Brief geographical description of the Perm Region

The Perm Region is situated in the north-east of the East European Plain and at the western mountainside of the Middle and North Ural. In the north it borders with the Komi Republic, in the west – with the Komi-Permiatskiy Autonomous Region, the Kirov Region and the Udmurt Republic, in the south – with the Bashkortostan Republic, in the east – with the Sverdlovsk Region. The Perm Region runs from north to south for 600 km. Its northernmost point is situated at the latitude of 61 ° 39 ' north, the southernmost one – at the latitude of 56 ° 06 ' north. From west to east the Region is 300 km long. It runs from the longitude of 53 ° 43 ' to 59 ° 39 ' east. The area of the Perm Region is 127,500 km2. The Region is one of the most developed industrial regions. The key industry is the heavy one (machine-building, chemical industry and timber industry). Extractive industry (timber, oil, minerals) and light industry are also well developed. In the Region there are networks of railway lines and motor roads, water and pipeline transport. Agriculture is directed towards grain growing and cattle-breeding. In 1999 land structure was the following (Состояние и охрана окружающей среды (State of environment and environmental protection)…, 2000): lands covered with forest owned by Public Forest Fund – 52.8%; lands for agricultural purposes – 28.7 % ; waters – 2.2%; roads, industry, communication – 0.7% ; populated area – 3.2%; forest lands that are not covered with forest – 6%; reserve lands – 4.2%; nature reserves– 2.2%.

The western part of the Perm Region is situated in the eastern margin of the East European Plate. This is a large framework of the earth's crust, the basement of which consists of metamorphically altered sedimentary and magmatic rocks converted into gneisses and schists of Archaean and Lower-Proterozoic eras. Plate basement lies 1 km beneath the surface. It is covered by sedimentary cover.

In the west of the Region in the submeridional direction wide streak of deposits lies. It belongs to the Tartar stage of the Permian system upper layer. Top layer consists of reddish, pinkish and grayish clay. The deposits are arenaceous interstratifying with limestones and marls. In some areas sandstones outcrop so that they cause formation of texturally light soil.

Further to the east a streak of deposit forming the Kazanian stage of the Permian system upper layer occurs. These deposits consist of foxy and broccoli-brown clay, marl interstratifying with grey and greenish-grey subcalcareous sandstone. Occasionally one can find in these deposits lenses of conglomerates and narrow bands of limestones and pinkish-brown marl. Clays are consolidated. Often they are used as a bed for subsoil waters.
To the east from the Kazanian stage streak carbonate-sulphate thickness of the Kungurian stage of the Permian system lower layer occurs. It consists of dolomite limestone, dolomite, gypsum and anhydrite.

Still further to the east a streak of Artinskian stage rock occurs. These deposits are characterized by presence of schistose carbonate, reef-type cut with organogenic structure which is followed by terrigenous-type cut in the east.

In submountain and partly in mountain region of Ural a streak of Carbonic and Devonian measures occurs. Carbonic period is represented by deposits and it is carboniferous. Devonian layer consists of carbonate and terrigenous rock that is to a variable degree clayey. In some areas sediment of the Agnotozoic era Sorbian system outcrops.

The mountain region of the Ural mainly consists of metamorphosed rocks. In a number of central and northwestern regions Mezozoic, paleogene and neogene rocks occur. Mentioned above basement rocks are covered by quaternary deposits, upper layers of which consist of source soil-forming materials. They include sedentary glacial clay and argillaceous sand ground, fluvio-glacial, glaciolacustrine and superficial sands and sandy loams and eluvium.

The Region relief is characterized by a wide variety. The western part (abt 75% of the territory) is situated at the north-eastern margin of the East European Plate and in the Preural fore deep. In this area dominates flat and callow relief. Eastern part is a mountainous region that includes western mountainsides of southern part of the Northern Ural and northern part of the Middle Ural.

Within the Perm Region situated on the East European Plain they distinguish three geomorphological regions. They are the Nothern ridges, the

Verkhnekamskaya Eminence and the Tulvinskaya Eminence.

As the Nothern Ridges are situated at the north-east of the Tcherdinskiy Region only their eastern part is within the Perm Region bounds.  Its average absolute altitude doesn’t exceed 220 - 240 m. In general the relief is gentle. Slightly hilly divides lengthen into gentle slopes that go down to wide river valleys. Fluvioglacial sediments of maximum ice era are very important for surface morphology. They are mainly formed by drift clay with rubble. A number of areas are vastly swamped.  

Only eastern part of the Verkhnekamskaya Eminence is within the region.  Its average absolute altitude varies from 240m to 280 m. The relief is characterized by hilly divides and irregularity of the terrain contiguous to river valleys. In this region vestiges of maximum ice remained, they are represented by drift clay that can be found in the northern part of the eminence. A number of saddles are swamped. Direct continuation of the Verkhnekamskaya Eminence in the south-east is Okhanskaya Eminence which is characterized by rugged relief. Its average absolute altitude reaches 220 - 240 m, maximum altitude is 327 m.

The Tulvinskaya Eminence is surrounded by three rivers: Kama, Silva and Iren. It is separated from the Okhanskaya Eminence by wide valley of the Kama River. The highest peaks, the altitude of which is 402-446 m high, are situated in the center of the eminence eastern part. Despite the fact that the Tulvinskaya Eminence is significantly higher than the Okhanskaya one it is much less rugged than the latter one. The quantity of bogs is insignificant. In the south-west the Tulvinskaya Eminence is followed by the Buyskaya (Fokinskaya) undulating plain with lowlands that reach 250 – 150 m. So the region seams to be slightly undulating and in some areas even flat.

The Veslianskaya Plain separates the Nothern ridges from the Verkhnekamskaya Eminence. Its average absolute altitude is 140 - 150 m. The plain gradually turns into surrounding it eminences.  Practically the whole territory of the plain is covered with quaternary deposits. Among them are alluvial, peat, glacial and glacifluvial ones. The plain is swamped. There are mainly upland and transitional swamps.

In the Preural fore deep situated to the east from the East European Plate margin three geomorphological regions are distinguished. They are the Preural depression, the Preural high hilly plain, the Ufimian upland where Silvinskiy Ridge is situated.

The Preural depression is located at the western margin of the Preural fore deep and in the area intermediate to the East European Plate. Well-marked large lengthwise depression influences significantly river network morphology of the region. The fact that the depression includes a large lowland plain with slight drainage favors formation of humid zone that causes the territory swamping. That comes into particular prominence in the northern part of the region where the largest swamps are situated.  

The Preural high hilly plain is located between the Preural depression and ridge-like mountain side of the Ural. The relief is characterized by hilly terrain, hills altitude is different. The avarage absolute altitudes are 200-250 m, the highest are up to 350 - 380 m . The river wash had profound effect on the relief; under its influence the area took its present hilly terrain. In this area karst topography dominates in particular collapsed craters most of which are filled with water and turned to lakes.

Only northern part of the Ufimian upland is situated within the Perm Region. The area located along the valley of the Silva River is called the Silvinskiy Ridge. In general the upland relief is flat and in a number of area - hilly. Though erosive dissection in the region is rather deep it is rare to be found; in some areas karst topography presents. In general at the upland limestone of Artinskian stage, and dolomite and plaster-stone of Kungurian stage occur. Altitudes reach 300-350 m; the maximum altitude is 403 m. To the north the altitudes are lower and the ones of the Silvinskiy Ridge are no higher than 280-300 m.

In the eastern part of the region western slopes of The Ural highlands are situated. In the Urals another three geomorphological regions are located. They are the regions of hills and ridges of the Ural western mountainside, of the medium-height mountains of the Northern Ural, and of low mountains of the Middle Ural.

The region of hills and ridges of the Ural western mountainside runs within the Perm region from the upper reaches of the Kolva River in the north to the source of the Barda River in the south. It is 100 km wide in the north and 50 km – in the south. The average altitudes of the region are 400-450 m;  only some peaks reach 700-750m altitude. The highest peak is Pamianiniy Kamen (780). Rock structure had great impact on the relief formation. The highest ridges consist of  the most erosion resistant rocks such as quartzitic conglomerate, sandstone and some other.  In many areas one can found karsted relief.  Most great rivers flow in deep (up to 150 m and higher) hillside valleys; sheer cliffs of 70 m and higher are often to be found.
The medium-height mountains of the Northern Ural are located in the south-eastern and eastern part of the Perm Region. The highest ridges and separate mountain ranges are situated in this area. Some of them are more than 1,000 m high. The highest peaks are Vagulskiy Kamen ( 1,066 m), Beliy Kamen ( 1,086 m), Oyka-tchakhl( 1,322 м ), Isherim (1,331 m), Muroviniy Kamen Ridge(1,351 m), Tulimskiy Kamen Ridge (1,469 m). The mountain ranges have different tops – from flat to peaked ones.  Flat-topped ridges are more common. The relief is characterized by numerous terraces on the mountains represented by large benchs on the mountainside.  Many of the mountains ranges are above timberline and have vast zones of bald mountains that are often covered with rock alluvial deposit.

The boundary between the Northern and Middle Ural is usually drawn either along the south bottom of Kosvinskiy Kamen mountain or along the south bottom of Oslianka mountain. The more informed opinion is seams to be the one of A.K. Matveev (1984). He considered that south border of the Northern Ural should be set along the south bottom of Katchkanar Mount (878m) as this is the place where area of highlands finishes and the law mountains of the Middle Ural starts where the altitude of peaks is no higher than 800 m. Near this border only small part of mountainous area is situated, the rest of the territory allocates in the Sverdlovsk Region.  

The Middle Ural land form is more ridge-like than mountainous. The slopes are usually gentle with a prominent transverse profile in the top and concave one in the bottom. The tops surface is usually uneven. There are no zones of bald mountains as even the highest mountains are below timberline.

In terms of hydrological characteristics the borders are drawn rather naturally as in most cases they go along major watersheds of the European part of Russia. In the east the border lies along mountain ridges of the Urals which is the main watershed between Europe and Asia. The border goes along the Northern Ridges in the north- west of the region. A part of the border is drawn between catch land of the Caspian Sea in the south and of the Barents Sea in the north. The western border of the region lies along the Verkhnekamskaya Eminence which is also a watershed between the rivers flowing into the Kama River in its upper reach and middle course and into the Viatka River.

In the lowlands of the region central part the valley of the Kama River runs from north to south. A lot of inflows run towards it from the highlands of the region forming a natural enclosed region called Perm Prikamye.

According to the classification made by A.M. Kolomnev and E.A. Tchernikh (1984) there are two large rivers (Kama and Tchusovaya), 40 middle-sized and about 29,000 small ones, 1,400 rivers out of them are more than 10km long.

Today due to water engineering the Kama River is divided into two regions: the Upper Kama  (from the western boarder of the region to the source of the Vishera River) and the Middle Kama (from Kamskoe and  Votkinskoye water basin to the source of the Silva River).
Banks of Kama are mostly flat, swamped, with plenty of lakes at bottomland. During summer shallow period the usual depth is 1 – 1.5 m; the maximum one is 5 - 6 m. The width of the river varies from 80 to 250 m.

After construction of the Kamskaya (1953) and Votkinskaya(1961)  hydroelectric power stations that have raised water-level near dams by 21-23 m, the Middle Kama flow turned to be regulated. Due to that the water-level in tributaries that flow into Kama before dams has raised and bottomlands has been flooded that has changed groundwater level at the areas situated near the dams. Among other consequences are the following: wind-induced wave strengthened; ravine erosion increased; destruction and reformation of banks, underflooding and swamping caused by groundwater level increasing.

The majority of Kama tributaries are lowland rivers.  These are all right -bank tributaries and a number of left-bank ones (Yuznaya Keltma, Tulva, Saygatka).  They are characterized by steady flow, tortuous river-course with numerous meanders and by anabranches; there are former river-beds and lakes in bottomlands. The left-bank tributaries that have their rises in the Ural Mountains, in the highlands are typically mountain rivers with rapid streams, rifts and rapids but when they are going through a plain they loose their characteristics of mountain rivers. Along many of the rivers ponds are situated, 50 of them were created 150-200 years ago near old Ural factories such as (Ivanova, Neulibina, Tchernikh, 1984).  

There are about 800 of lakes (with the area of more than 0.01 km2) in the region. Most of them are floodplain lakes. Other lakes are situated in karst topography areas in the form of a dish filled up with water during snow melting. A number of these lakes are allocated in lowlands (Matarzin, 1959). The largest lakes are Tchusovskoye Lake (19.4 km2), Bolshoy Kumikush Lake (17.8 km2), Novozhilovo Lake (7.12 km2).

The Urals influence greatly on the Perm Region climate. They hold humid air mass coming from the Atlantic Ocean. Due to terrain features the climate characteristics are different in different areas. For example, in eastern regions that are situated along the Ural Ridge more precipitations fall out (by 100-200 mm per annum) in comparison with the western and southern regions. The duration of frost-free period in this region is 30-40 days shorter, and thickness of snow cover is larger etc.

There is continental climate in the Perm Region. Winters are cold, long and snowy, summers are warm and short. Coefficient of continentality according to N.N. Ivanov in the northern part of the region is 2 ° ,5 - 3 °,0, in the southern part - 4 ° ,0 - 4 ° ,5.

The absolute minimum registered at the region during observation period is -54 ° С. Still sometimes even in January temperature may rise up to a figure above zero (from 1.8 ° in the north up to 3.0 ° in the south). However due to thick snow cover these thaws don’t cause melting of snow cover.
July is the warmest month in the region.  The month temperature varies from 14,8 ° С in the north-east to 18,7 ° С in the south-west. Maximum air temperature in the north is 31 - 34 ° С, in the south is 38 - 40 ° С. But from time to time there may be night frosts (temperature falls to -1 ° - -4 °) in the regions in July.

Frost-free period lasts for 80 - 120 days in average but its duration is longer in the south. Sum of diurnal mean of air temperature above zero during the period when temperature is above 10 ° C accounts to 1250 - 1300 ° in the north-east and up to 1950 - 2000 ° in the south-west.

Annual precipitation reaches 450 - 600 mm at the plain area of the region and 700 - 1000 mm in the areas of foothills and medium-height mountains of the North Ural.  350 - 500 mm out of all annual precipitations fall during warm period. Maximum of precipitations fall on July (in the south) and on August (in the north). Minimum of precipitation fall on cold period of a year, in particular on February and March.

Formation of stable snow cover in the north of the region can be observed in the end of October, in the south – in the beginning of November. Average duration of snow cover bedding is 180 - 190 days, in the south - 170 - 180 days. Average thickness of snow cover varies in different areas. In the areas of foothills and mountains it accounts for 100 cm and more, whereas in the west and south-west it is 60 - 80 cm , and in little snow winters it is less than 60 cm. Stable snow cover melting in the north falls on the end of April, in the south – on the middle of April.

Average annual windspeed reaches 3 - 6 m/sec. Minimum windspeed falls on summer time. Maximum windspeed can be observed in March-May and October-November period. Predominating wind direction is to the south-west and to the west.

Physiographic features of the Preural region in post-glacial period caused predominating of podzolic soil formation process in the Perm Region. Along with it caespitose and uliginous processes are developed.  

Due to heterogeneity of mother rock, topographical conditions and flora the diversity of rocks may be observed in the Perm Region.
In the northern districts (the Ganskiy district, the Kotchevskiy district, the Kosinskiy district, the Tcherdinskiy district, the Usolskiy district and the western part of the Solikamskiy district) on the basis of relatively poor of basal complex covering loam and clay podzolicl soil and partly swamp-podzolic and bog soils developed.

In central and southern districts sod-podzol soils developed on the basis of eluvial glacial clay and loam that are richer of basal complex than covering deposits.

In all districts but mostly in central and southern parts of the region calcareous soil developed on the basis of lime source rocks. In law lands black earth of sod-gley type developed under mineralized ground water influence.  
In the region of the Ural foothills and in highlands mountain forest, mountain meadow and mountain tundra soils developed on basement rocks eluviums.

Special emphasis should be done on Kungurian forest-steppe outlier soils (in the Ordinskiy, Suksunskiy, Uinskiy, Oktiabrskiy districts and partly in the Kungurian and the Beresovskiy districts) such as podzolized and in small quantities of leached chernozem soil and forest-steppe taupe, grey and light-gray podzolized soils.

Throughout the region there are alluvial sod soils in rivers flood-lands and washed-off, drift and undeveloped soils at slopes, in the bottom of ravines and gullies, in flood-lands of small rivers, at steep slopes of ridges and rivers valleys.

Pictorial view about main soils occurrence throughout the region one can get from the soil regions map (fig. 1) set down by N.Y. Korotayev (1962).
Due to heterogeneity of relief, climate, soils, hydrological and geomorphological conditions of vegetation the Perm Region may be divided into 6 phytogeographical regions (fig. 2).

The regionofabietic spruce forests of middletaiga is situated in the northern and northern-western parts of the region the southern border goes along the direction of Yurla- Solikamsk, the eastern - along Aleksandrovsk – Krasnovisherck direction. Middle taiga forests are characterized by simple timber stand structure; shrub layer either is not presented or is undeveloped; field - fruticulose and moss layers are developed quite well.
Broadleaved woodland (Nemoral) elements are widely presented. The region is divided into two sub regions: the one where North Europe pinery and spruce forests dominate and the one with Kamsko - Pechoro – West Ural abietic spruce forests predominate. On the whole there are 85% of lands covered with forest in the region.

Theregionofabietic spruce forests of southtaiga is situated in the central part of the region; in the north it borders with the region of abietic spruce forests of middle taiga ; the southern border goes along Bolshaya Sosnovaya – Krasnokamsk – Dobrianka – Lisva direction; the eastern one – along Alecsondrovsk – Lisva line. South taiga forests have more complicated structure than middle taiga ones. They are characterized by predominating of boreal species and presence of Nemoral ones in timber stand and undergrowth, by coexistence of boreal and Nemoral species in field - fruticulose layer, by  considerable expansion by herbs in comparison with semifrutex and by predominating of forests with grass layer. Moss is shallow and not dense. This region belongs to sub province of Kamsko - Pechoro – West Ural of province of Ural – West Siberian taiga. It is divided into two sub regions. They are the one where agricultural lands predominate (25-50% of the territory) and the one with predominance of aspen and birch forests in the area of dark coniferous forests (agricultural lands account for 6-10%). Lands covered with forest in the first sub region amount to 35-55%, in the second one – to 75-85%

The region of broad-leaved abietic spruce forests is situated in the southern part of the Perm Region. In the north it borders with the region of abietic spruce forests of south taiga: eastern border goes along Lisva –Kordon direction. Forest structure of the region is the most complicated. It is characterized by coexistence of boreal and Nemoral species in timber stand  and their predominance in undergrowth and field layer. Tree layer consists of 2-3 sublayers, basis of 2 and 3 sublayer is represented by broad-leaved species such as tillet (Tilia parvifolia), elm (rarely), Norway maple (Acer platanoides), smooth-leaved elm (Ulmus carpinifolia) and English oak (Quercus robur). Shrub layer is usually developed in a good way. Herbage is dense, tall and consists of 3(4) sublayers.  It includes considerable proportion of fern and tall grasses, undershrubs are practically not presented. Moss cover is undeveloped. It usually grows near clumps of dark coniferous species. From north to south two community subareas change one another. They are the one of complex abietic spruce forests with Nemoral field layer and the other one of proper broad-leaved abietic spruce forests with Nemoral field layer. The change is gradual smoothed over by man activities. The border goes along Tchatiye – Ossa – Uinskoye direction. Lands covered with forest account for 30-45%, agricultural lands – for 35-55% of the territory.

TheregionofKungurian forest-steppe outlier is situated in the area of broad-leaved abietic spruce forests between the Silva and the Iren rivers. Small forest outliers are allocated at hills. These are mainly birch and aspen forests with Nemoral field layer and presence of linden and elm, piny ones with presence of Siberian larch (Larix sibirica) and usually with linden in undergrowth and piedmont forests with field layer. High bed-rock banks are characterized by limestone outcrops called “stones” that are alternated by matted areas covered with meadow and forest vegetation. Steppe areas are situated both at plane watersheds and at slopes. The region is ameliorated, agricultural lands amount to 40-55% of the total area, whereas lands covered with forest account for 10 - 20%.

Theregionofabietic spruce forests and spruce abietic forests of middleandsouthtaigais situated at the east of the Perm Region, at foothills of the Middle and North Ural.  Foothills forest of the middle taiga differs from plane ones due to admixture of fir and cedar (Siberian cedar), to predominance of herbs over undershrubs and to vast occurrence of forests with grass layer (with Filices one in particular). Presence of more Nemoral species and a more vast diversity of forests with grass layer are also distinguishing features of south taiga foothills forests.  

Siberian species are vastly represented. Larch and cedar are common in the region. A bounder between foothills forests of middle and south taiga goes along Solicamsk latitude. On the whole it is a forest region (lands covered with forest amount to 85-95% of the total area) but due to active deforestation vast territories are covered with birch woods and mixed forests. The highest mountains in the region (Oslianka Mountain – 1,119 m, Sr. Baseg Mountain – 994 m, Zolotoy Kamen – 780 m and some others) have well-defined altitudinal zonality with the cover typical for mountains forests of north and middle taiga. There are few lakes in the region (mainly secondary ones). They cover no more than 0.5-1.5% of the area.  Though in this region more precipitations fall out in comparison with the regions of middle and north taiga forests, the area is less waterlogged (peatbogs cover 1 - 2% of the total area). This is due to broken ground and abundance of big and small rivers. The same as in the Kungurian forest-steppelimestone outcrops (“stones”) are typical. One can see them both along steep banks and in large ravines. Agriculture is not developed; no more than 2.5% of lands are used for agricultural purposes.

Theregionof cedar fir mountain forests of north and middle taiga occupies a small territory at north-east of the Perm Region, in the Krasnovishevsk District. Peculiarities of mountain forests are tree layer sparsity, natural impurity of  white birch (Betula pubescens), presence of cedar. Undergrowth is sparse and depauperate genus. In field- undershrub layer hypoarctic and  boreal species predominate, arctalpine plants can be found, undershrub predominance is typical, species diversity is not wide. Moss cover is vigorous, in number of areas it is replaced by beds of fruticose lichen. The border between forests of north and middle taiga lies along Wales latitude. Tundra outliers with large number of arctoalpine species and with crustose and foliose lichen are situated at high tops of the Urals. Birch and fir crooked forest, high and low-grass alpestrine meadow. The highest mountains of the Perm Region are situated in this region. A number of them are more than 1,000 m above sea level. Due to this altitudinal zonality is well-defined.

The Perm Region fauna is represented by 62 species of mammals, 270 ones of birds, 42 - of fish, 6 – of vermigrades and by 9 species of amphibian. Many of them are objects of commercial and amateur hunting and fishery.

Due to landscape diversity the perm Region may be classified as one of the most interesting regions of Russia from physiographic point of view. At relatively small area from east to west middle mountain landscape represented by elongated along meridian ridges with alpine land form is followed by plane waterlogged lowlands separated by small eminences. Mountain tundra situated in intermontane cols of the North Ural (the Tulimskiy Kamen Ridge, Isherim Mount, the Olkhovochniy Ridge ets) is followed by mountain (alpestrine) meadows, birch crooked forest that are changed by mountain taiga forests.

In the north-south direction the same contrasting changes of landscape are observed. The landscape of the north of the Perm Region plane part (approximately up to latitude of Solicamsk town) is of middle taiga type, the one of the central part is of south taiga type and the latter is followed by subtaiga type landscape (broad-leaved- coniferous) approximately from latitude of Osa town.
The «island» of forest-steppe type landscape (the Kungurian forest-steppe) is the unique phenomena for woodland Pricamye. It is situated on the northern margin of the Ufimian  table (the Silvinskiy ridge).

We should mention that though relief with vegetation is an important landscape forming component that determine physiognomic identity of each landscape type (there’re more than 30 of them in the Perm Region) considerable proportion of its unique features is connected with geology peculiarities. Closely folded metamorphised and sedimentary rocks of the Ural at the Russian Plain are followed by palaeozoic sedimentary cover represented on the surface by deposits of the Permian stage. Rock structure consists of clay rock, siltstones, sandstone, glomeration and of some other terrigenous variations that are river-borne (alluvium of old streams) and due to that under influence of physical deflation they turn into tophaceous, loamy or clay soil-forming rock mass that are from few centimeters to few meters deep.

At the south-eastern part of the region large territory is represented by outcropped karst rocks such as limestone, dolomite, plaster-stone and anhydrite. Under influence of exogenetic process karst topography determining to a great extent the region landscape view has developed here.
Genesis of recent deposit (overburden ones) is the geology factor that distinctly complicates landscape structure of the region. It is known that this rocks aggregation didn’t run in the same way in different regions of Pricamiye: with different intensity and under different processes influence. That is why their structure and depth change dramatically from one area to another: from shingle and sand to clay and turf, from few cm to dozens and even to hundreds of meters (bottoms intermontane depression, old valleys of big rivers).

Spatial differentiation of the territory, soil and superficial water is a result of interaction among regional climate pecularities (mesoclimate), geology, relief and vegetation cover. For example, soil variations of the region include formations with different qualities such as podzol and chernozem, а stream frequencies differ from 2.0-3.0 km/km2 up to zero value (central part of the Ufimian table). Landscape that unites all individual (component-wise) features of topological level geosystems (facies and tract) into a new territorial community is the main taxonomic unit of landscape  differentiation of the Perm Region. According to landscape mapping and classification (Nazarov, 1996) in Pricamiye these geosystems form 3 types (taiga, subtaiga and forest-steppe), 2 classes (plain and mountain) and 18 views of landscape. Moreover main taxonomic levels are divided into subtypes and subclasses of landscape (fig.3).

A.G. Voronov, N.N. Nazarov, S.A. Ovesnov, K.K. Skriptchinskiy