Chulym-Enisei Basin

Chulym-Enisei Basin 

(also Enisei-Chulym Basin), the northern part of the vast intermontane Minusinsk Depression in the southern part of Krasnoiarsk Krai. The basin is bounded on the east by spurs of the Vostochnyi Saian, on the west by the Kuznetskii Alatau, on the north by the Solgon Ridge, and on the south by the Batenevskii Ridge. The terrain consists mainly of rolling hills, with melkosopochnik in the south (seeMELKOSOPOCHNIK). Elevations range from 170 m to 500–550 m.

The basin is composed mainly of sandstones, conglomerates, shales, and extrusive rocks of the Paleozoic and Mesozoic, during which deposits of brown coal were formed. The Enisei River flows along the eastern margin of the basin, and the Chulym River runs through the central and western parts. Characteristic of the area are broad hollows and a large number of lakes, including Lakes Shira and Bele. Typical grass steppes have developed in the south on common and southern chernozems; forest steppes are found in the north and in the foothills on alkaline chernozems and gray forest soils. The Chulym-Enisei Basin is an important agricultural region of Krasnoiarsk Krai.