Azov Lowland

Azov Lowland. (Map: Azov Lowland.) A part of the Black Sea Lowland, bordering in the north on the Azov Upland and in the south on the Sea of Azov. It is bound on the west by the Molochna River and on the east by the Miius River. The Azov Lowland extends, in the east, into the Lower-Don Lowland. The length of the Azov Lowland is about 200 km; its width ranges from 40 km in the west to 10–20 km in the east. It is composed of Miocene and Pliocene deposits covered with thick layers of loess. The surface of the Azov Lowland is slightly undulating, with a gradual overall decline from north to south. It breaks off abruptly with the steep entry into the Sea of Azov (20–70 m). The Azov Lowland is dissected by the river valleys of the Obytochna River, Berda River, Kalmiius River, Hruzkyi Yelanchyk River, and Miius River, and others. There are few ravines or gullies. A narrow sandy strip stretches along the sea, with spits of land (the Obytochna Spit, Berdiansk Spit, Bilosarai Spit, and Kryva Spit) separated by gulfs. The climate of the Azov Lowland is warm, continental, and dry; the average temperature in January ranges from -4°C to -6°C and, in July, from 22°C to 23°C. Atmospheric precipitation ranges from 320 mm in the west to 420 mm in the northeast. The soils and vegetation vary according to the humidity: chestnut soils with salt marshes and wormwood steppe are found in the driest, western part and on the spits; poor-humus southern chernozems with feather-grass and fescue-feather-grass steppe in the central part; and ordinary chernozems with mixed herbaceous, fescue-feather-grass steppe in the northeast part. The entire steppe is under cultivation.

Volodymyr Kubijovyč