Eurasia: minerals. Mainland Eurasia

The relief and minerals of Eurasia are very diverse. Geomorphologists very often call this continent the continent of contrasts. The geological structure, relief of the continent, as well as the location of minerals in Eurasia will be discussed in detail in this article.

Mainland Eurasia: geological structure

Eurasia is the largest continent of our planet. 36% of land and about 70% of the world's population are concentrated here. Almost all the continents of the Earth, in fact, are fragments of two ancient supercontinents - Laurasia and Gondwana. But not Eurasia. After all, it was formed from several lithospheric blocks that came together for a long time and, finally, were soldered into a single whole by the locks of folded belts.

The mainland consists of a number of geosynclinal regions and platforms: East European, Siberian, West Siberian, West European and others. In Siberia, Tibet, and also in the area of ​​Lake Baikal, the earth's crust is cut by a huge number of cracks and faults.

In different geological eras, the folded belts of Eurasia arose and formed. The Pacific and Alpine-Himalayan are the largest of them. They are considered young (that is, their formation has not yet ended). These zones include the largest mountain systems of the mainland - the Alps, the Himalayas, the Caucasus Mountains and others.

Some areas of the mainland are areas of increased seismic activity (such as, for example, Central Asia or the Balkan Peninsula). Powerful earthquakes are observed here with considerable frequency. Eurasia also boasts of the largest number of active volcanoes.

The mineral resources of the continent are closely related to its geological structures. But we will talk about them further.

General features of the relief of Eurasia

The relief and minerals of Eurasia are extremely diverse. They formed in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic, within several ancient platforms, connected by mobile areas of folding.

Eurasia is the second highest continent on the planet with an average height of 830 meters above sea level. Only Antarctica is higher, and even then solely due to the powerful ice shell. The highest mountains and the largest plains are located in Eurasia. And the total number of them is much more than on other continents of the Earth.

Eurasia is characterized by the maximum possible amplitude (difference) in absolute heights. It is here that the highest peak of the planet is Mount Everest (8850 m) and the lowest point in the world - the level of the Dead Sea (–399 meters).

The mountains and plains of Eurasia

Almost 65% of the territory of Eurasia is occupied by mountains, plateaus and highlands. The rest belongs to the plains. The five largest inland mountain systems:

• Himalayas.
• Caucasus.
• Alps.
• Tien Shan.
• Altai.

The Himalayas are the highest mountain range not only of Eurasia, but of the entire planet. They occupy about 650 thousand square kilometers of area. It is here that the "roof of the world" is located - Mount Jomolungma (Everest). In the history of this peak 4469 climbers conquered.

The Tibetan Plateau, the largest in the world, is also located on this mainland. It covers a huge area - two million square kilometers. Many famous Asian rivers (Mekong, Yangtze, Indus and others) originate in the Tibetan Plateau . Thus, this is another geomorphological record that Eurasia can boast of.

Minerals of Eurasia, by the way, often occur precisely in folding zones. So, for example, the bowels of the Carpathian mountains are very rich in oil. And in the mountains of the Urals, precious minerals are actively mined - sapphires, rubies and other stones.

There are also many plains and lowlands in Eurasia. Among them, another record - the East European Plain, which is considered the largest on the planet. It stretched from the Carpathians to the Caucasus for almost 2500 thousand kilometers. Within the plain, in whole or in part, are twelve states.

Relief of Eurasia: highlights and interesting facts

For impressive orographic records it is very easy to miss the less ambitious, but no less interesting features of the mainland. In the relief of Eurasia are present, in fact, all known forms of relief known to modern science. Caves and karst mines, kars and fjords, ravines and river valleys, dunes and dunes - all this can be seen within the largest continent of the Earth.

In Slovenia, there is the famous Karst plateau, the geological features of which gave the name to a whole group of specific relief forms. Within this small limestone plateau, there are several dozen beautiful caves.

There are many volcanoes in Eurasia, both active and extinct. Klyuchevskaya Sopka, Etna, Vesuvius and Fuji are the most famous of them. But on the Crimean peninsula you can see unique mud (on the Kerch Peninsula) or the so-called failed volcanoes. A striking example of the latter is the Ayu-Dag mountain, known to many.

Mainland minerals

Eurasia ranks first in the world in total reserves of many mineral resources. In particular, the bowels of the mainland are extremely rich in oil, gas and non-ferrous metal ores.

In the mountains, as well as on shields (ledges of the basement of the platforms) of Eurasia, solid deposits of iron and manganese ores, as well as tin, tungsten, platinum and silver, are concentrated. Huge reserves of fuel mineral resources - oil, gas, coal and oil shale - are confined to the basement deflections of ancient platforms. So, the largest oil fields are developed in the Persian Gulf, on the Arabian Peninsula, in the shelf of the North Sea; natural gas - in Western Siberia; coal - within the East European Plain and on the Hindustan.

What else is rich in Eurasia? Non-metallic minerals are also extremely common on the mainland. So, on the island of Sri Lanka is the world's largest deposit of rubies. Diamonds are mined in Yakutia, the highest quality granite in Ukraine and Transbaikalia, and sapphires and emeralds in India.

In general, the main mineral resources of Eurasia are oil, gas, iron ore, manganese, uranium, tungsten, diamonds and coal. In terms of production of many of these resources, the mainland is unparalleled throughout the world.

Minerals of Eurasia: table and main deposits

It should be noted that the mineral resources of the mainland are extremely uneven. Some states were frankly lucky in this regard (Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, China, etc.), while others were not very lucky (as, for example, Japan). Listed below are the most important minerals of Eurasia. The table also contains information on the largest deposits of various mineral resources of the mainland.

Finally

The largest continent on our planet is Eurasia. The mineral resources of this continent are very diverse. The world's largest reserves of oil, natural gas, iron and manganese ore are concentrated here. The interior of the mainland contains a large amount of copper, uranium, lead, gold, coal, precious and semiprecious stones.