Kuban-Azov Lowland

(also Kuban’ Lowland), a plain in western Ciscaucasia, to the north of the lower Kuban’. It is bounded on the west by the Sea of Azov, on the north by the lower reaches of the Don and Manych rivers, and on the east by the Stavropol’ Upland. The lowland lies at an elevation of 100–150 m and is composed of sedimentary rocks of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic, covered by loesslike loams and clays. There are deposits of natural gas in the northwest. The climate is moderately continental, and the region receives from 400 to 600 mm of precipitation annually. The steppes with their chernozem soils, chiefly calcareous Ciscaucasian chernozems, have been largely plowed up. The lowland is an important grain-producing region of the Northern Caucasus.