Eurasia: minerals. Mainland Eurasia

The relief and minerals of Eurasia are very diverse. This continent geomorphology is very often called the continent of contrasts. The geological structure, the relief of the continent, and the location of minerals in Eurasia will be discussed in detail in this article.

Mainland Eurasia: a geological structure

Eurasia - the largest continent of our planet. 36% of the land and about 70% of the earth's population is concentrated here. Almost all continents of the Earth, in fact, are fragments of two ancient supercontinents - Laurasia and Gondwana. But not Eurasia. After all, it was formed from several lithospheric blocks, which for a long time approached, and, finally, were welded together into locks of folded belts.

The continent consists of a number of geosynclinal regions and platforms: East European, Siberian, West Siberian, West European and others. In Siberia, in Tibet, as well as in the Baikal region, the earth's crust is visited by a huge number of cracks and faults.

In different geological epochs folded belts of Eurasia emerged and formed. The Pacific and Alpine-Himalayan are the largest of them. They are considered young (that is, their formation has not yet ended). It is to these belts that the largest mountain systems of the mainland are the Alps, the Himalayas, the Caucasus Mountains and others.

Some areas of the continent are areas of increased seismic activity (such as Central Asia or the Balkan Peninsula). Powerful earthquakes are observed here with considerable frequency. The presence of the largest number of active volcanoes can also boast of Eurasia.

The minerals of the continent are closely related to its geological structures. But we'll talk about them later.

General features of the Eurasian landform

The relief and minerals of Eurasia are extremely diverse. They were formed in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic, within several ancient platforms, connected by mobile folding regions.

Eurasia is the second largest continent on the planet with an average height of 830 meters above sea level. Above only Antarctica, and even then exclusively due to a powerful ice shell. The highest mountains and the largest plains are located in Eurasia. And the total number of them is much greater than on other continents of the Earth.

The maximum possible amplitude (difference) of absolute heights is characteristic for Eurasia. It is here that the highest peak of the planet is - Mount Everest (8850 m) and the lowest point of the world - the level of the Dead Sea (-399 meters).

Mountains and plains of Eurasia

Almost 65% of the territory of Eurasia is occupied by mountains, plateaus and uplands. The rest belongs to the plains. The five largest mountain areas on the continent:

• Himalayas.
• Caucasus.
• Alps.
• Tien Shan.
• Altai.

The Himalayas are the highest mountain range not only of Eurasia, but of the entire planet. They occupy about 650 thousand square kilometers of the area. It is here that the "roof of the world" is located - Mount Jomolungma (Everest). In the whole history 4469 climbers conquered this peak.

On this continent is also located the Tibetan Plateau - the largest in the world. It occupies a huge area - two million square kilometers. Many famous rivers of Asia (Mekong, Yangtze, Indus and others) originate in the Tibetan Plateau. Thus, this is another geomorphologic record that Eurasia can boast of.

The minerals of Eurasia, by the way, often lie in the folding zones. So, for example, the bowels of the Carpathian Mountains are very rich in oil. And in the mountains of the Urals, precious minerals are being mined - sapphires, rubies and other stones.

Plains and lowlands in Eurasia are also many. Among them is another record - the East European Plain, which is considered the largest on the planet. It stretches from the Carpathians to the Caucasus by almost 2500 thousand kilometers. Twelve states are located within this plain, in whole or in part.

Relief of Eurasia: highlights and interesting facts

For impressive orographic records it is very easy to miss the less scale, but not less interesting features of the continent. In the relief of Eurasia, there are, in fact, all forms of relief known to modern science. Caves and karst mines, cars and fjords, ravines and river valleys, dunes and barkhans - all this can be seen within the largest continent of the Earth.

In Slovenia is the famous Karst plateau, whose geological features gave the name to a whole group of specific forms of relief. Within this small limestone plateau, there are several dozen beautiful caves.

Quite a lot in Eurasia and volcanoes, both active and extinct. Klyuchevskaya hill, Etna, Vesuvius and Fujiyama are the most famous of them. But on the Crimean peninsula you can see the unique mud (on the Kerch peninsula) or the so-called failed volcanoes. A striking example of the latter is the mountain known as Ayu-Dag.

Minerals of the continent

Eurasia ranks first in the world for the common reserves of many mineral resources. In particular, the bowels of the continent are extremely rich in oil, gas and ores of non-ferrous metals.

In the mountains, as well as on shields (projections of the basement of platforms) of Eurasia, solid deposits of iron and manganese ores, as well as tin, tungsten, platinum and silver are concentrated. To the deflections of the foundations of the ancient platforms are confined huge reserves of fuel mineral resources - oil, gas, coal and oil shale. Thus, the largest oil fields are being developed in the Persian Gulf, on the Arabian Peninsula, in the North Sea shelf; Natural gas in Western Siberia; Coal - within the East European Plain and in Hindustan.

What else is rich in Eurasia? Minerals of non-metallic type are also extremely common on the mainland. So, on the island of Sri Lanka is the world's largest deposit of rubies. In Yakutia, diamonds are mined, in Ukraine and Transbaikalia - granite of the highest quality, in India - sapphires and emeralds.

In general, the main minerals of Eurasia are oil, gas, iron ore, manganese, uranium, tungsten, diamonds and coal. In terms of production of many of these resources, the continent has no equal throughout the world.

Eurasian natural resources: a table and major deposits

It should be noted that the mineral resources of the continent are extremely uneven. Some states in this plan are openly fortunate (Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, China, etc.), and others - not very (as, for example, Japan). Below are listed the most important minerals of Eurasia. The table also contains information on the largest mineral deposits of the continent.

Finally

The largest continent on our planet is Eurasia. The minerals of this continent are very diverse. The world's largest reserves of oil, natural gas, iron and manganese ore are concentrated here. In the bowels of the continent contains a large number of copper, uranium, lead, gold, coal, precious and semiprecious stones.