The Physical Geography of Northern EurasiaMaria Shahgedanova This is the third volume in The Oxford Regional Environments series. The series volumes are devoted to major regions of the world, each presenting a detailed and up-to-date body of scientific knowledge concerning a particular region. For most topics on the physical geography of Northern Eurasia abundant literature now exists. Most of it, however, is in Russian and other East European languages and this has significantly limited the number of potential readers. This volume seeks to familiarize, at an international level, those with an interest in this area with the most significant achievements in classical and current geographical research. The Physical Geography of Northern Eurasia covers most of the territory of the former USSR. The first section discusses the individual compenents of the physical environment. These chapters cut across regional boundaries and treate the area discussed as a whole. A regional analysis follows mainly in the context of geographical zonation, though a number of specific regions are given individual treatment. The concluding chapters discuss the effects of anthropogenic activities on the physical environment. The approach is an integrative one, tying together various aspects of the physical environments with the environmental implications of human activites. Every component of the environment is treated as a step in the development of the multi-faceted landscapes which in turn provide possibilities and limitations for cultural and economic usage. |
Contents
1 Tectonics and Geology | 1 |
2 Climatic Change and the Development of Landscapes | 36 |
3 Climate at Present and in the Historical Past | 70 |
4 Soils | 103 |
5 Rivers Lakes Inland Seas and Wetlands | 122 |
6 Permafrost | 149 |
7 Biodiversity and Productivity of Ecosystems | 169 |
8 The Arctic Environments | 191 |
15 The Caucasus | 350 |
16 The Mountains of Central Asia and Kazakhstan | 377 |
17 Lake Baikal | 403 |
18 The Far East | 422 |
19 Radioactive Contamination | 448 |
20 Environmental Impact of Oil and Gas Development | 463 |
21 Air Pollution | 476 |
22 The Aral Sea | 497 |
9 Boreal Forests | 216 |
10 Mixed and Deciduous Forests | 234 |
11 Steppe and Foreststeppe | 248 |
12 Arid Environments | 267 |
13 The Mountains of Northern Russia | 284 |
14 The Mountains of Southern Siberia | 314 |
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Common terms and phrases
Academy of Science alpine Altay altitude Amudarya annual Aral Sea Arctic areas arid basin belt Betula biome Caspian Cenozoic cent Central Asia century chernozems climate continental deciduous deposits depressions deserts dominated East European plain eastern ecosystems environmental environments Eurasia fields fires first flora flow fluctuations forest-steppe forests formation formed Geography glaciation glaciers Greater Caucasus Holocene humid increase influence Kamchatka Kazakhstan Lake Baikal landscapes Larix late Pleistocene located lowland mainly meadows middle moisture Moscow mountains Nauka Publishers Northern Eurasia occur Pacific Pamir peninsula permafrost Picea Pinus plants Polar pollution precipitation profile Putorana Quaternary Quercus region Ridge river Russian salinity Sayan sediments Siberia sibirica slopes snow cover soils southern Soviet species SSSR steppe summer taiga Taymyr peninsula tectonic temperature territory thickness Tien-Shan tion Transcaucasia tundra typical Urals USSR valleys vegetation Velichko volcanic Western Siberia winter woodlands zonal zone