In the world there is hardly a huge space with a flat relief like the West Siberian Plain. Minerals occurring in this territory were discovered back in 1960. Since then, this natural pantry has been of particular value to our state.
The age of the rocks of the West Siberian Plain indicates the presence of a huge amount of resources in them. The development of the northernmost deposits requires additional time and effort. Today, due to the huge area of marshy swamps in such areas as the West Siberian Plain, minerals are mined at the cost of considerable effort.
Location
The West Siberian Plain lies within the boundaries of the Epigercin Plate. It is located on the Asian continent and occupies almost the entire part of Western Siberia, starting from the Ural Mountains and ending with the Central Siberian Plateau.
Regions of Russia and Kazakhstan are located on this plain. The total area of this area exceeds three million kilometers. The distance from north to south is two and a half thousand, and from east to west - one thousand nine hundred kilometers.
Description of the West Siberian Plain
This area is a surface with a slightly crossed relief, diluted with slight fluctuations in relative heights. All this leads to a clear zoning of the landscape.
Description of the West Siberian Plain gives an idea of the characteristic natural complexes of the area. The tundra predominates in the northern part of the territory, and the steppe extends in the south. Due to the fact that the plain is poorly drained, a considerable part of it is occupied by marshland and marshy forests. The total area of such complexes is more than one hundred twenty-eight million hectares. Due to geographical features, the climate is variable.
Plain structure
The structure of the West Siberian Plain is heterogeneous. At a great depth are Paleozoic rocks, which are covered by Meso-Cenozoic sediments. Mesozoic suites represent marine as well as continental deposits of organic matter.
The structure of the West Siberian Plain indicates a repeated change in climate conditions and the mode of accumulation of precipitation on this plate. This was facilitated by its omission at the beginning of the Mesozoic period.
Gray clay, mudstones, glauconite sandstones represent Paleogene deposits. Their accumulation occurred at the very bottom of the Paleogene sea, which, in turn, connected the Arctic basin with the seas of Central Asia by lowering the Turgai Strait. Subsequently, in the middle of the Oligocene, this sea left the borders of Western Siberia. In this regard, the Upper Paleogene deposits are sandy-clay continental facies.
Colossal changes in the nature of sediment accumulation are in Neogene. A rock has been formed that rises in the southern side of the plain and consists of continental deposits of rivers and lakes. Their formation took place under the condition of a small dissection of the plain, which was covered by subtropical vegetation, then broad-leaved deciduous forests. In some places one could meet savannah territories inhabited by giraffes, hipparions, and camels.
The process of mineral formation
The location of the West Siberian Plain suggests the presence of a folded basement of Paleozoic [sediments. These deposits are covered by a cover made of loose marine and continental Mesozoic-Cenozoic rocks (clay, sandstone, and the like). This gives reason to believe that in some places the age of the rocks of the West Siberian Plain reaches one billion years or more.
As a result of plate lowering in shallow lakes, an accumulation of organic substances occurred, which subsequently turned out to be preserved under sedimentary rocks. As a result of pressure and exposure to hot temperatures, the formation of minerals began. The resulting substances moved to the sides with the least pressure. As a result of these processes, oil flowed from submerged to elevated state, and gas connections rose along the edges of the reservoirs of the fields. Above the places of the highest elevations of the basins there is sedimentary rock - clay.
Available resources
Thanks to the work of geologists in a territory such as the West Siberian Plain, the minerals found in this area have become a powerful base for the development of Western Siberia. There are deposits of such resources as natural gas, iron ore, brown coal, oil.
At the developed wells of Western Siberia, a large amount of oil is produced. Soft sedimentary rocks are easy to drill. One of the richest and highest-quality oil deposits is the West Siberian Plain. Minerals have been mined here for more than fifty years. The largest basin is the West Siberian oil and gas. Within the boundaries of the Khanty-Mansiysk syneclise, as well as the Krasnoselsky, Salym and Surgut regions, the largest reserves of shale oil in our country are located in the Bazhenov formation. They are mined at a depth of two kilometers.
The cuffs of loose sediments enclose the horizon of underground fresh and mineralized waters. There are also hot springs, the temperature of which varies from one hundred to one hundred and fifty degrees.
West Siberian Plain: Minerals (table)
| Name of the field | Minerals |
| Sokolovsko-Sarbaisky, Kachar pools | iron ore |
| Severo-Sosvinsky, Yenisei-Chulymsky and Ob-Irtysh basins | brown coal |
| Ayat field | nickel, coal, chromite, bauxite |
| Lisavskoye field | cobalt, building materials, nickel, coal |
| Salt lakes in the south of Western Siberia | table and glauber salt |
| Yakutsk deposits | diamond tubes |
| Lensky, Tunguska, Irkutsk pools | coal |
| Southern and northern deposits of the West Siberian lowland | oil |
Thus, the structure of the West Siberian Plain indicates the solid age of the rocks of this territory and the presence of rich mineral deposits. Despite this, there is a problem of gas and oil development. It consists in harsh environmental conditions. The life and work of people in the northern part are greatly complicated by severe frost and gale-force wind. The soil in the north was frozen by permafrost, so construction is not an easy task. In the summer, the number of blood-sucking insects increases, which creates difficulties for workers.
