Physicogeographical Province

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Province, Physicogeographical

 

a taxonomic unit of physical geographic zonation. A physicogeographical province is usually identified within a physical geographic zone by morphostructural characteristics (lowlands and uplands in the middle of platform plains, isolated mountain masses) and provincial climatic features (moisture, degree of continentality). It encompasses landscapes within a physicogeographical region that belong to a single zonal type and are close in age and origin. In highlands, physicogeographical provinces are identified within regions by the prevalence of a particular type of altitudi-nal zonality.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.