The Ob River is the blue artery of Siberia

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:41

Formed as a result of the confluence of two Altai rivers - the Biya and Katun, the Ob River actually continues the Katun. At the confluence of these rather powerful reservoirs, an even more turbulent stream is formed. And each river has its own color.

Biya has a white or dirty gray tint, and Katun is greenish. Combined into one common stream, the water does not mix for some time, resulting in a multi-colored striped water jet. This phenomenon is especially well observed in summer and autumn. Flowing into the Kara Sea, the Ob forms a large bay, about 800 kilometers long, which is called the Gulf of Ob.

Together with its tributary the Irtysh, the Ob River is the first longest river in Russia (5410 km) and second in Asia. The area of its basin is almost 3 million square meters. km. According to how the nature of the river network changes, the feeding conditions and the formation of the water regime of the river, the Ob can be conditionally divided into three large sections: the upper one (from the source to the mouth of the Tom River), the middle one (to the mouth of the Irtysh River) and the lower one (to the Gulf of Ob). The river is filled with water mainly due to snowmelt, and the main part of the flow occurs during the spring-summer flood.

In the upper reaches, the flood usually occurs in early April, on average - in the middle of the month, and in the lower reaches - in late April-early May. The rise of the water level begins even during freezing. When the river breaks up, intense short-term rises in the water level are possible as a result of ice jams. At the same time, it is even possible to change the direction of the flow in some tributaries of the Ob. In the upper reaches, the flood can continue until July, the summer low water is characterized by instability, and in September-October there is a rain flood. The recession of floods in the middle and lower reaches can continue until freezing. The Ob has many large (Irtysh, Charysh, Anui, Aley, Chumysh, Berd, Chulym, Tom, etc.) and small tributaries.

The origin of the name of this reservoir has several versions. So, from the Komi language the word "ob" is translated as "snow" or "snowdrift". Another version says that the river got its name from the Persian "ob" ("water"). There is also a version that the name is based on the Russian word "both", since the source of the Ob River is formed by the confluence of two reservoirs. Every theory has a right to exist.

The Ob River is important for the entire West Siberian region. It is used as a natural transport route, especially for the summer delivery of fuel and food to the northern regions, which can only be reached by river. In the southern part there is the Novosibirsk Reservoir (also called the Ob Sea), formed by the built in 1950-1961. dam of the Novosibirsk hydroelectric power station. In the waters of the Obabout fifty different species and subspecies of fish live, almost half of which are objects of fishing (mainly partial ones - pike, burbot, bream, pike perch, ide, roach, etc.). Also in the river is found sterlet, sturgeon, nelma, muksun and others. The Ob River, especially in its upper course, is traditionally used as a place of rest. There are many sanatoriums and camp sites (especially in the area of the Novosibirsk reservoir), known not only in the country, but also abroad.