By the confluence of the waters of Katun and Biya, the mighty Ob River is born. Its source and mouth are located at a distance of 3650 kilometers from each other. If this distance is measured from the mouth of the Irtysh, the main tributary of the Ob, then it will be 5410 kilometers. The indicators allow us to rank the Ob in the category of the longest rivers in Russia. In Asia, it is in second place in terms of length.
The geographical position of the river
Given the nutritional conditions of the reservoir, the nature of the river network, the water regime, the Ob is divided into three parts. From the source to the mouth, the upper, middle and lower sections of the river are conventionally distinguished.
The upper section of the Ob begins at the confluence of Biya with Katun and ends at the mouth
of the Tom River - a
tributary of the Ob. Here the river often winds, changing the direction of its course, turning either north or west.
The middle section of the Ob goes from the merger of the Tom with it to the confluence of the Irtysh. From this place begins the lower section of the river, which extends to the Gulf of Ob. Here is the
mouth of the Ob River.
Altai Territory, Tomsk and Novosibirsk Regions, the Yamalo-Nenets and Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Districts are large industrial regions of Russia where the Ob River flows.
The source and mouth of the reservoir are located in different climatic zones due to the great remoteness from each other.
The origin of the name of the river
Scientists differently explain the origin of the name Ob. One version indicates that it came from the Russian word "both." The Ob originates from the confluence of two (both) rivers. The mouth of the Ob River was examined by Russian merchants even before the conquests of Ermak. All territories adjacent to the river were then called Obdorsky.
It is also possible that the word Ob, which means “water,” came to us from the Iranian language. That is what the peoples who lived in antiquity in the south of Western Siberia could call a full-flowing river.
The peoples living at the mouth of the Ob River still call this river in their own way. Salya Yam - "Cape River". So called Ob Nenets. Khanty and Mansi call it As, which means "big river." From the Selkup language the name translates as "large river".
River food
The main source of replenishment of the water level in the Ob is rainfall. For this reason, floods occur in spring, summer and autumn - these are periods of active melting of snow and rainfall.
In the upper reaches of the river, floods begin in early April, in the middle reaches - in the second half of the month. In the lower part of the reservoir and the mouth of the Ob River, the rise in water level begins in late April and lasts all May.
The flood period caused by melting snow is replaced by rain flood. In the lower reaches of the river, it can continue until ice formation. Depending on the river section and the nature of the weather conditions in the area, the Ob may be under ice for 180 to 220 days during the year.
Fauna of the reservoir
In the waters of the Ob there are a large number of diverse species of fish that are of commercial importance. The most valuable of them - peled, sturgeon, whitefish, sterlet, muksun, nelma. At the mouth of the river, some of the listed species spawn. Their capture is regulated by special laws and government regulations.
In industrial volumes, fish species such as pike perch, bream, crucian carp, perch, pike, burbot and ide are also caught.
The mouth of the Ob River, whose coordinates coincide with the
Arctic Circle, is the habitat of many species of waterfowl. Some of them are listed in the Red Book and are under state protection.
Cities and ports of Ob
The river has long attracted people. It was not only a source of fresh water, but also provided people with food. On its shores to this day, there are more than one hundred settlements. Among them there are large industrial cities where modern river ports are equipped. Shipping on the Ob and its tributaries began to develop in the XVIII century.
Cities located at the mouth of the Ob River and the entire lower part of its course are considered the most promising in their development. These include Salekhard, Labytnangi, Nizhnevartovsk, Megion, Nefteyugansk, Langepas.
In Surgut, a bridge was built across the river; it makes it possible to cross the Ob by road and rail at any time of the year. All in all, about two dozen bridges were built in different sections of the Ob, which greatly facilitate communication between villages and cities on the right and left banks of the river.
Gulf of Ob and the mouth of the Ob
Today it is reliably known that the mouth of the Ob River is the beginning of one of the most extensive bays of the Kara Sea - the Gulf of Ob. The first scientific descriptions of these territories date back to the end of the 19th century; they were produced thanks to the heroic actions of Arctic researchers. A direct study of the region began long before the appearance of these descriptions.
The length of the bay from north to south is about 800 kilometers. Its width varies from several meters to tens of kilometers, the depth of the bay is also uneven. The salinity of coastal waters is very low due to the large volumes of fresh water brought by the Ob and other smaller rivers.
From the confluence of the Irtysh to the village Peregrebnoe river flows in one deep channel. Downstream, the riverbed becomes smaller and is divided into two branches, forming the Big and Small Ob.
At the mouth of the Ob there are a large number of islands, divided by many channels. The slow river flow in this area is associated with a slight slope of the land surface. The answer to the question of whether the mouth of the Ob River is located north or south of the Arctic Circle makes it possible to get an idea of the weather conditions of the region. Given the fact that the coordinates of the mouth of the river fall on the 66th parallel, we can accurately describe the climate of the region. Long winters with low air temperatures, short summers with variable weather, and a short growing season make the region severe and unsuitable for people to live.