Russia boasts the most abundant coal deposits, but they are often located in inaccessible regions, making their development difficult. In addition, not all deposits are recoverable for geological reasons. We bring to your attention a rating of the world's coal basins, which contain colossal natural resources, most which will remain in the bowels of the earth without being brought to the surface.
Tunguska Basin, Russia (coal reserves - 2.299 trillion tons)
The undisputed world leadership in terms of the volume of coal deposits belongs to the Russian Tunguska basin, which covers an area of more than a million square kilometers and covers territories Irkutsk region, Yakutia and Krasnoyarsk Territory. The block's reserves amount to 2.299 trillion tons of hard and brown coal. It is premature to talk about full-scale development of the basin’s fields, since most of the zones possible production still little studied due to its location in hard-to-reach areas. In those areas that have already been explored, mining is carried out using open and underground methods.
Kayerkansky coal mine, Krasnoyarsk region
Lena Basin, Russia (1.647 trillion tons)
In Yakutia and partly in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, the second largest coal basin in the world is located - Lensky - with reserves of 1.647 trillion tons of brown and coal. The main part of the block is located in the Lena River basin, in the region of the Central Yakut Lowland. The area of the coal basin reaches 750 thousand square kilometers. Like the Tunguska basin, the Lena block has been insufficiently studied due to the inaccessibility of the area. Extraction is carried out in mines and open pits. At the Sangarskaya mine, which was closed in 1998, a fire started two years later, which has not yet been extinguished.
Abandoned Sangarskaya mine, Yakutia
Kansk-Achinsk basin, Russia (638 billion tons)
The third position in the ranking of the largest coal blocks in the world goes to the Kansk-Achinsk basin, whose reserves amount to 638 billion tons of coal, mostly brown. The length of the basin is about 800 kilometers along Trans-Siberian Railway. The block is located in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Irkutsk and Kemerovo regions. About three dozen deposits have been discovered on its territory. The pool is characterized by normal geological conditions for development. Due to the shallow occurrence of the layers, the development of the areas is carried out using a quarry method.
Coal mine "Borodinsky", Krasnoyarsk region
Kuzbass, Russia (635 billion tons)
The Kuznetsk basin is one of the largest developed blocks in the country. Geological coal reserves of Kuzbass are estimated at 635 billion tons. The swimming pool is within Kemerovo region and partly in the Altai Territory and Novosibirsk region, where subbituminous coal and anthracite are mined, respectively. In Kuzbass, the predominant method of mining is the underground one, which allows for the extraction of higher quality coal. Another 30% of the fuel volume is extracted open method. The rest of the coal - no more than 5% - is extracted hydraulically.
Open-pit mine "Bachatsky", Kemerovo region
Illinois Basin, USA (365 billion tons)
The fifth largest coal reserve in the world is the Illinois Basin, with an area of 122 thousand square kilometers, located in the state of the same name, as well as in the neighboring regions of Kentucky and Indiana. Geological coal reserves reach 365 billion tons, of which for open source development 18 billion tons available. The mining depth is average - within 150 meters. Up to 90% of the mined coal comes from only two of the nine existing seams - Harrisburg and Herrin. Approximately the same amount of coal is used for the needs of the heat and power industry, the remaining volumes are coked.
Crown III Coal Mine, Illinois, USA
Ruhr Basin, Germany (287 billion tons)
The famous German Ruhr block is located in the basin of the river of the same name, which is the right tributary of the Rhine. This is one of the oldest coal mining sites, known since the thirteenth century. Industrial reserves of hard coal lie on an area of 6.2 thousand square kilometers, at a depth of up to two kilometers, but in general the geological strata, the total weight of which is within 287 billion tons, reach six kilometers. About 65% of the deposits are coking coal. Mining is carried out exclusively underground. Maximum depth mines in the fishing area - 940 meters (Hugo mine).
Workers at the Auguste Victoria coal mine, Marl, Germany
Appalachian Basin, USA (284 billion tons)
In the eastern part of the United States, in the states of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky and Alabama, the Appalachian coal basin is located with reserves of 284 billion tons of fossil fuels. The basin area reaches 180 thousand square kilometers. There are about three hundred coal mining areas in the block. Appalachia contains 95% of the country's mines, as well as approximately 85% of the quarries. 78% of industry workers are employed at coal mining enterprises in the basin. 45% of coal is mined using open pit mining.
Removal mountain peaks for coal mining, West Virginia, USA
Pechora Basin, Russia (265 billion tons)
In the Nenets Autonomous Okrug and Komi there is the eighth largest coal basin in the world with an area of 90 square kilometers - Pechora. The coal deposits of this block amount to 265 billion tons. Fishing is carried out in the areas permafrost, in forest-tundra and tundra. In addition, difficult production conditions are associated with the fact that the layers are unevenly deposited and are characterized by high level methane content. Working in mines is dangerous due to high concentrations of gas and dust. Most of the mines were built directly in Inta and Vorkuta. The depth of development of the sites reaches 900 meters.
Yunyaginsky open-pit mine, Vorkuta, Komi Republic
Taimyr Basin, Russia (217 billion tons)
Another Russian coal block entered the global top ten - the Taimyr basin, which is located on the territory of the peninsula of the same name and covers an area of 80 thousand square kilometers. The structure of the seams is complex, some of the coal deposits are suitable for coking, and the majority of the reserves are energy grades. Despite the significant volumes of fuel reserves - 217 billion tons - the basin's deposits are currently not being developed. The prospects for developing the block are quite vague due to its remoteness from potential consumers.
Layers of coal along the right bank of the Shrenk River, Taimyr Peninsula
Donbass - Ukraine, Russian Federation (141 billion tons)
The Donbass with a volume of deposits of 141 billion tons, which covers the territory of the Russian Federation, closes the ranking of the largest coal basins. Rostov region and a number of regions of Ukraine. The area of the basin is 60 thousand square kilometers. All major grades of coal are common in the block. Donbass has been intensively developed for a long time - since the end of the 19th century.
Obukhovskaya mine, Zverevo, Rostov region
The above rating in no way reflects real situation with indicators of field development, but only shows the scale of the world's largest geological reserves without reference to the actual levels of exploration and extraction of minerals in a particular country. The total amount of proven reserves in all deposits in the states that are leaders in the coal mining industry is significantly less than the volume of geological deposits even in one large basin.
From the above diagram it is obvious that there is no relationship not only between the volumes of proven and total geological reserves. There is also no connection between the size of the largest basins and the proven amount of coal in the countries in which they are located. For example, despite the fact that Russia has four of the largest basins in the world, the country is inferior to the United States in terms of the volume of proven reserves.
The ratings show the wealth of Russian mineral resources, but not the possibility of their development. In turn, production indicators depend on other factors. For example, let us recall that Pronedra wrote earlier that Russia in 2017 will increase coal exports. Decisions of this kind are made taking into account a number of conditions that do not depend on the volume of reserves. We are talking about the complexity of working in fields, the technologies used, economic feasibility, government policies and the position of industry operators.
Maritime transport is important primarily because it provides a significant part of Russia’s foreign trade relations. Internal transportation (cabotage) is essential only for supplying northern and east coasts countries. The share of sea transport in cargo turnover is 8%, although the mass of transported cargo is less than 1% of the total. This ratio is achieved due to longest average transportation distance - about 4.5 thousand km. Passenger transportation by sea is insignificant.
Globally maritime transport ranks first in terms of cargo turnover, standing out for its minimal cargo transportation. In Russia it is relatively poorly developed, since the main economic centers of the country are located far from the sea coasts. In addition, most of the seas surrounding the country's territory are frozen, which increases the cost of using sea transport. A serious problem is the country's outdated fleet. Most of the ships were built more than 20 years ago and should be decommissioned by world standards. Almost no ships modern types: gas carriers, lighter carriers, container ships, ships with horizontal loading and unloading, etc. There are only 11 large seaports on the territory of Russia, which is not enough for a country of this size. About half of Russian cargo transported by sea is serviced by ports of other countries. These are mainly ports of former Soviet republics: Odessa (Ukraine), Ventspils (Latvia), Tallinn (Estonia), Klaipeda (Lithuania). The use of seaports of other states leads to financial losses. To solve this problem, new ports are being built on the coasts of the Baltic and Black Seas.
The leading sea basin in Russia in terms of cargo turnover is currently the Far Eastern. Its main ports are Vladivostok and Nakhodka, which rarely freeze. A modern Vostochny port with terminals for the export of coal and timber cargo was built near Nakhodka. The port of Vanino, located on the final section of the Baikal-Amur Railway, is also of great importance. This port operates a ferry connecting railway network mainland Russia with the Sakhalin Island network (port of Kholmsk).
The Northern Basin is in second place in terms of cargo turnover. The main ports in it are: Murmansk (non-freezing, although located beyond the Arctic Circle) and Arkhangelsk (timber export, both sea and river). Large ports also operate at the mouth of the Yenisei. These are Dudinka, through which ore concentrates are exported from Norilsk, and Igarka, through which the forest is coming and forest products. The section of the Northern Sea Route between the mouth of the Yenisei and Murmansk is year-round, which is ensured by the use of powerful icebreakers, including nuclear ones. Navigation east of the mouth of the Yenisei is carried out only 2-3 months in the summer
The third most important is the Baltic Basin. Its main ports are St. Petersburg (freezing) and Kaliningrad (non-freezing). Using the convenient Kaliningrad port is difficult, since it is separated from the main part of Russia by territories foreign countries. Near St. Petersburg there is a small port of Vyborg, through which mainly timber cargo is transported. The ports of Ust-Luga and Primorsk are being built.
The Cheriomorsk-Azov basin is in fourth place in terms of cargo turnover. There are two ice-free oil export ports here - Novorossiysk (the most powerful in Russia) and Tuapse. Maritime transport also includes transportation across the Caspian Sea. The largest ports here are the ports of Astrakhan (both sea and river) and Makhachkala, through which mainly oil cargo is transported.
River transport
River transport (or inland waterway) was the main one in Russia until late XIX V. At present its importance is small - about 2% of cargo turnover and weight of transported goods. Although this is a cheap mode of transport, it has serious disadvantages. The main thing is that the directions of river flows often do not coincide with the directions of cargo transportation. Expensive canals have to be built to connect neighboring river basins. In Russia, river transport is a seasonal mode of transport, since rivers freeze for several months a year. Total length navigable river routes in Russia are 85 thousand km. 3/4 of the cargo currently transported by Russian river transport is mineral and construction materials. Passenger transportation by river transport is insignificant, as well as by sea.
More than half of the country's river transport freight turnover falls on the Volga-Kama basin. It is connected by channels with neighboring basins (Don, Neva, Northern Dvina, White Sea), being the basis of the Unified deep-water system of the European part of the country. The largest river ports are also located here: Nizhny Novgorod, Northern, Southern and Western in Moscow, Kazan, Samara, Volgograd, Astrakhan. In second place in terms of cargo turnover is the West Siberian basin, which includes the Ob and its tributaries. In addition to construction materials, oil cargo makes up a significant share of transportation. The main ports are Novosibirsk, Tobolsk, Surgut, Labytnangi, Tyumen. The third in Russia is the Northern Dvina basin with its tributaries Sukhona and Vychegda. A significant share of its transportation is made up of timber cargo. The main ports are Arkhangelsk and Kotlas.
River transport is of great importance in the northeastern part of Russia, where there are virtually no networks of other modes of transport. The bulk of cargo is delivered to these territories in the summer or from the south of railway(along the Yenisei from Krasnoyarsk, along the Lena from Ust-Kut), or from the mouths of rivers, where goods are delivered by sea.
Water transport Russia is divided into two types: sea and river transport.
Maritime transport important due to Russia's geographic location. Sea transportation is one of the cheapest modes of transport, thanks to the huge carrying capacity of ships and the relatively straight routes of their movement. But this type of transport requires significant costs for the construction of ships and ports and is highly dependent on natural conditions. Maritime transport has a complex economy: fleet, ports, ship repair yards. In terms of the number of merchant ships, the Russian fleet is among the top five in the world, along with Japan, Panama, Greece, and the USA. But the average wear rate of the fleet is more than 50%, and many types of vessels (tankers, cargo-passenger, container) are in short supply.
The growth of maritime transport depends not only on the fleet, but also on the number of ports and their capacity. There are 39 ports in Russia different sizes, but relatively major ports only 11. Distribution of fleet and ports between sea basins, and, consequently, the role of these basins in Russian maritime transport is not the same.
The first place in cargo turnover belongs to the ports of the Pacific Basin (Vostochny, Vanino, Vladivostok, Nakhodka), which supply the northeast of the country with goods and establish connections with Asian countries and Australia. About 25% is concentrated here Russian fleet. Main disadvantage This basin is very remote from the most developed regions of the country.
In second place is the Baltic Basin, which provides connections with the countries of Europe and America. It has extremely favorable geographical location. But here Russia has few ports (St. Petersburg, Vyborg, Kaliningrad).
Oil is mainly exported through the ports of the Black Sea basin (Novorossiysk). With the reconstruction of other ports (Tuapse, Anapa, Sochi), the importance of this basin in the transportation of other types of cargo will increase. However, the development of the port industry here is in conflict with another important function Black Sea coast– recreational.
The Northern Sea passes through the seas of the Northern Basin sea route having great importance for life support in the regions of the Far North and export to " Mainland» products from these areas. The major ports of this basin are Arkhangelsk and Murmansk.
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Rice. 1. Maritime transport of Russia |
River transport plays important role in those areas where high-water rivers flow, and the creation of land transport requires a lot of money and time. Mainly these are areas of the North zone. It is profitable to transport bulk cargo that does not require fast delivery (timber, oil, grain, building materials) along rivers.
Russia's navigable river routes belong to different basins. The main one among them is the Volga-Kama basin, to which the economically most developed part of the country gravitates. This is the core of the Unified Deep-Sea System of the European part of Russia.
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Rice. 2. River transport in Russia |
Aviation transport is the only mode of transport that covers almost all areas of the country. But due to the high cost, the volume of cargo transported by it is small. Airplanes deliver cargo to hard-to-reach areas and transport particularly valuable or perishable products. Main specialization air transport– transportation of passengers to long distances. The main problem of air transport is old park airplanes.
The country's largest air hubs are located in Moscow (Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo, Vnukovo airports), St. Petersburg (Pulkovo), Yekaterinburg (Koltsovo), Novosibirsk (Tolmachevo), Krasnodar, Sochi, Kaliningrad, Samara.
1. What is the meaning water transport in the development of the Russian economy?
Water transport is natural routes, inexpensive to operate, and mass transportation of goods and passengers. Largest single load capacity. The role of water transport is most significant where there are no other types.
2. Choose the correct answer. River transport has great value: a) in Primorsky and Khabarovsk territories; b) in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and the Magadan region; c) in the Moscow and Saratov regions.
Correct answer: a) in the Primorsky and Khabarovsk territories.
3. Describe maritime transport. List largest ports countries.
Maritime transport in Russia serves mainly foreign trade. The only region in which intra-district maritime transport plays an important role is Far East, Where northeastern territories are supplied with everything necessary from the ports of the southern part of the region.
The largest ports of the country:
Pacific basin: Vladivostok, Nakhodka;
Baltic basin: St. Petersburg, Primorsk, Ust-Luga, Vyborg, Kaliningrad;
Black Sea-Azov basin: Novorossiysk, Tuapse, Sevastopol;
Northern basin: Arkhangelsk, Murmansk.
4. Choose the correct answer. Large port The Pacific basin is: a) St. Petersburg; b) Murmansk; c) Vladivostok; d) Novorossiysk.
Correct answer: c) Vladivostok.
5. Name the features of air transport.
Air transport is the most expensive, but also the fastest.
6. What is transport hub? What is the importance of transport hubs?
A transport hub is a point where several modes of transport or several transport routes converge, and cargo is transshipped from one mode of transport to another.
Transport hubs provide connectivity various types transport.
7. What types of transport will you use to get from home to Arkhangelsk, Perm, Astrakhan, Magadan and why? Through which settlements will your path pass? Create detailed itineraries.
We will travel from home (Chelyabinsk) to Arkhangelsk by plane, because the distance to the final destination is quite large (more than 2 thousand km). Our route will pass through Moscow (1 change).
We will get from home (Chelyabinsk) to Perm by train, because... The distance between cities is not long, and the trip is not expensive. Our route will pass through Yekaterinburg.
We will travel from home (Chelyabinsk) to Astrakhan by plane, because the distance to the final destination is quite large (more than 1.5 thousand km). Our route will pass through Moscow (1 change).
We will travel from home (Chelyabinsk) to Magadan by plane, because the distance to the final destination is quite large (more than 5 thousand km). Our route will pass through Moscow and Novosibirsk (2 transfers).
8. Smart technologies are actively developing in the world today transport systems(ITS), allowing you to optimize traffic and above all, increase its safety. With the help of modern electronic systems Data on the situation on the roads is collected in special centers where they are analyzed. The results are then sent back to the roads, along which boards are installed to inform drivers about the traffic situation. Information for drivers can also be transmitted using mobile phones, radios and navigation systems. How do you see the development of this sector in Russia in the next 10 years?
When using ITS systems, travel time will be reduced and the choice of route or mode of transport will be optimized, and the efficiency of use will increase transport infrastructure. Vehicle users will be able to avoid wasting time in traffic jams, searching for parking, especially at the entrances to the city, and achieve the final goals of their trip to the shortest possible time. The most efficient transport services will be aimed at speeding up traffic flow and reducing congestion on key routes.
