Physical geography of the Moscow region

The territory is located in the center of the East European Plain . The region borders on the Tver region in the northwest and north, the Yaroslavl region in the north-east, the Vladimir region in the east, the Ryazan region in the south-east, the Tula region in the south, the Kaluga region in the south-west - from Smolenskaya , in the center is a city ​​of federal significance Moscow .

Geological section along the river. Oka - Moscow - p. Dubna

The territory occupied by the Moscow region is located in the central part of the East European platform ^[2] ; the latter, like all platforms, consists of a crystalline basement, which does not reach the surface within the Moscow Region, and a sedimentary cover. The crystalline basement contains granites and gneisses of the Archean and Proterozoic age; sedimentary cover contains deposits of the Paleozoic , Mesozoic, and Cenozoic eras . The foundation forms a large hollow - the Moscow syneclise - and lies in its axial zone for 2-3 thousand meters. ^{[3] The} block nature of the crystalline basement determined the structure of the sedimentary cover: in the Riphean troughs formed on the site of aulacogens , saddles correspond to horsts (Tumsko- Shatursky ledge in the east of the region, where the depth of the basement is a little more than 1 km), and grabens - depressions (Gzhatskaya, Podmoskovnaya, Pachelmskaya). The smallest depths of the crystalline basement (1000 m) - south of the city of Serebryanye Prudy (in the extreme south of the region), the greatest (4200 m) - east of Sergiev Posad (in the north-east of the region) ^{[4] [5] [6]} . Since the Proterozoic , there have been no large tectonic movements within the region; neotectonic movements are wave-like in amplitude; in the northwestern regions there is an increase of 1-8 mm per year, and the east of the region experiences neotectonic subsidence of 5-6 mm per year ^{[7] [8]} .

Within the Moscow region there are almost no deposits of the Tertiary period , deposits of the Carboniferous and Jurassic periods are much wider ^[5] . At the beginning of the Paleozoic ( Cambrian , Ordovician , the first half of the Silurian ), the territory of the region was occupied by a shallow sea basin; deposits of this time are at great depths and are opened by wells. In the middle of the Silurian, under the conditions of Caledonian folding , the crust rises in the region, and the marine regime is replaced by a continental one with an arid climate. At the end of the Early Devonian, the earth's crust bends again, and the Moscow Region permanently finds itself in the central part of the vast shallow intracontinental sea basin ^[9] . Devonian deposits are represented on the territory of the region by limestones, marls, gypsums , rock salt deposits ^[10] . By their thickness, the Devonian sediments make up the bulk of the sedimentary cover in the Moscow Region; they lie at depths of 900–1000 m and are opened by boreholes ^[11] .

The continental regime on the territory of the region again - not for long - is established at the end of the Tournaisian and the beginning of the century Carboniferous (it was at this time that the main coal-bearing stratum of the Moscow brown coal basin was formed ), and later again replaced by the marine, existing throughout the Serpukhov century. During the century, the continental regime was again established (by about 7 million years), but in the following Carboniferous centuries (for almost 20 million years) the territory of the region was again covered by the sea. On the whole, carbon deposits in the Moscow Region are represented very well and often come to the surface ^[12] .

According to the results of a geological survey of the Moscow region , 4 out of 7 tiers of the coal system were identified: Serpukhov , Moscow , Kasimov and Gzhel , officially fixed in the International Stratigraphic Scale as global standards ^[13] . The deposits of the Carboniferous period in the Moscow region are mainly represented by dolomites , limestones and marls . The thickness of carbon deposits reaches 600 m ^[14] . Well known are the limestone yields of the Middle Carboniferous in the valleys of the Pakhra and Moscow rivers, which have been developed since the 14th century — Ballkovsky limestones. In the east of the region, deposits of the Upper Carboniferous (rocks of the Kasimov and Gzhel layers) occur. The yields of coal deposits rich in organic residues occur in the south (especially in the Serpukhov district ) and in the west of the region ^[10] .

In the Permian period , continental conditions were established on the territory of the Moscow Region, which also existed in the Triassic and the first half of the Jurassic periods. The sediments of this time were predominantly lacustrine and alluvial and remained only in low areas in the east of the region. About 162 million years ago (the end of the Middle Jurassic era) as a result of an increase in the level of the World Ocean, the sea again (about 17 million years) flooded the territory of the Moscow Region ^[15] . The existence of the sea in the Moscow region is evidenced by the yields of phosphorites and various sands; characteristic Upper Jurassic deposits (in the form of dark-colored clays and sands with phosphorites) are found both in Moscow and in its immediate vicinity, especially in the valley of the Moscow River. The Cretaceous Sea affected a smaller area compared with the Jurassic Sea. The Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous sediments once formed a continuous cover, however, over time, the continuity was significantly disturbed by erosion ^[16] ; nevertheless, Jurassic clays underlie the Quaternary sediments in most of the region (with the exception of the western part of the region, where Carboniferous limestones lie under the Quaternary sediments, and in the east of the region where Cretaceous sediments predominate) ^[5] .

Cretaceous deposits are most common in the north of the Moscow region. These deposits, represented mainly in the north of the region (especially in the area of ​​the Klinsko-Dmitrov Ridge) and in Meshchera, underwent significant erosion in the Quaternary ^[5] . Cretaceous deposits are mainly represented by sands (white fine-grained quartz and brown quartz-glaucognitous) with outcrops in the valleys of the Sestra and Vori rivers. In places in these sands there are interlayers of bluish clays, called Paramonovskie at the place of detection in the Paramonovskoy ravine near Yakhroma. At the end of the Cretaceous period, the sea finally left the territory of Moscow Region, a continental regime was established ^[17] .

Neogene deposits are relatively rare in the region; they were very blurry during the Quaternary. These deposits are represented mainly by white and light yellow sands with interlayers of gray clays and pebbles. The thickness of Neogene deposits is mainly up to 20 m. The outputs of Neogene sand are found in the valleys of the Oka and Pakhra rivers ^[17] . Quaternary deposits are much more widespread in the Moscow region; their power decreases from northwest to southeast ^[5] . Currently, most researchers have adopted the point of view ^{[18] [19]} , according to which there were four glaciations in the Moscow Region. The first of them, Oka , occurred in the Lower Pleistocene and spread to the latitudinal segment of the Oka Valley; it almost left no traces in the region. In the middle Pleistocene, there were two powerful glaciations - the Dnieper (covered a significant part of the Russian Plain) and the Moscow (stopped a little south of the current border of Moscow, approximately on the Kaluga – Podolsk – Ples line ^{[20] [18]} ). Finally, the Valdai glaciation belongs to the Late Pleistocene, which did not directly affect the territory of the Moscow Region, but left traces in the form of fluvioglacial deposits (mainly in the north of the region) ^[5] . The periods between glaciations correspond to the Likhvin, Odintsovo, Mikulinsky and young Sheksna interglacials. Glaciers left moraine loams with pebbles and boulders of various rocks ( granites , gneisses , quartzites ; dolomites , limestones , sandstones ); Dnieper glaciation has left especially noticeable traces on the territory of the region (the moraine thickness reaches 15 m, heavily sandy loams with sand lenses prevail) ^[21] . In areas of terminal moraine ridges, the thickness of sediments sometimes reaches 100 m; in watersheds, it usually does not exceed several meters ^[22] .

After the retreat of the glaciers, moraine and interglacial sediments washed out, cover loams and terraced sediments formed, overlapping more ancient sediments. In the valleys of large rivers, floodplain terraces formed by alluvial-fluvioglacial deposits formed. The upper (usually the third and fourth) terraces are composed of older sediments related to the Odintsovo interglacial and Moscow glaciation. The deposits of the second terrace are connected with the origin of the final period of the Moscow glaciation and with the Mikulin interglacial. Finally, the lower (first) floodplain terrace is usually formed by alluvial sands of the period of the last, Valdai glaciation ^[23] . Modern ( Holocene ) sediments in the Moscow Region include alluvial ( loam , sandy loam and sand ), deluvial-ravine (loam) and swamp ( peat ) deposits. The thickness of these deposits is mainly up to 5 m ^[23] .

The relief of the Moscow region is predominantly flat; the western part is occupied by hilly elevations (heights of more than 160 m), the eastern part - by vast lowlands ^[24] .

Landforming

The main features of the relief of the region formed in the Paleozoic and Mesozoic era. After the retreat of the sea, which was here in the Cretaceous , there was a rise of the territory; the leveling surface consisting of bottom marine sediments was eroded by flowing waters, hills and ridges stood out. The erosion- tectonic relief prevailing in the territory under consideration was transformed by the Quaternary under the influence of three glaciations. Deposition of moraine loams , sandy water-glacial and lake-glacial sediments occurred; the relief has smoothed out to a considerable extent ^[25] . Active protrusion of the material took place on the protrusions of the bedrock; as a result, the final moraine edge formations formed by coarse sandy material formed. Hilly plains developed, within which hills with convex, as well as with flat and slightly convex peaks, are common. At the same time, uniform accumulation of material occurred over the leveled root relief, and flat and wavy moraine plains formed. Such plains were often overlain by water-glacial deposits (plains of this type are called moraine-ice glaciers). During the melting of glaciers in the depressions of the glacial relief, ice-glacial plains and valley zandras formed by melted glacial waters formed ^[26] .

The border of the Moscow glaciation crosses the region from southwest to northeast; Glacial-erosive forms with moraine ridges are widespread to the north of it, and only erosive relief forms to the south. The process of modern relief formation in our time is associated with erosion, while other exogenous processes (accumulation of sediments, karst , landslide , aeolian processes ) are of secondary importance ^{[27] [28]} .

The main elements of the relief

Almost the entire west and north of the Moscow region is occupied by the hilly moraine Smolensk-Moscow Upland , with the highest average height (about 300 m, in the Dmitrov region) within the Klinsko-Dmitrov Ridge , and the highest point (310 m) near the village of Shapkino, Mozhaisk District (this and the highest point of the area). The hill covers almost 40% of the region’s territory ^[29] . It is composed mainly of sandy clay rocks of the Lower Cretaceous. Smolensk-Moscow Upland is characterized by flat-topped hills and ridges 250-300 m high and well-defined river valleys. The northern slope of the Moscow Upland is steeper than the southern; this part of the hill is called the Klinsko-Dmitrov ridge . The surface of the ridge is strongly dissected - elevation differences in places (as, for example, in the Paramonovsky ravine near Yakhroma ) reach 100 m. The heights of the gentle southern slope of the hill do not exceed 220 m in the west and 120 m in the east. Within the elevation, lakes of glacial origin are frequent ( Nerskoye , Krugloye , Dolgoe ) ^[30] . To the north of the Smolensk-Moscow Upland there is a flat and highly marshy alluvial-sandra Upper Volga Lowland , the height of which is no more than 150 m; includes the Shoshinsky and Dubninsky lowlands (heights of less than 120 m). The plain is composed of thick (up to 100 m) water-glacial and lake-alluvial deposits. The southern slope of the lowland is gentle, the northern one, formed by the ancient Volga valley, is steeper ^{[31] [24] [32]} .

In the south of the region stretches a hilly moraine-erosive Moskvoretsko-Okskaya plain , which has the highest height (254 m) in Moscow in the area of ​​the Teply Stan , with distinct river valleys and flat interfluves (especially in the southern part). The absolute heights here are less than on the Smolensk-Moscow Upland: about 200 m in the west, 110-140 m in the east. Higher heights are found only on Teplostanskaya (254 m) and Pakhrinsko-Lopasnenskaya (236 m) remnant hills ^[33] . At the base of the plain are coal limestones, covered mainly by black Jurassic clays, and near the surface - by Quaternary deposits (loams of the Dnieper and Moscow moraines, cover loams and water-glacial deposits). Within the plain, karst relief forms are found: funnels, dips and caves ^[33] . These landforms are especially common in the Serpukhov district , as well as in the Pakhra valley and its tributary Rozhayka ^[24] . In river valleys, especially in places where Jurassic clays come out, landslide processes are developed ^[33] .

In the extreme south of the region, beyond Oka , there are rather high (over 200 m, maximum height 236 m) northern spurs of the Central Russian Upland with numerous ravines and gullies. These are the Zaokskii erosion plateau and the Zaosetrinskaya erosion plain ^{[24] [34]} . The first is essentially a shallow plain with a well-developed ravine-girder network. Due to the significant ruggedness of the relief, elevation differences reach 50 m. The maximum elevation (236 m) is in the west of the plateau, in the region of Pushchino ^[35] . At the base of the plateau are carboniferous limestones covered with moraine from the Dnieper glaciation. Zaosetrinskaya erosion plain occupies the southernmost region of the region - Serebryano-Prudsky ; its relief is similar to the relief of the Zaoksky plateau, but the ruggedness and absolute heights (110-200 m) are less ^[36] .

Almost the entire eastern half of the Moscow region is occupied by the vast Meshchera lowland , in its eastern part it is significantly boggy. Its borders within the Moscow region are the rivers: Moscow in the west, Klyazma in the north and Oka in the south. The highest hill of the Meshchera lowland (on an ancient moraine hill in the area of Yegoryevsk ^[35] ) has a height of 214 m above sea level; heights of 120-150 m prevail; river valleys are weakly expressed ^[37] . The lowland is composed of Carboniferous limestones , which are overlain by Jurassic clays. There are few moraine formations (mainly they are located near Yegoryevsk and in the western part of the lowland). Almost all the large lakes of the Meshchera lowland ( Black , Svyatoe , etc.) are of glacial origin, but there are also karst lakes that are distinguished by their regular round shape, greater transparency of water and considerable depth. Within the Meshchera, the lowest natural height in the region is located - the water level of the Oka River is about 97 meters ^[37] .

The Moscow region is not rich in minerals ^{[38] [39]} .

Sands located in sediments of various periods (mainly Quaternary and Cretaceous) are of high quality and are widely used in construction; quartz sands are used in the glass industry; they have been mined since the end of the 17th century in the Lyubertsy area; Some of the deposits are currently mothballed for environmental reasons, only two glass sand deposits are being developed - Eganovskoye and Lyubertskoye, with total reserves (in category A + B + C1) of 40.3 million tons ^{[40] [41]} . Six quartz sand deposits are also being exploited, the largest of which is Vostochno-Novocherkasskoye, located in the Voskresensky district (reserves of categories A + B + C1 are estimated at 171.3 million tons) ^[40] . Sand and gravel deposits are frequent within the Smolensk-Moscow Upland, as well as in the Prioksky areas ^[39] . Sandstone deposits are developed in the Klinsky and Dmitrovsky districts ^[40] .

Numerous within the Moscow region and clay deposits. Refractory clays are developed at the Timokhovsky, Prizavodsky deposits in the Noginsky district and the Vlasovo-Gubinsky deposits in the Orekhovo-Zuevsky district; total reserves of raw materials at these deposits are estimated at 11 thousand tons ^{[40] [41]} . Refractory white clays are found in the east of the region (in deposits of the Carboniferous and Jurassic systems) and have been mined since the 16th century in the Gzhel region ^{[42] [43]} . Covering loams used in brick production are very widespread ^[39] .

The Moscow region has long been famous for its limestones ("white stone"), soft in processing. The Myachkovskoye field of rubble limestone is widely known, whose raw materials went to the wall cladding of Moscow buildings such as the Bolshoi Theater and Kremlin Cathedrals ^[44] ; now limestone mining in Myachkovo is stopped; Limestones were also mined at the now mothballed Korobcheevsky deposit in the Kolomensky district ^[40] . Marble-like limestone deposits are known, as, for example, in the Kolomna region ^[39] .

In the limestones of the Moscow Region there are decorative collection minerals and ornamental stones: chalcedony , agate ^[45] and patterned flints ^[46] . Significant finds of multi-color agates with red-brown and grayish-blue stripes and with alternating stripes of different shades of bluish chalcedony and yellowish quartz were noted south of Moscow, at st. Golutvin and in the Stupino region , and flints are ubiquitous ^[47] .

Deposits of other carbonate rocks — dolomites (found in the cement industry; mining is concentrated mainly in the area of ​​the city of Shchelkovo , dolomite reserves in the Shchelkovsky field - 11.4 million tons ^[40] ), limestone tuffs , marls , etc. located mainly in the south and east of the region (production is carried out at the Afanasyevsky, Shchurovsky and Panshinsak deposits) ^{[48] [40] [49]} . Near the city of Khotkovo there is a large deposit of siliceous rocks of organic origin - trepol ; its reserves are estimated at 25.2 thousand m³ ^[40] , however, development is not carried out for environmental reasons ^[50] .

The Moscow region has deposits of phosphorites . The most important deposits in the Moscow Region are the Yegoryevskoye and Severskoye deposits; both fields are not developed ^[49] .

The area of ​​the Meshchera lowland is rich in peat deposits; There are peat deposits also on the Upper Volga Lowland. The largest of the existing deposits are Ryazanovskoye and Radovitsky Moss ^[4] (both are located in the Yegoryevsky District and belong to Shaturtorf OJSC ^{[51] [52]} ). Of the combustible minerals in the region there is also brown coal (in the Zaoksky districts, interlayers belong to the brown coal basin near Moscow ), deposits are not of industrial importance and are not developed ^[40] .

Within the region, insignificant deposits of iron ores (in Serpukhov and Serebryanoprudsky districts) and titanium are known. Potassium salt deposits have been explored (in Serpukhov, Yegoryevsky districts) ^[49] .

Mineral springs are also numerous in the Moscow Region, in particular, iron springs (near Zvenigorod, Serpukhov, Klin); most sources are located in the west of the region ^[49] . Salt water with a salt concentration of up to 300 g / l is used in the local food industry, balneological centers , as well as in a water sports base ^[50] .

The climate of the Moscow Region is temperate continental, with snowy, moderately cold winters and humid, moderately warm summers. The most important climate-forming factor is the western transport of air masses. Seasonality is clearly expressed; summers are warm, winters are moderately cold. However, in the eastern and southeastern regions, the continentality of the climate is higher, which is expressed, in particular, in lower temperatures in winter and higher temperatures in summer. So, the village of Cherusti in the extreme east of the region is unofficially considered to be the “pole of cold” near Moscow, the average January temperature there is −13 ° C ^[53] . A characteristic feature of the climate of the region is also a significant variability of weather conditions from year to year ^[54] .

The average annual temperature in the region ranges from 3.5 to 5.8 ° C. For a year, the region receives about 90 kcal / cm² of solar radiation ^[55] . The period with an average daily temperature below 0 ° C lasts 120–135 days, starting in mid-November and ending in mid-late March. The coldest month is January (average temperature in the west of the region −9 ° C, in the east −12 ° C). With the arrival of Arctic air, severe frosts occur (below −25 ° C), which last up to 30 days during the winter (but usually frosty periods are much less long); in some years, frosts reached −45 ° C (the lowest absolute minimum of temperatures was noted in Naro-Fominsk –54 ° C ^[56] ). The warmest month is July (average temperature +17.5 ° C in the northwest and +18.5 ° C in the southeast) ^{[55] [57]} . The lowest temperature in the history of meteorological observations was recorded in Naro-Fominsk , in the south-west of the region 53 km from Moscow - −54 ° C ^[56] , and the highest temperature +39.7 ° C was recorded in the summer of 2010 in the south-east direction from Moscow , in Kolomna ^[58] .

The Moscow region is characterized by instability of atmospheric circulation, expressed in the inconstancy of the weather, sometimes its abrupt change. In winter, especially in December and February, thaws are frequent (up to 50 from November to March ^[54] ) caused by Atlantic and (less commonly) Mediterranean cyclones ; they are usually short-lived, their average duration is 4 days, the total number from November to March is up to fifty ^[57] . In the summer, invasions of Arctic air contribute to the establishment of clear, cloudless, usually warm weather. In cases of a long delay of the anticyclone, the surface becomes very warm and the air temperature rises, which causes severe drought and forest and peat fires (as, for example, in 2010 ^[59] ) ^[60] . (see also Abnormal heat in Russia (2010) ). In summer, the penetration of moist air masses from the south and west is also not uncommon. In general, the nature of summer from year to year can change significantly: with increased cyclonic activity, summers are cool and humid, with stable anticyclones, dry and hot ^[61] .

The average annual rainfall is 500–700 mm; the northwestern regions are most moistened, the least - southeastern ^[62] ; the distribution of precipitation is also associated with the topography: in higher elevations, more precipitation occurs. The maximum precipitation falls in July, and the minimum - from February to April; an average of 171 days per year with precipitation ^[55] . In each of the summer months, an average of 75 mm of precipitation falls, however, severe droughts occur in the Moscow Region once every 25-30 years, when there may be practically no rainfall in the summer. The precipitation during all seasons of the year is mainly associated with cyclones that form over the Atlantic , the Mediterranean , the Arctic, or, in the interaction of moist air masses coming from the west and continental air, directly over the Russian Plain. In summer, in addition to cyclonic precipitation, convective precipitation can also take place ^[63] . Snow cover usually appears in November (although there were years when it appeared at the end of September and in December), it disappears in mid-April (sometimes earlier, at the end of March) ^{[63] [62]} . Permanent snow cover is usually established at the end of November; snow depth - 25-50 cm; the highest snow cover is in the east of the region, in the region of Orekhovo-Zuev and Shatura , the lowest is in the west (near Volokolamsk ) and in the south (south of the Oka ) ^[64] . The soils freeze from 65 cm in the west to 75 cm in the east (in frosty winters with little snow up to 150 cm) ^{[63] [55]} . The snow cover finally disappears in mid-April, and by the end of April the soil is completely thawing ^[54] .

Moscow region has a developed hydrological network. The surface runoff of the region is 260 m ³ / s (8.2 km ³ / year), water supply is uneven - the northern, western and southern marginal areas of the region are better provided with water resources than the central and southern ones. The chemical composition of inland waters is predominantly hydrocarbonate - calcium , mineralization of 0.4-0.5 g / l . Water hardness averages 1.5–7 mEq / L (low water hardness - less than 1.5 mEq / L - in lakes, the highest - 9 mEq / L or more - in the rivers of the southern, Zaoksky districts of the region ) ^[65] .

Rivers

All rivers of the Moscow region belong to the Volga basin (the Volga itself flows through the territory of the region on a small section 9 km long ^[66] , along which the border with the Tver region passes).

The northern part of the region, including the entire Upper Volga Lowland, is irrigated by tributaries of the Volga ( Shosha , Lama , Dubna , Sestra , Yakhroma ), while the southern part is irrigated by the tributaries of the Oka ( Lopasnya , Nara , Protva , etc.), which is the largest river in the Moscow Region after the Volga. The Oka basin also includes tributaries of the Moscow river , flowing for the most part (473 km) through the territory of the region ^[66] . The eastern and northeastern regions of the region, including a significant part of the Meshchera , are irrigated by tributaries of the Klyazma , which is one of the main tributaries of the Oka River, originating within the Moscow Region ^[67] and flowing through the territory of the subject for a considerable part (239 km) of its length ^{[66 ]} .

In the Moscow region, there are up to 2000 rivers and streams ^[68] . In total, 350 small rivers with a length of more than 10-250 km, three medium (200-500 km) and 2 large (over 500 km long) flows through the region. The total length of the rivers of the region is 18 763 km ^[66] .

The largest rivers of the Moscow region: ^[69]

The riverbank slopes of the Moscow Region are small (a few centimeters per kilometer in length; on higher elevations the slopes can reach 1-1.5%). The valleys are often wide, with asymmetric shores (as a rule, the right bank is steep, and the left one is flat, terraced). The trough-shaped form of river valleys predominates; in such valleys, floodplains and 2-3 floodplain terraces are usually distinguished. The valleys of small rivers are often V-shaped ^[70] . The river flow rates are small (for the middle rivers - the Oka, Moscow - the flow velocity in the summer low-water season is 0.5–0.6 m / s, in the spring flood 1.5–2.0 m / s ^[70] ).

River nutrition is mainly snow (about 60% of total runoff ^[71] ), with the largest runoff in spring. As a result, the rivers of the region are characterized by spring floods; 70–80% of the annual river flow falls in the spring. During the spring flood on the Oka River, the course of which in the Moscow Region is not regulated by dams, the rise in water in some years reaches 15 m; on Pakhr - 6 m ^[71] . The duration of the spring flood is 33-60 days. Rainwater accounts for 12–20% of the total runoff. During heavy rains in summer and autumn, rain floods of up to two to three weeks are sometimes observed ^[65] . In the summer and especially in the winter low-water rivers almost completely switch to underground nutrition ^[61] ; only 5–10% of annual runoff occurs in the winter period ^[71] . The total local average annual runoff is 8.8 km³ and accounts for the most part in the basin of the Moscow River (3.5 km³) and the Oka tributaries (3 km³). Values ​​of the average annual runoff modulus range from 3.3-7.6 l / (s · km²). The average flow modulus in the region is 6 l / (s · km²) ^[68] . The rivers of the region are covered with ice from the end of November (in the north-east of the region) or the beginning of December (in the south-west) until mid-April. Freeze-up occurs from the end of October to the end of December, although in some years ice on the rivers of the region appears only in January-February; ice formation lasts on average 103–144 days ^[68] . The average ice thickness is 30-50 cm. Rivers open in March-April, the ice drift lasts 2-10 days ^[65] .

Of the rivers, only the Volga , Oka and Moscow are navigable ^{[61] [49]} .

The Moscow Canal , built in 1937 and passing through a system of 6 reservoirs, crosses the northern part of the Moscow Region ^[72] .

Lakes, swamps and reservoirs

In the Moscow Region, there are over two thousand lakes with a total area of ​​about 130 km² ^[73] ; 18 lakes have an area of ​​over 1 km². Taking into account floodplain water bodies, most of the lakes (about 2/3) are located within the Meshchera lowland , and relatively many of them (about 1/6 of the total area) are located on the Smolensk-Moscow Upland . There are fewer lakes on the Moskvoretsko-Oka plain ( old lakes predominate here), and less than 2% of lakes account for the Zaoksky districts of the region ^[73] . The three largest lakes of the Moscow region are located in Meshchera (in the Shatursky district ) - this is the Holy (Shatursky) lake (11.8 km²), Oak lake (9.8 km²) and the Holy (Klepikovskoe) lake (9.6 km²). Senezhsky Lake (actually the reservoir ^{[74] [K 3]} ) on the Smolensk-Moscow Upland (8.5 km²) is also distinguished by area, the area of ​​the remaining lakes does not exceed 5.5 km² ^[75] . Almost all the lakes are shallow (mainly up to 5-10 m), the deepest are Beloye (Glukhoye) (34 meters), located in the Shatursky district, and Glubokoe (32 meters) in the Ruza district ^[76] . The lakes of the region usually freeze in mid-November, open in early April - mid-May; freezing lasts 148-166 days ^[77] . Lakes near Moscow are rich in fish: in the lakes of the region there are about 30 species of fish ^[78] .

By genesis, most lakes in the region are water-glacial lakes of the sandy plains that formed after the Moscow glaciation . The characteristic features of such lakes are shallow depth, strong overgrowing and peat ; often these lakes turn into swamps. Water-glacial often form groups comprising from 3-5 to 10-15 reservoirs (the largest of these groups is Klepikovskaya in the Shatursky region near the eastern border of the region). Some lakes, mainly on the Upper Volga Lowland, are confined to the spread of the Valdai glacier . These lakes, often having considerable depth (for example, Glubokoe near Zvenigorod ), are classified as moraine-glacial type ^{[79] [K 4]} . There are a lot of floodplain lakes spread in the valleys of large rivers (Moscow, Klyazma, Oka) and in the lower reaches of their tributaries; these are the youngest lakes in the region, the process of their formation continues to this day. Such lakes are mainly arcuate and horseshoe-shaped ^[80] . Karst lakes in the Moscow region are rare, mainly they are in the south and east of the region. Such lakes have a regular round shape, high transparency of water and considerable depth ^[35] . The karst origin has the deepest lake in the region - White (Deaf) ^[81] . Some lakes are riverbed extensions; such, for example, Mikhalevskoe Lake on the Moscow River, Chudtsevo Lake on the Boldenka River, Lake Terenkovo ​​on the Nerskaya River. Finally, individual lakes arose on the site of sandy or peat mines quarried a hundred or more years ago (for example, Pavlenskoe lake in the Oka floodplain near Serpukhov , as well as a number of lakes of the Balashikha lake group) ^[82] .

Marshes (both lowland and highlands ) are frequent in the region, especially within the Meshchera and Upper Volga lowlands ^[83] . Many marshes are rich in peat , peat resources of more than 200 marshes are of industrial importance; 11% of the swamp area is protected ^[84] .

The total area of the region’s reservoirs (excluding the Ivankovo ​​reservoir ) is 350 km², and their water reserves exceed 2 billion m³ ^[85] . The largest is the Ivankovo ​​reservoir (327 km²), however, only a small part of it is located within the Moscow region ^[85] . A large area (105 km²) is occupied by the Vazuz reservoir , and the third largest reservoir, Istra , has a significantly smaller area (33.6 km²). The first reservoirs in the Moscow region were built in the 1920s at small hydropower plants on the rivers Lama , Ruza and Sturgeon ; Nowadays, many of these hydropower plants are not in operation, and some of the first reservoirs have become recreational zones - like the Livadia reservoir on the Osetur River. A large group of reservoirs - Ikshinskoye , Klyazminskoye , Pyalovskoye , Uchinskoye , Pestovskoye and Khimkinskoye - was formed in 1937 during the construction of the Moscow Canal. In the postwar years, the Moskvoretsko-Oka reservoir system was created (the largest - Ozerninskoye , Mozhayskoye , Istrinskoye and Ruzskoye ), providing Moscow and the Moscow Region with drinking water ^{[86] [87]} .

There are also a lot of ponds in the Moscow Region, the largest of which (the Shalakhovskoe reservoir on the Tsne River, Nar Ponds , etc.) were built for fishery purposes. Many ponds are located in the southern, Oka part of the region, where they were built for the accumulation of spring water and the construction of water mills ^{[85] [67]} .

Groundwater

The territory of the Moscow region is located in the central part of the Moscow artesian basin ^[68] . At a considerable depth, sodium chloride brines are enclosed. Sulphate waters prevail in the Upper Devonian sediments (depths of 300-600 m), and fresh hydrocarbonate-sulphate-calcium-magnesium waters are prevalent in the deposits of the Carboniferous period (up to depths of 220-260 m). The waters of the Mesozoic sediments are fresh calcium bicarbonate or (less commonly) magnesium bicarbonate. These waters are mainly fractured, produced, and low pressure; They are confined mainly to areas isolated from each other. Finally, the waters of the Quaternary sediments are widespread in friable sand, sand-gravel, and gravel-pebble deposits. Groundwater supply occurs both due to the infiltration of sediments and surface water, and due to the penetration of water from the underlying horizons ^[68] .

The location of most of the Moscow region in the forest zone determined the prevalence of podzolic soils. Podzolic soils formed within the region mainly under pine, spruce and broad-leaved coniferous forests. These soils are infertile and have experienced prolonged economic impact. Typically podzolic soils are relatively rare within the region; they are confined mainly to areas of distribution of water-ice sands ^[68] . Sod-podzolic soils occupy much larger areas. Loamy and clayey loamy soils are present on the hills. Soddy-podzolic soils are of medium and strong degree of podzolization. For the lowlands, sod-podzolic sandy loam and sandy soils are typical (the last two types prevail in the eastern part of the region, in the low Meshchera ). Sod-podzolic marsh soils, which were formed in areas of low occurrence of groundwater and stagnation of surface water, are also widely distributed. Such soils are especially characteristic of the landscapes of the Upper Volga and Meshchera lowlands. There are several types of such soils in the Moscow Region: podzolic- gley and podzolic-gley soils; peaty, peaty, humus-podzolic-gley soils; sod-podzolic gleyous. These soils are also distinguished by the nature of their moisture, highlighting contact, soil and surface glue and glue soils. Due to the prolonged anthropogenic impact, the types of sod-podzolic soils often differ slightly from each other. In subdominant tracts of the forest zone, there are soddy, soddy gley and soddy gley, as well as soddy carbonate soils with a shallow occurrence of carbonant rocks ^[88] .

Gray forest soils formed under broad-leaved forests and are distributed south of the Oka River and in the eastern part of the Moskvoretsko-Oka Plain (mainly the Ramensky and Voskresensky districts). There are light gray, gray and dark gray forest soils; in moist areas gray forest gley soils are found, occasionally even gray forest gley soils. Black earth soils (heavily podzolized and leached) are scarce and occur only south of the Oka . Along the valleys of large rivers there are strips of alluvial soils of various widths, especially wide in the valleys of the Oka, Moscow, and Klyazma rivers ^{[89] [90]} . The most common types of such soils are alluvial soddy and alluvial gley and gley soils. In conditions of increased moisture, bog soils formed. With strong mineralization, marsh lowland soils formed; with weak mineralization, marsh high soils arose ^[91] . The soil cover of the Moscow Region, in particular the gray forest soils of the Zaoksky districts and the sod-podzolic soils of the Moskvoretsko-Oka Plain, are greatly washed away ^[90] .

The Moscow region is located within the forest strip (the extreme south of the taiga zone, the zone of coniferous-deciduous and broad-leaved forests) and the forest-steppe zones. Forests occupy over 40% of the region; In some areas (mainly in the west, north of the region and in the extreme east), the forest cover exceeds 80%, in the Moskvoretsk-Oka plain it generally does not exceed 40%, and in the southern Zaoksky regions it does not even reach 20% ^[92] . Most of the region is in the mixed forest zone. The broad-leaved forest zone includes territories located south of the Oka River, with the exception of the southern part of Serebryano-Prudsky District (south of the Osetur River ^[19] ), which belongs to the forest-steppe zone. On the low right bank of the Moscow River, the zone of broad-leaved forests extends far north, almost to the borders of the city of Moscow ^{[93] [92]} . In the part of the Moskvoretsko-Oka Plain adjacent to the Moscow River, in the Zaoksky districts, and also north of the Klinsko-Dmitrov Ridge, large areas are allotted for agricultural land ^[92] .

In the very north of the Moscow Region (on the territory of the Upper Volga Lowland) and partially in its western part (on the territory of the Mozhaisk , Lotoshinsky and Shakhovsky regions), the most common are subnemoral or south taiga coniferous forests , mainly spruce forests , often with common hazel (hazelnut) ), with a warty euonymus in the undergrowth and a small admixture of broad-leaved and small-leaved species in the forest stand. Among the indigenous southern taiga forests, clean spruce and pine forests are often found; there is only one tree sub-layer in such forests, the undergrowth is sparse, herbaceous plants prevail in the terrestrial layer, and there are few shrubs ^[94] . The central and western parts of the region are occupied by coniferous-deciduous forests. These forests generally have a more complex structure than the south taiga, usually multi-tiered. Here the main tree species are common spruce, common pine , English oak , small-leaved linden , maple , elm smooth and elm rough . As an admixture in the native forests there are: warty and fluffy birch , aspen , gray alder , in more damp places - black alder , bird cherry and goat willow . Among the undergrowth dominated by hazel , European euonymus and warty , guelder-rose , honeysuckle , mountain ash , buckthorn , wolf bite are found singly, and blackcurrant in black alder forests. This zone is characterized by grasses of both coniferous (minnik, sorrel, pear) and broad-leaved forests ( chafing , hoof , greenback , black eye , hairy sedge ). In broad-leaved pine forests, in addition to the nemoral and boreal flora, steppe species are common. Indigenous coniferous-deciduous forests in the Moscow region do not form a continuous belt, most fully preserved on the Smolensk-Moscow Upland , especially on the slopes of the Klinsko-Dmitrov Ridge . The forests of Meshchera consist predominantly of pine-spruce and pine massifs; in the swampy lowlands there are separate forests of black alder . The indigenous forests of the Meshchera are pine forests, green grass with a ground cover of blueberries and lingonberries ; in waterlogged areas - long-bosom burs and sphagnumists. For Meshchera, burs with a complex pedigree composition with a significant admixture of small-leaved and, less commonly, broad-leaved species are common; such forests, as a rule, have a rich undergrowth and dense grass cover. In addition, within the Meshchera on waterlogged areas there are arrays of small-leaved indigenous forests ( gray and black alder , birch, willow ). Secondary small-leaved forests are common for the Moskvoretsko-Okskaya Upland , coniferous-broad-leaved, broad-leaved forests are indigenous, there are also large massifs of spruce forests, as, for example, in the upper reaches of the Lopasni River; in some places (for example, in the interfluve of Pakhra and Severka ), indigenous broad-leaved forests ( oak , linden , maple ) have been preserved. In the Oka Valley between Serpukhov and Kolomna, on an elevated left bank, there are steppe burs ^{[95] [92]} .

To the south is a zone of broad-leaved forests, represented mainly by oak forests, scattered in small spots south of the Oka. There are also lime forests. The main tree species of the zone, in addition to oak and linden, are maple , Tatar and field maples , ash and two types of elm . Broad-leaved forests are characterized by a well-developed undergrowth, in which hazel , European and warty spiders , honeysuckle , brittle buckthorn , viburnum and other shrubs participate. In deciduous forests, there are wild apple , pear ordinary , buckthorn laxative and blackthorn . The grass cover is diverse - there are dwarf , sedge , ferns , oak anemone , goose onion , medunica , hoofed grass , spring nomad , odoriferous woodgrass , forest sedge , giant fescue , branchy bluegrass . Black alder forests, as well as oak forests with an admixture of elm, are found in the floodplains of the rivers; floodplain meadows in the Oka Valley south of Kolomna . The extreme south of the region ( Serebryanoprudsky district and partially Serpukhov district ) are located in the forest-steppe zone; all sections of the steppe on the watersheds are plowed up, they are almost not preserved. Small areas of steppe meadows and meadow steppes are protected here in several reserves on the slopes of the river Polosni, Sturgeon, etc. Lime and oak groves are occasionally found within the forest-steppe zone ^{[95] [92]} .

Since the 18th century, the forests of the present Moscow Region have been intensively felled, which led to a change in the ratio of tree species: coniferous (mainly spruce), mixed and broad-leaved forests in many places gave way to small-leaved ( birch and aspen ) and small-leaved coniferous forests. Small-leaved forests are widespread throughout the region, but they do not form large tracts. Many of the lands previously occupied by forests were allotted for agricultural land. In our time, deforestation is still underway, although many forests have water conservation significance; Reforestation is underway at logging sites, especially in the immediate vicinity of Moscow ^[96] .

Marshes are most common in the Moscow region on the territory of the Upper Volga Lowland and in Meshchera in the Shatursky and Lukhovitsky (in the east) districts ^[92] . The flora of the region is also characterized by dry, lowland and floodplain meadows ^[94] . There are almost no natural floodplain meadows. The number of native plant species in the Moscow Region is declining, but representatives of a different flora (for example, American maple ) are spreading more and more; species that came from culture settled on large territories — Sosnovsky’s hogweed , common catchment , touchy glandular, giant goldenrod, etc. ^[95] Some species of plants are listed in the Red Book of Russia ( water chestnut , slipper , etc.) ^[97] .

Since the collapse of the USSR, large tracts of forest near Moscow have undergone deforestation for the purpose of subsequent development. Forests along the banks of the Moskva River and the reservoirs near Moscow, as well as territories near the Moscow Ring Road, underwent particularly intensive development. The ban on the development of forests was ignored or cost to transfer to the lands of another category ^[98] . Especially massive forest development took place in Odintsovo, Leninsky, Krasnogorsk, Mytishchi districts of the Moscow region ^[99] .

Forests near Moscow are also threatened by the construction of new roads. The growing number of cars and the development of areas adjacent to Moscow provoke the expansion of the network of highways, which are planned in such a way as to avoid passing through settlements. As a rule, forests are cut down under new roads, the most famous cases of such cuttings, such as, for example, in the Khimki and Tsagovsky forests , caused widespread public outcry and mass protests ^[100] .

The fauna of the Moscow Region was formed as a result of mixing several streams of animals that were different in origin and time ^[101] . In the Moscow region there are about 60 species of mammals , 18 species of reptiles and amphibians , up to 40 species of fish. On the territory of the region, there are separate zoocenoses corresponding to various forest (taiga, mixed, broad-leaved) and forest-steppe natural-territorial complexes ^[101] .

Of the mammals in the Moscow Region, a badger , a squirrel , a beaver , an otter , a muskrat , an ermine , a raccoon dog , a hedgehog , a hare (a white shrew and a rook ), a shrew (an ordinary shrew , a small shrew , a middle shrew , a Chersky shrew , a small shrew , a water shrub ) have been preserved . , weasel , fox , moose , wild boar , roe deer , mole , gray and black rats, pine marten , mice ( forest , yellow-throated , field , house , small mouse ), forest mouse , mink , deer ( red , spotted , red deer ), muskrat , voles ( red , gray , arable , housekeeper , water levka ), dormouse ( hazel , in the south of the region - garden , forest and regiment ), black ferret . On the borders of the region, mainly in the north of the region, a brown bear , a lynx , a wolf , which were common in the suburbs in the 19th century , are occasionally found. In the south of the region, speckled ground squirrel , gray hamster , hamster , big jerboa , stone marten , and steppe ferret are found . Also in the Moscow Region there are more than a dozen species of bats : night bats ( common , mustachioed , pond , water , Nutterra ), bat ( forest bat and dwarf bat ), evening gowns ( red , small , giant ), two-tone leather , brown ear-flaps . In some areas there are stable populations of imported or escaped animals - flying squirrel , American mink , Siberian roe deer , muskrat , sika deer, raccoon dog ^[102] . Some species that had almost disappeared before — beaver, red deer, European roe deer — were successfully re-acclimatized and settled in many landscapes of the region. Bison are bred in the Prioksko-Terrasny Reserve ^[101] .

The avifauna region has more than 170 species ^[103] . Woodpeckers , blackbirds , hazel grouse , bullfinchs , nightingales , coriostels , lapwings , white storks , gray herons , gulls , grebes , ducks (especially mallards ) are found in large numbers; fires are also found. Sparrows , magpies , crows and other typical representatives of the avifauna of central Russia are numerous. Over forty species belong to hunting and fishing and are harvested annually ^[102] .

The reservoirs of the region are rich in fish (common ruff , crucian carp , carp , bream , perch , roach , rotan , zander , pike , burbot ). Insects are numerous (there are more than 300 bee species) ^{[104] [102]} .

In the Moscow region there are 6 species of reptiles - lizards ( brittle spindle , live-bearing lizard , nimble lizard ) and snakes ( ordinary viper , common , in the south of the region - coppers ), there is evidence of the existence of small populations of marsh turtles in separate areas. Amphibians are represented by 11 species - newts ( common and crested ), toads ( gray and green ), frogs ( grass , sharp-faced , lake , pond , edible ), common garlic , red-bellied toad ^{[102] [105]} .

Specially protected natural territories (SPNA) occupy about 5.3% of the Moscow region ^[106] . The region has three protected areas of federal significance. In the Serpukhov district there is the Prioksko-Terrasny Biosphere Reserve . The area of ​​this reserve, organized in 1948 , is 4.9 thousand ha ^[66] . The flora of the reserve is very diverse: it includes taiga, oak, boron and steppe elements. The southern border of the distribution of spruce runs through the reserve. Within the high floodplain of the Oka River , the most northern population of steppe plants (“Oka flora”) is protected in the European part of Russia ^[107] . The fauna of the reserve is typical of the East European Plain. The reserve is home to over 200 species of vertebrate animals. Since 1948 there has been a bison nursery; bison are kept in a forest area of ​​about 200 ha ^[108] . In the Moscow region is part of the territory of the Losiny Ostrov National Park ; the area of ​​its territory within the region is 9.5 thousand ha, another part of the park is located within Moscow ^[66] . Most of the park’s territory belongs to a vast forest with a large complex of wetlands in the former peat bogs in the upper Yauza River ^[109] . Another national park located within the region is Zavidovo (partially located also within the Tver region ) ^[110] . The reserve was established in the 1970s on the site of the Zavidovsky hunting estate that existed since 1929; in 1992, the Zavidovo state complex was formed, including a national park and a suburban residence of the President of the Russian Federation . Since Zavidovo has long been a hunting farm, where they monitored an increase in the number of game, there is a significant population of ungulates in the territory of the national park; Wild boars , moose , sika deer , and red deer are common in the park. Many species of birds nest in the swampy floodplains of Shoshi and Lama . In the forest part of the reserve, places of capercaillie currents are protected ^[111] .

In the Moscow region there are also more than two hundred protected areas of regional importance (in 2011 - 239 objects, of which 158 are state nature reserves and 81 natural monuments) ^[66] . These protected areas have mainly a small area (up to 1000 ha) and are located in all areas of the region, with the exception of Kashirsky and Lyubertsy ; the largest number of protected areas is located in the Shatursky and Mozhaisky districts ^[106] . A number of specially protected natural territories of local importance are also registered, most of these protected areas are located in the Odintsovo and Noginsk regions.

Since 1998, once every 10 years, the Red Book of the Moscow Region has been published. The 2008 edition described 718 species of living organisms ^[112] .

Despite the concerns declared by the regional authorities, the protected areas of the Moscow Region are in a difficult situation. In many of them clear cutting is carried out ^[113] . In the protected areas of the Losiny Ostrov National Park and the Prioksko-Terrasny State Natural Biosphere Reserve, development was underway, and an entire residential quarter was built near the Losiny Ostrov. The nature reserve “Lake Trostnenskoye and its hollow” suffered from construction on a directly protected area ^[114] .

The territory of the Moscow Region belongs to six physical and geographical provinces ^{[115] [116]} : Verkhne-Volzhskaya, Smolensk-Moscow, Moskvoretsko-Okskaya, Meshchersky, Zaoksky and Srednerusskaya. Sometimes, instead of the Smolensk-Moscow Upland, Smolensk and Moscow Provinces are considered separately ^[117] .

The Upper Volga province occupies the north and north-west of the region, is located in the subzone of mixed forests, on the Upper Volga lowland , intersected by the right tributaries of the Volga ( Dubna , Shosha , Hotcha and others). This territory was covered with glaciers of three glaciers (Oka, Dnieper and Moscow), and during later glaciation, Valdai, it was affected by melt glacial and postglacial waters. A thick (up to 100 m) stratum of water-ice sediments formed. As a result, the relief of the province is smooth, slightly wavy, with a predominance of ancient alluvial and zandra plains and an absolute height of up to 160 m. The sandra and ancient alluvial plains are composed mainly of sand and sandy loam, and the more rare moraine-glacial plains are covered with loamy loam or water-glacial moraine. On the southeastern edge of the province, at the slope of the Klinsko-Dmitrov Ridge , an ancient flow valley is traced. The western part of the province is distinguished by greater absolute heights (140-160 m), moraine-glacial plains are more common here; since the roof of the bedrock in this part of the province is composed of Carboniferous limestones , the landscapes here have a drier appearance compared to the east. Soils are sod-podzolic, and on more moistened areas, sod-podzolic gley and gley; forests - small-leaved, small-leaved-spruce and small-leaved-pine. In the east, Jurassic clays occur under Quaternary sediments, which created conditions for excessive moisture; as a result, this part of the province is very boggy, sod-podzolic gley and glue soils prevail, forests are mainly birch and pine-birch ^{[115] [118]} .

To the south, on the Smolensk-Moscow Upland, is the Smolensk-Moscow Province. This is the largest physical and geographical province of the region, occupying up to 40% of the region. It is irrigated by the rivers of the upper Volga basin (the largest - Lama , Sister ), as well as the Moscow River , Nara , Protva with its tributaries. Within the province in the second half of the 20th century, reservoirs were created ( Ruzskoye , Ozerninskoye , Mozhayskoye , Istrinskoye , etc.). Quaternary sediments of various thicknesses (mainly Dnieper and Moscow glaciations) cover Jurassic (in the middle part of the province) and Cretaceous (in the east) deposits in this Smolensk-Moscow province; Carboniferous rocks lie below. The relief is generally elevated, flat-topped hills and ridges 250–300 m high are widespread. The hollows between the hills are often swampy, and some of them contain lakes ( Senezhskoye , Trostenskoye , Dolgoye , Krugloye , etc.). A significant area is occupied by well-drained moraine plains of various types (flat, wavy, hilly-ridged). In the northwest there is a strongly dissected Klinsko-Dmitrov ridge with sharply asymmetric slopes: steep, sharply rising north and more gentle south, above the Upper Volga Lowland. In the southern part of the province, the Smolensk-Moscow Upland is gradually losing altitude, gently descending to the Moskvoretsko-Oka Plain . Soils are predominantly sod-podzolic, sod-podzolic gley and sod-podzolic gley. Forests of the Smolensk-Moscow province are mainly broad-leaved-spruce, small-leaved-spruce and small-leaved. The province has been partially plowed ^{[119] [30]} .

To the south of the Smolensk-Moscow Upland, the Moskvoretsko-Oka physical-geographical province extends, mainly corresponding to the Moskvoretsko-Oka erosion plain . In the east, the province is bounded by the Moscow River, in the south - the Oka. With these rivers, as well as their tributaries, it is drained. The pre-Quaternary foundation of the province is represented by limestones of the Carboniferous period, which in places are overlain by black Jurassic clays and (less commonly) chalky sands. The erosion-remnant Mesozoic relief is relatively well preserved here; flattened, inclined, and stratified sections (absolute heights of 150-180 m) alternate in this province with erosive remnant elevations (heights mainly up to 200 m) and deeply incised (up to 100 m) paleo-valleys. The highest outlying elevations are Lopasnenskaya (236 m) and Teplostanskaya (254 m). Quaternary sediments are represented by loams of the Dnieper and Moscow glaciers, water-glacial sediments and cover loams. The thickness of the Quaternary sediments is almost everywhere small and amounts to 10-30 m. The province is characterized by a well-developed ravine-gully network, rivers (especially in the south) are cut into Jurassic clays and Carboniferous limestones, and in many valleys the thickness of the Quaternary sediments does not exceed 3-4 m. In areas where carbonate rocks of the Carboniferous period come close to the surface, karst relief forms are developed. Landslides are often in places where Jurassic clays come out . Due to the strong fragmentation of the territory and the wide distribution of carbonate rocks, the province is well drained, and there are almost no swamps. Sod-podzolic soils prevail, sometimes (mainly in the southern part) alternating with light gray forest soils; small-leaved forests are common. The territory is heavily plowed up ^{[120] [121]} .

The east of the region is occupied by the Meshchera province, corresponding to the Meshchera lowland . The fundamental foundation here is lowered and covered mainly by Jurassic clays, in the ancient valleys - by Carboniferous limestones, on the hills - by chalky sand with interbeds of siltstones . For a long time the territory was influenced by melt glacial waters, which formed moraine-ice-glacier and sandra plains. In the west of the province, where there are more protrusions of the fundamental foundation (Egorievskoe, Pavlovo-Posadskogo-Noginskoe, Kudinovskoe, Gubino-Vlasovskoe, Krivandinskoye uplifts), moraine-glacial landscapes prevail on the sandra (confined to the ancient river valleys and erosion valley carbines). In the eastern part of the province, the landscapes of the sandra and valley-sandra plains dominate. The modern relief of the province is lowered, heights of 110-150 m prevail, only on the ancient moraine elevation in the Yegoryevsk region the height reaches 200 m. In areas of shallow occurrence of limestone, karst relief forms (funnels, dips, karst lakes) are often found. The Quaternary sediments lie mainly over the water-resistant Jurassic clays, which led to a severe swamping of the Meshchera. The prevailing types of soils are podzolic gley and gley; in the western part of the province, which is better drained, sod-podzolic soils are also widespread; large areas are occupied by swampy lowland and upper soils, which are especially characteristic of the very boggy east of the Meshchera. Forests in the west are small-leaved and pine-birch-oak, in the east - mainly pine-birch and pine. Up to a third of the territory of the Meshchera lowland is occupied by swamps ^{[122] [36]} .

To the south of the Oka River, on the northern slopes of the Central Russian Upland, is the Zaok Province. It enters the subzone of deciduous forests and is irrigated by tributaries of the Oka ( Sturgeon , Bolshaya Smedova , Sknigoy , etc.). The root foundation is elevated and covered mainly by Carboniferous limestones that come to the surface in the valleys of large rivers, as well as Jurassic clays, Neogene and Cretaceous sands. The Dnieper glaciation had a significant impact on the formation of the relief of the province, as a result of which moraine, moraine-ice and glacial plains formed. The modern relief of the province is a gentle undulating plain (Zaoksky erosion plateau) with a well-developed ravine-gully network. The highest plateau reaches in the west, near the city of Pushchino (236 m), to the east, the absolute heights decrease to 120 m. Erosion - denudation landscapes are widespread. The landscape structure was strongly influenced by the anthropogenic factor. The province is well-drained. Soils - cover loess-like loams (mainly in the west, above the Dnieper moraine and water-ice glaciers and loams), light gray and gray forest, sod-podzolic. Due to the high soil fertility, the territory is heavily plowed, forests are mainly confined to the erosion network; deciduous broad-leaved forests are almost gone. There are broad-leaved, small-leaved and small-leaved groves ^{[123] [34]} .

The southernmost physical-geographical province, Central Russian, enters the Moscow region only a small part of it, occupying the territory south of the Osetur River. The province mainly corresponds to the Zaosetrinsky erosion plain. The bedrock, as in the Zaok province, form a ledge here; the basement roof includes carbon, Jurassic, Cretaceous, Neogene deposits. Under the influence of the Oka and Dnieper glaciations, moraine and moraine-ice-glacial plains formed. As a result of erosion-denudation processes, a developed ravine-girder network was formed; its density, however, is less than in the Zaok province. The soils are gray forest, formed under broad-leaved (mainly oak ) forests, and chernozem (leached and podzolized) under grassy-mixed steppes . The province's soils are highly fertile, so its surface is highly plowed and almost deforested. The rare islands of oak forests are the remains of an ancient serif line , part of the Tula serifs ^{[124] [34]} .

The environmental situation in the Moscow region is difficult; both the regions adjacent to Moscow and the industrial regions of the east and southeast of the region are contaminated ^[125] . The greatest environmental hazard is represented by wastewater from industrial and livestock enterprises; emissions of energy enterprises ( Kashirskaya and Shaturskaya state district power plants , etc.); disposal sites for household and industrial waste (in the areas closest to the capital) - for example, the largest Timokhov dump in Europe; aging military and especially airfield fuel storage facilities and fuel lines; nuclear waste storage facility (in Sergiev Posad district ). A significant impact on the environmental situation in the region is exerted by Moscow industry, transport and utilities. Moscow, receiving water from the north and west, discharges waste water to the south and southeast, downstream of the Moscow River ^{[126] [127]} .

Observations in 2007 showed that the highest pollution levels are observed in Voskresensk , Klin , increased in Dzerzhinsky, Kolomna, Mytishchi, Podolsk , Serpukhov , Shchelkov and Elektrostal, low in Prioksko-Terrasny Biosphere Reserve ^[128] . Specific impurities that make a significant contribution to the general background of atmospheric pollution are: formaldehyde and phenol for Moscow, ammonia and hydrogen fluoride for Voskresensk, formaldehyde for Klin, Kolomna, Mytishchi and Podolsk, and phenol for Serpukhov ^[129] . From the beginning of the 2000s, the region has been second in the Central Federal District (after the Lipetsk Region ) in terms of emissions of pollutants into the air emanating from solid sources (2010–205 thousand tons) ^[130] . Due to the economic recovery of the 2000s and, in particular, the high pace of construction, the number of facilities that emit pollutants into the atmosphere doubled from 2005 to 2010 ^[106] . The greatest pollution of surface waters was noted in the center and in the east of the region; the Moscow, Oka, and Klyazma rivers are especially heavily polluted ^[106] . In terms of the volume of discharged polluted wastewater into surface water bodies, the Moscow Region steadily ranks second in the Central Federal District after Moscow (1990–770 million m ³ , 2010–1309 million m ³ ) ^[130] . In the Moscow region and in large cities (in particular, in Podolsk, Orekhovo-Zuev, Serpukhov, Lukhovitsy , Stupin), groundwater is also heavily polluted ^[128] . The soils of the Moscow region are heavily polluted with mineral fertilizers and pesticides, as well as household and industrial waste, garbage. The degree of soil contamination is especially great in the suburban zone of Moscow, as well as in the east (in Orekhovo-Zuevsky and Noginsky districts) and in the southeast of the region (in the Voskresensky district ) ^[128] .

A large volume of municipal solid waste is disposed on the territory of the Moscow Region (over 8 million tons per year, with 5 million tons imported from Moscow); the average annual increase in waste generation reaches 6% ^[106] . In the region 210 landfills and landfills were registered, some of which are not in operation. 43 of them had official status, many semi-official, but only two training grounds were built according to specially developed projects. The vast majority of solid waste landfills occurred spontaneously, without taking environmental requirements into account, into spent quarries, various excavations, and foundation pits ^[131] . Most of the existing solid waste landfills are overloaded, many of them end their life due to full filling. So, in 2006-2007 , the free capacities of the MSW landfills of the Moscow Region “ Salaryevo ” ( Leninsky District ) were exhausted; “Zhiroshkino” ( Domodedovo urban district ), “Pavlovskoye” (Istra district), “Kargashino” (Mytishchi district), “Sliznevo” (Naro-Fominsky district); Shemyakino (Khimki district) and Stanovoi quarries (Ramensky district); Annino (Ruzsky District); “Toropovo” (Ramensky district) and “Lytkino” (Solnechnogorsk district). Limits on waste collection are limited at the largest landfills of the Moscow Region “Timokhovo” (Noginsky district), “Khmetyevo” (Solnechnogorsk district) and “Dmitrovsky” (Dmitrovsky district) ^[131] . Most of the existing landfills do not meet either modern sanitary and epidemiological requirements or the requirements of land legislation ^[112] . As of 2010, 37 MSW burials were operating in the Moscow Region, where about 7 million tons of garbage were collected annually (including from Moscow). In addition, there were more than 1.5 thousand unauthorized landfills to be liquidated ^[131] . The share of used and neutralized waste in the total volume of waste is small (25% in 2011) ^[112] . In order to reduce the volume of waste buried at landfills, modern waste sorting complexes are being introduced in the Moscow Region ^[112] . In 2012, a technology park for waste processing is being created in Dubna - a joint Russian-Finnish enterprise ^[132] .

One of the largest environmental events held in the Moscow region is the flooding of peat bogs. It is planned to allocate more than 4 billion rubles for this program, which has been implemented since 2010; the largest number of irrigated sites is located in the Shatursky and Dmitrovsky districts ^[112] . After 2010, one of the record-breaking peat fires (at that time 1318 peat fires were recorded in the Moscow Region, covering an area of ​​1276 hectares), a large complex of preventive and fire-fighting measures was implemented in the region ^[112] .

The first significant scientific studies of the territory of Moscow Region were carried out in the 19th century ^[133] . In 1866-1868, G. A. Trautshold conducted geological studies of the entire territory of the Moscow province and published in 1868-1872 colored geological maps of the southeastern, southwestern and northern parts of the province ^{[134] [135]} . The second half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century include the studies of V.V. Alyokhin , D.N. Anuchin , G.E. Shchurovsky ^[133] . In 1890, A. A. Tillo compiled a hypsometric map of European Russia, which also showed the territory of the current Moscow region; the geological structure of the region was first displayed on the "Geological Map of European Russia" ( 1893 ). Scientific research gained more development in the 1920s and 1930s: the works of B. P. Alisov , A. A. Borzov , V. S. Govorukhin , B. M. Danshin , V. A. Zhukov and many other scientists. The study of the natural features of the territory in the postwar years was continued by A. A. Aseev, O. A. Vadkovskaya, N. N. Galakhov, N. E. Dick, L. N. Sobolev, N. A. Solntsev , A. N. Formozov and others. Large- and medium-scale mapping of the territory of the region was carried out, departmental organizations compiled various thematic maps (geological, tectonic, climatic maps, maps of Quaternary sediments, etc.) ^[136] .

The accumulated knowledge about the nature of the Moscow region was summarized in the book “The Nature of the City of Moscow and Moscow Region”, published in 1947 ^[137] , and later in the article by N. A. Solntsev on the physical-geographical zoning of the region ( 1961 ). In 1964, the first comprehensive Atlas of the Moscow Region ^{[138] was} published, the second edition of the Atlas appeared in 1976 ^[139] . The results of many years of field landscape research in the Moscow Region have become a landscape map of the Moscow Region at a scale of 1: 500,000, compiled in 1988 , as well as a monograph “Landscapes of the Moscow Region and Their Current State” (1997) ^{[140] [141]} . In the 2000s, a series of works on the physical geography of the Moscow region was written by B. B. Wagner .

• Alekseev A.I. (ed.). Moscow studies. Geography of Moscow and the Moscow region. - M., 1994
• Annenskaya G.N., Zhuchkova V.K., Kalinina V.R., Mamai I.I., Nizovtsev V.A., Khrustalyova M.A., Tseselchuk Yu.N. Landscapes of the Moscow Region and their current state. - Smolensk: Publishing House of SSU, 1997. - 299 p. - ISBN 5-88984-011-8 .
• Burmin Yu. A., Zverev V. L. Underground pantries of the Moscow Region. - M .: Nedra, 1982 . - 144 p.
• Wagner B. B. Rivers and lakes near Moscow. - M .: Veche, 2006.
• Wagner B. B. Manucharyants B. O. Geology, relief and minerals of the Moscow region. Textbook for the course "Geography and Ecology of the Moscow Region . " - M .: MGPU, 2003 .-- 92 p.
• Wagner B. B. Klevkova I.V. Rivers of the Moscow Region. The educational reference manual on the course "Geography and Ecology of the Moscow Region". . - M .: MGPU, 2003 .-- 244 p.
• Wagner B. B., Dmitrieva V. T. Lakes and reservoirs of the Moscow region. Textbook for the course "Geography and Ecology of the Moscow Region . " - M .: Moscow State Pedagogical University, 2006 .-- 76 p.
• Reservoirs of the Moskvoretsky water system. - M., 1985
• Zverev V.L.Around the Moscow hills. - M.: Moscow Worker, 1986 . - 156 p.
• Lappo G.M., Milkov F.N., Khorev B.S. (ed.). Russian Federation: Central Russia. - M .: Thought, 1970 .-- 907 p.
• Lyubimova E. L. Plant world of Moscow region. - M., 1964
• Kornienko E.V., Mazepova L.N., Strikalov I. Yu. Moscow Region: History, Culture, Economics. - M .: CPI "Design. Information. Cartography, 2004. - 839 p. - ISBN 5-287-00145-2 .
• Myachkova N.A., Sorokina V.N. The climate of the Moscow region. - M., 1991
• The nature of the city of Moscow and Moscow region. - M. - L .: AN SSSR, 1947 . - 380 s.
• Team of authors. The nature of the Moscow region: the loss of the last two decades . - Moscow: Publishing House of the Center for the Protection of Wildlife, 2009. - 92 p. - ISBN 978-5-93699-073-1 .
• Smirnova E. D. Rivers and Lakes of the Moscow Region / Cover of the artist V. Feigina. - M .: Moscow Worker , 1958 . - 96 p. - 11,200 copies.
• Starodubtseva I. A., Sennikov A. G., Soroka I. L. and others. Geological history of the Moscow region in the collections of natural science museums of the Russian Academy of Sciences / Ed. ed. A. S. Alekseev. - M .: Nauka , 2008 .-- 229 p. - ISBN 978-5-02-036039-6 .
• Turov S. S. Animal Kingdom of the Moscow Region. - M., 1961 /
• Environmental studies in Moscow and the Moscow region. The state of vegetation. Protection of Nature. - M., 1992

Maps and Atlases

• Atlas of the Moscow Region, scale 1: 100000, 2nd ed. - M .: AST-Press Cartography, Roskartografiya, 2003
• Kolosova N.N., Churilova E.A. Atlas of the Moscow Region. - M .: Education, 2004 .-- 48 p. - ISBN 5-93684-029-8 .
• General geographic atlas “Moscow. Moscow region". - M.: VTU GSH, 439 TsEVKF, 2000