All rivers of the Arctic Ocean basin flow through Eurasia and North America. For example, the largest American river Mackenzie. This article will consider some of the rivers of the Arctic Ocean in Russia, since among them are the largest water arteries of the planet. In addition, about sixty-five percent of the water flows in our country belong to the Arctic Ocean basin. Among them, the largest contribution is made by such rivers as the Pechora, Northern Dvina, Ob, Khatanga, Yenisei, Lena, Kolyma, Indigirka and many others.
Features of the rivers of the Arctic Ocean
These water streams near the ocean flow through the plains and lowlands. Therefore, their lower course is calm, and there are no special obstacles on the way. The rivers of the Arctic Ocean basin are covered with ice for a very long time. Food is mainly snow and rain. In the spring, there is a rise in the water level by 10-15 meters. This is due to the fact that the rivers of the Arctic Ocean basin flow mainly to the north,and ice downstream melts later than upstream. Therefore, traffic jams and ice dams are formed.
Northern Dvina
The Northern Dvina carries its waters through the lands of two subjects of the Russian Federation - the Arkhangelsk and Vologda regions. The mighty river flows into the White Sea, which opens into the waters of the northern ocean. Its "net" length is 0.7 thousand km, together with Sukhona - 1.3 thousand km, and if we count together with Vychegda - then 1.8 thousand km.
The river delta occupies a significant area, stretching over an area 37 kilometers long and 45 kilometers wide. Here the river breaks into numerous branches and channels (about one hundred and fifty). The flow of river water at the mouth is three and a half thousand cubic meters per second.
The water regime of the Northern Dvina
The predominant type of food is snow. The Northern Dvina is covered with an ice shell from late October to early November, and freed from it from early April to early May. When the river breaks up in the spring, there are often traffic jams, the ice drift is quite stormy.
The basin of the Northern Dvina is huge, it is 360 thousand km2. Its main tributaries are the rivers of the Arctic Ocean basin: Pinega, Vychegda, Yelitsa, Vaga and others. There are more than 27 species of ichthyofauna.
Historical value
It is interesting that the Northern Dvina is navigable almost throughout its entire length (the duration of shipping routes, together with numerous tributaries, is fivehalf a thousand kilometers). Since 1989, regular passenger traffic has been operating on the river. Until now, the oldest in Russia motor ship "Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol", which left the shipyards back in 1911, is still walking on its water mirror.
The Northern Dvina has played a significant role in historical processes. For example, during the events of the Patriotic War of 1812, according to historians, it was practically the only connection between Russia and the countries of Europe. And in World War II, a significant proportion of Lend-Lease supplies (military equipment, equipment and materials supplied from Europe and the USA to the warring Soviet Union) passed along the river. In addition, historians sometimes call the river "the gateway to the Arctic" because more than two hundred research expeditions started along the river to the Arctic regions.
Pechora
The river flows through two subjects of the Russian Federation - the Nenets Autonomous Okrug and the Komi Republic. It begins in the Western Urals with three sources. According to various estimates, the length of the river is from 1.7 to 1.9 thousand kilometers. According to the nature of its flow, it is divided into three parts: upper, middle and lower.
Upper, Middle and Lower Pechora
The Upper Pechora region, 400 kilometers long, is not inhabited and little studied. In this part, the river has a pronounced mountainous character, which is expressed in a rapid current, a winding channel, high rocky banks, a narrow river valley is covered with coniferous vegetation.
Width of Upper Pechoraranges from 10 to 120 meters. The river here is shallow, reaching two and a half meters.
Middle Pechora is a section 1, 2 thousand kilometers long, from the mouth of the Volosyanitsa to the mouth of the Tsilma. Starting from the Yashkinskaya pier, the river becomes navigable. The width of the Pechora in the middle part ranges from 0.4 to 4 kilometers. In low water, shallows form on the river, making it difficult to navigate.
The lower part of the river stretches for four hundred kilometers. Up to the mouth of the Shapkina River, the right bank of the river is elevated, and the left bank is lowland.
Subsequently, both banks become flat with a predominance of tundra vegetation. The delta starts from the village of Whiskey. There are a large number of alluvial, low islands (the largest are 29). The length of the islands reaches 30 kilometers. When it flows into the bay, the river is divided into 20 branches.
Economic use
Pechora is open for 120-170 days, intensively used for shipping. There are 80 tributaries. The river basin is about 19.5 thousand square kilometers. Fishing is developed in the Pechora, fishing for salmon, pike, herring, omul, nelma and other species.
Ob
As already mentioned, the basin of the smallest ocean on Earth occupies 65% or two-thirds of the Russian Federation. The rivers belonging to the Arctic Ocean are quite large and full-flowing. But none of them can compare with Ob. This is the largest Siberian river. It leads among all water streamsEurasia. The rivers belonging to the Arctic Ocean, such as the Tom and Irtysh, Biya, Katun, give their waters to her.
According to a number of researchers, the name of the river comes from the word "both", as it is formed at the confluence of two fairly full-flowing rivers - the Biya and the Katun. Its length from the confluence is 3.65 thousand km, and if we count together with the Irtysh - 5.41 thousand km. This river is considered the longest in Russia. It flows into the Kara Sea in the north, forming the long Gulf of Ob (the length of the bay is about 800 kilometers).
Economic value of the Ob
The riverbed passes through the territory of five constituent entities of the Russian Federation, including Altai Territory, Tomsk Region, Novosibirsk Region, Yamalo-Nenets and Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrugs. The river is navigable. Regular steamboat traffic has been established on it since 1844. In 1895, there were already 120 steamboats on the river.
Ob is a real paradise for fishing lovers. Here, such fish as pike, grayling, burbot, crucian carp, chebak, sturgeon, lamprey, sterlet and many, many others are found in large numbers. In total, there are about fifty species, twenty-five of which are the subject of intensive fishing (perch, ide, pike, burbot, dace, bream, crucian carp, roach, perch and others).
Water regime, tributaries
The river is fed mainly by snow, the main runoff occurs during the spring flood. The Ob is covered with an ice shell for 180-220 days a year. The basin is about 2.99 million km2, according to this indicator, the river ranks first in Russia. It occupies an honorable third place in terms of water content, and in front of it are such rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean, such as the Yenisei and Lena.
In the southern part of the Ob is the famous Novosibirsk reservoir or, as it is more commonly called, the Ob Sea, which is a favorite vacation spot for thousands of tourists and local residents. The canal between the Ob and the Yenisei, built at the end of the century before last, is currently not used and is abandoned.
The Ob has 30 large tributaries and many small ones. The largest of them is the Irtysh, whose length is 4.25 thousand kilometers, which exceeds the own length of the river. This inflow brings an average of three thousand cubic meters of water per second to the Ob.
