None of the inhabitants of the Far Eastern Territory will argue that their main river is the Amur. It is ranked fourth among the rivers of the Russian Federation, yielding in length only to such majestic streams as the Ob, Yenisei and Lena. The mouth of the Amur - the Sea of Okhotsk.
Short description
A water stream is formed due to the confluence of Argun and Shilka. The place where it originates, up to Khabarovsk, is considered the border between two countries: Russia and China. The slope of the channel is no more than 0.11%. The source and mouth of the Amur River stretch for 2850 km. Sometimes one of the constituent rivers, the Shilka, is taken as the starting point, in which case the length of the water flow will be 4510 km. However, these values may not be entirely accurate, since the measurement process is quite complicated. The area of the basin, including the Kerulen River, is 2 million square meters. km. Throughout the water flow, characteristic differences can be observed. So, for example, its valley is divided into three parts: lower, middle, upper. Each of these areascertain dimensions of the depth and width of the channel, as well as the nature of the flow, are inherent. The height of the mouth of the Amur River (as well as the height of the sea) is 0 m, while the source is 304 m above sea level.
Geography
The entire basin of the water flow is located in East Asia. It covers four natural zones at once: forest, steppe, forest-steppe, semi-desert. Every year, about 300 mm of precipitation falls, the same amount of which enters the source and mouth of the Amur River; in the area of the Sikhote-Alin ridge, in particular, in its southeastern part, this number increases to 750 mm.
The river basin covers several states at once - Russia (54%), China (44%), Mongolia (1%). The part of the Amur, which is located in the Russian Federation, is divided into the Far Eastern region and the Siberian region.
Hydrology
The Amur River, whose mouth is located in the city of Nikolaevsk-on-Amur, is divided into three sections:
- Lower. Stretches for 966 km. Has an industrial value. It is located in the area of the mouth of the Ussuri to Nikolaevsk-on-Amur. The speed of the current at this interval reaches 4 km / h, which allows you to successfully engage in fishing not only for personal purposes, but also for sale.
- Medium. Captures the area from Zeya to Ussuri. The length is more than 970 km. The shores in this area are densely covered with vegetation. The movement of water in the stream is on average about 5 km / h. The channel at this interval is quite wide and deep, which contributes to the development of navigation.
- Top. stretchedto the mouth of the Zeya River and occupies about 880 km. It is famous for its diversity of flora and fauna. You can often meet representatives of salmon. The current speed is 5 km/h.
Water consumption for the year is 9819 m3/s, basically these data take into account the consumption in the city of Komsomolsk, where the Amur River flows. The mouth consumes much more - 11,400 m3/s.
The uniqueness and feature of the water stream can be called the fact that the water level in it is constantly changing due to rain. As a rule, they make up more than 70% of the runoff. In summer low water, the water level drops to 15 m in the upper, as well as in the middle section of the Amur, in the lower section, the height reaches a record drop - up to 8 m. In some areas, the flow spills over a distance of up to 25 km. This is mainly due to the characteristic climatic conditions, in particular the constant heavy rains. This state of the river can last up to almost 2-3 months. At the moment, after numerous hydroelectric facilities have been built, floods are less pronounced, and the water level fluctuates around 6 m.
Ecology
In this water stream, the indicators of harmful substances are too high and can be dangerous both for the environment and for human he alth. In 2005, an accident occurred at a Chinese factory, due to which toxic chemicals were thrown into Songhua. This case had a negative impact on the ecological state of the rivers, which have common tributaries. According to one of them, gasoline, nitrobenzene and other substances were brought to the Amur by the current. They are longtime lay huge spots on the surface of its waters. Phenol, nitrates and other microbiological particles - all this contains the Amur River. The mouth, whose waters are heavily polluted, is on the verge of an ecological disaster. In order to save water in the Khabarovsk region, a dam was built. This made it possible to change the movement of the river and send all chemical pollution to the northern shore, which is located in Russia. A year later, the dam was partially dismantled, as there was no urgent need for it.
3 years after the accident at the plant, in 2008, residents of coastal areas discovered an oil slick, the size of which reached an average of 2 km. However, no matter how scientists tried, they could not establish its origin.
The Amur River, the mouth of which is rich in tributaries, has several streams:
- Zeya is the largest river in the basin.
- Bureya is rich in ore and coal deposits.
- Songhuajiang, or Sungari, has serious environmental problems.
- Ussuri is an important water supply facility.
- Anuy - a distinctive feature of the river is that it had a ripple.
- Amgun is very rich in fish and is of great industrial importance.
Recently there has been an opinion that the Amur is a tributary of the Zeya, and not vice versa. Thanks to pictures from space, you can understand that it is much fuller and wider. From a geological point of view, its valley is a continuation of the Amur (when viewed in the south-north direction). However, the source remote from the mouth is located thanks to the traditional method - through Argun, Amur. Therefore, the width and fullness of the river are rarely taken into account when determining tributaries.
