- What are the main landforms.
- Using the atlas maps, determine which forms of relief prevail on the territory of our country.
- What maps can be used to characterize the relief, explain its origin?
- Remember why the study of the components of nature begins with relief.
Relief- This is a set of forms of the earth's surface, different in shape, size, origin, age and history of development. The relief influences the formation of the climate, the nature and direction of the flow of rivers depends on it, the features of the distribution of flora and fauna are also associated with it. The relief significantly affects the life and economic activity of a person. It is known that both the customs of the population and the occupation of people are not the same when they are settled in flat areas, in river valleys or in mountains.
Rice. 13. Profile of the relief of Russia at 60 ° N. sh.
Geographers call the relief "the frame of nature", therefore, in order to better understand the peculiarities of the nature of any territory, one should start studying it with the relief.
Carefully study the physical and geographical map of Russia, name the main landforms of our country.
Large landforms of Russia and their location. The relief of our country is very diverse: high mountains side by side with vast plains. The highest point of the country (and Europe) - Elbrus in the Caucasus reaches an altitude of 5642 m above sea level, and part of the Caspian lowland is located 28 m below this level.
Territories with flat relief prevail in our country. They occupy a total of more than half of the area of the Russian Federation.
Table 1. The highest peaks of Russia
Among the plains of Russia are the largest (besides the Amazonian) plains of the Earth Tara Russian (East European) and West Siberian. They are separated by the low Ural Mountains. The young Caucasus Mountains are located in the south of the European part of Russia. In the east, there are vast mountainous countries. They are separated from the West Siberian Plain by the Central Siberian Plateau with a dense network of river valleys. To the east of the Lena are the mountain systems of North-Eastern Siberia: the Verkhoyansk ridge and the Chersky ridge.
Rice. 14. Mountain belts and plains of Russia
In the south of the Asian part of Russia there are Altai, Sayany, Salair ridge, Kuznetsk Alatau and the ridges of the Baikal and Transbaikalia, as well as the Stanovoy ridge, Vitim plateau, Stanovoe, Patomskoe and Aldan highlands. Along the Pacific coast from south to north stretch the middle-altitude ridges of Sikhote-Alin, Bureinsky, Dzhugdzhur, and in the north they are replaced by high highlands: Kolymskoye, Chukotskoye, Koryaksky. High mountain ranges with volcanic peaks are located in Kamchatka.
Thus, the analysis of the physical map of Russia allows us to draw the following conclusions about the features of its relief:
- the relief of Russia is very diverse: these are vast plains, plateaus, high and medium-altitude mountains;
- flat areas predominate;
- the territory, this especially concerns the Asian part of the country, has a general depression to the north, as evidenced by the direction of the flow of most of the large rivers;
- mountain structures frame vast plains, with the bulk of the mountains concentrated in the south of Siberia, the north-east and east of the country.
Knowledge about their origin and development will help to explain the patterns of placement of the main landforms.
Remember what you already know about the history of the emergence of the largest landforms from the course on geography of continents and oceans.
Questions and tasks
- Write on the outline map all the mountains and plains mentioned in the text.
- Draw on the contour map of Russia lithospheric plates, ancient platform areas, and seismicity zones.
- What is the significance of relief for other components of nature; for human life and activity?
