The wide and powerful river Yenisei. How many verses are dedicated to her, how many paintings and even monuments! The unprecedented power of the Yenisei, its beauty has always inspired writers, poets and artists.
General characteristics of the river
The Yenisei received its name from the Evenki “Ionessi”, which means “big water”. The name of the river in other nations sounds: Enzyam, Hook, Hem, Kim.
The length of the river is 3487 km from the confluence of the Big and Small Yenisei. The length of the waterway is 5075 km (Ider - Selenga - Baikal - Angara - Yenisei). The basin area is 2580 km², according to this indicator the Yenisei is the second among all the rivers of Russia and the seventh in the world. Like most rivers in this territory, the Yenisei has asymmetric banks. The left bank is gentle, and the right bank is steep and almost 6 times higher.
This river is a natural border between Eastern and Western Siberia. The plains of Western Siberia are located to the left of the river, and the mountain taiga begins on the right side. The Yenisei flows through all climatic zones of Siberia: camels are found in the upper reaches of the river, and polar bears live in the lower reaches.
This powerful river originates in the city of Kyzyl, where two rivers merge into one - the Big and Small Yenisei. The first 188 km the river has the name Upper Yenisei. Within the Tuva Basin, the river is replete with rifts, is divided into many branches, and the width reaches 650 m. The depth at rifts is 1 m, at the stretch - 12 m.
At the mouth of the Lower Tunguska, the width of the Yenisei River reaches 40 km.
Sopochnaya Karga is a river mouth mouth . Yenisei Delta begins at the village of Ust-Port. There are several main branches: Small Yenisei, Big Yenisei, Stone Yenisei and Okhotsk Yenisei.
At the Kara Sea, the Yenisei forms a bay.
The water regime of the Yenisei River
This river has a mixed type of food, but snow prevails, its share is about 50%, the share of rain - 38%, underground (in the upper river) - 16%. Ledostav begins to form in October.
High water begins in April - May. Congestion may form during the spring ice drift. The water level at this time can range from 5 m in the extended upper river, to 16 m in narrow areas.
Yenisei ranks first among the rivers of Russia in terms of runoff. It is 624 km³.
The average water discharge is 19800 m³ / s (at the mouth), it reaches its maximum near the Igarka River - 154000 m³ / s.
Tributaries of the Yenisei
Left: Abakan, Kas, Khemchik, Sym, Kantegir, Dubches, Turukhan, Tanama, Big and Little Kheta, Yelogui
Right: Mustache, Tuba, Sisim, Kebezh, Mana, Angara, Kahn, Big Pete, Baht, Podkamennaya and Lower Tunguska, Dudinka, Khantayka, Kureyka.
These are the largest tributaries, they are used in the economy, like the Yenisei River. The economic use of these waters is very important for humans.
Settlements
Cities: Kyzyl, Sayanogorsk, Krasnoyarsk, Abakan, Shagonar, Minusinsk, Sosnovoborsk, Lesosibirsk, Zheleznogorsk, Yeniseisk, Dudinka, Igarka.
Small settlements: Karaul, Ust-Port, Cheryomushki, Shushenskoye, Maina, Berezovka, Kazachinskoe, Ust-Abakan, Kureyka, Turukhan.
Yenisei River - water management
The economic use of the Yenisei plays an important role for the country. This river is an important waterway of the entire Krasnoyarsk Territory. For 3013 km (from Sayanogorsk to the mouth) the river is navigable constantly.
Main ports : Krasnoyarsk, Abakan, Maklakovo, Strelka, Turukhansk, Ust-Port, Igarka, Yeniseisk, Kyzyl and others.
The Ob-Yenisei Canal, which connected the two largest rivers of Russia, was built at the end of the 19th century. It was very important, like the Yenisei River. Economic use of the canal: along it there was a rafting of wood, transportation of extracted minerals. The channel is currently abandoned and not in use.
The human use of the Yenisei River has a significant impact on the environmental situation, given that several reservoirs and hydroelectric power stations have been built on the river.
Hydroelectric power stations: Krasnoyarsk, Sayano-Shushenskaya and Mainskya.
The Yenisei River. Economic use and its protection
The economic use of the Yenisei has a negative effect not only on the water of the river itself, but also on the surrounding land. Either the swamping of agricultural land located near the river takes place, or, conversely, the water level of the Yenisei falls and the nearby territories are drained. Also, as a result of all this, a number of archaeological and natural monuments and biocenoses were destroyed. A large number of people were forced to relocate. Many plants growing on the banks of the river or in the river itself were destroyed.
Uncontrolled fishing leads to a decrease in species diversity.
The Yenisei River played a huge role before.
The economic use of its waters at nuclear power plants led to radiation pollution of water in the river. So in the 1950s, several nuclear reactors were put into operation at a mining and chemical enterprise that used water from this river. After cleaning the nuclear reactors, the water was dumped back into the river.
The use of the Yenisei River by humans leads to the fact that its waters are clogged with various garbage (both household and petroleum products). Therefore, it is necessary to take measures to protect the environment in order to preserve the flora and fauna of the river and the purity of its waters.