Examination geography section nature of the earth main patterns. General patterns of the nature of the earth

Geoid- the true form of the Earth. The annual movement of the Earth around the Sun occurs in orbit. The earth's axis is constantly inclined to the plane of the earth's orbit at an angle of 66.5°. As a result of this tilt, each point on the Earth encounters the sun's rays at angles that change throughout the year, so the seasons change, and the length of day and night is not the same in different parts of the planet.

Winter Solstice Day (December 22), on this day the Sun is at its zenith over the Southern Tropic. At this time, there is polar night north of the Arctic Circle, and polar day south of the Antarctic Circle.

Summer Solstice Day (June 22), on this day the Sun is at its zenith over the Northern Tropic. In the southern hemisphere, the day is shortest at this time; north of the Arctic Circle there is polar day, and south of the Antarctic Circle there is polar night.

Equinox days (March 21 - spring, September 23 - autumn), on these days the Sun is at its zenith above the equator, the length of day and night is the same.

Earth is a planet in the solar system with a natural satellite, the Moon.

Arctic Circles(Arctic Circle and Antarctic Circle) - parallels of northern and southern latitude, respectively - 66.5°.

Daily rotation of the Earth occurs around an imaginary axis, counterclockwise. Its consequence is the compression of the Earth at the poles, as well as the deviation of the direction of movement of winds, sea currents, etc.

Tropics- (North and South) - parallels of northern and southern latitude 23.5°, respectively. At all latitudes between the tropics, the Sun is at its zenith twice a year. In the tropics themselves, once each - on the day of the summer (June 22) and winter (December 22) solstice, respectively. The Northern Tropic is the Tropic of Cancer. The Southern Tropic is the Tropic of Capricorn.

General information about the Earth

Lithosphere

Basic concepts, processes, patterns and their consequences

Volcanoes- geological formations that have a cone or dome shape. Volcanoes for which there is historical evidence of eruption are called valid, those about which there is no information - extinct.

Geochronology- designation of the time and sequence of rock formation. If the occurrence of rocks is not disturbed, then each layer is younger than the one on which it lies. The top layer formed later than all those lying below. The oldest interval of geological time, including the Archean and Proterozoic, is called Precambrian. It covers almost 90% of the entire geological history of the Earth.

In the geological history of the Earth, several eras of intense mountain building (folding) are distinguished - Baikal, Caledonian, Hercynian, Mesozoic, Cenozoic.

Mountains- areas of the earth's surface with large sharp fluctuations in heights. By absolute height they distinguish high mountains(above 2000 m), average(from 1000 to 2000 m), low(up to 1000 m).

Earth's crust (EC)- the upper solid layered shell of the Earth, heterogeneous and complex, its thickness ranges from 30 km (under plains) to 90 km (under high mountains). There are two types of earth's crust - oceanic And continental (mainland). The continental crust has three layers: the upper one is sedimentary (the youngest), the middle one is “granite” and the lower one is “basaltic” (the oldest). Its thickness reaches 70 km under mountain systems. The oceanic crust is 5-10 km thick, consists of “basalt” and sedimentary layers, and is heavier than continental crust.

Lithosphere- the rocky shell of the Earth, which includes the earth's crust and the upper part of the mantle and consists of large blocks - lithospheric plates. Lithospheric plates can support continents and oceans, but their boundaries do not coincide. Lithospheric plates move slowly, mid-ocean ridges are formed along the faults, in the axial part of which there are rifts.

Minerals- combinations of various chemical elements that form natural bodies that are homogeneous in physical properties. Rocks are made up of minerals, which vary in origin.

Highlands- vast mountainous areas characterized by a combination of mountain ranges and leveled areas located high above sea level.

Island- a small (compared to the mainland) area of land, surrounded on all sides by water. Archipelago- a group of islands. According to the origin of the islands there are continental(located on the shelf), volcanic And coral(atolls). The largest islands are mainland. Coral islands are located in the tropical zone, because corals require warm salty water to function.

Platform- a vast, sedentary and most stable section of the earth’s crust; in relief they are usually expressed as plains. Continental platforms have a two-tier structure: a foundation and a sedimentary cover. The areas where the crystalline foundation reaches the surface are called shields. There are ancient (Precambrian basement) and young (Paleozoic or Mesozoic basement) platforms.

Peninsula- a piece of land that juts out into the sea.

Plain- a vast area of the earth's surface with small fluctuations in heights and slight slopes, confined to stable tectonic structures. According to the absolute height among the plains, they distinguish lowlands(up to 200 m above sea level), hills(from 200 to 500 m), plateaus And plateau(over 500 m). According to the nature of the relief they distinguish flat And hilly plains.

Relief of the ocean floor- forms of relief of the surface of the ocean floor, developed within various types of the earth's crust. The first zone - the underwater margin of the continents (represented by the continental type of territorial zone) - consists of a shelf (up to 200 m), a relatively steep continental slope (up to 2500 m), turning into a continental foot. The second zone - transitional (at the junction of the continental and oceanic zones) - consists of marginal seas, volcanic islands and deep-sea trenches. The third is the ocean bed with an oceanic-type territorial complex. The fourth zone is located in the central parts of the ocean - these are the mid-ocean ridges.

Relief- this is a set of forms of the earth’s surface, different in outline, origin, age and history of development. It is formed under the influence of internal and external factors.

Seismic belts— places of collision of lithospheric plates. During their collision, the heavier ones (with the oceanic crust) fall under the less heavy ones (with the continental crust). In places where the downward slab bends, deep sea trenches, and mountain building occurs on the edge (mountains appear on the continents, and islands appear in the oceans). Mountain formation also occurs in places where plates collide with the same continental crust.

Exogenous processes (external)- geological processes occurring on the surface and in the upper parts of the earth’s crust under the influence of solar energy and gravity.

Endogenous processes (internal)- geological processes occurring in the bowels of the earth and caused by its internal energy. They manifest themselves in the form of tectonic movements, seismic processes (earthquakes), and volcanism.

Geochronological scale

Eras and their indices, million years	Periods and their indices, million years	Folding	The main stages of life development
Cenozoic KZ, ca. 70	Quaternary (anthropogenic) Q, ca. 2 Neogene N, 25 Paleogenovy R, 41	Cenozoic (alpine)	The dominance of angiosperms. The appearance of man. The flourishing of the mammal fauna. The existence of natural areas close to modern ones.
Mesozoic MZ, 165	Melovaya K, 70 Yursky J, 50 Triassovy T, 45	Mesozoic (Cimmerian)	The rise of gymnosperms and giant reptiles. The appearance of deciduous trees, birds and mammals.
Paleozoic PZ, 340	Permsky R, 45 Kamugolny S, 65 Devonsky D, 55 Silurian S, 35 Ordoviksky O, 60 Cambrian S, 70	Late Paleozoic (Hercynian) Early Paleozoic (Caledonian) Baikalskaya	Flowering of spore plants. Time for fish and amphibians. The appearance of animals and plants on Earth.
Proterozoic PR, 2000	There are no generally accepted divisions	Precambrian folding eras	The origin of life in water. Time for bacteria and algae.

Landforms created under the influence of exogenous processes

Hydrosphere

Basic concepts, processes, patterns and their consequences

River basin- the territory from which a river and its tributaries collect water.

Swamp- an excessively moist area of land with moisture-loving vegetation and a peat layer of at least 0.3 m. The water in swamps is in a bound state. There are two main types of swamps - upland swamps (in which moisture comes only from precipitation and dry out in its absence) and lowland swamps (fed by groundwater or river water, relatively rich in salts). The main reason for the formation of swamps is excessive moisture in combination with a high level of groundwater due to the close occurrence of water-resistant rocks to the surface and flat terrain.

Watershed- the dividing line between the basins of two rivers or oceans, usually passing through elevated areas.

water sushi- part of the hydrosphere, these include groundwater, rivers, lakes, swamps, glaciers.

Unrest- These are predominantly oscillatory movements of water of different nature (wind, tidal, seismic). Common to all types of waves is the oscillatory movement of water particles, in which the mass of water moves around one point.

Geysers- springs that periodically emit fountains of water and steam, which are a manifestation of the late stages of volcanism. Known in Iceland, USA, New Zealand, Kamchatka.

Hydrosphere- the water shell of the Earth. The total volume of water in the hydrosphere is 1.4 billion km 3, 96.5% of which falls on the World Ocean, 1.7% on groundwater, about 1.8% on glaciers, less than 0.01% on surface water land (rivers, lakes, swamps).

Delta- a low-lying plain in the lower reaches of a river, composed of sediment brought by the river and cut through a network of channels.

Bay- a part of the ocean, sea or lake that cuts into land and has free water exchange with the main part of the reservoir. A small bay, well protected from the wind, is called bay. A bay separated from the sea by a sand spit in which there is a narrow strait (often formed at the mouth of a river) - estuary. In northern Russia, a bay that juts deep into the land into which a river flows is called a gulf. Deep, long bays with winding shores are fjords.

One or several rivers flow from waste lakes (Baikal, Ontario, Victoria). Lakes that do not have a drainage are drainless (Caspian, Mortvoe, Chad). Endorheic lakes are often saline (salt content above 1 ‰). Depending on the degree of salinity, lakes are fresh And salty.

Source- the place where a river originates (for example: a spring, lake, swamp, glacier in the mountains).

Glaciers- natural moving accumulations of ice formed from precipitation above snow line(the level above which snow does not melt). The height of the snow line is determined by temperature, which is related to the latitude of the area and the degree of continentality of its climate, and the amount of solid precipitation. A glacier has a feeding area (i.e., ice accumulation) and an ice melting area. The ice in the glacier, under the influence of gravity, moves from the feeding area to the melting area at a speed of several tens of meters per year. The total area of glaciers is 11% of the land surface with a volume of 30 million km 3. If all glaciers melted, the level of the world's oceans would rise by 66 m.

Low water- a period of low water level in the river.

World Ocean- the main part of the hydrosphere, which accounts for 71% of the globe’s area (in the Northern Hemisphere - 61%, in the Southern - 81%). The world ocean is conventionally divided into four oceans: Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic. Some researchers identify a fifth - the Southern Ocean. It includes the waters of the Southern Hemisphere between Antarctica and the southern tips of the continents of South America, Africa and Australia.

Permafrost- rocks in the upper part of the earth's crust that remain permanently frozen or thaw only in the summer. The formation of permafrost occurs in conditions of very low temperatures and low snow cover. The thickness of the permafrost layer can reach 600 m. The area of permafrost in the world is 35 million km2, including 10 million km2 in Russia.

Sea- a part of the ocean, more or less separated by islands, peninsulas or underwater hills, characterized by a special hydrological regime. There are seas internal- protruding deeply into the continent (Mediterranean, Baltic) and outlying- adjacent to the mainland and slightly isolated from the ocean (Okhotsk, Beringovo).

Lake- a reservoir of slow water exchange, located in a closed natural depression (basin) of the land surface. Based on their origin, lake basins are divided into tectonic, volcanic, dam, glacial, karst, floodplain (oxbow lakes), and estuary. According to the water regime, they distinguish sewage And drainless.

Flood- short-term, irregular rise in water level.

The groundwater- water contained in the upper (12-16 km) thickness of the earth’s crust in liquid, solid and gaseous states. The possibility of water being found in the earth's crust is determined by the porosity of rocks. Permeable rocks(gravel, pebbles, sands) allow water to pass through well. Waterproof rocks- fine-grained, weakly or completely impervious to water (clays, granites, basalts). According to the conditions of occurrence, groundwater is divided into soil(water in a bound state in the soil), groundwater(the first permanent aquifer from the surface, lying on the first impervious horizon), interstratal waters(confined between waterproof horizons), including artesian(pressure interlayer).

Floodplain- part of a river valley that is flooded during high water and floods. The slopes of the valley usually rise above the floodplain, often in a stepped shape - terraces.

High water- an annually recurring period of high water levels in the river caused by the main source of food. Types of river feeding: rain, snow, glaciers, underground.

Strait- a relatively narrow body of water that separates two land areas and connects adjacent water basins or parts thereof. The deepest and widest strait is the Drake Strait, the longest is the Mozambique Strait.

River mode— regular changes in the state of the river, due to the physical and geographical properties of its basin and climatic features.

River- a constant stream of water flowing in a recess he himself developed - riverbed

river valley- a depression in the relief, at the bottom of which a river flows.

River system- a river with its tributaries. The name of the river system is given by the main river. The largest river systems in the world are the Amazon, Congo, Mississippi and Missouri, Ob and Irtysh.

Salinity of sea water- the amount of salts in grams dissolved in 1 kg (l) of sea water. The average salinity of water in the ocean is 35 ‰, the maximum - up to 42 ‰ - in the Red Sea.

Temperature The amount of water in the ocean depends on the amount of solar heat reaching its surface. The average annual surface water temperature is 17.5°; at a depth of 3000-4000 m it usually ranges from +2° to 0°C.

Currents- translational movements of water masses in the ocean, arising under the influence of various forces. Currents can also be classified by temperature (warm, cold and neutral), by duration of existence (short-term, periodic and permanent), depending on depth (surface, deep and bottom).

Estuary- the place where a river flows into a sea, lake or other river.

Estuary- a funnel-shaped flooded mouth of a river, expanding towards the sea. It is formed near rivers flowing into seas, where the influence of ocean water movements (tides, waves, currents) on the river mouth is strong.

Types of lakes

Atmosphere

Basic concepts, processes, patterns and their consequences

Absolute humidity b is the amount of water vapor contained in 1 m3 of air.

Anticyclone- a downward atmospheric vortex with a closed area of high pressure, in which winds blow from the center to the periphery clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere.

Atmosphere- the air (gas) shell of the Earth surrounding the globe and connected to it by gravity, taking part in the daily and annual movement of the Earth).

Precipitation- water in a liquid and solid state that falls from clouds (rain, snow, drizzle, hail, etc.), as well as released from the air (dew, frost, frost, etc.) onto the earth's surface and objects. The amount of precipitation in an area depends on:

air temperature (affects evaporation and air moisture capacity);
sea currents (above the surface of warm currents, the air heats up, becomes saturated with moisture, rises - precipitation is easily released from it. Above cold currents, the opposite process occurs - precipitation does not form);
atmospheric circulation (where air moves from sea to land, there is more precipitation);
the heights of the place and the direction of the mountain ranges (mountains prevent the passage of moist air masses, so a large amount of precipitation falls on the windward slopes of the mountains);
latitude of the area (equatorial latitudes are characterized by a large amount of precipitation, tropical and polar latitudes are characterized by small amounts);
degree of continentality of the territory (decreases when moving from the coast inland).

Atmospheric front t - zone of separation of air masses of different properties in the troposphere.

Wind- movement of air masses in the horizontal direction from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure. The wind is characterized by speed (km/h) and direction (its direction is determined by the side of the horizon from which it blows, i.e. the north wind blows from north to south).

Air- a mixture of gases that make up the earth's atmosphere. In terms of chemical composition, atmospheric air consists of nitrogen (78%), oxygen (21%), inert gases (about 1%), and carbon dioxide (0.03%). The upper layers of the atmosphere are dominated by hydrogen and helium. The percentage of gases is almost constant, but the burning of oil, gas, coal, and the destruction of forests leads to an increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Air masses- large volumes of troposphere air that have homogeneous properties (temperature, humidity, transparency, etc.) and move as one. The properties of air masses are determined by the territory or water area over which they are formed. Due to differences in humidity, two subtypes are distinguished - continental (mainland) and oceanic (sea). Based on temperature, there are four main (zonal) types of air masses: equatorial, tropical, temperate, arctic (Antarctic).

Atmospheric pressure- this is the pressure exerted by air on the earth's surface and all objects located on it. Normal atmospheric pressure at ocean level is 760 mmHg. Art., with altitude the value of normal pressure decreases. The pressure of warm air is less than that of cold air, because when heated, air expands, and when cooled, it contracts. The general distribution of pressure on the Earth is zonal; heating and cooling of air from the Earth's surface is accompanied by its redistribution and changes in pressure.

Isobars- lines on the map connecting points with the same atmospheric pressure.

Isotherms- lines on a map connecting points with the same temperatures.

Evaporation(mm) - the entry of water vapor into the atmosphere from the surface of water, snow, ice, vegetation, soil, etc.

Volatility(mm) - the maximum amount of moisture that can evaporate in a given place under certain weather conditions (amount of solar heat, temperature).

Climate- long-term weather regime characteristic of a given area. The distribution of climate on Earth is zonal; there are several climatic zones - the largest divisions of the earth's surface according to climatic conditions, having the character of latitudinal zones. They are distinguished according to the characteristics of temperature and precipitation regimes. There are main and transitional climatic zones. The most important climatic factors are:

geographical latitude of the area;
atmospheric circulation;
ocean currents;
absolute height of the area;
distance from the ocean;
the nature of the underlying surface.

Humidity coefficient is the ratio of precipitation to evaporation. If the moisture coefficient is greater than 1, then the moisture is excessive, about 1 is normal, and less than 1 is insufficient. Moisture, like precipitation, is distributed zonally on the earth's surface. Tundra zones, forests of temperate and equatorial latitudes have excessive moisture, while semi-deserts and deserts have insufficient moisture.

Relative humidity- the ratio (in percent) of the actual content of water vapor in 1 m 3 of air to the possible one at a given temperature.

Greenhouse effect- the property of the atmosphere to transmit solar radiation to the earth's surface, but to retain the earth's thermal radiation.

Direct radiation- radiation reaching the Earth's surface in the form of a beam of parallel rays emanating from the Sun. Its intensity depends on the height of the Sun and the transparency of the atmosphere.

Scattered radiation- radiation scattered in the atmosphere and traveling to the surface of the Earth from the entire vault of heaven. It plays a significant role in the energy balance of the Earth, being the only source of energy in the ground layers of the atmosphere during cloudy periods, especially in polar latitudes.

Solar radiation— the totality of solar radiation; measured in thermal units (the number of calories per unit area over a certain time). The amount of radiation depends on the length of the day at different times of the year and the angle of incidence of the sun's rays: the smaller the angle, the less solar radiation the surface receives, which means the less the air above it heats up. Total solar radiation is the sum of direct and diffuse radiation. The amount of total solar radiation increases from the poles (60 kcal/cm 3 per year) to the equator (200 kcal/cm 3 per year), and its highest rates are observed in tropical deserts, since the amount of solar radiation is affected by cloudiness and transparency of the atmosphere , the color of the underlying surface (for example, white snow reflects up to 90% of the sun's rays).

Cyclone- an ascending atmospheric vortex with a closed area of low pressure, in which winds blow from the periphery to the center counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere.

Atmospheric circulation- a system of air currents on the globe that promotes the transfer of heat and moisture from one area to another.

Brief description of the layers of the atmosphere

Atmosphere layer	a brief description of
Troposphere	Contains more than 90% of the total mass of the atmosphere and almost all water vapor Altitude above the equator - up to 18 km, above the poles - 10-12 km Temperature drops 6°C for every 1000 m Clouds form here, precipitation falls, cyclones, anticyclones, tornadoes, etc. form. Air pressure decreases with altitude
Stratosphere	Located at altitudes from 10-18 km to 55 km At an altitude of 25-30 km, the maximum content of ozone for the atmosphere is observed, which absorbs solar radiation The temperature in the lower part is characterized by slight changes, in the upper part the temperature increases with increasing altitude
Mesosphere	Located at an altitude of 55 km to 80 km Temperature decreases with altitude Noctilucent clouds form here
Thermosphere	Located at an altitude of 80 km to 400 km Temperature increases with altitude
Ionosphere	Located at an altitude above 400 km Temperature remains the same Under the influence of ultraviolet solar radiation and cosmic rays, the air is highly ionized and becomes electrically conductive.

Atmospheric pressure belts

Types of winds

Winds	Areas of distribution	Direction
Trade winds	Tropics (blows from 30 latitudes towards the equator)	NE (Northern Hemisphere), SE (Southern Hemisphere)
Western transport winds	Temperate latitudes (from 30 to 60 latitudes)	W, N-W
Monsoons	Eastern coasts of Eurasia and North America	In summer - from the ocean to the mainland, in winter - from the mainland to the ocean
Katava winds	Antarctica	From the center of the continent to the periphery
Breeze	Sea coasts	During the day - from sea to land, at night - from land to sea
Föhn	Mountain systems, especially the Alps, Pamirs, Caucasus	From mountains to valleys

Comparative characteristics of a cyclone and an anticyclone

Signs	Cyclone	Anticyclone
Conditions of occurrence	When warm air invades cold air	When cold air invades warm
Pressure in the central part	Low (reduced)	High (elevated)
Air movement	Ascending, from the periphery to the center, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere	Descending, from center to periphery, clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere
Weather patterns	Unstable, windy, with precipitation	Clear, no precipitation
Influence on weather	Reduces heat in summer and cold in winter, inclement and windy weather	Increases heat in summer and cold in winter, clear weather and calm

Comparative characteristics of atmospheric fronts

Biosphere and natural complexes of the Earth

Basic concepts, processes, patterns and their consequences

Biosphere is the totality of all living organisms on Earth. A holistic doctrine of the biosphere was developed by the Russian scientist V.I. Vernadsky. The main elements of the biosphere include: vegetation (flora), fauna (fauna) and soil. Endemics- plants or animals that are found on the same continent. Currently, in the biosphere, the species composition is dominated by animals almost three times over plants, but the biomass of plants is 1000 times higher than the biomass of animals. In the ocean, the biomass of fauna exceeds the biomass of flora. The biomass of land as a whole is 200 times greater than that of the oceans.

Biocenosis- a community of interconnected living organisms inhabiting an area of the earth's surface with homogeneous conditions.

Altitudinal zone- a natural change of landscapes in the mountains, due to altitude above sea level. The altitudinal zones correspond to natural zones on the plain, with the exception of the belt of alpine and subalpine meadows, located between the belts of coniferous forests and tundra. The change of natural zones in the mountains occurs as if we were moving along the plain from the equator to the poles. The natural zone at the base of the mountain corresponds to the latitudinal natural zone in which the mountain system is located. The number of altitudinal zones in the mountains depends on the height of the mountain system and its geographical location. The closer to the equator the mountain system is located and the higher the altitude, the more altitude zones and types of landscapes will be represented.

Geographical envelope- a special shell of the Earth, within which the lithosphere, hydrosphere, lower layers of the atmosphere and the biosphere, or living matter, touch, penetrate each other and interact. The development of the geographical envelope has its own patterns:

integrity - the unity of the shell due to the close relationship of its components; manifests itself in the fact that a change in one component of nature inevitably causes a change in all the others;
cyclicity (rhythmicity) - recurrence of similar phenomena in time, there are rhythms of different durations (9-day, annual, periods of mountain building, etc.);
cycles of matter and energy - consists in the continuous movement and transformation of all components of the shell from one state to another, which determines the continuous development of the geographical shell;
zonality and altitudinal zonality - a natural change in natural components and natural complexes from the equator to the poles, from the foot to the top of the mountains.

Reserve- a natural area specially protected by law, completely excluded from economic activity for the protection and study of typical or unique natural complexes.

Landscape- a territory with a natural combination of relief, climate, land waters, soils, biocenoses that interact and form an inextricable system.

National Park- a vast territory that combines the protection of picturesque landscapes with their intensive use for tourism purposes.

The soil- the upper thin layer of the earth's crust, inhabited by organisms, containing organic matter and possessing fertility - the ability to provide plants with the nutrients and moisture they need. The formation of a particular type of soil depends on many factors. The entry of organic matter and moisture into the soil determines the humus content, which ensures soil fertility. The largest amount of humus is contained in chernozems. Depending on the mechanical composition (the ratio of mineral particles of sand and clay of different sizes), soils are divided into clayey, loamy, sandy loam and sandy.

Natural area- a territory with similar temperatures and humidity values, naturally extending in the latitudinal direction (on the plains) across the surface of the Earth. On the continents, some natural zones have special names, for example, the steppe zone in South America is called the pampa, and in North America it is called the prairie. The zone of humid equatorial forests in South America is the selva, the savannah zone occupying the Orinoco Lowland - the Llanos, the Brazilian and Guiana Plateau - the Campos.

Natural complex- an area of the earth's surface with homogeneous natural conditions, which are determined by the characteristics of origin and historical development, geographical location, and modern processes operating within its boundaries. In a natural complex, all components are interconnected. Natural complexes vary in size: geographical area, continent, ocean, natural area, ravine, lake ; their formation occurs over a long period of time.

Natural areas of the world

Natural area	Climate type	Vegetation	Animal world	Soils
Arctic (Antarctic) deserts	Arctic (Antarctic) maritime and continental	Mosses, lichens, algae. Most of it is occupied by glaciers	Polar bear, penguin (in Antarctica), gulls, guillemots, etc.	Arctic deserts
Tundra	Subarctic	Shrubs, mosses, lichens	Reindeer, lemming, arctic fox, wolf, etc.
Forest-tundra	Subarctic	Birch, spruce, larch, shrubs, sedges	Elk, brown bear, squirrel, hare, tundra animals, etc.	Tundra-gley, podzolized
Taiga		Pine, fir, spruce, larch, birch, aspen	Elk, brown bear, lynx, sable, chipmunk, squirrel, mountain hare, etc.	Podzolic, permafrost-taiga
Mixed forests	Moderate continental, continental	Spruce, pine, oak, maple, linden, aspen	Elk, squirrel, beaver, mink, marten, etc.	Sod-podzolic
Broadleaf forests	Moderate continental, monsoonal	Oak, beech, hornbeam, elm, maple, linden; in the Far East - cork oak, velvet tree	Roe deer, marten, deer, etc.	Gray and brown forest
Forest-steppe	Moderately continental, continental, sharply continental	Pine, larch, birch, aspen, oak, linden, maple with areas of mixed-grass steppes	Wolf, fox, hare, rodents	Gray forest, podzolized chernozems
Steppe	Moderate continental, continental, sharply continental, subtropical continental	Fescue, fescue, thin-legged grass, forbs	Gophers, marmots, voles, corsac foxes, steppe wolves, etc.	Typical chernozems, chestnut, chernozem-like
Semi-deserts and temperate deserts	Continental, sharply continental	Wormwood, grasses, subshrubs, feather grass, etc.	Rodents, saiga, goitered gazelle, corsac fox	Light chestnut, solonetz, gray-brown
Mediterranean evergreen forests and shrubs	Mediterranean subtropical	Cork oak, olive, laurel, cypress, etc.	Rabbit, mountain goats, sheep	Brown
Subtropical rainforests	Subtropical monsoon	Laurel, camellias, bamboo, oak, beech, hornbeam, cypress	Himalayan bear, panda, leopard, macaques, gibbons	Red soils, yellow soils
Tropical deserts	Tropical continental	Solyanka, wormwood, acacia, succulents	Antelope, camel, reptiles	Sandy, sierozems, gray-brown
Savannah		Baobab, umbrella acacias, mimosa, palm trees, spurge, aloe	Antelope, zebra, buffalo, rhinoceros, giraffe, elephant, crocodile, hippopotamus, lion	Red-brown
Monsoon forests	Subequatorial, tropical	Teak, eucalyptus, evergreen species	Elephant, buffalo, monkeys, etc.	Red soils, yellow soils
Equatorial rainforests	Equatorial	Palm trees, hevea, legumes, vines, banana	Okapi, tapir, monkeys, forest pig, leopard, pygmy hippopotamus	Red-yellow ferralite

Endemics of the continents

Mainland	Plants	Animals
Africa	Baobab, ebony, velvichia	Secretary bird, striped zebra, giraffe, tsetse fly, okapi, marabou bird
Australia	Eucalyptus (500 species), bottle tree, casuarinas	Echidna, platypus, kangaroo, wombat, koala, marsupial mole, marsupial devil, lyrebird, dingo
Antarctica	—	Adelie Penguin
North America	Sequoia	Skunk, bison, coyote, grizzly bear
South America	Hevea, cocoa tree, cinchona, ceiba	Armadillo, anteater, sloth, anaconda, condor, hummingbird, chinchilla, llama, tapir
Eurasia	Myrtle, ginseng, lemongrass, ginkgo	Bison, orangutan, Ussuri tiger, panda

The largest deserts in the world

Features of the nature of continents and oceans

Basic concepts, processes, patterns and their consequences

Mainland- a large landmass surrounded by the waters of the World Ocean. Based on geological origin, six continents are distinguished (Eurasia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Australia). Their total area is 149 million km2, or 29% of the earth's surface.

Oceans- large parts of the World Ocean, separated from each other by continents and possessing a certain unity.

Part of the world- historically established division of land. Currently, the historical names of six parts of the world have been preserved: Europe, Asia, Africa, America (originally the West Indies), Australia and Oceania, Antarctica. The Old World includes Europe, Asia, and Africa. The New World is the result of the Great Geographical Discoveries - America, Australia, Antarctica.

General information about the continents

Mainland	Area, million km. 2		Height, m		Extreme points	Unique geographical objects and phenomena
Mainland	no islands	with islands	maximum	minimum	Extreme points	Unique geographical objects and phenomena
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Australia and Oceania	7,63	8,89	2230, Mount Kosciuszko	-12, Lake Eyre	North Cape York, 10° 41"S. Southern Cape South-Eastern, 39°11"S. Zap. Cape Steep Point, 113°05"E. East Cape Byron, 153°39"E.	The driest continent on Earth. The largest number of endemics. The world's largest coral reef is the Great Barrier Reef.
Antarctica	12,40	13,98	5140, Vinson	Sea level	North Antarctic Peninsula, 63°13"S	The coldest continent. The largest cover glacier. The coldest place on Earth is Vostok station, -89.2° (1983). The strongest wind recorded was Terre Adélie, 87 m/s. There is an active volcano Erebus (3794 m).
Africa	29,22	30,32	5895, Mount Kilimanjaro	- 153, Lake Assal	North Cape Ben Sekka, 37° 20"N. Southern Cape Agulhas, 34° 52"S. Zap. Cape Almadi, 17° 32"W. Eastern Cape Ras Hafun, 51° 23"E.	The hottest continent. The largest desert on Earth is the Sahara (19,065 million km2). The hottest place on Earth is the city of Tripoli, +58°C (1922). The longest river on Earth is the Nile with the Kagera (6671 km). The highest active volcano on Earth is Kilimanjaro (5895 m). The Congo River (Zaire) crosses the equator twice.
Eurasia	53,54	56,19	8848, Chomolungma (Everest)	- 395, Dead Sea level.	North Cape Chelyuskin, 77°43"N. Southern Cape Piai, 1°16"N. Zap. Cape Roka, 9° 34"W. Eastern Cape Dezhnev, 169° 40"W.	The largest continent by area. The highest peak of the Earth is Mount Chomolungma (Everest), 8848 m. The lowest place on the Earth's surface is the level of the Dead Sea, 395 m. The largest lake on Earth by area is the Caspian Sea (371 thousand km 2). The deepest lake on Earth is Baikal, 1620 m. The largest peninsula on Earth is Arabian (3 million km 2).
North America	20,36	24,25	6193 McKinley	- 85, Death Valley	North Cape Murchison, 71° 50"N. South Cape Mariato, 7° 12"N. Zap. Cape Prince of Wales, 168° 05"W. Eastern Cape St. Charles, 55° 40"W.	The highest sea tides are in the Bay of Fundy (tide height is 18 meters).
South America	18,13	18,28	6960, Aconcagua	- 40, Valdez Peninsula	North Cape Gallinas, 12°25"N. Southern Cape Froward, 53°54"S. Zap. Cape Parinhas, 81° 20"W. Eastern Cape Cabo Branco, 34° 46"W.	The wettest continent. The largest river basin on Earth is the Amazon River basin, 6915 thousand km 2. The highest waterfall on Earth is Angel Falls, 1054 m. The longest mountains on land are the Andes, 9000 km long. The driest place on Earth is the Atacama Desert.

Ocean Basics

Largest islands

№	Island	Location	Area, thousand km 2
1.	Greenland	North Atlantic Ocean	2176
2.	New Guinea	southwest pacific	793
3.	Kalimantan	west pacific	734
4.	Madagascar	Indian Ocean	587
5.	Baffin Island	North Atlantic Ocean	507
6.	Sumatra	northeast Indian Ocean	427
7.	Great Britain	Northwestern Europe	230
8.	Honshu	Japanese Sea	227
9.	Victoria		217
10.	Ellesmere	Canadian Arctic Archipelago	196

The largest peninsulas

Geography of Russia

Basic concepts, processes, patterns and their consequences

Agro-industrial complex (AIC)- a set of interrelated sectors of the economy involved in the production and processing of agricultural products and bringing them to the consumer.

Unified Energy System (UES)) is a system of energy sources united by means of energy transmission. It provides the ability to quickly maneuver energy capacities, transfer energy or energy carriers (gas) to places where energy consumption increases.

Intensive farming(from lat. intensity- “tension, strengthening”) is an economy that develops on the basis of scientific and technological progress and better organization of labor with high labor productivity. With intensive farming, production output increases without increasing the number of jobs, without plowing up new areas, and without a significant increase in the consumption of natural resources.

Combine(from lat. combinatus- “connected”) is an association of industrial enterprises from different industries, in which the products of one serve as raw materials or semi-finished products for another. Several specialized enterprises are connected by a technological chain that consistently processes raw materials. Combination creates favorable opportunities for the fullest use of raw materials, the use of production waste and the reduction of environmental pollution.

Mechanical engineering complex- the most important complex industry manufacturing industry, including machine tool building, instrument making, energy, metallurgical and chemical engineering; agricultural engineering together with tractor manufacturing; transport engineering of all types; electrical industry; radio electronics and computer technology.

Intersectoral complex is a system of enterprises in various industries united by the production of certain products (or the production of certain services).

Research and production territorial complex (NPTK)— a combination of scientific, development institutions and industrial enterprises on one territory.

Market economy- an economy based on the laws of the market, i.e., the supply of goods and demand for them on a national and global scale, and the balance of prices based on the law of value (regulates the exchange of goods in accordance with the amount of labor expended on their production). In a market economy, a commodity economy develops, focused on the purchase and sale of goods, in contrast to a natural economy, in which labor products are produced to meet the needs of producers.

Territorial production complex (TPC)- an interconnected and interdependent combination of sectors of material production in a certain territory, which is part of the economic complex of the entire country or any economic region.

Fuel and energy complex (FEC)— a combination of the mining (fuel) industry and the electric power industry. The fuel and energy complex ensures the activities of all sectors of industry, transport, agriculture, and the household needs of the population. The fuel and energy complex includes the production of coal, oil (as raw materials for producing fuel), gas, oil shale, peat, uranium ores (as raw materials for producing nuclear energy), as well as electricity generation.

Transport node- a point where at least 2-3 lines of any type of transport converge; complex transport hub - a point of convergence of communication routes of different types of transport, for example, a river port with railways and highways leading to it. Such hubs usually serve as places for passenger transfers and cargo transshipment from one mode of transport to another.

Labor resources- part of the country's population capable of working in the country's economy. The labor force includes: the entire working population, part of the disabled population (working disabled people and preferential pensioners who retired at a relatively young age), working teenagers aged 14-16 years, a significant part of the working population over working age.

Economically active population- part of the country's labor resources. Includes the number of people employed in the economy (employed or owning their own business) and the unemployed.

Economic region- a territorially and economically integral part of the national economy of the country ( region), characterized by the uniqueness of natural and economic conditions, historically established or purposefully created specialization of the economy based on geographical division of labor, the presence of intra-district stable and intensive economic ties.

Extensive farming(from lat. extensivus- “expanding, lengthening”) - an economy developing through new construction, the development of new lands, the use of untouched natural resources, and an increase in the number of workers. Extensive farming initially brings good results at a relatively low scientific and technical level of production, but quickly leads to the depletion of natural and labor resources. With an increase in the scientific and technical level of production, extensive farming gives way to intensive farm.

Brief information (data)

The area of the land— 17.125 million km 2 (first place in the world).

Population— 143.3 million people. (2013).

Form of government- republic, form of administrative-territorial structure - federation.

Extreme points of Russia

Largest geographical features

Land borders of Russia

Political and administrative structure of the Russian Federation

No.	Name of the subject of the Russian Federation	Area, thousand km 2	Administrative center
1	2	3	4
Republic
1	Republic of Adygea (Adygea)	7,6	Maykop
2	Altai Republic	92,6	Gorno-Altaisk
3	Republic of Bashkortostan	143,6	Ufa
4	The Republic of Buryatia	351,3	Ulan-Ude
5	The Republic of Dagestan	50,3	Makhachkala
6	The Republic of Ingushetia	19,3	Magas
7	Kabardino-Balkarian Republic	12,5	Nalchik
8	Republic of Kalmykia	76,1	Elista
9	Karachay-Cherkess Republic	14,1	Cherkessk
10	Republic of Karelia	172,4	Petrozavodsk
11	Komi Republic	415,9	Syktyvkar
12	Mari El Republic	23,2	Yoshkar-Ola
13	The Republic of Mordovia	26,2	Saransk
14	The Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)	3103,2	Yakutsk
15	Republic of North Ossetia-Alania	8,0	Vladikavkaz
16	Republic of Tatarstan (Tatarstan)	68,0	Kazan
17	Tyva Republic	170,5	Kyzyl
18	Udmurt republic	42,1	Izhevsk
19	The Republic of Khakassia	61,9	Abakan
20	Chechen Republic	19,3	Grozny
21	Chuvash Republic (Chuvashia)	18,3	Cheboksary
22	Autonomous Republic of Crimea	26,11	Simferopol
The edges
23	Altai region	169,1	Barnaul
24	Kamchatka Krai	773,8	Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky
25	Krasnodar region	76,0	Krasnodar
26	Krasnoyarsk region	2339,7	Krasnoyarsk
27	Perm region	160,6	Permian
28	Primorsky Krai	165,9	Vladivostok
29	Stavropol region	66,5	Stavropol
30	Khabarovsk region	788,6	Khabarovsk
31	Transbaikal region	450,5	Chita
Regions
32	Amurskaya	361,9	Blagoveshchensk
33	Arkhangelskaya	589,8	Arkhangelsk
34	Astrakhan	44,1	Astrakhan
35	Belgorodskaya	27,1	Belgorod
36	Bryansk	34,9	Bryansk
37	Vladimirskaya	29,0	Vladimir
38	Volgogradskaya	113,9	Volgograd
39	Vologda	145,7	Vologda
40	Voronezh	52,4	Voronezh
41	Ivanovskaya	21,8	Ivanovo
42	Irkutsk	767,9	Irkutsk
43	Kaliningradskaya	15,1	Kaliningrad
44	Kaluzhskaya	29,9	Kaluga
45	Kemerovo	95,5	Kemerovo
46	Kirovskaya	120,8	Kirov
47	Kostromskaya	60,1	Kostroma
48	Kurganskaya	71,0	Mound
49	Kursk	29,8	Kursk
50	Leningradskaya	83,9	Saint Petersburg
51	Lipetskaya	24,1	Lipetsk
52	Magadan	461,4	Magadan
53	Moscow	46,0	Moscow
54	Murmansk	144,9	Murmansk
55	Nizhny Novgorod	76,9	Nizhny Novgorod
56	Novgorodskaya	55,3	Velikiy Novgorod
57	Novosibirsk	178,2	Novosibirsk
58	Omsk	139,7	Omsk
59	Orenburgskaya	124,0	Orenburg
60	Orlovskaya	24,7	Eagle
61	Penza	43,2	Penza
62	Pskovskaya	55,3	Pskov
63	Rostovskaya	100,8	Rostov-on-Don
64	Ryazan	39,6	Ryazan
65	Samara	53,6	Samara
66	Saratovskaya	100,2	Saratov
67	Sakhalinskaya	87,1	Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk
68	Sverdlovskaya	194,8	Ekaterinburg
69	Smolenskaya	49,8	Smolensk
70	Tambovskaya	34,3	Tambov
71	Tverskaya	84,1	Tver
72	Tomsk	316,9	Tomsk
73	Tula	25,7	Tula
74	Tyumen	1435,2	Tyumen
75	Ulyanovskaya	37,3	Ulyanovsk
76	Chelyabinsk	87,9	Chelyabinsk
77	Yaroslavskaya	36,4	Yaroslavl
Cities
78	Moscow	1,081
79	Saint Petersburg	2,0
80	Sevastopol	0,86
Autonomous region and autonomous okrugs
81	Jewish Autonomous Region	36,0	Birobidzhan
82	Nenets Autonomous Okrug	176,7	Naryan-Mar
83	Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug - Ugra	523,1	Khanty-Mansiysk
84	Chukotka Autonomous Okrug	737,7	Anadyr
85		767,6	Salekhard

Types of climate in Russia

Climate type	Characteristic
Arctic	Islands of the Arctic Ocean. Low temperatures throughout the year. Winter temperatures range from -24 to -30 °C. Summer temperatures are close to 0 °C, and at the southern borders they rise to +5 °C. There is little precipitation (200-300 mm), falling mainly in the form of snow, which persists for most of the year.
Subarctic	Northern coast of the country. Winters are long and severity increases from west to east. Summer is cold (from +4 to +14 °C in the south). Precipitation is frequent, but in small quantities, maximum in summer. The annual precipitation is 200-400 mm, but at low temperatures and low evaporation, excessive surface moisture is created and waterlogging occurs.
Temperate climate Moderate continental	European part of the country. The influence of humid air from the Atlantic. Winter is less severe. January temperatures are from -4 to -20 °C, summer temperatures are from +12 to +24 °C. The maximum amount of precipitation is in the western regions (800 mm), but due to frequent thaws, the thickness of the snow cover is small.
Continental	Western Siberia. The annual precipitation in the north is no more than 600 mm, in the south - 100 mm. Winters are harsher than in the west. Summer is hot in the south and quite warm in the north.
Sharply continental	Eastern Siberia and Yakutia . Winter temperatures range from -24 to -40 °C, significant warming in summer (up to +16 ... +20 °C, in the south up to +35 °C). Annual precipitation is less than 400 mm. The humidification coefficient is close to 1.
Monsoon	Pacific coast of Russia, Primorsky and Khabarovsk territories. Winter is cold, sunny and with little snow. Summer is cloudy and cool, with large amounts of precipitation (up to 600-1000 mm), which falls in the form of showers, which is associated with the influx of sea air from the Pacific Ocean.
Subtropical	South of Russia, in the Sochi region. Hot and dry summers, warm and humid winters. The annual precipitation is 600-800 mm.

Population density in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation

National composition of the population of Russia

Maximum performance		Minimum indicators
Nationality		Nationality	Share of the total population of Russia, %
Russians	79,83	Central Asian Arabs, Crimeans,	0,0001
Tatars	3,83	Izhorians, Tazy, Enets	0,0002
Ukrainians	2,03	Central Asian gypsies, Karaites	0,0003
Bashkirs	1,15	Slovaks, Aleuts, English	0,0004
Chuvash	1,13	Cubans, Orochi	0,0005

Religious affiliation of the peoples of Russia

The largest hydroelectric power plants (HPPs) in Russia

Power station	The subject of the Russian Federation	River	Power, MW
1	2	3	4
Sayano-Shushenskaya	Krasnoyarsk Territory, Republic of Khakassia	Yenisei	6400
Krasnoyarsk	Krasnoyarsk region	Yenisei	6000
Bratskaya	Irkutsk region	Angara	4500
Ust-Ilimskaya	Irkutsk region	Angara	4320
Boguchanskaya	Krasnoyarsk region	Angara	4000 (under construction)
Volgogradskaya	Volgograd region	Volga	2563
Volzhskaya	Samara Region	Volga	2300
Bureya	Amur region	Bureya	2000 (under construction)
Cheboksary	Chuvash Republic	Volga	1404
Saratovskaya	Saratov region	Volga	1360
Zeyskaya	Amur region	Zeya	1290
Nizhnekamsk	Republic of Tatarstan	Kama	1248
Chirkeyskaya	The Republic of Dagestan	Sulak	1000

The largest nuclear power plants (NPPs) in Russia

Power station	The subject of the Russian Federation	Number of power units	Power, MW	Interesting Facts
Kursk	Kursk region	4	4000	Kursk NPP is located in the city of Kurchatov on the left bank of the Seim River, 40 km southwest of Kursk.
Balakovskaya	Saratov region	4	4000	It is one of the largest and most modern energy enterprises in Russia, providing a quarter of electricity production in the Volga Federal District. Electricity from the Balakovo NPP is the cheapest among all nuclear power plants and thermal power plants in Russia.
Leningradskaya	Leningrad region	4 + 2 under construction	4000	Built 80 km west of St. Petersburg in the city of Sosnovy Bor on the shores of the Gulf of Finland. Leningrad NPP is the first station in the country with reactors of the RBMK-1000 type (high-power channel reactor).
Kalininskaya	Tver region	4	4000	Generates 70% of the total volume of electricity produced in the Tver region. Due to its geographical location, the station provides high-voltage transit of electricity.
Smolenskaya	Smolensk region	3	3000	Smolensk NPP is a city-forming, leading enterprise in the region, the largest in the region's fuel and energy balance. Every year the station produces an average of 20 billion kWh of electricity, which is more than 80% of the total amount generated in the region.
Novovoronezhskaya	Voronezh region	3	2455	One of the oldest nuclear energy enterprises in the Russian Federation. Novovoronezh NPP fully meets the Voronezh region's electrical energy needs. This is the first nuclear power plant in Russia with pressurized water power reactors (VVER).
Kola	Murmansk region	4	1760	Located 200 km south of Murmansk on the shores of Lake Imandra. It is the main supplier of electricity for the Murmansk region and Karelia.
Rostovskaya	Rostov region	2+2 under construction	2000	The Rostov NPP is located on the shore of the Tsimlyansk reservoir, 13.5 km from the city of Volgodonsk. It is the largest energy enterprise in the South of Russia, providing about 15% of the annual electricity generation in the region.
Beloyarskaya	Sverdlovsk region	2 + 1 under construction	600	This is the first high-power nuclear power plant in the history of the country’s nuclear energy industry and the only one with reactors of different types on site. It is at the Beloyarsk NPP that the world's only powerful power unit with a fast neutron reactor is operated.
Bilibinskaya	Chukotka Autonomous Okrug	4	48	When the air temperature drops to -50°C, the nuclear power plant operates in heating mode and develops a heating capacity of 100 Gcal/h while the generated electrical power decreases to 38 MW.
Obninskaya	Kaluga region			The world's first nuclear power plant. It was launched in 1954 and stopped in 2002. Currently, a museum is being created on the basis of the station.
Under construction
Baltic	Kaliningrad region	2
Academician Lomonosov	Kamchatka Krai	2

Main metallurgical bases of Russia

Base name	Share in production of ferrous metal ores (%)	Share in steel production (%)	Share in rolled steel production (%)	Types of metallurgical production	Largest centers
Ural	16	43	42	full cycle	Magnitogorsk, Serov. Chelyabinsk, Nizhny Tagil, Novotroitsk, Alapaevsk, Asha
				domain	Satka
				conversion rate	Ekaterinburg, Zlatoust, Izhevsk
				production of ferroalloys	Chelyabinsk, Serov
				pipe production	Chelyabinsk, Pervouralsk, Kamensk-Uralsky
Central	71	41	44	full cycle	Cherepovets, Lipetsk, Stary Oskol
				domain	Tula
				conversion rate	Moscow, Elektrostal, St. Petersburg, Kolpino, Orel, Nizhny Novgorod, Vyksa, Volgograd
				pipe production	Volgograd, Volzhsky
Siberian	12	16	12	full cycle	Novokuznetsk
				conversion rate	Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk, Petrovsk-Zabaikalsky production
				ferroalloys	Novokuznetsk
Far Eastern			1	conversion rate	Komsomolsk-on-Amur
South			1	conversion pipe production	Taganrog

Main bases and centers of non-ferrous metallurgy in Russia

Base name	Raw materials and energy base	Specialization	Largest centers
Ural	Al, Cu, Ni, resource- and energy-deficient area	aluminum metallurgy	Kamensk-Uralsky, Krasnoturinsk
		titanium metallurgy	Birch forests
		copper metallurgy	Mednogorsk, Revda, Karabash, Krasnouralsk
		nickel metallurgy	Orsk, Verkhniy Ufaley
		zinc metallurgy	Chelyabinsk
Siberian	Ni, Pb, Zn, Sn, W, Mo, Au, Pt, main hydropower area	alumina metallurgy	Achinsk
		metallurgy of nickel and copper	Norilsk
		aluminum metallurgy	Bratsk, Krasnoyarsk, Sayanogorsk, Shelikhov, Novokuznetsk
		zinc metallurgy	Belovo
		tin metallurgy	Novosibirsk
Northwestern	Al, Ni, energy-supplied area	alumina metallurgy	Boksitogorsk
		aluminum metallurgy	Kandalaksha, Nadvoitsy, Volkhov
		metallurgy of nickel and copper	Zapolyarny, Monchegorsk
Far Eastern	Au, Ag, Pb, Zn, Sn, hydropower resources	lead metallurgy	Dalnegorsk

Characteristics of large economic regions of Russia

Subject of the federation	Area, thousand km 2	Population, thousand people 2010	Share of urban population, % 2010	States with which it shares a land border	Access to the ocean	Specialization
Subject of the federation	Area, thousand km 2	Population, thousand people 2010	Share of urban population, % 2010	States with which it shares a land border	Access to the ocean	industry	Agriculture
1	2	3	4	5	6		8
Northwestern economic region
Leningrad region	85,3	1629,6	66	Finland, Estonia	Eat	Heavy, energy, precision engineering, shipbuilding, machine tool building, chemical, light
Novgorod region	55,3	640,6	70	No	No
Pskov region	55,3	688,6	68	Belarus, Latvia, Estonia	No
Saint Petersburg	0,6	4600,3	100	No	Eat
Kaliningrad region
Kaliningrad region	15,1	937,9	76	Lithuania, Poland	Eat	Mechanical engineering, pulp and paper	Dairy and beef cattle breeding, potato growing, flax growing
Central Chernozem economic region
Belgorod region	27,1	1530,1	66	Ukraine	No	Iron ore mining, ferrous metallurgy, heavy, precision engineering, tractor manufacturing, equipment for the chemical and food industries, chemical, cement, sugar, oil, flour milling, amber mining and processing	Grain farming, beet growing, sunflower growing
Voronezh region	52,4	2268,6	63	Ukraine	No
Kursk region	29,8	1148,6	65	Ukraine	No
Lipetsk region	24,1	1157,9	64	No	No
Tambov Region	34,3	1088,4	58	No	No
Central economic region
Bryansk region	34,9	1292,2	69	Belarus, Ukraine	No	Automotive, machine tool, tractor, railway, agricultural, precision engineering, chemical, textile, cement. Handicrafts (Palekh, Khokhloma, etc.) Aviation industry, tourism	Vegetable growing, potato growing
Vladimir region	29	1430,1	78	No	No
Ivanovo region	23,9	1066,6	81	No	No
Kaluga region	29,9	1001,6	76	No	No
Kostroma region	60.1	688,3	69	No	No
Moscow	1	10 563	100	No	No
Moscow region	46	6752,7	81	No	No
Oryol Region	24,7	812,5	64	No	No
Ryazan Oblast	39,6	1151,4	70	No	No
Smolensk region	49,8	966	72	Belarus	No
Tver region	84,1	1360,3	74	No	No
Tula region	25,7	1540,4	80	No	No
Yaroslavl region	36,4	1306,3	82	No
Volgo-Vyatka economic region
Kirov region	120,8	1391,1	72	No	No	Automotive, shipbuilding, tractor, machine tool, precision engineering, chemical, forestry
Nizhny Novgorod Region	74,8	3323,6	79	No	No
Mari El Republic	23,2	698,2	63	No	No
The Republic of Mordovia	26,2	826,5	61	No	No
Chuvash Republic	18,3	1278,4	58	No	No
Northern economic region
Arkhangelsk region, including the Nenets Autonomous Okrug	410,7 176,7	1254,4	74	No	Eat	Oil, gas, coal, shipbuilding, ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, mining and chemicals, fisheries, oil and cheese, forestry, pulp and paper, ports	Flax farming, dairy and beef cattle breeding
Murmansk region	144,9	836,7	91	Finland, Norway	Eat
Republic of Karelia	172,4	684,2	76	Finland	Eat
Komi Republic	415,9	951,2	76	No	No
Povolzhsky economic region
Astrakhan region	44,1	1007,1	66	Kazakhstan	No	Electric power industry, oil and gas, automotive industry, shipbuilding, machine tool industry, equipment for the food and chemical industries, tractor manufacturing, precision engineering, chemical, cement, light industry, flour milling, oil milling, fisheries	Grain farming, sunflower cultivation, vegetable growing, meat and dairy cattle breeding, sheep breeding
Volgograd region	113,9	2589,9	75	Kazakhstan	No
Penza region	43,2	1373,2	67	No	No
Republic of Kalmykia	76,1	283,2	45	No	No
Republic of Tatarstan	68	3778,5	75	No	No
Samara Region	53,6	3170,1	81	No	No
Saratov region	100,2	2564,8	74	Kazakhstan	No
Ulyanovsk region	37,3	1298,6	73	No	No
Ural economic region
Kurgan region	71	947,6	57	Kazakhstan	No	Oil and gas, ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, heavy and precision engineering, automotive, carriage building, tractor building, machine tool building, chemical, forestry, cement. Extraction and processing of precious, semi-precious and ornamental stones	Grain farming, meat-dairy and dairy-meat cattle breeding
Orenburg region	124	2112,9	57	Kazakhstan	No
Perm region	127,7	2701,2	74	No	No
Republic of Bashkortostan	143,6	4066	60	No	No
Republic of Udmurtia	42,1	1526,3	68	No	No
Sverdlovsk region	194,8	4393,8	83	No	No
Chelyabinsk region	87,9	3508,4	81	Kazakhstan	No
North Caucasus economic region
Krasnodar region	76	5160,7	52	Georgia	Eat	Gas, coal, non-ferrous metallurgy, locomotive building, agricultural, energy, precision engineering, chemical, canning, sugar, oil, winemaking, flour milling, traditional crafts (carpet weaving, making jewelry, dishes, weapons, etc.). Tourism and recreational economy	Grain farming, beet farming, sunflower growing, vegetable growing, viticulture, sheep farming, pig farming, dairy and meat, meat and dairy cattle breeding
Republic of Adygea	7,6	443,1	53	No	No
The Republic of Dagestan	50,3	2737,3	42	Azerbaijan, Georgia	No
The Republic of Ingushetia	4,3	516,7	43	Georgia	No
Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria	12,5	893,8	56	Georgia	No
Republic of Karachay-Cherkessia	14,1	427	43	Georgia	No
Republic of North Ossetia-Alania	8	700,8	64	Georgia	No
Republic of Chechnya	15	1268,1	36	Georgia	No
Rostov region	100,8	4229,5	67	Ukraine	Eat
Stavropol region	66,5	2711,2	57	No	No
West Siberian economic region
Altai region	169,1	2490,7	53	Kazakhstan	No	Oil, gas, coal, ferrous, non-ferrous metallurgy, heavy, energy, precision engineering, carriage building, tractor building, machine tool building, chemical, forestry	Grain farming, dairy and meat and meat and dairy cattle breeding
Kemerovo region	95,5	2820,6	85	No	No
Novosibirsk region	178,2	2649,9	76	Kazakhstan	No
Omsk region	139,7	2012,1	69	Kazakhstan	No
Altai Republic	92,6	210,7	27	Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia	No
Tomsk region	316,9	1043,8	70	No	No
Tyumen region	161,8	3430,3	78	Kazakhstan	Eat
Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug	523,1	1538,6	92	No	No
Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug	750,3	546,5	85	No	Eat
East Siberian economic region
Irkutsk region	745,5	2502,7	79	No	No	Electric power, non-ferrous metallurgy, chemical, forestry	Fur harvesting
Krasnoyarsk region	2340	2893,9	76	No	Eat
The Republic of Buryatia	351,3	963,5	56	Mongolia	No
Republic of Tyva (Tuva)	170,5	317	51	Mongolia	No
The Republic of Khakassia	61,9	539,2	68	No	No
Transbaikal region	412,5	1117	64	China, Mongolia	No
Far Eastern economic region
Amur region	363,7	860,7	65	China	No	Non-ferrous metallurgy, forestry, fishing, shipbuilding, diamond mining, port services	Grain farming (soybean production), reindeer husbandry, ginseng cultivation
Jewish Autonomous Region	36	185	66	China	No
Kamchatka Krai	170,8	342,3	79	No	Eat
Magadan Region	461,4	161,2	96	No	Eat
Primorsky Krai	465,9	1982	75	China, North Korea	Eat
The Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)	3103,2	949,3	65	No	Eat
Sakhalin region	87,1	510,8	78	No	Eat
Khabarovsk region	788,6	1400,5	80	China	Eat
Chukotka Autonomous Okrug	737,7	48,6	68,4	No	Eat

General lesson on the topic

“General patterns of the nature of the Earth”

Lesson Objectives: Generalization and repetition of the material covered

Activation of students' cognitive activity through didactic games.

Fostering a sense of collectivism, mutual assistance, the ability to listen to others and defend one’s views.

Preparation period.

Divide teams into equal groups

Review the material covered, paying special attention to working with the map.

Prepare the equipment necessary for the game

Progress of the game.

Each team alternately selects the number or category of the question; if the answer is incorrect or incomplete, the other teams have the right to answer or supplement.

1 competition "Where does the wind blow from?"

Teacher: - now the captain of each team will come to my table and pull out a sign with the name of your team written on it.

Assignment: Within one minute you will have to explain the movement of air in a particular type of wind. (Passat, Monsoon, Breeze)

2 competition "What's happened? Who it?"

Teacher: - now you will receive pieces of paper on which three words are written (preferably from different topics) the meaning of which needs to be explained.

Wegener Pangea Panthalassa

Plankton Nekton Benthos

Isobars Isobaths Isotherms

3 competition "Third wheel"

Teacher: - Having received the task, you must decide which objects can be combined and on what basis, and what will be superfluous.

Gulf Stream Andes East European Plain

Canary Cordillera Platform

Brazilian Himalayas Ural Mountains

4 competition "Figures and facts"

Teacher: - indicate the factual material corresponding to these figures

35 ppm 11022m 8848m

5 competition "Associations"

The guys name the number of the associative series, the teacher reads out a series of words, and the students name the association that has arisen.

1.Earthquake, wave, speed, danger, destruction (tsunami)

2.Ocean, ship, ice, mountain, danger (iceberg)

3. Sun, evaporation, clouds, precipitation, river, sea (water cycle in nature)

6 competition "Captains Competition"

Each of the captains is asked one by one questions about their knowledge of geographical terminology:

What is a platform?

What is an air mass?

What is water mass?

What is the geographic envelope?

What is called latitudinal zoning?

What is altitudinal zonation?

What is a climate zone?

What is a natural area?

What is a natural complex?

7 competition “From what and why?”

Competition to test knowledge of geographical patterns.

What determines salinity in the ocean?

Why is it humid at the equator and dry in the tropics?

Why are the Andes higher than the Cordillera?

8 competition "White crow"

The competition is held on the principle of “third wheel”, but the “White Crow” has to be chosen from a longer list.

Bering Geyser Kamchatka

Atlasov Kamchatka Avachinsky

Nikitin Volcanoes Kronotsky

Chirikov Caucasus Shelikhova

Krasheninnikov Tsunami Olyutorsky

9 competition "There is no bad weather…"

Based on the coordinates, each team must determine the territory and briefly describe the climate of the territory.

0 0 latitude 215 0 in. d.

22 0 N 45 0 in. d.

70 0 s. w. 90th century d.

10 competition "5 Tips"

Answering the tasks of this competition requires intelligence, erudition, and the ability to think logically.

The clues are read one by one, there are five of them, but the sooner the team guesses the object, the more points it receives.

This object is located on the mainland, which ranks 4th in area.

It is located in the western part of the mainland.

It is the highest point of the longest mountain system in the world.

He has a height

Its coordinates (Mount Aconcagua)

This object is located off the coast of the third largest continent

This is where one of the most powerful ocean currents originates.

A lot of oil is produced here

To the south of this object is the Caribbean Sea

The waters of this object wash the country of the same name (Gulf of Mexico)

This object is located in eastern Eurasia

Its name is associated with the second Kamchatka expedition

It is separated from our peninsula by the Kamchatka Strait

This object includes 2 large islands

Here is the grave of the famous navigator

Evaluation paper.

Team name
Where does the wind blow from?
What is it, who is it?
Third wheel
Figures and facts
Associations
Captains competition
From what and why?
"White crow"
There is no bad weather
5 tips

The Unified State Exam aims to determine the quality of schoolchildren's preparation and select the most prepared students for further admission to universities.

The introduction of the Unified State Exam showed the need to change the approach to geographical education of students. Nowadays, the issue of changing the approach to education, the interaction of teaching methods and techniques in connection with the emergence of a new way of monitoring and recording acquired knowledge is more relevant than ever.

Geography Today, unfortunately, it is far from the most popular subject to take in the format Unified State Exam. According to data from 2010 and 2011, slightly less than 3% of students took it as an elective Unified State Exam. If we give the figures for the country, it turns out that on average one graduate chose geography for every two schools.

The Unified State Exam in Geography is required for admission to specialties only in the following areas: geography, geology, cartography, hydrometeorology and ecology.

However, even a small number of students taking geography as an elective exam in the Unified State Exam format must be prepared. The key to the high results demonstrated by graduates in the exam is the systematic, thoughtful work of the teacher.

Therefore, the goal of my work is to develop methodological recommendations for preparing students for the state final certification in the form of the Unified State Exam in Geography.

The topic “Atmosphere” is included in the list of knowledge required to prepare for the exam and is included in the section: “The Nature of the Earth and Man.”

To achieve this goal, I identified the following tasks:

Characteristics of the basic concepts and ideas of the topic;

Review of tasks and comments on them on the topic “Atmosphere”.

The tasks set will be useful, in my opinion, in reinforcing the topic “Atmosphere”, training students’ skills in completing test tasks, and in preparing for the final certification.

Download:

Preview:

Churakova I. V. geography teacher

GBOU secondary school No. 1245

Southern Administrative District of Moscow

Moscow 2012

I. Introduction................................................... ........................................................ .............3

II. Main part:

II.1 Characteristics of the main concepts and ideas of the topic.................................4

Some techniques for solving problems.................................................. .....eleven

II.3 Review and comments of sample tasks.................................................... 12

III. Conclusion................................................. ........................................................ ...18

Bibliography................................................. ........................................................ .....19

Introduction

The Unified State Exam aims to determine the quality of schoolchildren's preparation and select the most prepared students for further admission to universities.

Geography Today, unfortunately, it is far from the most popular subject to take in the format Unified State Exam . According to data from 2010 and 2011, slightly less than 3% of students passed it asUnified State Exam optional. If we give the figures for the country, it turns out that on average one graduate chose geography for every two schools.

The Unified State Exam in Geography is required for admission to specialties only in the following areas: geography, geology, cartography, hydrometeorology and ecology.

Therefore, the goal of my work is to develop methodological recommendations for preparing students for the state final certification in the form of the Unified State Exam in Geography.

The topic “Atmosphere” is included in the list of knowledge required to prepare for the exam and is included in the section: “The Nature of the Earth and Man.”

To achieve this goal, I identified the following tasks:

Characteristics of the basic concepts and ideas of the topic;

Review of tasks and comments on them on the topic “Atmosphere”.

The tasks set will be useful, in my opinion, in reinforcing the topic “Atmosphere”, training students’ skills in completing test tasks, and in preparing for the final certification.

Characteristics of the main concepts and ideas of the topic

Basic requirements for the level of student preparation in the “Atmosphere” section:

Graduates should knowcomposition, structure of the atmosphere, air temperature, atmospheric pressure, air movement in the atmosphere, water in the atmosphere, precipitation, air masses, weather and climate, distribution of heat and moisture on the Earth's surface.

Graduates should be able toshow, describe positions on the map of climatic zones, compare climatic indicators of individual territories. Reproduce knowledge about the main features of the climate of the continents; identify geographic atmospheric phenomena based on their essential features.

Particular attention in the control tasks of previous years was given to checking the formation of spatial geographical concepts among graduates (for example, the distribution of heat and moisture on the Earth’s surface), the ability to compare and determine the features of objects, using knowledge of general geographical patterns (for example, to determine which of the indicated map of the territory the minimum amount of precipitation per year).

Regardless of the complexity of a particular task, you need to start by studying (repeating) the basic definitions on the topic, such as the atmosphere, troposphere, atmospheric pressure, wind, air masses, etc.

Atmosphere – a gas (air) shell surrounding the Earth and located between the Earth’s surface and the near Space and held by the Earth’s gravitational force.

Atmospheric composition: a mixture of gases, tiny drops of water, ice crystals, dust particles, soot and organic substances. The main atmospheric gases are nitrogen - 78%, oxygen - 21%, argon - 0.9%.

The structure of the atmosphere:

Troposphere - a layer of the atmosphere directly adjacent to the earth's surface. Its upper boundary passes at the equator at an altitude of 18 km, and above the poles - at an altitude of 8-9 km. The troposphere contains most of the water vapor, and horizontal and vertical air movements occur here. This is where the weather is formed. The temperature from bottom to top gradually drops to -55°C at the border with the stratosphere.

Stratosphere – extends to an altitude of 50-55 km. The air in it is very thin, you can’t breathe it. Visibility and weather are always good in this layer, so the paths of modern aircraft lie in the lower layers of the stratosphere. The temperature at the upper limit is 0°C.

Mesosphere – located at an altitude of 50-80 km. The temperature reaches -90°C, the air here is so thin that it does not absorb solar heat and does not scatter light.

Upper atmosphere: mesosphere, thermosphere, exosphere, ionosphere.

Air temperature.

In this topic you should pay attention to the following features:

1. The atmospheric air receives its main heat from the earth’s surface heated by the sun’s rays. Therefore, the air temperature in the troposphere decreases with altitude by 0.6°C for every 100 m. height.

2. The earth's surface and the air above it are heated unevenly. It depends on the angle of incidence of the sun's rays. The greater the angle of incidence of the sun's rays, the higher the air temperature. The closer to the equator, the more the earth's surface heats up and the higher the air temperature.

3. Air temperature depends on the ability of the surface to absorb heat and reflect solar rays (the color of the underlying surface: black - absorbs, white - reflects; the waters of the World Ocean absorb the most solar energy).

4. Air temperature changes with the time of day and seasons of the year following a change in the angle of incidence of the sun's rays. The highest temperature of the day is at 14-15 hours, the lowest is before sunrise.

Temperature amplitude is the difference between the highest and lowest temperatures over a period of time.

Average annual (average daily) temperatures are defined as the arithmetic mean of temperatures for all months of the year (days).

Isotherms – conditional lines drawn on climate maps connecting points on the earth’s surface with the same air temperature. As a rule, isotherms of average temperatures in January and July are shown.

Thermometer – a device for measuring air temperature.

Atmosphere pressure.

It is necessary to remember, first of all: the definition, the change in atmospheric pressure, the device that measures it.

Atmosphere pressure- the force with which air presses on the earth's surface and all objects located on it. It is measured by a mercury barometer (aneroid barometer) in millimeters of mercury (mmHg).

The average pressure above sea level at a temperature of 0°C is 760 mm Hg. Art. – normal atmospheric pressure.

Atmospheric pressure changes depending on the air temperature and the altitude of the place. Cold air is heavier than warm air and therefore presses harder on the surface. The sun heats the earth's surface unevenly, and the air also heats up unevenly. In this regard, areas with higher and lower atmospheric pressure are formed on the surface. They successively replace each other from the equator to the poles. On the earth's surface there are 3 areas with constantly low and 4 areas with constantly high atmospheric pressure.

With altitude the pressure decreases. For areas lying at different altitudes above sea level, normal atmospheric pressure is different.

Isobars - conditional lines drawn on climate maps, connecting points on the earth’s surface with the same values of atmospheric pressure.

Air movement in the atmosphere.

Air masses - relatively homogeneous parts of the troposphere that differ from each other in temperature, humidity, and transparency.

Depending on the place of formation, continental, marine, Arctic (Antarctic), equatorial, tropical air masses, and air of temperate latitudes are distinguished. There are also transitional air masses: subequatorial, subtropical, subarctic. They change their properties depending on the time of year.

Wind - movement of air in a horizontal direction. It should be remembered that air moves from areas of high atmospheric pressure to areas of low pressure. The direction of the wind is determined by the side of the horizon from which it blows.

A device for determining the direction and speed of the wind is a weather vane, and for determining force is an anemometer. Wind speed is measured in meters per second, and strength is determined on the Beaufort scale from 0 to 12.

Constant winds– winds that constantly blow in one direction (depending on belts of high and low atmospheric pressure).

Trade winds (northeast in the northern hemisphere and southeast in the southern) - constant winds blowing from an area of high pressure in the tropics (latitude 30) to an area of low atmospheric pressure at the equator.

Western winds – winds of moderate latitudes, blowing from an area of high pressure in the tropics (latitude 30) to an area of low atmospheric pressure in temperate latitudes (southwestern in the northern hemisphere and northeastern in the southern).

Arctic, Antarctic winds– constant winds blowing from an area of high pressure at the poles to an area of low pressure in temperate latitudes.

Seasonal winds – winds that occur only in certain seasons of the year. Monsoons – winds that arise at the border of land and sea and change their direction to the opposite twice a year. In summer they blow from sea to land, in winter - from land to sea. The reason for their occurrence is the uneven heating and cooling of water and land and, as a consequence, seasonal changes in pressure. Breezes – winds that arise at the border of land and sea and change their direction to the opposite twice a day. The reason for their occurrence is uneven heating and cooling of water and land.

There is a warm wind in the mountains - hairdryer , directed from the mountains to intermountain valleys. Bora - a cold winter wind descending from the mountains to the sea.

Anemometer - a device for determining wind force.

Atmospheric fronts– transition zones in the troposphere, separating air masses of different properties.

Warm front– the onset of warm air and the displacement of cold air; brings warming, accompanied by prolonged continuous precipitation.

Cold front– the onset of cold air over warm air is accompanied by cooling and intense rainfall.

Atmospheric fronts are associated with the formation of large atmospheric vortices - cyclones and anticyclones.

Cyclone – a powerful atmospheric vortex with low atmospheric pressure in the center. The air rotates counterclockwise and moves toward the center; the air flow in the central part is upward.

Anticyclone - an atmospheric vortex with increased pressure in the center. The air rotates clockwise from the center to the periphery. The anticyclone does not bring precipitation; with it comes colder temperatures and dry, clear, sunny weather.

Water in the atmosphere, precipitation.

Before talking about precipitation, it is necessary to repeat about air humidity.

Air humidity– the amount of water vapor in the air.

It is customary to distinguish between relative and absolute air humidity.

Absolute humidity- the amount of water vapor contained in a certain volume of air. Measured in (g/m3). The warmer the air, the more water vapor it can contain.

Relative humidityair - the ratio of the amount of water vapor contained in the air to the maximum amount that can be contained at a given temperature. Relative humidity is expressed as a percentage. If the air contains the maximum possible amount of water vapor at a given temperature, then the relative humidity is 100%. Such air is called saturated.

Hygrometer – a device for measuring relative air humidity.

Here it is appropriate to remember the clouds.

Clouds - accumulation in the atmosphere at a significant altitude of tiny droplets of water or ice crystals released during cooling of air saturated with water vapor. There are three types of clouds. Cumulus – clouds of the warm season, they are associated with showers and thunderstorms.

Layered clouds usually densely cover the entire sky and are associated with prolonged drizzling rains.

Cirrus The clouds are high and consist of ice crystals. Precipitation does not occur and serves as a sign of weather changes.

Fog – accumulation in the ground layers of air of tiny droplets of water released during cooling of air saturated with water vapor.

Precipitation– water that has fallen to the ground from clouds (rain, snow, hail) or directly from the air (dew, frost, frost). Atmospheric precipitation is measured by a precipitation gauge, in millimeters.

Distribution of precipitation on Earth.

Near the equator, in a low-pressure zone, constantly rising heated air contains a lot of moisture. Here, rainfall of 1500 – 3000 mm falls daily. In the tropics, in areas of high pressure, the air sinks and heats up without forming clouds or precipitation. In temperate latitudes, moist air from the west arrives from the oceans on the western shores of the continents, bringing up to 1000 mm. precipitation. Moving deeper into the continents, the amount of precipitation decreases. On the eastern shores of the continents, a monsoon climate is formed: the summer monsoons bring heavy precipitation from the oceans, and the winter monsoons, blowing from the continents, are associated with dry and frosty weather. The Arctic and Antarctic belts contain little water vapor, precipitation falls up to 200 mm.

Climate – long-term weather regime characteristic of a given area.

Weather is the state of the troposphere at a given moment and in a certain place.

Climate zone– a territory with similar air masses, temperature conditions, and moisture conditions. There are 4 main and 3 transitional climatic zones.

Equatorial climate zones. Equatorial air masses, an area of low atmospheric pressure, and ascending air currents dominate. High air temperatures all year round (24°), one time of year. Trade winds bring large amounts of precipitation (up to 3000mm).

Tropical climate zones. Tropical air masses, areas of high atmospheric pressure, and downward air currents dominate. In summer the temperature is very high (up to 40°), in winter the temperature is lower (the angle of incidence of the sun's rays decreases). There is very little precipitation (up to 200mm). The hottest and driest areas on Earth.

Temperate zones . Moderate air masses, westerly winds, and areas of low atmospheric pressure predominate. The seasons are clearly expressed. Air temperatures are much lower and have sharper differences: in summer from 18° to 30°, in winter from -2° to -50°. The amount of precipitation ranges from 1000 to 300mm.

Arctic, Antarctic climate zones.Arctic (Antarctic) air masses predominate. An area of constantly high atmospheric pressure, downward air currents form northeast (southeast) winds. There is very little precipitation up to 250 - 300mm. Temperatures are negative in both winter and summer; frosty, long winters and cold, short summers. In winter there is polar night, in summer there is polar day.

The peculiarity of tasks on the topic “Atmosphere” is that they test very extensive and varied material. This is knowledge about the structure of the atmosphere and the properties of its individual parts, about the climate features of different parts of the Earth and the reasons that determine these features, the ability to identify areas with certain types of climate on a map. This section topic is considered the most difficult to prepare.

The ability to determine the characteristics of the climate of territories is tested using such sources of information as a climatogram, synoptic maps, and individual fragments of a contour map.

Tasks on this topic test knowledge of the characteristic features of processes and phenomena occurring in the atmosphere (mastery of general and individual concepts), their typology, spatial relationships in their location, and the ability to apply this knowledge to solve various problems.

Good knowledge on the topic “Atmosphere” is of great importance for the successful mastery of the material on the topics “Hydrosphere”, “Natural zones”, “Biosphere”, for understanding the characteristics of the distribution of the world’s population, branches of agricultural production, etc.

The material on this topic is included in three school geography courses: “Elementary Geography Course” (6th grade), “Geography of Continents and Oceans” (7th grade), “Geography of Russia” (8th grade). Having studied the topic “Atmosphere of the Earth” in the 6th grade course. It is recommended to study the topic “Atmosphere and climates of the Earth” in the section “Planetary phenomena in the nature of the Earth” and the topic “Climate” for each of the continents in the 7th grade course, and then “Climate of Russia” in the 8th grade course. Moreover, it is quite possible that certain issues will have to be addressed again.

When studying the material of the topic, it is advisable to pay special attention to the analysis of drawings, climatograms and diagrams in textbooks, which show the structure of the atmosphere, the movement of air masses over the seasons, the formation of precipitation, winds, etc. Visual representations form more solid knowledge and help to consciously master what is being studied material. Which ultimately will greatly facilitate the completion of many tasks that require the analysis of figures, diagrams, tables, similar to those found in the textbook.

The most difficult questions in studying the atmosphere are questions about atmospheric circulation and the peculiarities of the climates of the continents and regions of Russia. This is due to the fact that it is very difficult to “mechanically” remember a huge amount of factual material characterizing the types of constant winds and climates of individual territories. It is therefore important to understand what explains the properties of the main types of air masses, the characteristics of individual climate types, and their distribution over the Earth’s surface.

To achieve this goal, it is very important to use not only the textbook text, but also other sources of knowledge. Having understood which air masses dominate in each of the climatic zones by season, it is necessary to find each of them on a map of climatic zones - this allows you to form a visual representation of the distribution of individual climate types. By comparing this map with climate maps of the continents, determine the average summer and winter air temperatures and average annual precipitation for each climate type. Compare the data obtained with those given in the text of the textbook. Then analyze climatograms of different climate types in atlases and textbooks. All this will help you better remember how each climate type is characterized.

In order to understand how the climate features of individual parts of the continents and territories of Russia are explained, it is important for students to get an idea of how climate-forming factors influence the climate. Such as the geographical latitude of a place, proximity or distance from the ocean, warm and cold currents, relief, the nature of the earth's surface, as well as areas of prevailing atmospheric pressure and the direction of prevailing winds, the height of the place above sea level, the location of mountain ranges. To do this, when reading the text of the textbook, it is necessary to compare not only the map of climatic zones and climate maps, but also physical maps of the world and continents.

At the basic level of the Unified State Exam (Part 1), knowledge of the structure of the atmosphere, the composition and properties of its parts, changes in air characteristics (temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure) with altitude, and the properties of the main types of air masses are tested. You need to know which air masses predominate in different climate zones, and the position of climate zones on Earth. Knowledge of the hottest, coldest, driest and wettest places on Earth is also tested. These tasks allow you to check the mastery of the most significant content (knowledge of facts and patterns, elementary cause-and-effect relationships, the formation of the simplest geographical skills and spatial concepts).

At the advanced level of the Unified State Exam (Part 2), the ability to use knowledge to identify objects and atmospheric phenomena by their essential characteristics is tested. For example, to determine the formation of which wind (trade wind, monsoon, breeze, etc.) is shown in a schematic drawing, to determine the climatic zone from a climatogram or a verbal description of the annual course of temperatures and precipitation.

The second part of the examination paper includes more complex tasks, for the completion of which it is necessary to use knowledge from different sections of the topic. For example, it may be proposed to determine what number on a map of the continent indicates a territory that has the climate shown on the climatogram in the inset of the map. In order to answer this question, you first need to determine the average temperatures in January and July from the climatogram and remember which climate zone they are typical for. Then, based on the annual amount of precipitation and its distribution throughout the year, determine the climate subtype of this climate zone (continental, monsoon, etc.) and, remembering which part of the continent has such a climate, give an answer.

Here are tasks in which you need to make measurements, make multiple choices, establish the correct sequence or correspondence. They presuppose a deeper knowledge of facts and the formation of spatial ideas about specific territories.

Part three of the Unified State Exam includes the most complex tasks on the topic, requiring a detailed explanation of the climate characteristics of a particular territory, and explaining the differences in the climate of several territories. To complete such tasks, you need to use knowledge about the influence of geographic location, oceans, prevailing winds, and relief on climate—climate-forming factors. For example, think about which of the climate-forming factors influence the climate of a given territory, what impact they have, and draw a conclusion.

Part C tasks require a complete, detailed answer. They are primarily aimed at testing the ability to establish cause-and-effect, intercomponent and spatial relationships.

Some techniques for solving problems.

To solve tasks on analyzing a climatogram, it is necessary to extract geographic information from it. It is necessary to remember that the graph on the climatogram reflects the annual variation of temperatures, and the diagram below shows the amount of precipitation. Temperature readings are shown on the left vertical line. The right vertical line shows precipitation indicators. The names of the months are shown on the horizontal line. Thus, to determine the maximum (minimum) value of temperature or amount of precipitation, it is necessary to draw to the corresponding vertical line and determine the month for which these indicators are characteristic.

In tasks that involve comparing climatograms, it is necessary to remember that the main characteristics of the climate depend on the geographical location of the object on the mainland. Russia is characterized by increasing continental climate from west to east. When choosing the location of a city based on the climatogram (to the west or east), we can conclude that the more east the city is located, the less precipitation and lower the winter temperatures (the greater the temperature amplitude). But we must remember that the eastern coasts of Russia are characterized by the monsoon. This means that there will be seasonality in precipitation, the summer monsoon will bring precipitation.

To solve problems of analyzing a synoptic map, it is necessary to extract information from it, which is transmitted using symbols. Areas of low pressure (cyclones) are designated on the map by the letter H, areas of high pressure (anticyclones) by the letter B. Pay attention to the designation of warm and cold atmospheric fronts. Carefully study the symbols and draw conclusions about weather changes in the coming days.

Review and comments on Part A assignments.

1. The lowest layer of the atmosphere is called:

1) mesosphere

2) stratosphere

3) thermosphere

4) troposphere

Comments : The correct answer is number 4 – troposphere. See the section “Characteristics of the basic concepts and ideas of the topic” for the structure of the atmosphere. This is a task on knowledge of basic terms and concepts.

2. Normal atmospheric pressure at sea level is (mm Hg)

1) 720 2) 760 3) 780 4) 670

Comments : The correct answer is number 2 – 760. See the section “Characteristics of the basic concepts and ideas of the topic” - atmospheric pressure. This value needs to be remembered.

3. The change of seasons is most clearly expressed in the climatic zone:

1) tropical

2) moderate

3) equatorial

4) arctic

Comments : The correct answer is number 2. In the tropical climate zone there are two seasons of the year: dry and wet. In the equatorial - one season - summer; in the Arctic there are two seasons: polar day and polar night. There are 4 seasons in the temperate climate zone.

4. An increase in precipitation contributes to:

1) the presence of warm ocean currents

2) the presence of cold ocean currents

3) flat terrain

4) predominance of high atmospheric pressure

Comments : the correct answer is number 1. Cold currents do not contribute to precipitation, in areas of high atmospheric pressure there is a minimum of precipitation (downward air currents); flat terrain also does not affect the amount of precipitation (the amount of precipitation increases as you rise into the mountains).

5.Which statement about the atmosphere is true?

1) The main part of water vapor is concentrated in the stratosphere.

2) Atmospheric pressure increases with altitude.

3) Air temperature decreases with height.

4) The composition of atmospheric air is dominated by oxygen.

Comments : The correct answer is number 3 (for every kilometer of altitude, the temperature in the troposphere decreases by 6°). The main part of water vapor is concentrated in the troposphere (the troposphere is the kitchen of the weather); atmospheric pressure decreases with altitude (for every 10.5 m of altitude, atmospheric pressure decreases by 1 mm Hg); Nitrogen predominates in the composition of atmospheric air - 78%.

6. Which statement about the atmosphere is true?

1) Wind is the movement of air from areas of low atmospheric pressure to areas of high atmospheric pressure.

2) The relative humidity of the air increases as it heats up.

3) In equatorial latitudes, increased atmospheric pressure prevails.

4) Hygrometer - a device for measuring relative air humidity.

Comments : The correct answer is number 4. Wind is the movement of air from areas of high atmospheric pressure to areas of low atmospheric pressure. The relative humidity of the air decreases as it warms up. In equatorial latitudes, an area of low atmospheric pressure (rising air currents) predominates.

7. The highest annual precipitation falls on the island:

1) Sicily

2) Iceland

3) Madagascar

4) Kalimantan

Comments : The correct answer is number 4, since the island crosses the equator in the middle - the equatorial climate zone is characterized by a maximum rainfall of 2000 mm and above. The island of Madagascar has a tropical climate zone; despite the warm currents, precipitation falls from 250 to 600 mm. Iceland has a subarctic climate zone, precipitation falls up to 800mm. Sicily - Subtropical Mediterranean climate zone, precipitation is also not much, up to 800mm.

8. Which statement about the movement of air masses is true?

1) Breezes change their direction twice a year.

2) In tropical latitudes, westerly winds dominate.

3) In summer, monsoons blow from the ocean to the mainland.

4) Trade winds dominate in temperate latitudes.

Comments : The correct answer is number 3, monsoons are winds that change their direction twice a year. In summer, over land there is an area of low atmospheric pressure (heats up faster, rising air currents), over the ocean there is high atmospheric pressure (heats up more slowly). Therefore, in summer the monsoons blow from the ocean to the mainland. Breezes are daily winds; trade winds predominate in tropical latitudes, and westerly winds predominate in temperate latitudes.

9.What climate zone is most of Australia located in?

1) Subequatorial

2) Tropical

3) Subtropical

4) Moderate

Comments : The correct answer is number 2, since the southern tropic crosses the mainland almost in the middle. The extreme northern part of Australia is located in the subequatorial climate zone. In the subtropical - the southern part of the continent. The temperate climate zone is not represented on the mainland.

10. In which of the listed Russian cities the air temperature in January is the highest:

1) Ekaterinburg

2) Krasnoyarsk

3) Murmansk