Moldavian Plateau

Moldavian Plateau
Topography

Bukovinian Subcarpathians
Moldavian Subcarpathians


Suceava Plateau
Dniester Hills
Moldavian Plain
Bârlad Plateau
Central Moldavian Plateau


Bugeac Plain

Hydrography

Danube
Siret (Moldova, Suceava)
Prut
Dniester (Răut)
Black Sea

Climate

Romania
Moldova

Flora & Fauna

Flora of Romania
Flora of Moldova
List of mammals in Romania
List of mammals in Moldova
Protected areas in Romania
Protected areas in Moldova

The Moldavian Plateau (Romanian: Podișul Moldovei) or Pokutian-Bessarabian Upland[1] is a geographic area spanning northeast Romania, most of Moldova (except the south), and most of the Chernivtsi Oblast of Ukraine.

Limits

The ancient principality of Moldavia comprised the entire Moldavian Plateau and some neighbouring geomorphological units like the Carpathians

The Moldavian Plateau is bounded (in clockwise order):

The Moldavian Plateau composes over two-thirds of the territory of the medieval Principality of Moldavia, with the Eastern Carpathian Mountains and the Bugeac Plain representing the remaining part. This fact is the origin of the name of the plateau. This geographic area (including Eastern Carpathians and the Bugeac) is also called (especially by historians) the Carpathian-Dniester-Pontic region, or the Carpathian-Dniester region, since it is bounded by the Carpathians to the west, by the river Dniester to the north and east, and by the Black Sea (Pontus Euxinus) and the Danube to the south-east and south.

Genesis

The Moldavian Plateau was formed at the end of the Neogene through sediments, over an old continental platform, the East European Platform. Afterwards, the settled sediments, which were brought in by rivers from the Carpathian Mountains, were modeled by the elements giving the plateau its current aspect. The materials that formed the sediments are gravel and sand. Hardened, they formed gritstones. All over the plateau, the latter are interspersed with clays, or badlands, which produce landslides.

The slope of the terrain follows the direction of the rivers: from northwest to southeast. Along them, the altitude decreases from 700 metres (2,297 ft) to under 200 metres (656 ft). The strata are disposed in North-South and northwest-southeast aligned layers, producing asymmetric valleys and ridges. Among the latter are the steep edge of the Bârlad Plateau (Romanian: Podișului Bârladului), known as the Iași Ridge (Romanian: Coasta Iașilor), the edge of the Central Moldavian Plateau (Romanian: Podișul Moldovei Centrale), known as the Cornești Hills, and the edge of the Dniester Hills, known as the Dniester Ridge.

The relief in the valleys of the rivers and creeks is quite conspicuous, so that the valleys have large terraces and hillocks. The Siret Passage (Romanian: Culoarul Siretului), ramified in the north with the Moldova Valley, and Suceava Valley cuts the main part of the plateau from the Moldavian Subcarpathians. The Prut Passage cuts the Plateau in half in the north-south direction. The Dniester Passage bounds it from the Podolian Plateau and the Pontic Plain. Its ramification Răut Passage separates the main part of the Moldavian Plateau from the Dniester Hills

Composition

The Moldavian Plateau comprises several distinct regions:

Climate

The climate of this plateau is transitional Temperate Continental. Overall, the altitude affects the climate, with annual mean temperatures in the Suceava Plateau ranging between 6 °C (43 °F) and 8 °C (46 °F) and precipitation of 500 millimetres (19.7 in) to 800 millimetres (31.5 in) per year and, with annual mean temperatures of 8 °C (46 °F) to 10 °C (50 °F) and precipitation of 400 millimetres (15.7 in) to 500 millimetres (19.7 in) in the Moldavian Plain or Bârlad Plateau.

The main influence on the climate is Dry Continental with frequent cold north winds in winter. In the Suceava Plateau and the Dniester Hills, there is an influence of Scandinavo-Baltic climate with the circulation of masses of polar air in the winter.

Waters

Streams on the plateau flow into the Siret, Prut, or Dneister rivers.

The Prut has the Jijia as its principal tributary.

The Siret traverses and—with the exception of the Subcarpathians—limits the Moldavian Plateau

The lack of precipitaion has required water management in the Jijia Plain and in the Bălţi steppe which serves as a reservoir and for fish farming; Lake Dracşani is the most largest of these.

Other bodies of water are the rivers Siret and Prut (Lake Stânca-Costeşti, Lake Dubăsari), in the Siret Passage.

Natural resources

The Moldavian Plateau holds hydrocarbon resources (petroleum and the associated gases), which are extracted in the southwest portion. In the northwest are found Romania's most important reserves of kaolin (china clay), extracted and used to produce porcelain.

Hemp is cultivated in the Suceava plateau, cereals and wine grapes (Vitis vinifera) in the Jijia Plain, Bălţi steppe, Bârlad Plateau and Central Moldavian Plateau. In the Siret Passage they cultivate potatoes and sugar beets.


Animals

Characteristic of the plateau are mammals such as goats, wild boars, wolves, foxes, European wildcats, lynxes, badgers, and hares. Birds include black grouse, woodpeckers, cuckoos, pheasants, quails, hawks, owls, and fish include perch and the carp-like barbel.


References

  1. Bessarabia Archived August 14, 2015, at the Wayback Machine. at Encyclopedia of Ukraine.

Bibliography

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