The Olenek River: a mouth, a source, a characteristic. Where is the river Olenek?

Today it is difficult to find places on the map that were not touched by civilization. Nevertheless, they exist. To such reserved corners is the amazing Siberian river Olenek, located in the north-western part of Yakutia.

The source of the river, the direction and the mouth

Olenek takes its beginning on the slopes of the Yankan Mountain, in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. From there the river carries its waters in the direction of the east, gradually changing its course to the northeast. On its way, which is 2,270 kilometers, it crosses first the Central Siberian plateau, which is characterized by depressions and rises of up to 600 meters. Here the river is rather tortuous, has many rapids and rapids. Among them, the most famous and hard-to-reach is Ukoyan. Then the river flows through the hilly tundra plain. The main part of its basin, the total area of which is more than 200 thousand square kilometers, is beyond the Arctic Circle. The mouth of the Olenek River is located in the Olenek Bay, which belongs to the Laptev Sea. It forms a delta, the area of which is 475 square kilometers.

The northern part of the territory where Olenek flows, refers to the arctic climatic zone, and the rest to the subarctic zone. The peculiarity of these zones is the large annual temperature amplitudes and too small amount of precipitation. For example, for the whole winter they fall only 20 to 40 millimeters. The snow covering the river basin is friable, without a crust, since there are practically no thaws here.

Unusually picturesque places are found where the river Olenek makes sharp turns. Here on the banks rise cliffs, reminiscent of steep walls, pillars and obelisks. In the upper reaches, the bottom and banks of the river are covered with pebbles. And after joining a large tributary of Arga-Sala in an extended channel, sandbars and islets are more common.

Hydrology

The regime of the Olenek River is determined by the climatic conditions of the region through which it flows. Like all the rivers of Siberia, the Far East, Olenek has a summer high water, which is celebrated from June to September. It feeds mainly on rains falling in the summer, and by meltwater. The average water consumption is 1210 cubic meters. M / s.

Due to a special climate on the site where the Olenek River is located in its upper reaches, the reservoir systematically freezes from January to April. In the lower reaches, this period is longer - from the second half of September to the end of May.

The continuous permafrost in the Olenek river basin has a great influence on the water temperature, which is noted as very close to zero in the period from September to the end of May. The average annual temperature is 3.4 degrees. The maximum thickness of ice, which covers the river Olenek from autumn to spring, is 244 cm. And this is a fairly serious indicator. On the territory of the Vilyui plateau, where the Olenek River originates, there is permafrost, the length of which is more than one and a half kilometers.

Main tributaries

Of all the tributaries, the largest is Arga-Sala, which flows 1528 kilometers from the mouth and is the boundary of the upper course of the Olenek River. The length of Arga-Sala is 554 kilometers. This river flows mainly along the Central Siberian plateau, formed by the merger of two rivers (Right and Left Arga-Sala), and is characterized by an abundance of rapids. It takes its beginning almost in the same place as the source of the Olenek River, just to the left.

The second largest tributary is the Bur River, which is closer to the mouth. Its length is about 500 kilometers. After the confluence of this tributary, the Olenek passes in a northwesterly direction along the ridge of the Chekanovsky. The Siligir River is the right tributary of the Olenek River in the middle reaches (length 344 kilometers), which is also considered one of the largest. It is formed by the confluence of the Usuk-Siligir and Ortho-Siligir rivers. Other tributaries (Unukit, Birekte, Bienchime, Cuyoka and others), although considered large, have a much shorter length and area of the basin.

Flora and fauna of the river valley

Almost throughout the entire area where the river Olenek flows, the vegetation is rather scarce and does not differ in variety. It is represented mainly by sparse deciduous forests. On the slopes of the valleys, the woodlands become more dense. Occasionally, there are sites occupied by a birch, salami or vine. On drained places deciduous forests are diluted with spruce. The trees here can reach a height of up to 12 meters.

Herbaceous vegetation is a rarity. The main space of the lower reaches of the river is the bare tundra, which is covered with a yagel, a slate and a lichen. In addition, the shrub layer is also developed, represented by a rosemary, blueberry, bearberry, etc. Less common is cowberry, dog rose, red currant and juniper.

From animals almost everywhere there are near the river reindeer, wolves, ermines, foxes and hares. But the reptiles in this area are not found at all.

River fish

The characteristics of the Olenek River indicate the factors that led to the distribution of the ichthyofauna in such a way that carp fish are almost completely absent here. There are several reasons for this - the temperature regime, the limited number of places suitable for breeding, and a large number of predators.

In total there are 27 different species of fish in the river. Of these, a considerable amount of valuable - taimen, nelma, whitefish, lenok. They are common throughout the course of the Olenek River. Often you can find pike, perch, burbot. On the section of the river, located nearer to the mouth, go-in fish - rylad, omul, muxun, pyzhyan. The pride of the river Olenek is taimen. Some specimens reach enormous sizes and weights of 30-40 kilograms.

Rafting on the Olenek River

The upper reaches of the river, where there are many suitable places for fishing, are often used for rafting on catamarans, kayaks and kayaks. The most favorable time for this occurs in June, in high water. On multiple passes with a strong current, the fish are very well caught. The area where an alloy is possible (from the mouth of the Alakit tributary to the village of Olenek) is very picturesque due to rocky cliffs and remnants.

All this attracts many fans of outdoor activities. When the alloy is recommended to go near steep banks, while constantly controlling the depth. The bottom can be easily seen anywhere, since the water in the river is crystal clear. Observance of all precautions is the most important condition. In these desolate places one can not count on someone's help.

Economic use of the river

The main direction of economic activity on the river Olenek is fishing. Fishing is conducted by both state-owned enterprises and a few indigenous people, for whom it is a traditional type of fishery. Mainly fishing is carried out in the autumn-winter period in the lower reaches. In this part of the river shipping is developed. All fishing activities are strictly regulated by federal legislation.