The Northern Dvina River is the most important water artery of the Russian North. Where does it originate, where does it flow, and into what sea does it flow? You will find answers to all these questions in this informative article.
General characteristics of the Northern Dvina River
With a length of 744 kilometers, the river collects its waters from a huge area, which is 357 thousand square kilometers. Administratively, these are the Arkhangelsk and Vologda regions of Russia. And if we take into account the Sukhona and Vychegda rivers, then the length of this water artery will reach 1800 kilometers!
The Northern Dvina River receives a large number of other rivers, streams and streams on its way. Hydrographers counted only about a hundred second-order tributaries of this river system. That is, these are the streams that flow directly into the Northern Dvina. Among them, the largest tributaries are: Vaga, Vychegda, Pinega and Yumizh.
There are seven Russian cities on the banks of the Northern Dvina. These are (in the direction from the source to the mouth): Veliky Ustyug, Krasavino, Kotlas, Solvychegodsk, Novodvinsk, Arkhangelsk and Severodvinsk.
Features of the water regime
The Northern Dvina River has a traditional water regime for northern rivers. Food - mainly by melting snow, the maximum water flow is observed in May and June (up to 15,000 m3/s).
The river begins to ice up already at the end of October, and opens approximately in mid-April. Thus, the Northern Dvina "in the ice" stays for almost half of the year. It should be noted that the period of ice drift on the river is, as a rule, very active. Congestion occurs quite often.
Toponym etymology
Why was the Northern Dvina named that way? On this score, researchers and historians have several interpretations, but they all come down to about the same thing. They decipher this hydrotoponym as "double river". This interpretation is given in their books by several authors at once. The fact is that the Northern Dvina River was formed as a result of the confluence of two other waterways, so this etymology is quite logical and justified.
It is worth noting that some researchers (in particular, A. Matveev) saw B altic roots in the origin of this name. So, Matveev believes that this toponym comes from the Lithuanian word "dvynai", which means "double" in translation.
It is interesting that the Northern Dvina is displayed in many literary works and poetry. So, for example, a fictional city in one of Kir Bulychev's novels is located on a fictitious river Gus, whichcarries its waters to the Northern Dvina.
Long way to the sea…
Where is the Northern Dvina River? The answer is easy if you look at a detailed geographical map. It clearly shows that the source of the Northern Dvina River is located where the South and Sukhona merge together. It happens in the ancient Russian city of Veliky Ustyug, founded in the XII century.
Next, the Northern Dvina carries its waters strictly to the north and, soon, receives the Vychegda River. It happens near the town of Kotlas. At the same time, it is worth noting a curious fact: at the time of the confluence, the Vychegda is a more full-flowing river than the Northern Dvina.
Further our water artery continues its way to the sea, gradually changing from northwest to north. Having traveled a fairly long distance, the Northern Dvina receives the waters of another large river - the Pinega. Downstream, a huge delta of our river is already beginning to form.
An interesting historical fact is that the source of the Northern Dvina River is described in detail in the so-called Ustyug Chronicle. It says that "the Sukhona and Yug rivers, which merged together, produced a third river from themselves …".
Mouth of the Northern Dvina River
In hydrology, the mouth is the place where the river flows into the Ocean, sea, lake or other body of water. In this case, the Northern Dvina flows into the White Sea, or to be more precise, into the Dvina Bay. At the same time, the mouth looks like a huge delta, the area of \u200b\u200bwhich can be compared with the areacity of Volgograd. It equals approximately 900 square kilometers.
The Northern Dvina Delta is a whole system of small channels, branches, straits and islands. At the same time, the width of the river valley increases to 18 kilometers.
Dvinskaya Bay is a large bay of the White Sea, in its southeastern part. Depths - within 120 meters (average values - about twenty meters). More than a dozen rivers flow into the Dvina Bay, including the Northern Dvina. It is worth noting that this is the warmest place in the entire northern sea. Water in the Dvina Bay warms up to +10…+12 degrees in summer.
Navigation on the Northern Dvina
Navigation is possible along the entire length of this river. True, it is very difficult in the area of the city of Arkhangelsk. So, large-sized ships cannot go far into the depths of the mouth. As a rule, they are served in the port of Economy. Remarkably, plans to optimize navigation in the Northern Dvina delta were developed in the 19th century, but they were never really implemented. The situation at the mouth is further complicated by the fact that during the "high water" the river brings here a huge amount of sand and debris, which only complicates the passage of ships.
It is also worth mentioning that the steamship "N. V. Gogol" is still running on the river - the oldest of those that are still in operation in the country. It was built back in 1911.
So you learned about the features and location of an important water arteryof the Russian North - the rivers of the Northern Dvina.
