Geography of Ukraine
The geography of Ukraine is essentially characterized by zones that run in a west-east direction. The country belongs to the Eastern European Plain and the Carpathian Mountains .
Natural structure
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The country is divided into the following usable areas: forest 15.9%, agriculture 53.9%, pasture 10.7%, other 19.5% (status: 1994).
Kowel moraine ridge
In the far north, in Ukrainian - Belarusian border area around the city of Kovel , the country has share of Pripyat - swamps . The terminal moraine landscape ② is part of Polesia , a cultural and geographical area that crosses four zones.
Polesia
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The area of Polesia was greatly changed due to an ice age, this brought changes in the surface shape with it, which also affected the resident population. After the Ice Age (11,600 to 11,700 years ago), Polesia was geographically better suited to human life than the steppe. In the course of history, people were able to find better protection there in inaccessible terrain and thus protect themselves from enemy attacks and from foreign influences. This can be traced back in Belarusian and Ukrainian ethnogenesis.
Further south in the Kovel moraine ridge follows the mixed forest strip ③ ( Polesia , also Polissja, Russian Polesje), followed by the strip which, because of its low level, is called Podolia in the west and the Dnepr-Donets rift zone in the east . This depression intersects with the forest steppe zone .
Volhyn-Podolian Plate
Podolian platter
South of the Kowel moraine ridge and the marshes, the steppe area joins in central and eastern Ukraine . The western part of the steppe runs adjacent to the Podolian Plate ③ the Outer Eastern Carpathians ④ , which move from northwest to southeast. The main part of the entire country consists of flat or slightly hilly terrain overgrown by forest , forest steppe and steppe. The second half of the contiguous steppe area is in the east on the so-called Ukrainian shield ① .
Volhynian plate
In western Ukraine there is the Volhyn Plateau ③ , which is divided into the Volhyn Heights (around the city of Rivne , around 220 to 250 m) and the Podolic Heights (in the west and south-west) of the terrain. It closes with the Kamulaberg as the highest point, at 471 m .
Carpathian fold and thrust belt
The Carpathians with the 2061 m high Hoverla , as well as the mountains of the Crimean peninsula with mountains up to 1545 m high ( Roman Kosch ) stand out from the flat land. Other mountains are the Brebeneskul with 2038 m , the Pip Iwan with 2028 m and the Petros with 2022 m .
The Carpathian Fold and Thrust Belt is an arched tectonic zone with large structural elevations. The Carpathian Mountains are surrounded on the outside by a mountain range. Geomorphologically, they are part of the Outer Carpathians. Geologically, the area is a thin-skinned belt of displacement, through cave-shaped ceilings, consisting of layers in folds - alternating sea deposits of claystones, slate and sandstones occur here, which have been detached from their substrate and moved dozens of kilometers to the north. The fold belt is a neogene volcanic complex, a tectonic zone that runs along the entire Carpathian arch.
Ridges and slabs
If you look at a map of the region, besides the Timan Ridge and the Donetsk Plateau, three almost meridional mountain ranges stand out. It is the Wolynisch-Podolic plate and its eastern extension, the Dnieper Upland , which means Russian and the Volga plate with its continuation, the Jergenihügel . These mountain ranges are separated from each other by the lower lying areas of the Dnieper and Oka-Don lowlands .
On the shores of the Black and Azov Seas , the Black Sea Lowland extends . Thus, the role of tectonic (orographic) factors in the formation of relief forms on the Eastern European level is relatively large. However, more than the tectonic elements, the external physical-geographical forces act on the relief, such as the sea transgressions, the Quaternary glaciation and the river erosion.
The image of the plain in its northern half is shaped by the action of the ice. At the beginning of the Quaternary , a large area of the European part of Ukraine was repeatedly covered by the ice advancing from the northwest, from the heights of Scandinavia. At the time of the greatest glaciation, the ice extended in two tongues in the valleys of the Dnieper and Don to the south (on the Dnepr to beyond the Vorskla , on the Don to Medveditsa ).
In the east of Ukraine there is another striking geomorphological structure: the Donets plate (with a height of up to 369 m ), which is a wavy plateau and is divided by incised valleys and gorges (Owrag and Balka).
In the south there is another elevation on the Crimean peninsula: The Crimean Mountains ⑪ run from southwest to northeast on the south coast of the peninsula with a length of about 150 km and a width of almost 50 km. The western half of the mountain is the highest. The flat summit of the " Roman Kosch " ( 1543 m ) and the highest waterfall in Ukraine, the Uchan-Su waterfall, is located in this region. The height decreases to the east. There are also outcrops of volcanic rocks and Lakkolites (e.g. the Ajudag massif near Hursuf ). Today's Crimean Mountains emerged from a dome-shaped uplift of leveled, old mountains in the Upper Tertiary and Quaternary, the structure of which was complicated by numerous fractures and faults. The main ridge of the Crimea is formed by the chain of table massifs (Jaila), which are composed of thick limestone layers and contain karst forms (funnels, caves, collapsed dolines). In the east, the main ridge can be broken down into numerous small chains and massifs, broken down by faults and erosion, which slope flat to the north and break off with a sharp steep step to the south to the sea.
The center of Europe calculated in 1887 is located near Dilowe in the southwest of Ukraine . The Carpathian Mountains rise here, only a part of which is in Ukraine. The mountains are arranged in some parallel chains that run from northwest to southeast and have a height of 600 m to 2000 m . At the northern foot of the Carpathian Mountains lies a foothill zone with hills and plateaus from 300 m to 500 m in height. The landscape is predominantly low mountain range . The mountains are divided by deep transverse and longitudinal valleys, the peaks and slopes are flat and wooded. Steep rock peaks and chains occur in the central part of the mountain, which is called Gorgane , with heights of up to 1800 m . The Black Mountains (Tschornohora) on the southern watershed also have rock shapes that were created by the Quaternary glaciation. Here the Ukrainian Carpathians reach their greatest height with the Hoverla ( 2061 m ).
The southern slope of the Ukrainian Carpathians lies in the Transcarpathian Ukraine . This slope is severely cut by the tributaries of the upper Tisza , descends to the lowlands on the middle Danube and is separated from it by volcanic marginal chains and peaks with heights of 1000 m to 1086 m . A small depression at the foot of the mountains also belongs to the Transcarpathian Ukraine.
Lowlands
The marginal low-lying zones that arose during the Quaternary glaciation can be divided into two areas of landscape types: 1. The wide, flat lowlands consist of sand deposits that were spread by the water currents of the melting glaciers ( fluvioglacial deposits ), as well as of alluvial sands . These lowlands are very swampy. A classic area for such a landscape is the huge Polessye Depression in the Pripyat river basin. 2. In the area of the glacier tongues from the maximum (fissure) glaciation, the lowlands on the Dnieper and on the Don are with traces of moraine deposits, with a covering layer of loess-like, sandy loam and with wide terraces on the river valleys, which are strongest on the left bank of the Dnepr are developed.
In the south of Ukraine, the geomorphology is characterized by low plains with wide river valleys and pronounced micro-relief forms, which are characteristic of steppe areas through hollow forms of various types ("Pad", "Pod", "Sapadina", "Bljudze" - bowl). The following 3 levels fall under this group: 1. The Black Sea Loosing Level: It is located on the north coast of the Black and Azov Seas. 2. A suitable loess plain extends on the left bank of the Dnieper in the river basins of the Sula , the Psel and the Worskla . South of the "Poltavstschina" (Poltava Oblast) it unites with the loess plain of the Black Sea. 3. A wavy and inclined plain extends on the left bank of the Volga from the Kama to the south to almost 50 ° N. Br. And consists of Syrt clays.
Forest areas
In relation to the Dnieper basin, the forest is rather unevenly distributed. It extends mainly to the upper part of the pelvis and is less common in the lower part. Where forest covers the area, it is limited to small plantations and windbreaking strips around agricultural areas.
The upper part of the Dnieper Basin, north of Ukraine, consists of an inconsistent mix of forest and covers an area of 3.2 million hectares. Important tree species are the pine, which is a particularly valuable species, as well as birch and aspen (also known as trembling poplar). Other common types are oak, black alder, ash, and maple. Maintenance and upkeep of many non-commercial forest areas is urgently needed. It can be observed that wooded areas on highways, railway lines, along power lines, but above all in the vicinity of settlements and cities are being removed to a large extent.
The Ukrainian part of the Dnieper basin is covered with 5 million hectares of forest. For this, due to agricultural processing, a timber volume of 890 million m³ can be assumed. The average forest cover is relatively small (17%), in contrast to the upper part of the basin, where 25% forest cover can be assumed. The regenerative use of forest plantations plays a special ecological role in the lower Dnepr basin, although its share of the total forest is small, that is 1%, i.e. about 40,000 hectares.
The natural forest reserves of Ukraine in the area of the Dnieper basin are in a poor state. This is due to the fact that forest areas are often in the area of influence of industrial facilities. As a result of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster , 2.5 million hectares of forest in Ukraine were affected by radioactive contamination, 200,000 hectares were also excluded from access, and over 165,000 hectares are in the exclusion zone.
Biological resources
In addition to the (forest) Carpathians, the Dnepr basin forms a unique, ecologically self-sufficient system. The basin is biologically diverse, houses a network of ecologically stable areas and is the carrier of various natural processes. The catchment area and its parts contain various interacting micro-ecosystems, which play a major role in terms of maintaining biodiversity on a national and European level.
The Pripyat Basin, Polesia and the floodplain areas of the Dnieper are typical examples of these ecosystems. The great importance of the Pripyat floodplains is evident from the fact that they consist of an almost undisturbed system of rivers and forest floodplains. The wetland consists of the only preserved floodplains, with forest and vegetative diversity and is unique with its parts in terms of its geographical position, its forest, its undergrowth and the diversity of plants.
The Dnepr basin is known for one of the most important floodplain areas in Europe. It is home to residents of various birds and animals and is a powerful protection against flood events and water penetrations. It also acts as the main coal sink. Parts of the basin are also internationally known that they come under the protection of the Ramsar Convention . This includes the nature reserves in central Pripyat, the Pripyat floodplains and the Dnepr Delta.
The biological diversity is evident in over 90 species of fish (60 of them only live in the Dnieper), including 182 bird species and over 2,500 plant species.
Soil structure
Even at the time of the tsars, Ukraine was one of the most fertile agricultural areas in Europe. The country is dominated by a thick layer of very fertile soil, the black earth belt (choronozem), which begins in the forest steppe area on the central Dnieper and reaches its greatest thickness further south in the steppe area. Black earth soils cover 56 percent of the area of Ukraine. Large parts of it are used as arable land.
At the beginning of the last century this fertile loess soil was up to three meters thick, today it is barely more than half its thickness. The reason for this is erosion due to excessive use and incorrect plowing by the former kolkhozes.
But even today, this soil enables large yields. In addition to all types of grain and sugar beet, various types of vegetables and fruits grow. Intensive cultivation of the forest steppe and steppe belt has almost made the original vegetation of the feather grass steppe disappear. Only the Askanija-Nova area in the vicinity of Kherson still has this.
The Askania Nova is a protected area where animals such as bison, ostriches and Przewalski horses have been settled.
The area around Donetsk is characterized by rich coal deposits. There are also considerable deposits of manganese and iron ore here. These have been promoted there for several decades, which contributes to considerable pollution of the Donbas .
Underground
To the south of the Moscow Basin extends an area of high altitude in the Precambrian underground ( Voronezh Massif ⑦ ) with iron ore deposits and the well-known Kursk geomagnetic anomaly. The Precambrian is represented here by strongly folded, metamorphic rock masses with granite massifs that come to light on the Don near the Pavlovsk . The Precambrian is discordantly (non-contiguous) overlaid by Devonian, sandy-clay series and limestone, over which the Jurassic, Cretaceous and ancient Tertiary deposits follow. Further south is the Podolian - Azov massif, which extends from western Ukraine to the Sea of Azov between the Dnieper and the Dnestr. It consists of archaic granites and gneisses with a north-west-south-east folding. Rocks of Algnokian age, similar to those that make up the Voronezh massif, occur in the Krywbass , where they contain rich iron ore deposits. These layers are folded north-south just like in the Voronezh massif. Between the two massifs lies the Dnieper-Donets depression, which closes in the Chernihiv Oblast and continues the Caspian Sea to the Mangyshlak peninsula .
The Donets Basin is located in the east of Ukraine . In its southern part, the depression contains the Donze fold chain, which consists of carbonic and Permian layers of great thickness (15,000 m); to the north the folds gradually fade, and to the east they connect the Donets basin with the chains of folds of Mangyschlak (Russia). In the western wing of the depression ( Isjum , Romny ) phenomena of salt tectonics with oil deposits have developed. The largest part of the deposits form carbonic layers (12,000 m), which consist of clay schist, sandstone, limestone and coal seams. Above them lie dolomites, gypsums and salts of the Performation ( Bachmut ). All these layers are pressed together in elongated, simple folds that show southern Vergence and are strongly discarded. The fractures result in effusions of ultrabasic eruptives. In the central part of the Donets Basin, mercury and bismuth ores occur in the Nagolny Mountains area in Luhansk Oblast .
Layers of the Jura overlap the Permian and Triassic in a discordant manner and show dome-shaped bulges. In their lower parts they consist of clays, iron-bearing sandstones and limestone. The Jurassic strata and further north stricter zones ( Kharkiv , Romny) are exposed through a series of drillings . The deposits of the Upper Cretaceous form a second-order trough that extends between the Donets folds and the Voronezh massif. They are mainly made of chalk. With the exception of the Donets Basin, the entire valley is covered by ancient tertiary sands, sandstones and clays.
The Black Sea Depression occupies the entire space between the Podolish-Assov massif and the Donets folds on the one hand and the Crimea and the Caucasus on the other. In the northwest it merges with the Carpathian rim depression of the Dnestr and San basins. The layer sequences are almost horizontal in it. Both depressions are covered by early Tertiary deposits, which to the west of the Kerch Strait mainly consist of Miocene limestone, mussel beds and clays as well as Pliocene mussel beds and sands. To the east of the Kerch Strait , young tertiary marine deposits are formed, which are composed of mighty clays and enclose oil deposits on the northern slope of the Caucasus.
climate
Most of the Ukraine falls into the temperate warm climate zone, the Crimea has a subtropical, humid climate. The north and northeast of the country are often influenced by the continental climate, with severe winters and relatively warm summers. In the steppe area, the summers can be dry and hot; dust storms, so-called suchovy, occur in such periods. The highlands of the Crimea and the Carpathian Mountains are the areas with the highest rainfall.
Temperatures drop to −22 ° C in winter. In summer the temperature is between 17 and 25 ° C
| Months: | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rainydays | 18th | 18th | 16 | 11 | 13 | 11 | 13 | 12 | 8th | 10 | 15th | 19th |
Precipitation is highest in the north and west and decreases in the east and south-east. Average temperatures in the north of the country in Kiev on the Dnieper River are –7 ° C in January and 20 ° C in July. The annual mean rainfall is 685 mm, in the Carpathian Forest it can rise to 1600 mm. The sometimes very cold winters on the Black Sea coast are less extreme. Summer temperatures also increase towards the south and amount to 23 ° C in July in the Crimea.
The country can be divided into five climate zones. The mountainous region around the Carpathian Mountains (in the southwest), the coastal area (in the southwest and south), the wetlands (in the northwest), the temperate zones in the central west (forest steppes and steppe areas) and the steppe areas in the east. The Crimean Mountains in the south differ climatically, but are not considered a separate climatic zone. The influence of the Black Sea is only noticeable here, where there is an almost subtropical Mediterranean climate.
River landscape
From north to south, with a large arch that bulges to the east south of the capital, the Dnieper divides the country into two almost equally large halves. With a length of 2285 km, it is the third longest European river after the Volga and the Danube.
In earlier times the river served as a waterway and long-distance trade route. In general Ukrainian usage, the areas to the east of the river are referred to as "left bank", the areas to the west as "right bank". From 1932 the river was straightened and the rapids were straightened out. In addition, some reservoirs were created after the Second World War.
The tributaries to the Dnepr basin form a dense network of watercourses. From the west it is fed by the Pripyat, to the north by the Bjaresina , to the north-east by Desna and Sosch , to the east by the Psel . Due to excessive heavy industrial use, the so-called Dniprobogen has now dried up and silted up. In the south the main river of Ukraine flows into the Black Sea.
The former rapids contributed to the naming of an area in the south. The area got the name "Behind the thresholds" (Ukrainian Zaporizzja, Russian Zaporoze). Today the city of the same name, Zaporizhia, reminds us of this .
Coastal
Ukraine lies on two seas, the Black Sea and its side sea, the Sea of Azov. The coastal areas and the climate are different. The length of the coast is 2782 km. The Black Sea is located in the south of Ukraine. It only freezes over for a short time on the north bank. The Dnieper connects the sea with the north-western districts of the country. With the exception of the southern bank of the Crimea, the west and north coasts are not high and very low at the estuaries (Danube, Dnestr, Dnieper).
The coast has some special features. Smaller islands off the coast are rare and there are hardly any bays. The rivers form so-called limanes , which resemble lagoon-like lakes. Limane are river underflows flooded by the sea, which are separated by sand spits. Many of these limanes, such as the Sywasch , have a high concentration of salts and their mud is used for medicinal purposes.
Many animals live in the upper water layers of the Black Sea, but hardly in the lower water layers. Science is divided as to the cause of this phenomenon. The salt content of the Sea of Azov averages 11 ‰, but in the southern parts it is often only 2–4 ‰. The water level of the small sea fluctuates, on average by up to 30 cm per year. The occasional lowering of the water level is explained by winds. In winter it freezes over 2–4 months a year.
The eastern Black Sea and southern Crimean coasts are characterized by a significant height. There are only a few good bays on the entire flat coast of the Black Sea, so here the ports are artificially created, the largest of which is Odessa and the closest is Mykolaiv . On the high coast, however, there are large bays at Sevastopol and Novorossisk, and more open bays at Yalta , Feodosia and Batumi . The fauna of the sea is poor, as the water is contaminated by hydrogen sulfide from 200 m depth and shows no organic life. There are skumbria (mackerel), sea mullet, mullet and plaice.
The shore in the Sea of Azov is mostly flat, but steep in the south. In the shallow part of the sea there are the Arabat Spit , the Fedotowa Spit and the Berdyansk Spit. The Sywasch, also known as the “Lazy Sea”, and the Obytitschna Zatoka form two larger limanes. They are connected to the sea by narrow entrances or are separated from the Sea of Azov by sand islands (spits). The Sea of Azov is connected to the Black Sea by the Kerch Strait. The shallow depth of the Sea of Azov is unfavorable for shipping and ships have to carry out loading work far from the coast. In winter the sea freezes over for 2 1/2 to 3 months. The Azov Sea is rich in fish (mainly with Crimean anchovies and herring).
Human geography
Various small peoples and ethnic groups live in Ukraine. Near Kuty living Hutsul .
In Kosiv there is a center of Cusul handicrafts. If you follow the Prut and cross the area of the Hutsuls you get to the Bukovina . The Prut flows through the district town of Kolomyja , the historic capital of Pokutia . Furthermore, the area extends along the Cheremosh River. The Pokutien area is divided into a northern and a southern half by the River Prut.
The northern half of Pokutien is characterized by a low mountain range, the mountainous foothills of which are used as meadows and fields. The southern part is a high mountain landscape of the eastern forest Carpathians and is therefore called "Hutsulland" because it is the main settlement area of the Hutsuls.
The highest peak of this richly forested mountain world is the Hoverla (2,061 m). This domed mountain is sacred to the Hutsuls. Many rivers have their source at the foot of this elevation (the Prut, the White Tisza, which flows together with the Black Tisza and, as Tisza, forms the largest tributary to the Danube).
Geographically, the Podolian Plateau with its steppes meets the Subcarpathian region on this not very large terrain. Pokutien squeezes into the mountains as a pointed wedge, the edges of which are formed by Prut and Cheremosch.
literature
- Wawilow, SI, Voroschilo, KJ, Wyschinski, AJ, Lebedew-Poljanski, PI, Losowski, A., Petrow, FN, Rotstein, FA, Schmidt, OJ (ed.): Grosse Sowjet-Enzyklopädie, Union of Socialist Soviet Republics, volume I, 2nd edition, Verlag Kultur und Progress, Berlin 1952
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://kamunikat.org/download.php?item=47067-1.pdf&pubref=47067 Supplement No. 237 to "PETERMANNS MITTEILUNGEN", p. 18 ff. (PDF, 13.1 MB)
- ↑ p. 2164, Volume 6 "Енциклопедія українознавства" (German Ukrainian Encyclopedia) / Editor-in-Chief B. Kubiyovych.- Paris, New York, Edition "Young Life" - "NTSCH"; 1996. ISBN 5-7707-6833-9
- ↑ p. 2173, volume 6 "Енциклопедія українознавства" (German Ukrainian encyclopedia) / editor-in-chief B. Kubiyovych.- Paris, New York, edition "Junge Leben" - "NTSCH"; 1996. ISBN 5-7707-6833-9
- ↑ the " Carpathian Flysch Belt "
- ↑ Aleksander Strojny, Krzystof Bzowski, Artur Grossmann; Ukraine - the West; Reise Know-How Verlag Peter Rump GmbH; 1st edition 2008, pp. 349 and 356
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