What can be cooked from squid: quick and tasty
The length of the Ural Mountains from north to south is more than 2000 km, width - from 50 to 150 km. The Ural is the border between Europe and Asia. The nature of the Urals is unusually diverse - from blue tundras and harsh alpine peaks of the Polar Urals to fertile
plowed steppes of the Southern Urals.
1) On the contour map of the Urals (p. 93), sign the names of its main parts: Polar, Subpolar, Northern, Middle, Southern, and also show the Urals and Trans-Urals.
2) Determine the geographical coordinates of the extreme points of the Urals:
north 68 ° N, 65 ° E
southern 53 ° N, 57 ° E
3) What is the name of the highest peak in the Urals? What is her height?
Answer: Narodnaya (1895 m)
4) Which part of the Ural Mountains is the highest?
Answer: Subpolar part
5) What is the lowest part of the Ural Mountains?
Answer: Middle part
6) Determine which minerals are especially rich in the Urals. Explain why.
7) Using the atlas maps and the text of the textbook, establish what differences exist in climatic conditions:
a) Northern and Southern Urals
Northern: large amount of precipitation, area of excessive moisture,
winters are mild, snowy and long. Summers are cold, rainy, cool.
Southern: cold winters, warm, dry summers, insufficient precipitation
b) Cis-Urals and Trans-Urals
different amount of precipitation. The climate of the Cis-Urals is less severe. In the Urals
spruce forests are widespread
+ State the reasons for the differences:
Ural mountains- an obstacle in the way of the Atlantic air masses
8) Underline on the contour map of the Urals (p. 93) the cities whose names
talk about the presence of mineral deposits around them.
Ural mountains- a unique natural object for our country. Probably, you shouldn't hesitate to answer the question why. The Ural Mountains are the only mountain range that crosses Russia from north to south, is the border between two parts of the world and two largest parts (macroregions) of our country - European and Asian.
Geographical position of the Ural Mountains
The Ural Mountains stretch from north to south, mainly along the 60th meridian. In the north, they bend towards the northeast, towards the Yamal Peninsula, in the south, they turn towards the southwest. One of their features is that the mountainous area expands as you move from north to south (this is clearly visible on the map on the right). In the very south, in the region of the Orenburg region, the Ural Mountains are connected with nearby elevations, such as the General Syrt.
No matter how strange it may seem, the exact geological border of the Ural Mountains (and hence the exact geographical border between Europe and Asia) still cannot be accurately determined.
The Ural Mountains are conventionally divided into five regions: the Polar Urals, the Subpolar Urals, the Northern Urals, the Middle Urals and the Southern Urals.
To one degree or another, part of the Ural Mountains is captured by the following regions (from north to south): Arkhangelsk region, Komi Republic, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, Perm Territory, Sverdlovsk Region, Chelyabinsk region, the Republic of Bashkortostan, the Orenburg region, as well as part of Kazakhstan.
Professor D.N. Back in the 19th century, Anuchin wrote about the variety of landscapes in the Urals:
“From the Konstantinovsky stone in the north to the Mugodzhary mountains in the south, the Urals show different character in different latitudes. Wild, with rocky peaks in the north, it becomes forest, with more rounded outlines in the middle part, it acquires rockiness again in the Kyshtym Urals, and especially near Zlatoust and further, where the high Iremel rises. And these lovely lakes of the Trans-Urals, bordered from the west by a beautiful line of mountains. These rocky shores of the Chusovaya with its dangerous "fighters", these Tagil rocks with their mysterious "scribes", these beauties of the southern, Bashkir Urals, how much material they represent for a photographer, painter, geologist, geographer! "
The origin of the Ural mountains
The Ural Mountains have a long and complex history. It begins in the Proterozoic era - such an ancient and little-studied stage in the history of our planet that scientists do not even divide it into periods and epochs. About 3.5 billion years ago, a rupture of the earth's crust occurred in the place of future mountains, which soon reached a depth of more than ten kilometers. Over the course of almost two billion years, this rift expanded, so that about 430 million years ago, an entire ocean was formed, up to a thousand kilometers wide. However, shortly thereafter, the convergence of lithospheric plates began; the ocean disappeared relatively quickly, and mountains formed in its place. It happened about 300 million years ago - this corresponds to the era of the so-called Hercynian folding.
New large uplifts in the Urals resumed only 30 million years ago, during which the Polar, Subpolar, Northern and Southern parts of the mountains were raised by almost a kilometer, and the Middle Urals - by about 300-400 meters.
At present, the Ural Mountains have stabilized - no large movements of the earth's crust are observed here. Nevertheless, to this day they remind people of their active history: from time to time earthquakes occur here, and very large ones (the strongest had an amplitude of 7 points and was recorded not so long ago - in 1914).
Features of the structure and relief of the Urals
From a geological point of view, the Ural Mountains are very complex. They are formed by the most different types and ages. In many ways features internal structure The Urals are associated with its history, for example, traces of deep faults and even parts of the oceanic crust are still preserved.
The Ural mountains are medium and low in height, the highest point is Mount Narodnaya in the Subpolar Urals, reaching 1895 meters. In profile, the Ural Mountains resemble a depression: the highest ridges are located in the north and south, and the middle part does not exceed 400-500 meters, so that, crossing the Middle Urals, you may not even notice the mountains.
View of the Main Ural Range in the Perm Territory. Photo by Yulia Vandysheva
We can say that the Ural Mountains were "unlucky" in terms of height: they formed in the same period as Altai, but subsequently experienced much less strong uplifts. The result is that the highest point of Altai, Mount Belukha, reaches four and a half kilometers, and the Ural Mountains are more than two times lower. However, such a "lofty" position of Altai turned into a danger of earthquakes - the Urals in this respect are much safer for life.
Typical vegetation of the mountain tundra belt in the Ural Mountains. The picture was taken on the slope of Mount Humboldt (Main Ural Range, Northern Ural) at an altitude of 1310 meters. Photo by Natalia Shmaenkova
The long, continuous struggle of volcanic forces against the forces of wind and water (in geography, the former are called endogenous, and the latter - exogenous) created a huge number of unique natural attractions in the Urals: rocks, caves and many others.
The Urals are also known for their huge reserves of all types of minerals. These are, first of all, iron, copper, nickel, manganese and many other types of ores, building materials... The Kachkanar iron deposit is one of the largest in the country. Although the metal content in the ore is low, it contains rare, but very valuable metals- manganese, vanadium.
In the north, in the Pechora coal basin, coal is mined. There are also precious metals in our region - gold, silver, platinum. Undoubtedly, Ural precious and semi-precious stones are widely known: emeralds mined near Yekaterinburg, diamonds, gems of the Murzinsky strip, and, of course, Ural malachite.
Unfortunately, many valuable old deposits have already been depleted. "Magnetic mountains", containing large reserves of iron ore, have been turned into quarries, and reserves of malachite have been preserved only in museums and in the form of separate inclusions at the site of old developments - now it is hardly possible to find even a three-hundred-kilogram monolith. Nevertheless, these minerals largely ensured the economic power and glory of the Urals for centuries.
Text © Pavel Semin, 2011
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The Ural Mountains, formed due to the collision of the Eurasian and African lithospheric plates, are a unique natural and geographical object for Russia. They are the only mountain range crossing the country and dividing the state to the European and Asian parts.
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Geographic location
In which country the Ural Mountains are located, any schoolchild knows. This massif is a chain that is located between the East European and West Siberian plains.
It is stretched so that it divides the largest one into 2 continents: Europe and Asia... Starting from the coast of the Arctic Ocean, ends in the Kazakh desert. On it stretches from south to north, and in some places the length reaches 2 600 km.
The geographical location of the Ural mountains goes almost everywhere parallel to the 60th meridian.
If you look at the map, you can see the following: the central region is located strictly vertically, the northern one turns to the northeast, and the southern one turns to the southwest. Moreover, in this place the ridge merges with the hills located nearby.
Although the Urals are considered the border between continents, there is no exact geological line. Therefore, it is believed that they belong to Europe, and the line dividing the mainland runs along the eastern foothills.
Important! The Urals are rich in their natural, historical, cultural and archaeological values.
The structure of the mountain system
In the chronicles of the 11th century, the Ural mountain system is referred to as Earth belt... This name is explained by the length of the ridge. It is conventionally divided into 5 areas:
- Polar.
- Subpolar.
- North.
- Average.
- South.
The mountain range partially covers the northern regions of Kazakhstan and 7 Russian regions:
- Arkhangelsk region
- Komi Republic.
- Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District.
- Perm Territory.
- Sverdlovsk region.
- Chelyabinsk region.
- Orenburg region.
Attention! The widest part of the mountain range is located in the Southern Urals.
The location of the Ural mountains on the map.
Structure and relief
The first mention and description of the Ural Mountains dates back to ancient times, but they were formed much earlier. This happened under the interaction of rocks of various configurations and ages. In some areas, they are still preserved remnants of deep faults and elements of oceanic rocks... The system was formed almost at the same time as Altai, but in the future it experienced less uplifts, which resulted in a small "height" of the peaks.
Attention! Advantage over high Altai is that there are no earthquakes in the Urals, so it is much safer to live in.
Minerals
The long-term resistance of volcanic structures to the force of the wind is the result of the formation of numerous attractions created by nature. These include caves, grottoes, rocks etc. In addition, there are huge mineral reserves, primarily ore, from which the following chemical elements are obtained:
- Iron.
- Copper.
- Nickel.
- Aluminum.
- Manganese.
Making a description of the Ural Mountains by physical map, we can conclude that most of the development of minerals is carried out in the southern part of the region, or rather in Sverdlovsk, Chelyabinsk and Orenburg regions ... Almost all types of ores are mined here, and not far from Alapaevsk and Nizhny Tagil of the Sverdlovsk region, a deposit of emeralds, gold and platinum was discovered.
The area of the lower trough of the western slope is replete with oil and gas wells. The northern part of the region is somewhat inferior in deposits, but this is compensated by the fact that precious metals and stones prevail here.
Ural mountains - mining leader, ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy and chemical industry. In addition, the region is in first place in Russia in terms of pollution level.
It should be taken into account, no matter how profitable the development of underground resources, the harm the surrounding nature the more substantial one is brought. The raising of rocks from the depths of the mine is carried out by crushing with the release of a large amount of dust particles into the atmosphere.
At the top, fossils come into chemical reaction with the environment, the oxidation process takes place, and the chemical products obtained in this way again get into the air and water.
Attention! The Ural Mountains are known for their deposits of precious, semi-precious stones and precious metals. Unfortunately, they are almost completely worked out, so the Ural gems and malachite can now be found only in the museum.
Peaks of the Urals
On the topographic map of Russia, the Ural Mountains are indicated in light brown. This means that they do not have great indicators in relation to sea level. Among the natural areas, the highest region, located in the Subpolar region, can be emphasized. The table shows the coordinates of the heights of the Ural Mountains and the exact magnitude of the peaks.
The location of the peaks of the Ural Mountains is created in such a way that there are unique sites in each area of the system. Therefore, all the listed heights are recognized tourist sites successfully used by people with active lifestyles.
On the map, you can see that the Polar Region is average in altitude and narrow in length in width.
The nearby Subpolar region has the highest height, it is characterized by a sharp relief.
Of particular interest arises from the fact that several glaciers are concentrated here, one of which is almost 1,000 m.
The height of the Ural Mountains in the Northern Region is insignificant. The exception is a few peaks that rise above the entire ridge. The other heights, where the vertices are smoothed, and they themselves have a rounded shape, do not exceed 700 m above sea level. Interestingly, closer to the south, they become even lower and practically turn into hills. The terrain is practically resembles a flat.
Attention! The map of the south of the Ural Mountains with peaks over one and a half kilometers again reminds of the ridge's involvement in the huge mountain system that separates Asia from Europe!
Big cities
A physical map of the Ural Mountains with cities marked on it proves that this area is considered to be abundantly populated. The only exceptions are the Polar and Subpolar Urals. Here several cities with a population of one million and a large number of those with more than 100,000 inhabitants.
The population of the region is explained by the fact that at the beginning of the last century in the country there was an urgent need for minerals. This became the reason for a large resettlement of people to the region where similar developments were carried out. In addition, in the early 60s and 70s, many young people left for the Urals and Siberia, hoping to radically change their lives. This influenced the formation of new settlements, under construction at the site of mining.
Ekaterinburg
Capital of Sverdlovsk region with population 1,428,262 people is considered the capital of the region. The location of the metropolis is concentrated on the eastern slope of the Middle Urals. The city is the largest cultural, scientific, educational and administrative center. The geographical position of the Ural Mountains is created in such a way that it is here that lies natural way linking Central Russia and Siberia... This influenced the development of the infrastructure and economy of the former Sverdlovsk.
Chelyabinsk
The population of the city, which is located where the Ural Mountains, according to the geological map, border Siberia: 1 150 354 people.
It was founded in 1736 on the eastern slope of the South Ridge. And with the advent of railway communication with Moscow, it began to develop dynamically and became one of the largest industrial centers in the country.
Over the past 20 years, the region's ecology has deteriorated significantly, which has caused an outflow of the population.
Nevertheless, today the volume of local industry is more than 35% of the gross municipal product.
Ufa
The capital of the Republic of Bashkortostan with a population of 1,105,657 people is considered 31st city in Europe by population... It is located to the west of the South Ural Mountains. The length of the metropolis from south to north is more than 50 km, and from east to west - 30 km. By its size it is one of the five largest Russian cities. In the ratio of the number of population and occupied area, there is about 700 m2 of urban area for each inhabitant.