Moscow Oblast
Moscow Oblast is a federal subject of Russia. With a population of 8,524,665 living in an area of, it is one of the most densely populated regions in the country and is the second most populous federal subject. The oblast has no official administrative center; its public authorities are located in Moscow and Krasnogorsk, and also across other locations in the oblast.
Located in European Russia between latitudes 54° and 57° N and longitudes 35° and 41° E, Moscow Oblast borders Tver Oblast in the northwest, Yaroslavl Oblast in the north, Vladimir Oblast in the northeast and east, Ryazan Oblast in the southeast, Tula Oblast in the south, Kaluga Oblast in the southwest, and Smolensk Oblast in the west. The oblast mostly surrounds the federal city of Moscow, which is not part of the oblast, but rather a separate federal subject in its own right. The oblast is highly industrialized, with the major industries being metallurgy, oil refining, and mechanical engineering, along with the food, energy, and chemical industries.
Geography
Relief
The oblast is mostly flat, with some hills with a height of about in the western and extensive lowlands in the eastern part. From the southwest to northeast, the oblast is crossed by the border of the Moscow glacier to the north of the common ice-erosion form with moraine ridges, and to the south are only erosional landforms. The western and northern parts of the oblast contain the Moscow Uplands. Their average height peaks at about near Dmitrov and the upper point of lies near the village of Shapkino in Mozhaysky District. The northern part of the Moscow Uplands is steeper than the southern part. The uplands contain lakes of glacial origin, such as Lakes Nerskoye and Krugloye. To the north of the Moscow Uplands lies the alluvial Verhnevolzhsk Depression; It is marshy and flat with the height varying between about and.To the south stretches a hilly area of the Moskvoretsko-Oksk plain. Its greatest height of lies in the area of Tyoply Stan, within the Moscow city limits. The plain has clearly defined river valleys, especially in the south parts, and occasional karst relief, mostly in Serpukhovsky District. In the extreme south, after the Oka River, lies the Central Russian Upland. It contains numerous gullies and ravines and has average height above 200 m with the maximum of 236 m near Pushchino.
Most of the eastern part of Moscow Oblast is taken by the vast Meshchera Lowlands with much wetland in their eastern part. Their highest hill peaks at but the average heights are. Most lakes of the lowlands, such as Lakes Chyornoye and Svyatoye, are of glacial origin. Here lies the lowest natural elevation of the region, the water level of Oka River at.
Geology and minerals
Geology
Moscow Oblast is located in the central part of the East European craton. Like all cratons, the latter is composed of the crystalline basement and sedimentary cover. The basement consists of Archaean and Proterozoic rocks and the cover is deposited in the Palaeozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras. The lowest depth of the basement is to the south of Serebryanye Prudy, in the very south area of the oblast, and the largest is to the east of Sergiyev Posad, in the northeast region.Tertiary deposits are almost absent within the oblast. Significantly more abundant are deposits of the Carboniferous and Jurassic periods. In the Cretaceous period, a sea was covering Moscow Oblast, as evidenced by phosphate deposits and a variety of sands. Cretaceous sediments are most common in the north of the oblast. The sea was wider in Jurassic than in Cretaceous period. Typical Jurassic deposits, in the form of black clay, are found within and around the city of Moscow and in the valley of the Moscow River. Carboniferous deposits in Moscow Oblast are represented by dolomite, limestone, and marl. Coal deposits rich in organic remains occur in the south, especially in Serpukhovsky District, and in the western regions. Devonian deposits were also found within the region.
Quaternary deposits are widely distributed in Moscow Oblast; their thickness decreases from the northwest to southeast. It is believed that there were four glaciations in the area. The first occurred in the Lower Pleistocene and spread to the east–west part of the Oka River valley, it left almost no trace in the region. In the Middle Pleistocene, there were two powerful glaciations. The Dnieper glacier covered a large part of the Russian Plain, whereas the Moscow glaciation stopped just south of the present city of Moscow. The last glaciation, the Valdai glaciation, occurred in the Late Pleistocene; it did not directly affect the territory of Moscow Oblast, but left traces in the form of fluvioglacial deposits, mainly in the north area. The glaciers left behind a moraine loam with pebbles and boulders of various rocks, such as granite, gneiss, quartzite, dolomite, limestone and sandstone. Its thickness varies between a few meters at watersheds and 100 m at moraine ridges.
Minerals
Moscow Oblast is rich in minerals. Sands from the sediments of different periods are of high quality and are widely used in construction. Quartz sand is used in the glass industry, their production is conducted from the end of 17th century near Lyubertsy. Much of the production is currently halted due to environmental concerns, and only the Yeganovskoye field is being exploited; its silica sand reserves are 33 million tonnes and annual production reaches 675,000 tonnes. Sand and gravel deposits are abundant within the Smolensk-Moscow Upland. Sandstone deposits are developed in Klinsky and Dmitrovsky Districts.There are numerous clay deposits within the oblast; fusible clay is excavated in Sergiyev Posad. The Yeldiginskoye field near the village of Sofrino has reserves estimated at 30 million cubic meters; its annual production reaches. Refractory white clay occurs in the eastern region, in the Carboniferous and Jurassic sediments, and is extracted from the 14th century near Gzhel. The largest deposit is near the town of Elektrougli with the reserves of 3 billion tonnes. Also widespread are loams which are used in brick manufacture and limestones. The famous Myachkovo deposit of carboniferous limestone provided material that went for cladding of such buildings in Moscow as the Bolshoi Theater. The mining in Myachkovo had been stopped and currently, limestone is provided by the quarries of Podolsky, Voskresensky, and Kolomensky Districts. The latter district also provides marble-like limestone.
Other industrial minerals of Moscow Oblast are dolomite, limestone tuff, and marl; mostly in the southern and eastern parts. Dolomite is used in the cement industry. Its mining is concentrated mainly near Shchyolkovo, the reserves exceed 20 million tonnes and the annual production is about 650 tonnes.
Phosphates are produced in the Yegorevskoye and Severskoye fields. Meshchera and Verkhnevolzhsk Lowlands are rich in peat. The largest mines are "Ryazanovskoe" and "Radovitsky moss", both around Yegoryevsk. There are deposits of brown coal beyond the Oka River, but they have no commercial value. There are also minor deposits of titanium and iron ore in Serpukhovsky and Serebryano-Prudsky Districts.
Salts of potassium salt are being developed around Serpukhov and Yegoryevsk. There are also numerous mineral springs near Zvenigorod, Klin, and Serpukhov. They include surface springs and reservoirs at the depth of. Deeper, at there is a large sea of salt extending beyond Moscow Oblast. Waters with the salt concentration up to 300 g/L are used in the local food industry and spas.
Climate
The climate of Moscow Oblast is humid continental, with clearly expressed seasonality – short but warm summers and long, cold winters; the continentality increases from northwest to southeast. The period of the average temperature below lasts 130–150 days, beginning in early or mid-November and ending in late March. The average annual temperature varies from to. The coldest months are January and February with the average temperature of in the west and in the east. With the arrival of arctic air, the temperature drops to below that may last up to twenty days during the winter, with the temperatures reaching. The minimum temperature of was observed in Naro-Fominsk. Thaws often occur in December and February due to the Atlantic, and rarely the Mediterranean cyclones. The thaws usually last several days, and their total number from November to March can reach fifty. Snow starts accumulating in November, though sometimes in late October or early December, and disappears in mid-April. The snow depth is and the soil freezes to. The warmest month is July with the average temperature of in the northwest and in the southeast. The maximum temperature of was recorded in Kolomna during 2010 Northern Hemisphere summer heat waves. The average annual rainfall is, the precipitation is maximal in the northwestern and minimal in the southeastern regions. The summer precipitation is usually, but severe droughts occur once in 25–30 years, with less than of rain over June–August.Rivers and lakes
There are more than three hundred rivers with the length above in Moscow Oblast. All rivers are calm and have well-developed valleys and floodplains. They are mostly fed by melting snow and the flood falls on April–May. The water level is low in summer and increases only with heavy rain. The rivers freeze over from late November until mid-April. The only navigable rivers are the Volga, the Oka, and the Moskva River.Most rivers belong to the basin of the Volga, which itself only crosses a small part in the north of Moscow Oblast, near the border with Tver Oblast. The second largest river of the region is the Oka. The northern part of Moscow Oblast includes such Volga tributaries as the Shosha, the Lama, the Dubna, the Sestra, and the Yakhroma. On the south flow the tributaries of the Oka, including the Nara, the Protva, and the Lopasnya Rivers. The Moskva River, which almost entirely flows within the oblast, also belongs to the Oka basin. The eastern and northeastern regions, including much of Meschersk Depression, are irrigated by the tributaries of the Klyazma River, which itself is a main tributary of the Oka.
The Moscow Canal crosses the northern part of Moscow Oblast through the Ikshinskyoe, Klyazminskoye, Pyalovskoye, and Pestovskoye Reservoirs. In the basin of the Moskva River, there are also Ozerninskoye, Mozhayskoye, Istrinskoye, and Ruza Reservoirs, providing Moscow with drinking water.
There are about 350 lakes in the oblast, almost all are shallow and many are of glacial origin. The largest are and Svyatoye whereas the deepest is Lake Glubokoye in Ruzsky District. There are also many marshes, especially within the Meshchersk and Verkhnevolzhsk lowlands.