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Yenisei River

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Geography of Asia

                       Yenisei River
   The Yenisei basin, including Lake Baikal

                  The Yenisei basin, including Lake Baikal

   Origin          Mongolia
   Mouth           Arctic Ocean
   Basin countries Russia
   Length          5,550 km (3,449 mi)
   Avg. discharge  19,600 m³/s (692,272 ft³/s)
   Basin area      2,580,000 km² (996,138 mi²)

   The Yenisei (Енисе́й) is the greatest river system flowing to the
   Arctic Ocean, and the fifth longest river in the world. It is slightly
   shorter but with 1.5 times the flow of the Mississippi-Missouri. Rising
   in Mongolia, it follows a northerly course to the Kara Sea, draining a
   large part of central Siberia, the longest stream following the
   Yenisei-Angara-Selenga-Ider being about 5500 km. Its watershed, which
   includes the world's largest (by volume) lake, Lake Baikal, holds more
   water than any other river system.

   The upper reaches, subject to rapids and flooding, pass through
   sparsely populated areas. The middle section is controlled by a series
   of massive hydroelectric dams fuelling significant Russian primary
   industry. Partly built by gulag labor in Soviet times, industrial
   contamination remains a serious problem in an area hard to police.
   Moving on through sparsely-populated taiga, the Yenisei swells with
   numerous tributaries and finally reaches the Kara Sea in desolate
   tundra where it is icebound for more than half the year. As with other
   Siberian rivers, the flow has increased recently, believed to be
   related to global warming. A concern is that altered salinity in the
   Arctic may have a global impact on ocean currents.

Upper Yenisei

   The Yenisei rises in two major headstreams: the Bolshoi (greater)
   Yenisei also known as the Bii-Khem (Бии-Хем) rises in the Tuva region
   on the S flank of the Eastern Sayan Mountains and north of the
   Tannu-Ola Mountains at 52°20′N 97°30′E; the Malyy (lesser) Yenisei also
   known as the Kaa-Khem (Каа-Хем) rises in the Darhat ( rift) valley in
   Mongolia. Recent research has shown that the narrow exit to the Darhat
   Valley has regularly been blocked by ice producing a lake as large as
   neighbouring Lake Khuvsgul. When the glaciers retreated (the last time
   9300 years BP) as much as 500 km³ of water would have escaped, possibly
   catastrophically.

   These two headstreams flow west converging at Kyzyl, and on meeting the
   east-flowing Khemchik River head north through a canyon in the Western
   Sayan mountains. The Yenisei emerges from the mountains onto an area of
   steppe where its first control is the 30m dam at Mayna. This section is
   around 700 km.

Lake Baikal Headwaters

   The 320 km (partly navigable) Upper Angara feeds into the northern end
   of Lake Baikal from the Buryat Republic but the largest inflow is from
   the Selenga which forms a delta on the south-eastern side. The longest
   tributaries rise on the eastern slopes of central Mongolia's Khangay
   mountains. Another tributary, the Tuul passes through the Mongolian
   capital, Ulaanbaatar while the Egiin drains Lake Khuvsgul.
   This satellite image is 800 km across. The green area towards the
   top-left, containing several small lakes and bordered by the
   snow-capped Eastern Sayan Mountains to the north, is the source of the
   Bolshoi Yenisei in Tuva. The dry Darhat Valley just west of Lake
   Khuvsgul in the center of the image is the source of the Malyy Yenisei.
   These two streams can be followed to their confluence at Kyzyl at the
   left of the image. Lake Baikal is at the right of the image and the
   Angara flowing north from Irkutsk can clearly be made out. It is
   already widening due to the dam at Bratsk 200 km further north. The
   Selenga, whose headwaters include Lake Khuvsgul, flows into Lake Baikal
   in a delta at the extreme edge of the image. The Lena River has its
   source in the top right of the image.
   Enlarge
   This satellite image is 800 km across. The green area towards the
   top-left, containing several small lakes and bordered by the
   snow-capped Eastern Sayan Mountains to the north, is the source of the
   Bolshoi Yenisei in Tuva. The dry Darhat Valley just west of Lake
   Khuvsgul in the centre of the image is the source of the Malyy Yenisei.
   These two streams can be followed to their confluence at Kyzyl at the
   left of the image. Lake Baikal is at the right of the image and the
   Angara flowing north from Irkutsk can clearly be made out. It is
   already widening due to the dam at Bratsk 200 km further north. The
   Selenga, whose headwaters include Lake Khuvsgul, flows into Lake Baikal
   in a delta at the extreme edge of the image. The Lena River has its
   source in the top right of the image.

   Just downstream from Mayna, the 242m Sayano-Shushenskaya dam at Sayansk
   powers Russia's largest hydroelectric plant completed in 1989 and
   producing 6400 MW for aluminium production. This is the same height and
   five times the power of the Hoover Dam. About 100 km downstream the
   Yenisei is swollen by the Abakan river and passes Abakan, capital of
   the Khakassia region, on the west bank and Minusinsk on the east bank.
   It passes within 10 km of the Chulym, a tributary of the Ob before
   reaching Krasnoyarsk after 300 km. This halt on the Trans-Siberian
   railway is the Yenisei's largest city. Krasnoyarsk is a major port. Not
   far away from Krasnoyarsk is Krasnoyarsk hydroelectric dam.

   The closed city of Zheleznogorsk, 70km downstream, is a secret Soviet
   nuclear weapons and satellite facility missing from most maps. The
   exact state of the enormous nuclear waste dump is unclear, but some
   discharges continue to pollute the Yenisei. A further 200 km downstream
   comes the confluence with the Angara (whose final section is also known
   as the Upper [Verkhnyaya] Tunguska).

Angara River

   The Angara (Ангара́) river drains Lake Baikal and runs 1840 km from the
   regional capital Irkutsk to converge with the Yenisei at Strelka (
   58.101° N 92.998° E). It is dammed in four places to power local
   industry. The 44m dam at Irkutsk produces 650 MW. Bratsk lies 500 km
   downstream, where the 124 m dam built in the 1960s produces 4500 MW.
   The resultant reservoir is nicknamed Dragon Lake because of its
   outline. The tributary Oka and Iya rivers, which rise on the north
   slopes of the Eastern Sayan Mountains, form the 'jaws' and 400 km of
   the Angara form the 'tail'. There are newer dams almost as large at
   Ust-Ilimsk 250 km downstream (also damming the tributary Ilim river)
   and Boguchany a further 400 km downstream (not operational). Further
   dams are planned but the environmental consequences of completely
   taming the Angara are leading to protests which may prevent funding.

   Angarsk, the centre of the expanding Eastern Siberian oil industry and
   site of a huge Yukos-owned refinery, lies 50 km downstream of Irkutsk.
   A major pipeline takes oil west, and a new one is being built to carry
   oil east for supply to Japan from the Sea of Japan port of Nakhodka.
   The exact potential of Eastern Siberia is unknown, but two new major
   fields are the Kovyktinskoye field near Zhigalovo 200 km north of
   Irkutsk and the extremely remote Verkhnechonskoye field 500 km north of
   Irkutsk on the Central Siberian Plateau.
   Yenisei River - As seen from the trans-Siberian railway near
   Krasnoyarsk
   Enlarge
   Yenisei River - As seen from the trans-Siberian railway near
   Krasnoyarsk

Lower Yenisei

   The Great Kaz joins the Yenisei 300 km downstream of the Strelka. It is
   noteworthy for its connection to the Ob via Ob-Yenisei canal and Ket
   River. The river starts to widen, its bed being littered with islands
   as numerous rivers augment its flow, in particular 1800 km Stony
   (Podkamennaya) Tunguska, and the 3000 km Lower (Nizhnyaya) Tunguska at
   Turukhansk draining the desolate central Siberian Plateau from the
   east. The remote Tunguska (Тунгуска) region is most famous for the 1908
   meteorite impact, but is now being explored for oil. Beyond Turukhansk,
   the river enters tundra.

   The river is icebound for more than half the year, and if unchecked ice
   could dam the river causing major flooding. Explosives are used to keep
   the water flowing. The final town is Dudinka which is connected to
   Krasnoyarsk by regular passenger boat. The river widens to a 50 km
   estuary for its final 250 km and the shipping lanes are kept open by
   icebreaker.

   During the ice age, the route to the arctic was blocked by ice. Though
   the exact details are unclear, the Yenisei is believed to have flowed
   into a huge lake filling much of western Siberia, eventually flowing
   into the Black Sea. (See West Siberian Glacial Lake of the early
   Weichselian Glaciation)

Navigation

   The first team to navigate the Yenisei's entire length, including its
   violent upper tributary in Mongolia, was an Australian-Canadian effort
   completed in September 2001. Ben Kozel, Tim Cope, Colin Angus and Remy
   Quinter were on this team. Both Kozel and Angus wrote books detailing
   this expedition, and a documentary was produced for National Geographic
   Television.

History

   Ancient nomatic tribes such as the Ket people and the Yugh people lived
   along its banks. The Ket, numbering about 1000, are the only survivors
   today of those who originally lived throughout central southern Siberia
   near the river banks. Their extinct relatives included the Kotts,
   Assans, Arins, Baikots, and Pumpokols who lived further upriver to the
   south. The modern Ket lived in the eastern middle areas of the river
   before being assimilated politically into the Russia or Siberia during
   the 17th through 19th centuries.
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yenisei_River"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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