The highest peak of the East European Plain. Russia. The flattest and lowest among the greats is the West Siberian Plain.

“Russia is a huge plain along which a dashing person is worn,” said Anton Pavlovich Chekhov. The fact that the Russian plains are almost endless, the writer was able to see for himself during his trip to Sakhalin: for more than four thousand miles he did not meet the real mountains. Only at Baikal for the first time steep-sided, peaked hills began to surround the road. At the same time, the plain spaces extend much further to the east. If you look at the Eurasian continent on the physiographic map, it is noticeable that the yellow-green ocean of colors that correspond to the plains, plateaus and elevations spreads over the north of Eurasia from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, without reaching it the coast is only 400 km. The division of this space into certain plains and lowlands is as conditional as the generally accepted division of the Earth’s waters into four oceans. The plains of Eurasia freely flow around the ridges of the Urals and Central Siberia, penetrate into the adjacent mountain countries in wide bays. If we add here the vast offshore shoals, which were relatively recently the continuations of the plains, then we present a giant flat monolith that has no equal on the planet. Most of it is Russia.

THE GREATEST OF THE GREAT - RUSSIAN PLAIN

The world's first largest plain is East European, or Russian. Its area exceeds 5 million km 2. This is the main arena where the events of Russian history took place, the place where statehood took shape and the Russian nation was formed. The plain stretched freely from the White, Barents and Baltic Seas to the Black and Caspian Seas; in the west, south and east it is bordered by mountains, creating together with the seas the contour of an irregular triangle, in the center of which Moscow is located.

The plain is low (average height - 170 m above sea level), but extremely varied in relief. In fact, it is a set of separate plains, hills and lowlands, each of which has its own appearance. The northwestern outskirts stand out sharply: Karelia and the Kola Peninsula, and not only because they contain quite high ridges and even individual mountain “islands” (the Khibiny, up to 1191m). Here is exposed the ancient “crown” of Europe - the crystalline foundation of the East European platform, on which the plain was formed. The ancient glaciers, descending from the mountains of Scandinavia, thoroughly worked on the image of the European North. For hundreds of thousands of years, they polished, scratched, scraped the strongest rocks of the basement, broke loose huge blocks out of them and carried them far to the south. The glaciers carved the characteristic details of the Kola-Karelian landscape: the hills, ridges and the depressions separating them. Here there is an abundance of lakes and rocks, and most importantly, stone ruins and other alpine features of the landscape - with almost no mountains.

Towards the south, the crystalline basement is hidden under a cover of relatively soft sedimentary rocks (clay, sandstone, limestone, etc.). The boundary of their distribution coincides with a low scarp (in the Leningrad region, it has the name Glint) and stretches along the south-eastern shores of the Onega and Ladoga lakes to the White Sea. It is on the ledge that the famous Pulkovsky Heights are located in the vicinity of the northern capital of Russia.

Behind the scarp, on the territory of the Leningrad and Arkhangelsk regions, limestone plateaus stretch here and there, eaten by flowing waters and resemble a head of cheese due to the abundance of karst craters and lakes. But more, down to the Smolensk-Moscow-Vologda line, hills and ridges, also associated with the movement of ancient glaciers, predominate. Here the northern “guests” played a constructive role, since they were freed from the detritus material brought with them. Sign of the landscape - the lakes, including such large as Seliger, Ilmen and White. Most of the swamps on the slopes and slopes; sometimes these impassable swamps are a real fairytale Berendeyev kingdom. The villages, fleeing from excess moisture, cling to the steep banks of rivers and lakes, or climb the hilltops. Fertile soils are rarely found. In addition, the land is covered with glacial boulders or peaty humus saturated with water.

Not being the highest on the Russian Plain, the moraine Valdai Upland (up to 343 m) and the Tikhvinskaya, Kirillovskaya and other ridges continuing it in the northeast take on the role of the main river watershed. The largest water arteries of European Russia start from the surrounding lakes and marshes: the Volga, the Dnieper, the Northern and the Western Dvina, and the rivers of the Neva basin. They flow from here for hundreds and thousands of kilometers to distant seas.

The next hilly relief ledge to the south is covered with glacial deposits (moraine) Smolensk-Moscow Upland (up to 290 m). For centuries it served as a kind of boundary between the spheres of influence of southern and northern peoples, in particular, Kiev and Novgorod settlers.

To the south of Oka, the appearance of the plain varies greatly. Vast heights appear, and the marshes almost disappear. Villages no longer run from the water, but rather look for it, running down to streams and rivers, stretching along their valleys by narrow serpentine.

Arable lands and meadows covering them only seem to be completely flat up close: the horizon line draws a smooth, as if carved on a piece, silhouette. In the center of the interfluvial slope, the slope is completely imperceptible, but as you move further away, a slight inclination is felt more and more, which by the river passes into slope. If you quickly go by car or by train, the interfloor spaces rush past like huge loaves lying at about the same height. The soil here is soft and puffy, from gray forest in the north to chernozem in the south. All this is the Central Russian Upland (up to 293 m), lying, as the name implies, in the middle of the Russian Plain.

The valleys on this territory are wide and shallow, with wriggling ribbons of narrow rivulets. Of the reservoirs - only small ponds on the beams. The tranquil landscape is disturbed by numerous ravines. They cover the slopes of the valleys with deep ragged wounds, and sometimes penetrate deep into the interfluve as well, as if making a slice baked by nature for millions of years.

The Volga Upland located to the east (up to 375 m) has approximately the same relief features. Unlike Central Russian, it is strongly asymmetrical: the slopes washed out by the Volga are high and steep, especially in the Zhiguli Mountains (see the article “Middle Volga Region”). Undermining the Lada from all sides, but not able to overcome them, the great river makes a wide loop - the Samara Luka.

Located to the east of the Volga, the High Zavolzhie and the Predural area closing with it represent the alternation of elevations, plateaus and ridges. The heights General Syrt and Bugulminsko-Belebeevskaya far surpass the 400-meter line; In some places, the Ufa Plateau is above 500 m, and individual ridges rise to almost 700 m. And this is not surprising: after all, they are on the verge of real mountains. The terrain features are also associated with the terrain height: the valleys, although wide and flat-bottomed, are already deep - they “gnaw” into the plateau 100–200 m and more. Many of their slopes are steep, and here and there rock outcrops of hard rocks are exposed. Only the interfluves remain mostly wide and flat, in some places single shallows rise above them.

The hills are separated by lowlands. One of them - Meshcherskaya lowland (100-150 m) - begins on the eastern outskirts of Moscow. It is lined with sands that carried meltwater from the ancient northern glaciers. In the south, beyond the Oka, Meshcheru continues with a flat and low Oka-Don Plain (100-219 m). In the lowlands, swamps and large woodlands penetrate far to the south, their appearance is often similar to taiga. Another major lowering forms the Volga Valley, reaching 80 km wide in some places. It consists of wide flat terraces, which steps rise from west to east. There are almost no swamps; most of the land is developed and used in agriculture.

In the south, in front of the ridges of the Greater Caucasus, the Stavropol Upland rises high (up to 831 m) and a gentle dome. In the west of it, the Kuban-Priazovskaya lowland rises to the foot of the mountains (up to 150 m). These areas in Russia are perhaps the most beneficial for living and managing. However, from time to time, the activity of the crust is felt here: there are hot mineral springs, earthquakes and even volcanic manifestations occur. In this regard, the North Caucasus stands out sharply from other parts of the Russian Plain, on which formidable underground forces make little sense.

THE MOST FLAT AND LOW AMONG THE GREAT - THE WESTERN SIBERIAN PLAIN

Leaving behind the Ural Mountains, i.e., crossing the conditional boundary that separates Europe and Asia, the traveler first feels that nothing has changed: there is the same plain around, covered with coppices and fields. However, it gradually becomes noticeable that the hills and hills are almost gone, and the rivers flow more calmly and smoothly. And if in the west, in the Urals, the road was winding, climbing a slope, or diving into a tunnel, in the Urals it is straight as an arrow. For a good one and a half thousand kilometers, the eye fails to catch any break in the horizon line. These signs of the landscape are the “calling card” of the West Siberian Plain - one of the greatest on Earth (more than 3 million km 2) and remarkable for its truly unique evenness of relief over such vast areas.

The West Siberian Plain is also the lowest. The rivers flowing along it, as if frozen in their movement; their shores are so low that even a small flood threatens to turn into flooding. On wide flat interfluves and in river valleys expanses for swamps. They are the real owners here (see the article "Swamps"). So many lakes are scattered among the swamps that doubt creeps in: is it possible to even call such landscapes land? It is not by chance that even in the slightest degree outstanding and dry parts of the plain are called continents in Western Siberia; for example, there are Tobolsk (the maximum height is only 105 m) and Belogorsk (up to 231 m) continents.

In general, on the West-Siberian plain, elevations are low. The most significant - the Siberian Uvaly (up to 285 m) - crosses the lowland from west to east approximately in the middle, but it is easier to find on the map than on the ground, since this flat swampy watershed does not reveal anything remarkable. Much more typical for the landscape are vast lowlands such as the Middle Ob, Barabinsk or Kon-dinskoy, each of which surpasses Switzerland or Belgium in the territory.

The abundance of water is reminiscent of the geological past, when Western Siberia was covered for a long time by sea waters. Evidence of this is the thick layers of sedimentary rocks, and the very flatness of the surface itself. In the sedimentary strata are the richest deposits of oil and gas, which in the second half of the XX century. caught the attention of the whole world.

Despite the general monotony of the West Siberian Plain, its individual sections have their differences. Numerous “decorations” created by permafrost appear to the north of Siberian Uvala: heaps of bulging (bulgunyakhi) from 3 to 40 m high, thermo-carcass depressions filled with lakes, polygons, spotted tundra, etc. (see the article “Refrigerators of Russia” Increased “aggressiveness” is characteristic of water streams, which are capable of building deep ravines along the all-terrain track in a matter of days - there are many of them on the river and sea banks and in the regions where deposits are developed.

The south of the West Siberian Plain, 1.5-2 thousand km away from the Arctic Ocean, is warm and dry in places. There are relatively few bogs, among them there are also saline swamps - salt marshes. Lakes are not less than in the north, but not on flat interfluves, but in rounded depressions. Many of the lakes are drainless and saline, as they are often located below the main rivers. The level of the Irtysh and Ob are somewhat higher than the Barabinsk lowland and the Kulunda plain separating them.

In the southeast, where the Predal-Thai plain lies, one can observe a curious natural phenomenon associated with the tectonic processes that formed the Altai Mountains. The upper layers of the sedimentary rocks composing the plain under pressure from the south were creased into gentle folds. As a result, surprisingly smooth ridges parallel to each other appeared — ridges and hollows dividing them. In some places, the bottoms of hollows are covered with sand, in some places they are overgrown with pine forests, which, for their elongation, are called tape forests.

SIBERIAN "MOTHER". CENTRAL SIBERIAN PLANE AND YAKUTIA PLAINS

A powerful stream of the Yenisei, crossing Siberia from south to north, forms the eastern border of Western Siberia. Crossing to the right bank of the great river, you can get from the kingdom of marshes to a completely different world. The uniform lowland is replaced by a motley mosaic of elevated spaces. In Central Siberia, there are deep valleys with steep slopes, so the terrain is a bit similar to the mountain. Therefore, a huge region, stretching to the east of the Yenisei, is called the Central Siberian Plateau. At the same time, flat interfluves, prevailing both in area and in height, make it possible to attribute most of its parts to high plains, or plateaus.

The highest on the Central Siberian plateau is the northwestern plateau of Putoran (1701 m). Deep valleys with wide bottoms, processed by glaciers, cut through Putorana in different directions. The lower reaches of many valleys are occupied by lakes, in which almost sheer slopes are reflected. To the south and east, the level of the plateau gradually decreases, the interfluves expand, and in some places even are covered with swamps. Approximately in the middle of the plateau, from the lower reaches of the Angara to the northeast, there is a wide hollow (less than 400 m). According to some researchers, there was once a valley of a powerful river, whose waters flowed into the Lena basin.

The Yenisei Ridge (1104 m) rises above the Yenisei, one of the few places in Siberia where the crystalline basement protrudes and the landscape is closest to the mountain. To the east of the ridge, the foundation again hides under the cover of sedimentary rocks, and the terrain becomes relatively flat. On the vast expanse of the plateau, between the Yenisei and Baikal, several gentle undulating ridges were formed (up to 1.5 thousand meters).

In the openwork drawing of the Central Siberian river network, surprisingly even strokes stand out - they indicate the direction of the fractures in the crust. One example is the Prilenskoe Plateau in the south of Yakutia; strictly parallel valleys stretched in several directions form here a kind of lattice, clearly visible on maps and satellite images. While swimming along the rivers, one can admire the “sculptures” characteristic of the Siberian plateaus — rock cliffs of the most varied, often bizarre form; somewhere they are called yars, somewhere - cheeks, somewhere - pillars.

Gradually descending, the plateau in the east passes into the Central Yakutia Plain, stretching along the foothills of the Verkhoyansk Mountains. Again, as in Western Siberia, there are many swamps and lakes, but this is no longer due to the abundance of precipitation, but with numerous rivers flowing here from all sides, and permafrost, which holds the earth, penetrating hundreds of meters into the depths. The climate is very dry, so that in the vicinity of the marshes you can often see the winds carried by the sands. Unforgettable impression  leave gentle long slopes; they are covered with detit - narrow parallel strips along which thawed soil slowly creeps along in the warm season.

From an airplane, the low watersheds of Central Yakutia look as if neatly combed with a frequent comb.

The great plains discovered in the north of the Arctic Ocean, in the south and east, are bordered by a chain of mountains. Since ancient times, the paths of merchants and conquerors passed on this semi-confined space. The nomadic peoples of Asia swiftly overcame the plains along the steppe south, heading west to Europe. On the taiga trails and polar snows, the Russian explorers of Siberia and Far East. The transport arteries, which were later laid across the plains of Eurasia, still serve as the framework that holds the largest Russian state in the world together.

The ridge is the elongated elevation of the terrain with pronounced slopes that intersect in its upper region. The highest points form a line stretched in the longitudinal direction and called the crest. This ridge divides the ridge into 2 slopes and serves as a watershed. An axial line is drawn along the ridge, which is displayed on orographic maps.

Forms, length and height of ridges depend on the time of its occurrence, historical development, as well as on the rocks that make it up. According to the shape of the axial line, they are divided into straight and slightly curved.

The largest of the mountain ranges have spurs, the so-called branches, expressed in the form of small ridges. In the aggregate, all the arrays make up the mountain system, and the places of their joints are called the Mountain knot. Buildings that are located next to each other, create a mountain range.

The ridges of Kamchatka

To the largest arrays Kamchatka region  Valaginsky, Ganalsky, Vostochny, Vachkazhets, Kumroch, and also Penzhinsky and Sredinny ranges.

The Ganal Range is a mountain range that abruptly rises above a nearby terrain with steep tectonic faults on its slopes, characterized by a rugged ridge, and formed as a result of the rapid movement of tectonic plates. The vegetation of this territory is similar to the alpine, and the animal world is inhabited by mountain sheep and gophers.

The length of the Valaginsky range reaches 150 km, and the maximum height is Mount Kudryash (1794 m). The rocks that form the massif are slate, granite and volcanic lava. This mountain formation has steep slopes that are covered with forests of Kamchatka birch. Valaginsky, or rather the north-eastern slope of Mount Rocky (2016 m) gives rise to the 100 km long Kavicha river.

The eastern ridge on Kamchatka is the name of the whole mountain system, which consists of several separate buildings. The slopes of the Eastern range are very steep on the western side and gentle on the east. Its southern part is occupied by the Ganal Vostryaki, the middle - by the Valaginsky Range, and the Kumroch Range is located in the northeast. The total length reaches 600 km and width 120 km. The highest point is Kizimen volcano with a height of 2485 m.

Vachkazhets is a whole mountain range, located in the southern part of the peninsula. The highest point is the mountain of the same name 1556 m high. Mount Vachkazhets refers to ancient volcanowhich is very long severe eruption  It was divided into three parts: Summer Transverse Mountain with a height of 1,417 m, Vachkazhtsi Mountains - 1,500 m and Vachkachets Volcano. Within the limits of the first of them two big circuses are kept to this day. volcanic originbeing a reminder of a once united volcano. Here is the base camp, and the area itself has trekking, bird watching and vegetation admiring.

The length of the Kumroch massif is about 220 km, and the highest point is Shish volcano, 2346 m high. The eastern side of the building is cut by the valley of the Kamchatka River.

Penzhinsky massif is located in the Koryak Highlands. On the one hand, it is guarded by Parapolsky Dol, on the other hand the valley of the Penzhina River. The length of the ridge is about 420 km.

The median ridge is the main mountain range on the peninsula. It stretches across Kamchatka, and its length reaches 1,200 km. It contains many volcanoes and just volcanic structures. Here are the lava plateaus and individual arrays covered by glaciers. In the Sredinny Range, one can separately distinguish Malkinsky, Bystrinsky and Kozyrevsky. The highest point is the Ichinsky volcano, 3621 m high. Many rivers flow from the slopes, and the lower part is covered with forests of elfin wood and stone birch. The composition of the Middle Belt includes 28 passes and 11 mountain peaks. Asymmetric ridge itself. Its western part descends to the Western Kamchatka Lowland, and the eastern part abruptly ends with the Central Kamchatka Lowland.

Separately, I would like to mention such mountains as Mount Camel, Hot, Polennitsa, Misha Sopka.

Mount Camel is recognized as a natural monument located in the territory of the Nalychevo Park. The mountain was named because of the presence of two peaks on it. The approximate age of the mountain is 10,000 years. She also annually participates in the celebration of the Day of the Volcano in Kamchatka.

Mount Hot is marked by its location between the Paratunka River and the Karamshina River. The mountain is of magmatic origin. Due to the proximity to the thermal areas, vegetation is constantly changing on its territory.

Polennitsa Mountain is officially included in the UNESCO list of the World Natural and Cultural Heritage in the nomination "Volcanoes of Kamchatka".

The target hill is one of the notable mountains of Kamchatka. due to its location, the summit itself offers picturesque views of the Avacha and Koryaksky volcanoes, as well as all of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

Tourist

The mountains will meet you already on the approach to Kamchatka Peninsula  and will surround you wherever you go. Choose our tours and enjoy the view.