Smolensk–Moscow Upland
55°38′N 34°36′E / 55.64°N 34.60°E
The Smolensk–Moscow Upland is located in the Yaroslavl, Vladimir, Moscow and Smolensk regions of Russia, as well as the Vitebsk region of Belarus.[1]
Geography[edit]
It stretches from southwest to northeast from the Belarusian city of Orsha to Yuriev-Polsky. It consists of the Smolensk Upland (western part) and the Moscow Uplands (eastern part).[1]
It extends 500 km. Its highest point is 320 m (northeastern part of Smolensk). The terrain is hilly, erosion-moraine. In the west the moraine chain goes to the Belarusian ridge .
The Dnieper (west) and the Volga (east) rivers drain its hill. The watersheds feed three seas: the Baltic (Kasplya → Western Dvina), Black (Dnieper) and the Caspian (the Volga, the Oka River and their tributaries).
Ecology[edit]
It is covered with mixed forests, dominated by spruce and birch. Peat bogs are also present.
Its soils are mainly sod-podzolic, loamy, except for the eastern part of the hill, where more fertile gray forest soil is found. The area is called the Vladimir ( St. George's) Opole.
References[edit]
- ^ a b Большой Энциклопедический словарь (in Russian). 2002. ISBN 5-85270-160-2.