Kumo-Manych depression: photo, where is located, features

The hollow, which can be read in this article, is very curious and unique in connection with its specific natural features. The conditions of these places are rather complicated, but curious. Here in brief we will tell about the unusual, unique area where the Kumo-Manych depression is located. What natural characteristics and features it has, you can find out just below.

This depression is geographically the border between the Caucasus and the Russian Plain. It is surprising that in this place in ancient times (in the anthropogen) there was a strait that connected the basins of the Caspian and Black Seas.

Kumo-Manych depression: photo, description

The tectonic depression of the trough-shaped form, which separates Ciscaucasia from the steppe and semi-desert territories of the southern part of the East European Plain, is a trough, and it unites two vast lowlands-the Caspian and Kuban-Priazov.

Its width is about 20-30 kilometers, but in the central part of it there is a narrowing to 1-2 kilometers.

Today there is a certain extensive system of reservoirs and lakes: the largest saline lake. Manych-Gudilo and several other smaller ones; Reservoir Veselovskoe, which has a runoff river. Manych in the lower reaches of the Don River. A little to the east a large canal was created with the name Kumo-Manych. And on the easternmost edge of the depression is the lower reaches of the Kuma River.

Name

The origin of the name of the plain (the Kumo-Manych depression) is quite simple. It comes from the names of the largest rivers flowing through the territory of the area - Kuma and Manych.

Relief of the territory

The depression has a tectonic origin in the trough inherited from the fracture zone of the basement. The history of its development can be traced within 250 million years.

The terrain is almost level.

The Kumo-Manych depression has the greatest height in its central part. This territory from the village of Divnoe extends to the village. Zunda Tolga. Interestingly, even this level is only a little over 20 meters above sea level.

Natural conditions of the locality

In this region, the climate is temperate-continental, and the annual precipitation is about 650 mm. In the warm period of the year, there is a relatively high air temperature and a large amount of evaporation. And the temperature increases from west to east, and the amount of atmospheric precipitation, on the contrary, decreases in the same direction.

The soil here is mostly black earth and chestnut. A small part of the territory is occupied by forest-steppe vegetation, and the rest, more extensive - semi-desert and steppe. The basin lands are plowed in different places from 60 to 90% of the total area.

Problems and solutions

The Kumo-Manych depression is particularly remarkable because, due to the extensive plowing of its territories, large deforestation and intensive grazing, there have been quite strong changes in terms of reducing the number and water content of small rivers.

Over the past 100 years, the total length of such rivers has declined by more than 50%.

More specifically, what happened? 35 rivers with a length of up to 3 km disappeared. They were destroyed due to technogenic impact and economic activity of people. Most of the remaining rivers began to have less water content than before, and many of them have a constant surface runoff now only in the spring.

In order to ensure the fullness and desalination of the river Manych through the channels created by people, fresh water is transferred from the Kuban and Don rivers . Most of all channels in these places were created with the aim of irrigation of arid steppe areas and for the possibility of navigation on the river. Western Manych.

Today much attention is paid to the problems of the state of the soils of these places. Scientific research is being carried out in this direction.

This is the ecological feature of the modern Kumo-Manych depression.

Interesting Facts

1. This depression is a kind of the most recognized conventional boundary separating Europe and Asia.

2. On the territories of the depression described and the spurs of the Salo-Manych range there is a large state-owned Rostov nature reserve (biosphere reserve).

78 species of protected plants grow here: 12 of them are listed in the Russian Red Data Book, 77 species are protected at the regional level. Of all this number of species in the Red Book of Kalmykia are 64, in the book of the Rostov region - 23, Stavropol - 16, and Dagestan - 1 species.

Interesting and unique is the Kumo-Manych depression. Due to the fact that earlier communication across the Manychsky Channel between the seas (Caspian and Black) was then restored, then stopped again, the modern relief of the existing reservoirs of these places is very complicated. There are a lot of marshes, islands and channels, estuaries, which form a large, but rather complex and ancient water system in the southern European part of Russia.

An interesting area for studying the natural features of these unique places in order to create conditions for improving the ecological situation.