest tundra

It is located south of the tundra and is a strip up to 150 km wide. It is a transitional zone, therefore it is covered with areas of light forests, swamps, and shrubs. The main tree of the forest-tundra is larch. The animal world practically does not differ from the fauna in the tundra.

forest zone

Represented by a strip of taiga with a width of more than 1000 km. This is the largest zone, occupying about 62% of the territory of Western Siberia - a little less than in Eastern Siberia. This includes the following areas:

• almost all of Tyumenskaya;
• Tomsk;
• Omsk;
• Novosibirsk.

There are northern, middle and southern taiga, as well as birch-aspen forests. The main type of forest is dark coniferous. Siberian spruce, fir and cedar predominate. The forest is located along river valleys.

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A characteristic feature of the Siberian taiga is a huge number of swamps. This is the most swampy and humid area on Earth.

In the southern part of the taiga, there is the world's largest swamp massif - Vasyugan. It stretched for several hundred kilometers.

Rice. 2. There are a huge number of swamps in the Siberian taiga

forest-steppe

It is characterized by the alternation of forest and steppe areas, it also contains many swamps. The trees here are represented by birches and aspens. They are located in the form of small islands. The main part of the territory is occupied by forb steppe. A feature of the Siberian steppe is the abundance of salt lakes.

Steppe

Another treeless natural zone of the West Siberian Plain covers its southern and southwestern parts. The climate here is quite favorable, thanks to which it is possible to grow a large number of cereal crops. Like other regions, the steppe is characterized by a large number of lakes. The animal world is represented mainly by rodents.

Rice. 3. Siberian steppe - fertile territory

Table: main characteristics of the natural zones of Western Siberia

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The soil and vegetation cover of Western Siberia is distinguished by two main features: classically pronounced zoning and a high degree of hydromorphism. Within the plain there are tundra, forest-tundra, forest (peat-bog), forest-steppe and steppe zones with their characteristic soils and vegetation.

Zonal types of soils - tundra-gley, podzolic, soddy-podzolic, chernozems and dark chestnut soils - are associated with relatively drained territories, which make up from 23.7 to 74.7% of the zone area. In Western Siberia, not only in the tundra and forest-tundra, as is the case in Russian, but also in the forest-bog and forest steppe zones ax large areas (about 1/3) are occupied by semi-hydromorphic soils. They are formed under conditions of close occurrence of groundwater and periods, a clear waterlogging of the entire soil profile or its lower part, which causes the development of gleying processes. Such soils are gley-podzolic and swamp-podzolic, developed under coniferous forests, as well as meadow-chernozem soils, widespread in the forest-steppe zone. The soddy-podzolic soils of Western Siberia also differ from their European counterparts in the presence of signs of gleying, while the chernozems and dark chestnut soils differ in solonetzization.

Waterlogged territories are occupied by hydromorphic soils, among which peaty-bog and peat-bog soils dominate in the northern part of the plain, and in the southern part along with them, solonetzes, solods are common, and solonchaks are also found. Despite the similarity of the dominant types of vegetation and their zonal distribution, there are very significant differences between the vegetation of Western Siberia and the Russian Plain. They are associated not only with the wide distribution of swamps, but also with the peculiarities of the formation of flora, as well as with an increase in continentality and the severity of the climate. This is clearly seen in the composition of the main forest-forming species. Along with spruce and pine forests, cedar and larch forests are widespread here, and fir forests are also found. Larch, and not spruce, as on the Russian Plain, goes to the northern limit of the distribution of woody vegetation in Western Siberia. Birch and aspen here form not only secondary, but also primary forests. In Western Siberia, there are practically no broad-leaved species, only linden is found in the undergrowth up to the rivers Parabel and Tara. Mixed forests here are represented by pine-birch.

Large areas are occupied in Western Siberia by floodplain vegetation, represented mainly by meadows and, to a lesser extent, shrubs. It accounts for about 4% of the plain area. In connection with the wide development of hydromorphism in the distribution of soils and vegetation in Western Siberia, a much greater role than on the Russian Plain is played by the nature and density of the division of the territory, which determine the degree of its fitness. For each zone, a combination of zonal soils and vegetation, typical of trained areas, with certain types of hydromorphic complexes is typical.

The fauna of Western Siberia has many features in common with the Russian Plain. Both plains are part of the European-Siberian zoogeographic subregion of the Palearctic. In Western Siberia, there are about 500 species of vertebrates, including 80 species of wild mammals, 350 species of birds, 7 species of amphibians and about 60 species of fish. Whitefish, bream, carp, carp, pike-perch have been introduced into the reservoirs of the plain. Muskrat, American mink, muskrat are acclimatized. The stock of sable and river beaver, almost destroyed before the revolution, has been restored. On the vast territory of Western Siberia, the animal world noticeably changes from place to place, primarily depending on zonal conditions and the associated availability of food and shelter. However, taiga animals penetrate along ribbon forests and aspen-birch pegs to the south almost to the borders of the plain, and on the lakes of the forest-steppe and steppe zones there are some inhabitants of polar water bodies (for example, the gull-gull), and the white partridge nests in the swamps. The uniformity of the relief of Western Siberia and the considerable extent of the territory from the coast of the Arctic Ocean deep into the mainland creates ideal conditions for the manifestation of latitudinal zonality and its inevitable consequence - gradual transitions in the form of subzones (Sochava, 1980). Zoning is represented by a clear change of zones and subzones in the direction from north to south. Within the plain there are tundra, forest-tundra, forest (forest-swamp), forest-steppe and steppe zones.

Unlike the Russian Plain, in Western Siberia there are no zones of mixed and broad-leaved forests, semi-deserts and deserts, the zones have a clear latitudinal strike, and their boundaries are somewhat shifted to the north. Within the zones, relatively small changes in natural conditions are observed due to changes in the lithogenic base, so provincial differences in Western Siberia are less pronounced than in the Russian Plain. The tundra zone stretches from the coast of the Kara Sea almost to the Arctic Circle in the west and to Dudinka in the east. It occupies all three peninsulas. The more southerly position of the zone boundary in the west is due to the cooling effect of the deeply incised Gulf of Ob - this "ice bag" that slowly warms up in summer.

The length from north to south is 500-650 km. The tundra is characterized by a sharp change in insolation according to the seasons of the year. During the warm period, the sun does not fall below the horizon for about three months (at 70 ° N - 73 days), and in winter the polar night lasts almost the same amount. Winter lasts from October to mid-May. In January-March, average monthly temperatures are almost the same - from -21--23°С in the west to -29°С in the east. Minimum temperatures reach -- 50--55°C. The severity of the climate is increasing strong winds, which, at fairly low temperatures, create severe weather. Therefore, the winter on the coast of the Kara Sea is more severe, although less cold, than in Central Yakutia. The windiest month is December with an average wind speed of 7-9 m/s. The highest wind speeds (30-40 m/s), turning into a storm and causing a snowstorm, are due to the entry of cyclones. The number of days with snowstorms, carrying very fine, dust-like snow (blizzard), in the west is 120 days, in the east - 80-90 days a year. The snow cover lies for about 9 months. Under influence strong winds snow moves, so its thickness is uneven. Convex relief elements are often devoid of snow throughout the winter. There is a long and deep freezing of the soil.

Under steep slopes, in hollows and valleys, snow faces are formed with very dense snow, which persists until July, and sometimes until new snow, which are sources of river nutrition, especially in the second half of summer. Summer lasts from 40 days in the west to 30 days in the east. The warmest month is August. Its average temperatures are + 6--8°C and only in the extreme south + 10--11°C. Frosts and snowfall are possible throughout the summer. There are also hot days in the tundra (up to + 20--28 ° С), associated with the inflow of warmed continental air with increased meridional transport air masses. During the warm period, more than half of the annual precipitation falls (up to 150-220 mm) with a maximum in August (40-50 mm).

Precipitation falls in the form of prolonged drizzling rain. The ubiquitous permafrost plays a large landscape-forming role in the tundra zone. The active layer (seasonal thawing horizon) reaches 20–25 cm in the north, increasing to 80–90 cm on the sands near the southern boundary. The thawing of the upper horizon is accompanied by solifluction processes, leading to a smoothing of the relief. Permafrost landforms are widespread in the tundra: patches-medallions, polygons, thermokarst basins, peat mounds and bulgunnyakhs. Erosion forms are not typical for the tundra, since erosion processes occur during a very short summer. Do not contribute to the development of erosion processes and features of the relief of the tundra zone - the predominance of flat marine accumulative plains. The plains descend to the coast in a series of terraces. There are many swampy areas on the lower terrace, which are flooded by sea waters during surge winds. In the interior regions of the peninsulas, there are more elevated areas with ancient glacial relief. The relative heights on them are 15-20 m. Many interfluve spaces are not at all developed by river erosion and are not drained. There are many thermokarst lakes in the tundra. Often a chain of lakes turns out to be strung on a winding, slightly incised river bed. The rivers are fed by melted snow and rain waters and have a summer flood. The surface of the tundra in large areas is waterlogged and waterlogged. The peculiarities of the climate and the youth of the zone are the cause of the poverty of the floristic composition of the tundra.

Only about 300 species of higher plants are found here. Under conditions of heat deficiency, even small fluctuations in the heat supply of plants, in changes in the ratio of heat and moisture determine the spatial distribution different types tundra. In the most northern regions and the hilltops are dominated by patchy tundra with arctic tundra soils. Loamy patches up to 1.5 m in diameter form here on the surface bare of snow. They are separated from each other by narrow strips of vegetation confined to frost cracks. Lichens and flowering plants settle here, which are better than mosses to endure the comparative dryness of soils and sharp fluctuations in temperature on a surface insufficiently protected by snow and vegetation. On dry elevated places with loamy soils, on sandy and gravelly substrates, lichen tundras develop. They are dominated by fruticose lichens of cladonia, alectoria, cetraria, and others. There are few herbaceous plants, shrubs, and mosses in them. With immoderate deer grazing, the predominance in these tundras passes to the worse eaten cetraria and mosses. Moss tundras with tundra-gley soils are confined to clay soils and moist areas with loams. A continuous small-hummocky and thin cover of gypsum mosses gives them a monotonous appearance. In addition to mosses, two to three dozen species of herbaceous plants grow in these tundras (partridge grass, crowberry, arctic bluegrass, cotton grass, a number of sedges, etc.) and rare shrubs of small creeping dwarf birch and some arctic willows. In the southern part of the zone, the role of shrubs increases both in the composition of the moss tundra and in the form of thickets of tundra shrubs of birch, willow, alder (shrub tundra) on podzolized tundra soils.

In waterlogged depressions, hypnum swamps are common, on well-warmed slopes and in river valleys - tundra meadows, consisting of brightly flowering buttercups, lights, valerian and other plants. The animals are dominated by local mammals (reindeer, arctic fox, Ob and ungulate lemmings, voles) and migratory birds (especially many sandpipers and geese). Of the birds, only white and tundra partridges and snowy owls remain in the tundra for the winter. The tundra zone of Western Siberia is divided into three subzones according to the characteristics of nature. The arctic tundra subzone is characterized by particularly harsh conditions with the dominance of polygonal tundra, whose plants have a height of only 3–5 cm. Shrubs in this subzone reach a height of 30-50 cm, and cotton grass is the most typical of herbaceous plants. And, finally, the southern subzone is the shrub tundra subzone. Under optimal conditions of existence, shrubs here reach a height of 0.5--1.5 m. In the south of the subzone, on the slopes of the valleys, a creeping form of Siberian larch is found. Its branches are flattened at the very surface of the earth, and a thin twisted trunk rarely rises above 1.5-2.0 m. In all subzones of the tundra, zonal natural complexes trained areas are combined with mineral hypnum swamps and thermokarst lakes.

Tundra is the least populated zone of Western Siberia. Most of the population is concentrated on the shores of sea bays and rivers and is engaged in fishing. In areas remote from the coast, the main occupation of the indigenous population is reindeer herding and hunting for arctic fox and birds (partridges, geese, ducks). Western Siberia is the second reindeer breeding region of our country after Chukotka and one of the largest in the world. Reindeer pastures occupy about 2/3 of the territory of the zone. On a limited scale, early ripening vegetables and potatoes are grown here, mainly in greenhouses. Gas production is rapidly developing in the tundra zone, which is carried out, as a rule, on a rotational basis.

The forest-tundra zone stretches in a narrow strip (50-200 km), gradually expanding to the east, from the foothills of the Urals to the Yenisei. It is located near the Arctic Circle East of the river. Taz, the southern boundary of the zone deviates to the north approximately as far as Igarka. Compared with the Russian Plain and Central Siberia, the forest-tundra zone of Western Siberia is distinguished by a more southern position due to the cooling effect of the Gulf of Ob, large swampiness and the development of large hilly peat bogs. The climate of the forest-tundra is more continental than in the tundra. Average annual temperature amplitudes here reach 40°. Winter in the forest-tundra is more severe and snowy, lasting about 7-8 months. Average January temperatures are 25...30°C.

During winter, there are from 45 to 60 days with an average daily temperature below -25 ° C. Minimum temperatures reach 55-60 ° C. The thickness of the snow cover at the end of winter is 50 - 70 cm. Summer is warmer and longer than in the tundra. The average temperature in July varies from 10 to 14°C. The forest-tundra is characterized by an abundance of surface water and intense swamping of the territory. Relief-forming processes here preserve many features of the tundra zone. Permafrost favors the spread of thermokarst relief and greatly limits the development of erosion processes. The forest-tundra zone is crossed by the transit rivers Ob and Yenisei with their lower reaches. Nadym, Pur and Taz.

The territory of the zone was in the post-glacial period and continues to be the scene of a continuous struggle between forest and tundra. Both the tundra and the forest are at the limit of development here. For tree species this is the northern limit, for many tundra plants it is the southern limit. Larch woodlands choose the most favorable places within the forest-tundra. In the northern part of the zone, sparse forests occupy 10-20% of the territory, in the south - up to 40-45% The height of the trees here rarely exceeds 6-8 m. Under the sparse forests, gley-podzolic soils are common, and in the eastern part of the zone gley-permafrost-taiga soils. Depending on the composition of soils, the ground cover in light forests changes. On light sandy soils, lichen sparse forests develop, on heavier and cold clay soils, swampy sparse forests with moss cover, swamp shrubs and grasses develop. Dry hilltops, marshy depressions, and poorly dissected interfluve spaces are occupied by shrub and moss-lichen tundras on tundra gley soils and swamps. In addition to the lowland bogs characteristic of the tundra zone, sphagnum bogs are also found here; in the southern relic large-hilly. In the valleys of large rivers, large areas are occupied by water meadows.

The forest-tundra is distinguished by a great diversity and richness of the animal population. Reindeer and arctic foxes migrate here for the winter from the tundra. Along with typical tundra animals, there are widespread stoats, white hare, as well as forest dwellers such as wolverine, brown bear, and squirrel. The forest-tundra is characterized by a more complex zonal structure compared to the tundra. It combines forest tundra, marsh and lake PTCs. The formation of one or another of them (depends on the depth of the permafrost and on the nature of the snow cover. The most drained areas are usually occupied by forest complexes, convex, subject to winds and deep freezing - by tundra, shallow depressions by hilly swamps, and thermokarst basins - often by lakes.

The main areas of economy in the forest-tundra zone, as in the tundra, are reindeer herding, fishing and hunting. Reindeer husbandry is based on the seasonal use of the zone's pastures. Here reindeer are grazed in the cold season, and in the tundra - in the warm season. Agriculture is somewhat more developed than in the tundra. The cultivation of early ripening vegetables and potatoes is carried out both indoors and outdoors. open ground. Population growth in the forest-tundra zone is associated with the intensive exploitation of gas fields and the further development of geological exploration.

The forest-bog zone is the most extensive of the natural zones of Western Siberia. For 1100-1200 km it extends from the Arctic Circle to almost 56 ° N. sh. Its southern border runs approximately from the Iset valley (the left tributary of the Tobol) to Novosibirsk. A specific feature of the zone is the almost equal ratio of forests on podzolic and podzolic-gley soils and sphagnum bogs on peat-bog soils and peat, which is why it was called forest-bog, and not forest.

The climate of the zone is continental with cold snowy winters and moderately warm and cool humid summers. The continentality of the climate increases from west to east. Annual amplitude average monthly temperatures is 36 - 40 ° - in the western part and 40 - 45 ° - in the eastern part, the amplitude extreme temperatures-- respectively 84 and 94°. Winter is moderately severe and cloudy. Average January temperatures vary from 18°C ​​in the southwest to 26-28°C in the east and northeast. The number of days with an average daily temperature below - 25°C is 30 - 35, the absolute minimum reaches 55 .. 60 °C. The winter type of weather is predominantly anticyclonic. The passage of cyclones creates unsettled weather. More often they pass in the northern part, where, in connection with this, more winter precipitation falls. In winter, up to 12% of the annual precipitation falls. The thickness of the snow cover reaches 60-100 cm, and the duration of occurrence is from 150 days in the south to 200 days in the north.

Summer is quite warm in the southern part and cool in the northern part. Average temperatures in July vary from + 13--14°С in the north of the zone to + 18--19°С in the south. The duration of the growing season varies from 95 days near the northern border to 160 days in the south, and the sum of active temperatures, respectively, is from 800 to 1800-1900 °. In summer, about half of the annual precipitation falls. Rains are not uncommon in the second half of summer, delaying the ripening of agricultural crops and making harvesting difficult. The amount of precipitation over the entire area of ​​the zone exceeds evaporation. Only in the extreme south does the moisture coefficient approach unity.

Most of the territory of the zone is located at altitudes of less than 100 m. Only within the Upper Taz Upland, the heights increase to 285 m, and in the Cis-Urals - up to 400 m. In the northern part of the zone, hilly-moraine, rather dissected plains alternate with more flattened water-glacial and . Permafrost is common here, thermokarst depressions are common, with a diameter of tens and hundreds of meters and a depth of up to 10-15 m. In the north of the zone, the largest surface runoff (up to 250 mm) is observed. The southern part of the zone is characterized by a flatter relief of alluvial and alluvial-lacustrine plains. The river valleys are slightly incised, the channels strongly meander. Only the most major rivers have an incision of up to 30 - 40 m. Many rivers or their segments have inherited the ancient hollows of the runoff (Ket, Tavda, the upper reaches of the Konda, Vakha, Tyma, etc.). The modern erosional ravine-gully network is well developed only on the Verkhnetazovsky and Severo-Sosvinskaya uplands, the Chulym-Yenisei, Turinskaya and Tavdinsky plains, as well as on the steep slopes of river valleys. The rivers of the zone are fed by snow, rain, and bog-soil and have a long spring-summer flood. Groundwater is abundant and close to the surface. The territory of the zone is heavily swamped (Table 2). Here there are huge areas of such water-saturated swamps as ridge-hollow, ridge-lake and swamp. In the central part of the forest-bog zone climatic conditions are optimal for peat accumulation, which occurs equally intensively both in relief depressions and in elevated interfluves. The predominant type of swamps are ridge-hollow sphagnum peatlands.

The location of the dominant types of vegetation - forests and swamps, is primarily affected by the degree of drainage of the territory. To the low hills and ridges of the interfluves, to the slopes and terraces of the river valleys, there are forests on podzolic and soddy-podzolic soils. In conditions of stagnant moisture, swamps form. An intermediate position between them is occupied by swampy forests on gley-podzolic and marsh-podzolic soils. In the forest-bog zone, two main types of natural complexes - forest and swamp - are adjacent and conjugated with each other. Their relationships are a powerful source of restructuring of the intrazonal structure and determine the main trend in the evolution of the nature of this zone. Bog complexes are especially active and aggressive. They constantly increase their size and advance on the surrounding territories. This is due not only to the fact that swamps conserve moisture, but also to the fact that swampy forests (natural complexes of a semi-hydromorphic type) are favorable for the development of phytocenoses with a moss (especially sphagnum) cover.

Excess moisture and limited thermal resources contribute to the accumulation of dead organic matter. This leads to the formation of peat horizons of soils and peatlands, which, in turn, begin to retain moisture. Thus, not only the self-development of peat bogs, but also the development of swampy forests leads to a reduction in the area of ​​forest complexes. The dominant type of forests in Western Siberia are dark coniferous forests of spruce, fir and cedar. Along with them, pine forests and larch forests from Siberian larch, pine-birch and small-leaved new-birch forests are common. In the direction from north to south within the zone, the composition of the forest - forming rocks and the prevailing types of swamps - is changing, which is associated with climate change. On this basis, the forest-bog zone of Western Siberia is divided into four subzones: northern taiga, middle taiga, southern taiga and small-leaved forests.

The northern taiga subzone is characterized by a wide distribution of permafrost and the predominance of treeless, large-hilly sphagnum bogs over forests, forming vast massifs. Forests here occupy about a third of the territory, are characterized by great sparseness and short stature (8-10 m). Larch forests on podzolic illuvial-humus soils on sandy soils predominate among them. Wetter habitats on loamy and clayey soils are occupied by spruce-birch-larch and spruce forests on gley-podzolic and gley-frozen-taiga soils.

In the middle taiga subzone, forests occupy more than half of the territory. 60% of the forest area is occupied by pine forests confined to sandy ridges, plateaus and riverine ridges. There are especially many of them in the western, Ural part of the subzone. About a third of the forest area is occupied in the subzone by dark coniferous forests of spruce and cedar with an admixture of fir (urmana). Swampy dark coniferous taiga with long-moss and sphagnum cover on bog-podzolic soils is most common in central and eastern parts subzones. Extensive watershed spaces are occupied by ridge-hollow sphagnum bogs. Their surface is often overgrown with small pine, gnarled birch and shrubs (bog rosemary, Cassandra, podbel, dwarf birch).

The southern taiga subzone is characterized by significantly less swampiness and the predominance of dark coniferous forests of fir, cedar, and spruce on podzolic and soddy-podzolic soils. Dominance in the dark coniferous forests of Siberian fir is a typical sign of the southern taiga. Pine forests are found on gravelly soils in the Ural part of the subzone and on river terraces. On poorly drained interfluves, ridge-hollow sphagnum and pine-sphagnum bogs are common. To the south, the areas of transitional and sedge-grass bogs increase.

The subzone of small-leaved forests stretches in a narrow strip (from 50 to 200 km) along the southern margin of the forest-bog zone. The basis of the vegetation cover of the subzone is formed by aspen-birch forests on soddy-podzolic gray forest and peculiar secondary podzolic soils. Aspen-birch forests alternate with birch-pine forests on sandy soils, with grassy, ​​rarely sphagnum bogs and meadows. Large areas in the subzone are occupied by arable land. This subzone is the most densely populated and developed.

Among the animals of the forest-bog zone, there are typical "Europeans" (pine marten, European mink), representatives of the East Siberian taiga (sable) and species closely associated with water bodies (otter, water rat, West Siberian beaver). Mammals are typical brown bear, wolverine, lynx, marten, otter, badger, squirrel, etc. Many different birds, whose life is usually closely connected with coniferous forest. But there are few songbirds among them, so the taiga is distinguished by silence and gloom. In the gloomy purely coniferous taiga, animals keep less, preferring secondary, birch-aspen forests.

Many inhabitants of the zone are valuable fur animals (sable, squirrel, muskrat, water rat, etc.). The forest-bog zone has a variety of natural resources and is an area of ​​intensive development. The main oil deposits are concentrated here, large-scale industrial harvesting of timber and other forest products is being carried out, meat and dairy animal husbandry and vegetable growing are being developed around cities and workers' settlements. As in northern zones, the indigenous population is engaged in fur harvesting and fishing. In the vast expanses of the forest-bog zone, noticeable internal differences are observed not only in the transition from one subzone to another, but also depending on the nature of the lithogenic base from province to province. In all subzones, the most significant differences are observed between the provinces of better-drained upland plains and especially marshy lowlands.

The Sredneobskaya province occupies the central part of the West Siberian Plain, crossed by the middle course of the Ob and its numerous tributaries. It is confined to the synek Lisa of the same name, which experienced significant subsidence (up to 100–150 m) in the Neogene-Quaternary, and is a flat lacustrine-alluvial plain composed of sandy and sandy-argillaceous rocks. A significant part of it is occupied by a floodplain (up to 25–35 km wide) and 2–3 terraces above the floodplain of the Ob 15–40 m high. -20 m. Their slope is negligible. Within the floodplains, river channels form extremely complex meanders, alternating with oxbow lakes and channels. The left-bank part of the Ob is quite strongly dissected by numerous valleys (Salym, Yugan, Demyanka and their tributaries) and is better drained. A more intense cut of the left tributaries is apparently associated with the uplift of the Vasyugan swell, which runs along the southern margin of the province. There are a huge number of lakes on the right bank of the Ob.

The climate of the province is typical for the middle taiga of Western Siberia. The river is fed by late melting snow, rain and swamp waters. Most of the rivers originate from swamps. The high water level on the rivers lasts for almost three months. The province is very different a high degree swamps. In a significant part of the Surgut lowland, it reaches 70--90%. The largest swamps here occupy areas of up to several thousand km. In fact, the entire lowland is a huge swamp system, traversed by narrow forest belts along slightly incised rivers. The left bank of the Ob is less swampy: from 50--70% in some places to 30--35% in the rest of the territory. Ridge-hollow, lake-ridge-hollow and lake-ridge bogs dominate in the province. Pine lichen forests are widespread on sandy podzolic illuvial-ferruginous soils of the right bank. Along with white-moss forests and sphagnum forests, marshy dark coniferous forests on bog-podzolic soils are found in the province, along river valleys and on the slopes of ridges there are pure cedar forests on podzolic soils. Secondary aspen-birch forests are widespread in the burnt areas. On floodplains, large areas are occupied by grass and sedge water meadows on alluvial soils.

The province is intensively developed and settled in recent decades, since the largest oil fields of Western Siberia are located within its boundaries. Here are the young, rapidly growing cities of Surgut and Nizhnevartovsk. The Chulym-Yenisei province occupies the southeastern part of the forest-bog zone. In tectonic terms, the province is heterogeneous. It is located within several tectonic structures of the peripheral part of the plate, the largest of which is the Chulym syneclise with a basement subsidence depth of up to 3000 m. In the Neogene-Quaternary, the territory experienced a significant uplift.

different intensity tectonic movements due to the presence of two altitudinal levels in the relief: 200--350 and 150--180 m. The highest intensity of uplift was reached in the south and southeast. Ridge erosional plains are common here, gradually turning to the northwest into gently ridged and wavy ones. The bedrocks of the Paleogene and Cretaceous age are overlain within their limits by a thin cover of Quaternary loess-like loams, sands, and clays, and in some places come directly to the surface. The lower level is dominated by flat alluvial plains composed of fairly thick strata of Quaternary sandy-argillaceous deposits. The territory of the province is dissected by the valleys of the Chulym, Keti, lower reaches of the Tom, incised at 40-60 m. The climate of the province is marked by a significant continentality. The average temperature in January is - 19--22 ° C, July 4 - 17.5 ... + 18.5 ° C. The annual amount of precipitation is 450-600 mm. The thickness of the snow cover reaches 50-70 cm.

The soil and vegetation cover of the province is dominated by dark coniferous southern taiga forests and pine forests on soddy-podzolic and gley-podzolic soils. To the south, they are gradually replaced by small-leaved ones on gray forest soils, often gleyic. In the extreme south, forests alternate with meadow steppes on leached chernozems. The western and northern parts of the province (the lower altitudinal step) are distinguished by relatively high swampiness (up to 30%) of watershed plains and river terraces. In the rest of the territory with a dissected erosional relief, the swampiness is less than 10%.

The Chulym-Yenisei province is one of the most developed and inhabited provinces of the forest-bog zone. Settlements confined to the valleys of the rivers Ob, Yenisei, Chulym, Keti and the lower reaches of the Tom. Forestry is carried out in the province, brown coal is mined in the southern part. The main areas of arable land are also concentrated here. The forest-steppe zone stretches in a narrow strip (150-300 km) from the Urals to the foothills of the Salair Ridge and Altai, the southern border of the zone runs along the river. Uy - to the left tributary of the Tobol, south of Petropavlovsk to Omsk and further to Barnaul. The forest-steppe zone of Western Siberia is characterized by a complex combination of aspen-birch copses and steppe, now plowed areas with sedge-tussock bogs and solonchak meadows. It is distinguished from the forest-steppe of the Russian Plain not only by its more northern position, but also by its strong salinity, the widespread development of swamps and many lakes.

The climate of the zone is continental with severe windy and little snow winters and hot dry summers. The average January temperature is 17--20 °C, the absolute minimum is 54 °C. Up to 25-30 days during the winter it happens with snowstorms in the western part of the zone and up to 45-49 days in the eastern part. The snow cover lies for 150-165 days. Its thickness at the end of winter reaches 30-40 cm, and on convex relief elements - less than 20 cm, so crops often freeze on them. In late March - mid-April, snow melts quickly. The air temperature rises rapidly, but in May (and in the eastern part until mid-June) there are often night frosts.

In summer, dry muds of weather prevail (dry windy-arid and moderately dry) with frequent winds. The average temperature in July is -j-18--20 0С, the maximum rises to +39--41 °С. The duration of the growing season is 150-160 days. The sum of temperatures for the period with an average daily temperature above 10 is 1800--2000. In summer, about 200 mm of precipitation falls, and most of them fall in the first half of summer, when evaporation is especially intense. Sometimes there are showers, during which up to 80 mm of precipitation can fall per day. In connection with the intensification of the meridional transport of air masses, every 3rd-4th year in the forest-steppes of Western Siberia is dry.

The annual amount of precipitation (400-500 mm) is less than evaporation, so the surface runoff is small. Suffusion-subsidence processes play an important role in the formation of the relief. Their development is favored by the flat relief and the predominance of loess-like loams among the surface deposits. The wide distribution of drainless depressions, closed basins, depressions and saucers is a characteristic feature of the relief of the West Siberian forest-steppe. Equally typical for the zone is a ridge-hollow relief with relative heights up to 40–60 m. These landforms, like most modern river valleys, have a common strike from the northeast to the southwest.

The river valleys are incised by only 10–15 m. -50 m/km2, and in the eastern part increases to 70-130 m/km2. The main source of river nutrition is melted snow water. With a friendly melting of snow, the flood on the rivers is short. In summer, the flow is very small, supported mainly by groundwater. The waters of some small rivers are saline at this time and cannot be used for water supply. Many rivers dry up. Transit rivers are Ob, Irtysh, Ishim and Tobol. Of these, only the Ob and the Irtysh remain full of water in the summer.

In the forest-steppe there are many shallow lakes with gently sloping shores, confined to suffusion-subsidence basins and depressions. Among them are fresh, brackish and salty. The composition of salts is dominated by soda lakes. Silts (mud) and waters of highly mineralized lakes are used for medicinal purposes. Due to the poor drainage of the surface, groundwater is shallow and often causes swamping in relief depressions. Since the thickness of the Quaternary deposits is small, and the primary Paleogene and Neogene strata are saline, groundwater is often saline. In the northern part of the zone, and where the thickness of the Quaternary deposits is significant, the upper horizons contain fresh groundwater.

The soil and vegetation cover of the zone is highly variegated due to poor drainage and the development of salinization and waterlogging processes, which are difficult to combine in space. On the drained interfluves and slopes under the meadow steppes, the most fertile soils were formed - fat chernozems. The humus content in them reaches 10–12% with a humus horizon thickness of about 50 cm. . To the south, fat chernozems are gradually replaced by ordinary ones. However, chernozems account for about 10% of the land area. On poorly drained interfluve plains and river terraces, with a shallow occurrence of fresh groundwater, the proportion of meadow species in the herbage increases and meadow-chernozem soils are formed. Virgin meadow steppes and steppe meadows have been preserved only in small areas.

Forest cover varies from 20-25% in the northern part of the zone to 4-5% in the south. The forests are mainly represented by aspen-birch groves and confined to depressions with malt or solonetsous soils. The warty birch predominates in the forests, well adapted to alkaline soils. Downy birch and aspen settle along the wettest parts of the pegs. Pine forests on soddy-podzolic and podzolic soils are common on sandy soils above the floodplain terraces. In complex with chernozems and meadow-chernozem soils, solonetzes and solonchaks are also combined, confined to depressions and other depressions of the relief with a sparse herbage of solonetz meadows from licorice, askitsa, large plantain, astragalus, and solonchak meadows with saltwort and other halophytes.

Among the forest pegs and plowed steppe massifs, there are widespread large-grass bogs (reed, sedge-reed, large sedge) lowland bogs that appear on the site of overgrown lakes (zaimishches) in the northern subzone of the forest-steppe. In addition to them, there are convex sphagnum peat bogs overgrown with oppressed pine and birch - ryams. River floodplains are covered with large-grass meadows. On the terraces there are solonchak meadows with solonchak barley and butlachka. The fauna of the forest-steppe consists of the inhabitants of forests and steppes. The most typical rodents are ground squirrels, hamsters, ground hare, voles. Foxes, weasels, white polecats, ermines, black grouses, white and gray partridges are common in the pegs. Elk, teleutka squirrel, roe deer, hares - hare and hare acclimatized here are found in the forests. Gray ducks, geese, gulls, coots, and whooper and mute swans nest on the lakes. There are many birds of prey on the banks. The water rat and muskrat also live in reservoirs. Many of the reservoirs are rich in fish, including acclimatized bream and pike perch.

Eastern Siberia occupies an impressive area - more than 4 million square meters. km. The diversity of local landscapes is due to the large extent of the region from north to south in Asian territory. Russian Federation. The natural zones of Eastern Siberia are represented by arctic deserts, forests and steppes, but the taiga zone occupies the largest area.

Climate

The climatic features of Eastern Siberia are due to its geographical location:

• great distance from the Atlantic Ocean;
• isolation from the Pacific Ocean;
• location at high latitudes.

The climate of this region is sharply continental, consistently severe. Its characteristic feature is significant daily and seasonal temperature fluctuations, low cloud cover and insufficient moisture level.

On the Far North region in winter time the polar night reigns, when the sun does not appear above the horizon for two months. But with the onset of summer, the sun, on the contrary, shines constantly, even at midnight, for several weeks.

Rice. 1. Polar night.

Continental air currents cool very quickly in the ground layers, which leads to incredibly low temperatures in winter. -60 degrees Celsius and prevailing arctic winds are not uncommon for Eastern Siberian winters.

Summer is quite cold, the air temperature in July rarely exceeds +15 degrees. In addition, it is very short, and the growing season in these parts is 2-2.5 months.

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Vegetable world

Due to the large extent in the meridional direction, the nature of Eastern Siberia, as well as the natural zones of Central Siberia, lies in three climatic zones:

• arctic;
• subarctic;
• moderate.

The predominant territory of Eastern Siberia is occupied by taiga. Fir, larch, pine, cedar grow here.

Rich taiga forests with a length of several thousand kilometers make up almost half of all forest resources in the Russian Federation.

Rice. 2. Endless taiga forests of Eastern Siberia.

Also, an impressive part of the region is occupied by the tundra zone. Poor soils, excess moisture and low temperatures create not the most Better conditions for vegetation development. Dwarf trees, saxifrage, cotton grass, poppy grow here.

Animal world

Almost all areas of Eastern Siberia are not distinguished by a great variety of fauna. The main reason for this is the poor development of plants, the lack of food in the right quantities and permafrost.

Of the large predators, it should be distinguished brown bear, wolverine, lynx. There are also foxes, deer, elks, sables, ermines, ferrets, badgers. Due to the constantly cold soils, very few rodents live in this region. The world of birds, on the contrary, is very diverse. Capercaillie, woodpecker, crossbill, goose, nutcracker, crow, sandpiper and many other species of birds live here.

Rice. 3. Wolverine.

What have we learned?

Eastern Siberia occupies a very large territory. Due to its geographical location, its natural zonality is pronounced. The largest area is occupied by two zones: taiga and tundra. Eastern Siberia is especially valued for its impressive forests of coniferous trees.

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