West Siberian Plain is one of the great plains of the world.From north to south it stretches for two thousand kilometers from west to east - a little less than two thousand.Its natural boundaries are: to the north - the sea of the Arctic Ocean, to the south - Kazakh low hills to the west - and east of the Urals - the Yenisei.Plain area of slightly less than three million square kilometers.
There are many deposits of various minerals.But most important of them are hydrocarbons.West Siberian Plain - the largest oil and gas-bearing region of the Russian Federation and one of the largest in the world.
large area, and the relative uniformity of the relief are the reason that the West Siberian Plain includes a large number of natural and climatic zones, with a clear allocation from north to south.In the areas adjacent to the Arctic Ocean, the dominant type of landscape - tundra with vast wetlands.To the south the terrain is changing.Tundra tundra replaced with islands of small trees, to the south - taiga, consisting of conifer trees, is located further south belt of deciduous forests.Approximately fifty-fifth parallel diluted steppe woodlands and fields, and on the border with Kazakhstan is almost no forests, except for the eastern regions of the plains.
In the seventies of the last century the West Siberian Plain was subjected to strong anthropogenic influence.The impact continues to this day.This is associated with the beginning of development of hydrocarbon by weight.But even now the area is vast hydrocarbon deposits remain wild, like many years ago.
natural conditions, even on the same latitude are slightly different.This is due to the fact that the West Siberian Plain, the climate of which depends on the presence of natural barriers (the Urals), which protects from the warm westerly winds, lies in the transition from moderate continental climate to the continental.And if the difference between the prevailing summer and winter temperatures in the regions adjacent to the Urals, expressed more poorly, then the left bank of the Yenisei River - this is the area where there is a complete sharply continental climate.
large differences in elevation are not here, but still there are small hills, lowlands and swamps, which are particularly rich in the West Siberian Plain.The relief seems to consist of the elements (Vasyugan plain Kulundinskaya ranina, Baraba lowlands etc.) competing with each other - one below.And only in the north of the Siberian ridges located - nine kilometers long ridge, the highest point which barely exceeded three hundred meters.
Separately must be said about the rivers of the West Siberian Plain.Almost the entire territory of the Ob basin occupies the main tributaries of the Irtysh.The eastern part of the plain part of the pool of Yenisei.Water resources area is provided in abundance.But because of the flat nature of river height differences and the lack of large hydropower plants on it there is little, except in Novosibirsk, situated in the upper reaches.Despite the huge potential, the construction of hydropower plants on the lower Ob Novosibirsk is impossible, as in this case, would be flooded a huge area.
