Latitudinal zoning is the essence and reasons for its appearance. Law of latitudinal zoning. An excerpt characterizing latitudinal zoning

The surface of our planet is heterogeneous and is conventionally divided into several belts, which are also called latitudinal zones. They naturally replace each other from the equator to the poles. What is latitudinal zonation? What does it depend on and how does it manifest itself? We'll talk about all this.

What is latitudinal zonation?

In certain parts of our planet, natural complexes and components differ. They are distributed unevenly and may seem chaotic. However, they have certain patterns, and they divide the Earth's surface into so-called zones.

What is latitudinal zonation? This is the distribution natural ingredients and physical-geographical processes in belts parallel to the equator line. It is manifested by differences in the average annual amount of heat and precipitation, the change of seasons, plant and soil cover, as well as representatives of the animal world.

In each hemisphere, the zones replace each other from the equator to the poles. In areas where there are mountains, this rule changes. Here, natural conditions and landscapes change from top to bottom, relative to absolute height.

Both latitudinal and altitudinal zonation are not always expressed in the same way. Sometimes they are more noticeable, sometimes less. The features of the vertical change of zones largely depend on the distance of the mountains from the ocean and the location of the slopes in relation to passing air flows. Altitudinal zonation is most clearly expressed in the Andes and Himalayas. What latitudinal zonation is is best seen in lowland regions.

What does zoning depend on?

The main reason for all the climatic and natural features of our planet is the Sun and the position of the Earth relative to it. Due to the fact that the planet has a spherical shape, the sun's heat is distributed unevenly across it, heating some areas more and others less. This, in turn, contributes to unequal heating of the air, which is why winds arise, which also participate in climate formation.

On natural features individual areas of the Earth are also influenced by the development of the river system in the area and its regime, distance from the ocean, the level of salinity of its waters, sea currents, the nature of the relief and other factors.

Manifestation on continents

On land, latitudinal zonation is more clearly visible than in the ocean. It manifests itself in the form of natural zones and climatic zones. In the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the following zones are distinguished: equatorial, subequatorial, tropical, subtropical, temperate, subarctic, arctic. Each of them has its own natural zones (deserts, semi-deserts, arctic deserts, tundra, taiga, evergreen forest, etc.), of which there are many more.

On which continents is latitudinal zoning pronounced? It is best observed in Africa. Quite clearly visible on the plains North America and Eurasia (Russian Plain). In Africa, latitudinal zonation is clearly visible due to the small number of high mountains. They do not create a natural barrier for air masses, so climate zones replace each other without breaking the pattern.

The equator line crosses the African continent in the middle, so its natural areas are distributed almost symmetrically. Yes, wet equatorial forests pass into savannas and open forests of the subequatorial belt. This is followed by tropical deserts and semi-deserts, which give way to subtropical forests and shrubs.

Interesting zoning manifests itself in North America. In the north, it is standardly distributed by latitude and is expressed by Arctic tundra and subarctic taiga. But below the Great Lakes, the zones are distributed parallel to the meridians. The high Cordilleras in the west block the winds from Pacific Ocean. Therefore, natural conditions change from west to east.

Zoning in the ocean

Changes in natural zones and zones also exist in the waters of the World Ocean. It is visible at a depth of up to 2000 meters, but is very clearly visible at a depth of 100-150 meters. It manifests itself in various components of the organic world, the salinity of water, as well as its chemical composition, in temperature difference.

The belts of the World Ocean are almost the same as those on land. Only instead of arctic and subarctic there is subpolar and polar, since the ocean reaches directly to the North Pole. In the lower layers of the ocean, the boundaries between the belts are stable, but in the upper layers they can shift depending on the season.

Latitudinal zonation- natural changes in physical-geographical processes, components and complexes of geosystems from the equator to the poles.

Reasons for zoning

The primary cause of natural zonation is uneven distribution solar energy in latitude due to the spherical shape of the Earth and changes in the angle of incidence of the sun's rays on the earth's surface. In addition, the distance to the Sun, and the mass of the Earth affects the ability to retain the atmosphere, which serves as a transformer and redistribution of energy.

The inclination of the axis to the ecliptic plane is of great importance; the unevenness of the solar heat supply over the seasons depends on this, and the daily rotation of the planet causes the deviation of air masses. The result of differences in the distribution of solar radiant energy is the zonal radiation balance earth's surface. The unevenness of heat supply affects the location of air masses, moisture circulation and atmospheric circulation.

Zoning is expressed not only in the average annual amount of heat and moisture, but also in intra-annual changes. Climatic zonation is reflected in the runoff and hydrological regime, the formation of weathering crust, and waterlogging. It has a great influence on the organic world and specific relief forms. The homogeneous composition and high air mobility smooth out zonal differences with height.

There are 7 circulation zones in each hemisphere. Latitudinal zoning is also evident in the World Ocean.

The main reason for latitudinal zonality is the change in the ratio of heat and moisture from the equator to the poles.

see also

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Literature

• Dokuchaev V.V.: Horizontal and vertical soil zones. SPb.: type. St. Petersburg city ​​administration, 1899. 28 p.
• Milkov F. N., Gvozdetsky N. A. Physiography THE USSR. Part 1. - M.: graduate School, 1986.

An excerpt characterizing latitudinal zoning

Sonya, red as red, also held his hand and was all beaming in the blissful gaze fixed on his eyes, which she was waiting for. Sonya was already 16 years old, and she was very beautiful, especially at this moment of happy, enthusiastic animation. She looked at him without taking her eyes off, smiling and holding her breath. He looked at her gratefully; but still waited and looked for someone. The old countess had not come out yet. And then steps were heard at the door. The steps are so fast that they couldn't be his mother's.
But it was she in a new dress, still unfamiliar to him, sewn without him. Everyone left him and he ran to her. When they came together, she fell on his chest, sobbing. She could not raise her face and only pressed it to the cold strings of his Hungarian. Denisov, unnoticed by anyone, entered the room, stood right there and, looking at them, rubbed his eyes.
“Vasily Denisov, a friend of your son,” he said, introducing himself to the count, who was looking at him questioningly.
- Welcome. I know, I know,” said the count, kissing and hugging Denisov. - Nikolushka wrote... Natasha, Vera, here he is Denisov.
The same happy, enthusiastic faces turned to the shaggy figure of Denisov and surrounded him.
- Darling, Denisov! - Natasha squealed, not remembering herself with delight, jumped up to him, hugged and kissed him. Everyone was embarrassed by Natasha's action. Denisov also blushed, but smiled and took Natasha’s hand and kissed it.
Denisov was taken to the room prepared for him, and the Rostovs all gathered in the sofa near Nikolushka.
The old countess, without letting go of his hand, which she kissed every minute, sat next to him; the rest, crowding around them, caught his every movement, word, glance, and did not take their rapturously loving eyes off him. The brother and sisters argued and grabbed each other's places closer to him, and fought over who should bring him tea, a scarf, a pipe.
Rostov was very happy with the love that was shown to him; but the first minute of his meeting was so blissful that his present happiness seemed not enough to him, and he kept waiting for something else, and more, and more.

Everyone knows that on Earth the distribution of solar heat is uneven due to the spherical shape of the planet. As a result, different natural systems are formed, where in each all components are closely connected with each other, and a natural zone is formed, which is found on all continents. If you follow an animal in the same zones, but on different continents, you can see a certain similarity.

Law of Geographical Zoning

The scientist V.V. Dokuchaev at one time created the doctrine of natural zones, and expressed the idea that each zone is a natural complex where living and inanimate nature are closely interconnected. Subsequently, on this basis of teaching, the first qualification was created, which was finalized and more specific by another scientist L.S. Berg.

Forms of zonation are different due to the diversity of composition geographic envelope and the influence of two main factors: the energy of the Sun and the energy of the Earth. It is with these factors that natural zoning is associated, which manifests itself in the distribution of oceans, the diversity of relief and its structure. As a result of this, various natural complexes were formed, and the largest of them is a geographical zone, which is close to the climatic zones described by B.P. Alisov).

The following geographical regions are distinguished: subequatorial, tropical and subtropical, temperate, subpolar and polar (Arctic and Antarctic). are divided into zones that are worth talking about more specifically.

What is latitudinal zoning

Natural zones are closely related to climatic zones, which means that zones as belts gradually replace each other, moving from the equator to the poles, where solar heat decreases and precipitation changes. Such a change of major natural complexes called latitudinal zonality, which manifests itself in all natural zones, regardless of size.

What is altitudinal zonation

The map shows, if you move from north to east, that in each geographical zone there is a geographical zonation, starting with the Arctic deserts, moving to the tundra, then to the forest-tundra, taiga, mixed and deciduous forests, forest-steppe and steppes, and finally to the desert and subtropics. They extend from west to east in stripes, but there is also another direction.

Many people know that the higher you rise in the mountains, the more the ratio of heat and moisture changes towards low temperature and precipitation in solid form, as a result of which the vegetation and animal world. Scientists and geographers gave this direction its name - altitudinal zoning (or zonality), when one zone replaces another, encircling mountains at different heights. At the same time, the change of zones occurs faster than on the plain; you just need to rise 1 km and there will be a different zone. The lowest zone always corresponds to where the mountain is located, and the closer it is to the poles, the fewer of these zones can be found at altitude.

The law of geographical zoning also works in the mountains. From geographical latitude depend on seasonality, as well as the change of day and night. If the mountain is close to the pole, then polar night and day can be found there, and if the mountain is located near the equator, then day will always be equal to night.

Ice zone

The natural zonality adjacent to the poles of the globe is called icy. A harsh climate where snow and ice lie all year round, and in the warmest month the temperature does not rise above 0°. Snow covers the entire earth, even though the sun shines around the clock for several months, but does not warm it up at all.

If the conditions are too harsh, few animals live in the ice zone (polar bear, penguins, seals, walruses, arctic fox, reindeer), even fewer plants can be found, since the soil-forming process is at the initial stage of development, and mostly unorganized plants (lichen , moss, algae).

Tundra zone

A zone of cold and strong winds, where there is a long, long winter and a short summer, due to which the soil does not have time to warm up, and a layer of perennial frozen soil is formed.

The law of zonation works even in the tundra and divides it into three subzones, moving from north to south: arctic tundra, where mainly moss and lichens grow, typical lichen-moss tundra, where shrubs appear in places, distributed from Vaygach to Kolyma, and southern shrubby tundra, where vegetation consists of three levels.

Separately, it is worth mentioning the forest-tundra, which extends thin strip and is transition zone between tundra and forests.

Taiga zone

For Russia, Taiga is the largest natural zone, which stretches from the western borders to the Sea of ​​Okhotsk and the Sea of ​​Japan. Taiga is located in two climatic zones, as a result of which there are differences within it.

This natural zonality concentrates a large number of lakes and swamps, and it is here that the great rivers in Russia originate: the Volga, Kama, Lena, Vilyui and others.

The main thing for the plant world is coniferous forests, where larch dominates; spruce, fir, and pine are less common. The fauna is heterogeneous and the eastern part of the taiga is richer than the western.

Forests, forest-steppes and steppes

In the mixed zone, the climate is warmer and wetter, and latitudinal zonation is clearly visible here. Winters are less severe, summers are long and warm, which promotes the growth of trees such as oak, ash, maple, linden, and hazel. Thanks to complex plant communities, this zone has a diverse fauna, and, for example, bison, muskrat, wild boar, wolf, and elk are common on the East European Plain.

The mixed forest zone is richer than the coniferous forest and contains large herbivores and a wide variety of birds. The geographical zonation is characterized by the density of river reservoirs, some of which do not freeze at all in winter.

The transition zone between steppe and forest is the forest-steppe, where forest and meadow phytocenoses alternate.

Steppe zone

This is another species that describes natural zoning. It differs sharply in climatic conditions from the above-mentioned zones, and the main difference is the lack of water, as a result of which there are no forests and cereal plants and all the various herbs predominate, which cover the ground with a continuous carpet. Despite the fact that water is scarce in this area, the plants tolerate drought well, their leaves are often small and can curl up during heat to prevent evaporation.

The fauna is more diverse: there are ungulates, rodents, and predators. In Russia, the steppe is the most developed by man and the main zone of agriculture.

Steppes are found in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, but they are gradually disappearing due to plowing, fires, and animal grazing.

Latitudinal and altitudinal zoning is also found in the steppes, so they are divided into several subspecies: mountainous (for example, Caucasus Mountains), meadow (typical for Western Siberia), xerophilous, where there are many turf-like grasses, and desert (these are the steppes of Kalmykia).

Desert and tropics

Sharp changes in climatic conditions are due to the fact that evaporation exceeds precipitation many times (7 times), and the duration of this period is up to six months. The vegetation of this zone is not rich, and mainly there are grasses, shrubs, and forests can be seen only along the rivers. The fauna is richer and is a bit similar to that found in the steppe zone: there are many rodents and reptiles, and ungulates roam in nearby areas.

The Sahara is considered the largest desert, and in general this natural zonation is characteristic of 11% of the entire earth's surface, and if we add the Arctic desert, then 20%. Deserts are found both in the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere and in the tropics and subtropics.

There is no unambiguous definition of the tropics; geographic zones are distinguished: tropical, subequatorial and equatorial, where forests similar in composition are found, but with certain differences.

All forests are divided into savannas, forest subtropics and their common feature is that the trees are always green, and these zones differ in the duration of dry and rainy periods. In savannas the rainy period lasts 8-9 months. Forest subtropics are characteristic of the eastern outskirts of the continents, where there is a change in the dry period of winter and wet summer with monsoon rains. Tropical forests are characterized by a high degree of moisture, and precipitation can exceed 2000 mm per year.

I can show with an example what latitudinal zoning is, because there is nothing simpler! As far as I remember, we all should have covered this topic in the 7th or certainly in the 8th grade during a geography lesson. It's never too late to revive memories, and you'll see for yourself how easy it is!

The simplest example of latitudinal zoning

Last May, I was in Barnaul with a friend, and we noticed birch trees with young leaves. And in general there was a lot of green vegetation around. When we returned to Pankrushikha (Altai Territory), we saw that the birch trees in this village had just begun to bloom! But Pankrushikha is only about 300 km away from Barnaul.

Having made simple calculations, we found out that our village is only 53.5 km north of Barnaul, but the difference in the speed of vegetation can be seen even with the naked eye! It would seem that such a small distance between settlements, but the lag in leaf growth is approximately 2 weeks.

The sun and latitudinal zonality

Our globe has latitude and longitude - this is what scientists have agreed upon. At different latitudes, heat is distributed unevenly, this leads to the formation of natural zones that differ in the following:

• climate;
• diversity of animals and plants;
• humidity and other factors.

It is easy to understand what wide zoning is if you take into account 2 facts. The Earth is a sphere, and therefore the sun's rays cannot illuminate its surface evenly. Closer to north pole the angle of incidence of the rays becomes so small that one can observe permafrost.

Zoning of the underwater world

Few people know about this, but zonation is also present in the ocean. At a depth of approximately two kilometers, scientists were able to record changes in natural zones, but the ideal depth for study is no more than 150 m. Changes in zones are manifested in the degree of salinity of water, temperature fluctuations, and the variety of marine fish and other organic creatures. Interestingly, the belts in the ocean are not much different from those on the surface of the Earth!

Due to the spherical shape of the Earth and the change in the angle of incidence of sunlight on the earth's surface. In addition, latitudinal zonality also depends on the distance to the Sun, and the mass of the Earth affects the ability to retain the atmosphere, which serves as a transformer and redistributor of energy.

The inclination of the axis to the ecliptic plane is of great importance; the unevenness of the solar heat supply over the seasons depends on this, and the daily rotation of the planet causes the deviation of air masses. The result of differences in the distribution of radiant energy from the Sun is the zonal radiation balance of the earth's surface. The unevenness of heat input affects the location of air masses, moisture circulation and atmospheric circulation.

Zoning is expressed not only in the average annual amount of heat and moisture, but also in intra-annual changes. Climatic zonation is reflected in the runoff and hydrological regime, the formation of weathering crust, and waterlogging. It has a great influence on the organic world and specific relief forms. The homogeneous composition and high air mobility smooth out zonal differences with height.

There are 7 circulation zones in each hemisphere.

see also

Literature

• Milkov F. N., Gvozdetsky N. A. Physical geography of the USSR. Part 1. - M.: Higher School, 1986.

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See what “Latitudinal zoning” is in other dictionaries: - (physical-geographical zonation), change natural conditions from the poles to the equator, due to latitudinal differences in the flow of solar radiation to the Earth's surface. Max. energy is received by a surface perpendicular to the sun's rays...

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Physical-geographical (natural) countries There are several schemes for physical-geographical zoning of the country's territory. This article uses a scheme according to which the territory of the USSR (together with some adjacent areas ... one of the gods of the Titans (See Titans), who had power over the world flow, which, according to the Greeks, surrounded the firmament of the earth; son of Uranus and Gaia (See Gaia). In the struggle of Zeus and other Olympian gods with... ...

- (natural) There are several schemes for physical-geographical zoning (See Physical-geographical zoning) of the country’s territory. This article uses a scheme according to which the territory of the USSR (together with some... ... one of the gods of the Titans (See Titans), who had power over the world flow, which, according to the Greeks, surrounded the firmament of the earth; son of Uranus and Gaia (See Gaia). In the struggle of Zeus and other Olympian gods with... ...

Paleogene system (period), Paleogene (from paleo... and Greek genos birth, age), the most ancient system of the Cenozoic group, corresponding to the first period of the Cenozoic era geological history The lands following the Cretaceous and preceding... ... one of the gods of the Titans (See Titans), who had power over the world flow, which, according to the Greeks, surrounded the firmament of the earth; son of Uranus and Gaia (See Gaia). In the struggle of Zeus and other Olympian gods with... ...