The depression, which can be read about in this article, is very curious and peculiar in connection with certain of its natural features. The conditions of these places are rather complicated, but curious. Here we will briefly talk about the unusual, unique area where the Kumo-Manych depression is located. What natural characteristics and features it possesses can be found below.
Geographically, this depression is the boundary between the Caucasus and the Russian Plain. It is surprising that in this place in ancient times (in anthropogenous) there was a strait connecting the basins of the Caspian and Black Seas.
Kumo-Manych depression: photo, description
The tectonic depression of the gutter-shaped form is a depression that separates the Ciscaucasia from the steppe and semi-desert territories of the southern part of the East European Plain and combines two vast lowlands - the Caspian and Kuban-Priazovskaya.
Its width is about 20-30 kilometers, but in its central part there is a narrowing to 1-2 kilometers.
Today, there is a certain vast system of reservoirs and lakes: the largest salt lake. Manych-Gudilo and several other smaller ones; Veselovskoye reservoir, which has a river runoff. Manych in the lower Don River. A little east was created a large canal called Kumo-Manychsky. And on the easternmost edge of the basin is the lower reaches of the Kuma River.
Title
The origin of the name of the plain (Kumo-Manych depression) is quite simple. It comes from the names of the largest rivers flowing through the territory of this locality - Kuma and Manych.
Terrain relief
The hollow has a tectonic origin in a trough inherited from the basement fault zone. The history of its development can be traced within 250 million years.
The terrain is almost flat.
The Kumo-Manych depression has the highest height in its central part. This territory from the village of Divnoy extends to the village. Zunda Tolga. Interestingly, even this level is only a little over 20 meters above sea level.
Natural conditions of the area
In this region, the climate is temperate continental, and the amount of annual precipitation here reaches approximately 650 mm. In the warm season, there is a relatively high air temperature and a large amount of evaporation. Moreover, the temperature increases from west to east, and precipitation, on the contrary, decreases in the same direction.
The soils here are mostly black soil and chestnut. A small part of the territory is occupied by forest-steppe vegetation, and the rest, more extensive, is semi-desert and steppe. The hollow lands are plowed in different places from 60 to 90% of the total area.
Problems and Solutions
The Kumo-Manych depression is special in that due to the extensive plowing of its territories, large deforestation and intensive cattle grazing, quite strong changes have occurred here in terms of reducing the number and water content of small rivers.
Over the past 100 years, the total length of such rivers has decreased by more than 50%.
More specifically, what happened? 35 rivers with a length of up to 3 km have disappeared. They were destroyed due to anthropogenic impact and economic activities 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 spring.
In order to ensure full flow and for desalination into the Manych River, fresh water is transferred from the Kuban and Don rivers through the channels created by people. Most of the canals in these places were created with the aim of irrigating the arid steppe regions and for the possibility of navigation on the river. Western Manych.
Today, much attention is paid to the problems of soil conditions in these places. Scientific research is being carried out in this direction.
This is the ecological feature of the modern Kumo-Manych depression.
