What is the largest plateau in the world?

The snowy plateau is the guiding pole, and the South Pole is the coldest place in the world. 66.5 ~90 degrees south latitude. Because it belongs to the polar region, the sun is the weakest, so it is the coldest. Because Antarctica is a continent, it is much colder than the North Pole. Even in summer in the southern hemisphere (65438+February ~ March), it is more than 30 degrees below zero.

Therefore, the whole continent of Antarctica is frozen by ice and snow. Antarctica's original altitude was not very high, but snow slowly formed a thick layer of ice, covering the land of Antarctica. This layer of ice is more than 2000 meters, wrapping the Antarctic into a plateau. Therefore, the ice and snow plateau is named like this. It is also the largest plateau in the world. The area is 6.5438+0.28 million square kilometers. It is more than twice the size of the Brazilian Plateau, which is often called the "largest plateau". It is only because this icy continent is uninhabited that people call the Brazilian Plateau the largest plateau.

planaltobrasileiro

It is a vast plateau located in Brazil in the east of South America, covering an area of over 5 million square kilometers, making it the second largest plateau in the world (second only to the Antarctic ice and snow plateau).

geographical environment

topography

The Brazilian Plateau is located in the east of South America, between 5 and 30 degrees south latitude, bordering the Amazon Plain in the north, the foothills of the Andes in the west, the La Plata Plain in the south and the Atlantic Ocean in the east. The Brazilian Plateau is an ancient plateau, which developed on the Brazilian platform. The ancient basement rock series consists of granite, gneiss, schist, phyllite and quartzite. The surface undulation is relatively gentle, and the terrain is inclined to the north and northwest. Most of them have the characteristics of rising quasi-plains, with an altitude of 500m ~ 1 0,500 m.

Fold geology and geomorphology

Because of the different specific conditions, uplift degree and lithology of each part of the structure, there are obvious differences in topographic characteristics. The eastern part (east of the San Francisco River) belongs to the Atlantic shield, which was uplifted by Proterozoic folding movement and Neogene faults. After long-term erosion and quasi-planarization, the present undulating plateau has been formed.

climate

The southern part of the plateau crosses the subtropical zone and is close to the equator of the earth, so the climate is hot and the seasonal distribution of precipitation is relatively uniform and large, belonging to the tropical grassland climate. It mainly grows tropical savanna plants and is a rich area of Chinese fir in South America.

The most widely distributed climate in the Brazilian Plateau is the savanna climate, followed by the rainforest climate, and the least distributed is the subtropical humid climate. There are high ridges in the eastern part of the Brazilian Plateau, and huge cliffs are formed along the Atlantic coast from Rio de Janeiro to Santos. The cliff bears the plateau, faces the ocean and overlooks the Atlantic Ocean, just like an iron wall standing on the other side of the ocean.

mineral resources

Brazil Plateau is not only an important producing area of Brazil's agriculture and animal husbandry, but also rich in iron, manganese, diamonds and other mineral deposits. The plateau is particularly rich in mineral resources, including iron, manganese, lead, zinc, chromium, nickel, tin, timely crystal, mica and other minerals. Among them, the "Four Corners of Iron Mine" centered on Itabila is a world-famous large-scale iron mine with high quality. There is a large area of lava on the parana river Valley Plateau south of 20 south latitude.

Plateau life

Brazil is divided into five climatic zones: humid equatorial zone, humid tropical zone, semi-humid tropical zone, semi-arid tropical zone and humid subtropical zone. The average temperature rises slowly from south to north. However, although the Amazon basin is located in the equatorial belt, the temperature is not as high as people think, with the average temperature not exceeding 27℃ and the highest temperature not exceeding 36℃. The average temperature in plateau cities such as Brasilia and Sao Paulo is only 19℃, and the climate is pleasant. The average temperature in the south subtropical region is 16℃-20℃, and in some places with high terrain, the average temperature is only 10℃, and sometimes it snows in winter. However, the humidity in all parts of Brazil is quite high, especially in coastal areas. The annual rainfall varies from region to region. The maximum annual rainfall in humid equatorial Amazon region is1500mm-2500mm. Only August-10 is the rainy season.

Some Brazilians live in the Brazilian plateau because of its good climate and rich products. Brazil is an immigrant country for Europeans, and Europe can find weather similar to their country from the plateau. For example, portoalegre in the south is a famous German settlement. Sao Paulo and Rio, Brazil's largest states, are places where plains and plateaus meet. It does not completely belong to the plain or plateau. Brasilia is located in the center of the Brazilian plate. In order to promote the economic and political development of the country and the poor public security in Rio, the capital was moved here from the original Rio.