Yenisei is the most full-flowing river in Russia, one of the greatest rivers in the world, the length of which is about 3.5 thousand kilometers - from the Sayan Mountains in southern Siberia to the Arctic Ocean. It is fed by almost 500 tributaries, the total length of which exceeds 300 thousand kilometers. One of the significant right tributaries of the Yenisei is the Kureika, a river belonging to the Kara Sea basin. Read more about it in the article.
Description
In the northwestern part of the Central Siberian Plateau lies the Putorana Plateau, bordering the Taimyr Peninsula. This amazing corner of Siberia, which is called "the country of rivers, lakes and waterfalls", is the largest protected area in the world and is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is in the center of the Putorana plateau at an altitude of more than a thousand meters above sea level that the Kureika (river) originates. It is one of the longest right tributaries of the mighty Yenisei.
Krasnoyarsk Territory is famous for its reservoirs. The mountain river Kureika is one of the longest and deepest among them. From the source to the point of confluence with the Yenisei, its length is exactly 888 kilometers. the area of the basin is 44.7 thousand sq. km., at the mouth the water flow is approximately 700 cubic meters. per second.
Where is the riverKureika:
- source on the Putorana Plateau (north of the Krasnoyarsk Territory) - 68 degrees 30 minutes north latitude and 96 degrees 01 minutes east longitude;
- mouth (confluence with the Yenisei) - 66 degrees 29 minutes north latitude and 87 degrees 14 minutes east longitude.
In a straight line, the distance between the coordinates is small, but the Kureika channel is very winding, due to this it has a large length. Throughout its length, the reservoir has numerous gorges, rapids and rifts, where the flow rate reaches 7 meters per second. Some areas can only be reached by helicopter. Approximately in the last 170 kilometers, the current slows down, the channel expands to almost a kilometer. The river becomes most flooded in May-August, when in some areas the maximum depth reaches 70 meters. But even during this period, ships only go up it for 100 kilometers from the mouth to the Graphite Mine pier.
Why was the river named Kureika?
Krasnoyarsk Territory is located in Eastern and Central Siberia, and in the north-eastern part of the region lies the Evenk region, whose indigenous population is the Evenks. They named the river that flows through their territory, Kureyka. Translated from Evenki, the name means "wild deer", as these animals often come to the river valleys. Sometimes the river is called Luma or Numa. By the way, all the names on the Putorana Plateau are of Evenki origin.
Climate. Flora and fauna
Kureika is a northern river, most of its basin lies beyond the Arctic Circle. This determines the harsh climate of the region: summer lasts only two months - June, July, a short autumn begins in August, and in September most of the channel is covered with ice, only some of its rapids do not freeze, which remain free from ice all winter. Sheds the ice shackles of Kureika (river) only in mid-May.
The long winter lasts almost 9 months, the usual temperature for the season is minus 40°C. In the region where the Kureyka (river) flows, the main vegetation is mosses, lichens, undersized shrubs, and grasses. A pleasant exception is the river valleys, where the climate is milder and more humid, and there are coniferous taiga forests and deciduous woodlands.
The animal world is quite diverse: the largest population of wild reindeer in Eurasia and a little-studied population of bighorn sheep live here, lynxes, elks, bears, wolverines, sables, flying squirrels, as well as bird species such as stone capercaillie, sea eagles are often found -white-tailed, gyrfalcon.
The water in the river is very clean and tasty, there are a lot of fish, including valuable ones: omul, whitefish, char, muksun, taimen.
Interesting facts
There are a lot of waterfalls on the Kureika River, and 7 kilometers from the place where the right tributary of the Yaktali flows into it, there is the Big Kureysky waterfall - the most powerful in Russia. In high water, the volume of water discharged per second reaches 1000 cubic meters!
100 kilometers from the mouth of the river is the village of Svetlogorsk, near which the Kureyskoye reservoir and the Kureyskaya hydroelectric power station were built.
Kureika (river) has several flowing lakes - Dyupkun, Anama, Beldunchana, Daga, which regulate its drainage.
Rich graphite mines are located 120 kilometers from the mouth of the Kureika.
On one of the winter huts of this northern river from 1913 to 1917. I. V. lived in exile. Stalin.
