In Russia, most water flows are navigable rivers. One of them is Lena. In the world classification, it occupies 10th place in length and 8th in terms of fullness. It flows through the Irkutsk region, Yakutia, Khabarovsk, Krasnoyarsk and Transbaikal territories, the Amur region, and also Buryatia. It is practically the largest river in Russia; its entire pool is located on the territory of the Russian Federation. The length is 4 thousand km. It opens from the upper to the lower reaches, freezes in the reverse order. It feeds on rain and meltwater.
Source and mouth
The characteristic of the Lena River begins with a consideration of its beginning and end - the source and mouth.
The largest river in Siberia originates in a small swamp located on the Baikal ridge. It is he who is officially considered the source. Its length is 300 km. A small area on its slope is occupied by pine forests, sometimes there is a forest-steppe, just above the taiga. Light forest can be seen at an altitude of 1400 m. Here the river bed is quite narrow.
In the middle course, located on the site between Aldan and Vitim (tributaries of the Lena), the watercourse expands and turns into a full-flowing river, the depth of which reaches 20 m. After Vilyuya flows into it, it turns into a fairly large stream. Here its width is more than 10 km (in some areas this figure is tripled).
In the lower reaches, flowing through various mountains and ridges, it flows into the Laptev Sea, which is located in the north of Siberia and is named after the brothers Khariton and Dmitry Laptev. The climate at sea is severe: it is constantly icebound (with the exception of August and September).
River geography
The economic use of the Lena River is heavily dependent on its geographical factors. The length of the stream is 4 thousand kilometers. The stream is divided into three different sections:
- First: from source to Vitim.
- Second: from Vitim to Aldan.
- Third: from Aldan to the Laptev Sea.
Near the source of Lena, which is a few kilometers from Lake Baikal, in the late 90s, a small chapel was built as a magnet attracting tourists from all over the country.
In the second section of the course, the length of the river is 1415 km. All of it is located in Yakutia. Joining Vitim, Lena expands its territory. Here you can find many small islands, some mining. The valley increases to 25 km. The left slope is gentle, and the right is steeper and higher. Here forests grow, mostly coniferous, spread meadows. In the area of Pokrovsk the flow calms down, the speed does not exceed 1.2 m / s.
The river becomes gigantic in the third section. Its width exceeds 20 km, its depth is 20 m. The Delta begins only 140 km from the Laptev Sea.
Hydrology. River characteristic
Lena is the only one in the area where there is the possibility of mining. Unique complexes are located here.
A feature of this water flow can be called the fact that in the spring catastrophic floods occur, often prolonged. The river feeds on melt and rainwater, less often - groundwater. Floods and low water often occur on the river.
Often, the economic use of the Lena River depends precisely on the hydrological regime, which is sometimes far from the best.
In 1986, there was the maximum river flow to date: 402 km 3 . At the moment, this figure has decreased several times. Moreover, it constantly varies under the influence of solar activity, or rather, its cycles.
The ice regime interferes with the economic use of the river. Here, ice jams often occur, moreover, it is strong enough and thick. In particular, it is for this reason that large areas are flooded during spring melting.
Infrastructure
The map of the Lena River shows all shipping areas, because it is the main waterway of Yakutia. It is this flow that connects this region of the country with its neighbors. Northern delivery is carried out precisely along the Lena.
Kachug is the first navigable section, however, only small vessels are found just above it on the river. Due to the shallow water and potentially dangerous turns, the territory of the water flow from Ust-Kut to the Vitim tributary is minimally used. This is what greatly complicates the economic use of the Lena River. Every year, work is carried out to deepen the bottom.
In addition to several ports, bridges are located on the stream. It is also planned to build a special railway crossing to facilitate the transportation of goods.
Economic use of the river
Lena gives its water to settlements located on its shores. In addition, it is intended for fishing. Due to the fact that there are no dams on it, the fish reproduces well. Sturgeon is the most famous of the rare marine animals that live here. Previously, this commercial fish grew to 2 meters, but due to the poor environmental situation, the population was shredded. In addition to sturgeon, other equally valuable species live in Lena.
Fishing is the only use of the river by the population. The state does not build hydroelectric power stations and dams on it, therefore, the main purpose of the watercourse can only be called cargo transportation.
Navigable rivers of the country
The map of the Lena River, of course, is impressive. Its size will not leave anyone indifferent. However, this is not the only water stream in the Russian Federation that allows ships to move around.
And although in the whole country a sharp shortage of water transport is sometimes felt, there are 146 thousand kilometers of roads established.
The navigable rivers of Russia are scattered throughout our vast country. The main one is the Volga-Kama basin. Here, water, oil, construction materials are transported.
The most important arteries are:
- Volga. The largest river in Europe. It has about 200 tributaries. It is also used to generate electricity.
- Kama. The most beautiful river in Russia. She was often sung in poems by poets; she was also conveyed in the paintings of artists such as Meshkov, Shishkin and others.
- Oka. It starts on the Central Russian Upland and flows into the Volga. It is its largest tributary.
- Don. At first, its source was Ivan Lake, but after some time it was replaced by Urvanka, due to the small amount of water. At present, the first source of the Don does not exist; a reservoir has been formed in its place.
The main problem of Lena is her environmental status. It worsens every year, which hinders optimal economic use. To a large extent, the climate, the discharge of wastewater and the movement of various vehicles affect pollution. If the government of the Russian Federation does not begin to solve this problem, then in a few years the population will lose the source of drinking water.