Span and Topography
As a geographic area Bălţi steppe is one of the three components of the Moldavian Plain, which in turn is one of the six compenents of the Moldavian Plateau. Despite the name, Bălţi steppe is not a flatland, but a region dotted with hills.
In Moldova, Bălţi steppe, 1,920 km^2, and Middle Prut Valley, 2,930 km^2 are sometimes together referred to as Moldavian Plain, however one should be warned that in Romania the latter term is used as a synonym for the Jijia Plain. Before 1940 the term used to mean Jijia Plain plus Middle Prut Valley plus Bălţi steppe, because the three regions have an identical relief and natural vegetation. To make the things even more complicated, in Moldova sometimes Bălţi steppe and Middle Prut Valley are lumped together into one term, Bălţi steppe. Together, they cover the municipality of Bălţi, the districts of Glodeni, Râşcani, and Făleşti, as well as parts of Drochia, Sângerei, and Ungheni districts.
The waters of the Bălţi steppe fall into the Răut river, while those of the Middle Prut Valley fall into the Prut river.
Bălţi steppe has altitudes of cca. 200m, lower than the surrounding Central Moldavian Plateau (to its south), and Dniester Hills (to its north and east). The surrounding hills are characterized by deep gorges, and the terms plain and steppe are employed to denote the fact that the area in-between the hill formations is visibly more lean and less slant.
Read more about this topic: Bălţi Steppe
Famous quotes containing the words span and/or topography:
“To me, however, the question of the times resolved itself into a practical question of the conduct of life. How shall I live? We are incompetent to solve the times. Our geometry cannot span the huge orbits of the prevailing ideas, behold their return, and reconcile their opposition. We can only obey our own polarity.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“That the mere matter of a poem, for instance—its subject, its given incidents or situation; that the mere matter of a picture—the actual circumstances of an event, the actual topography of a landscape—should be nothing without the form, the spirit of the handling, that this form, this mode of handling, should become an end in itself, should penetrate every part of the matter;Mthis is what all art constantly strives after, and achieves in different degrees.”
—Walter Pater (1839–1894)