Far from the last place in the ranking of long rivers is the watercourse of Russia - the Ob. Its location is parallel to the Yenisei; it flows in the south-north direction, washing the whole of Western Siberia. Its mouth is the Kara Sea. At the confluence, a bay was formed, which was given the name Ob Bay. Its length does not exceed 900 km.
Ob River. Water flow features
A significant river in the Russian Federation and almost the longest in Asia is the Ob. Its total length is 5410 km. The source of the watercourse is the confluence of the Katun and Biya, which are located in Altai.
The water stream is divided into three parts: the lower section (the territory to the Gulf of Ob), the middle section (to the Irtysh), the upper section (to the Tom).
With a total pool area of 3,000 sq. km, the Ob occupies a leading position in the Russian Federation. It is worth noting the fact that in terms of water content, the Ob is the third after such the greatest rivers of the country as the Yenisei and Lena.
It has a dam built in the 60s. The Ob forms the Novosibirsk reservoir. Forto create it, more than one village and part of the city of Berdsk were specially flooded. People living near the Ob call it the Ob Sea. It is a great place for recreation and fishing. Sanatoriums and recreation centers have been built on its banks.
In the 19th century, it was decided to build a canal that would connect the Ob with the Yenisei. However, at the moment it is not used at all and is completely abandoned.
Main tributaries of the Ob: Irtysh, Tom. Yugan, Chulym, Charysh and Ket also flow into it.
The river is mainly fed by snowmelt. High water is carried out in April-May in all currents of the water flow. During freezing, the water level begins to rise and often the river can overflow its banks. In autumn, the stream is characterized by high water, and in summer - low water.
The waters of the watercourse, like all tributaries of the Ob River, are rich in fish. They contain more than 50 species. The most common and valuable: white salmon, whitefish, sturgeon and others. Sometimes there are carp, perch, ide, pike.
Western Siberia
Western Siberia is located in the Ural Mountains and the Yenisei. It extends almost 3,000 km from the ocean to the Kazakh hills and 2,000 km from the Urals to the Yenisei River. Most of the territory is located in the West Siberian Plain.
Tributaries
The longest left tributary of the Ob: Vasyugan. Its length reaches 1000 km. The river basin in some places is more like a swamp. Has a lot of both small and enoughlong tributaries. The source of Vasyugan is located in the Ob-Irtysh watershed. There are a sufficient number of lakes and oxbow lakes in its floodplain. In the area of the middle reaches, the banks rise to a height of up to 50 m. In the lower reaches, the Vasyugan expands to 600 m, becomes full of water, the floodplain also increases in size, it contains more lakes, channels and rifts.
All tributaries of the Ob are important waterways that differ from each other in characteristics, in particular in length. The largest is Tom. Its length is 827 km, width is 3 m. Ice cover occurs in November, breakup occurs in April. The main type of food is rain, but snow and soil are also characteristic.
Throughout the Omsk region, there is no better river reservoir than the main left tributary of the Ob. It flows through the territory of the People's Republic of China, Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation. The total area is 4000 km, making it together with the Ob (5410 km) the first watercourse in Russia, the second in Asia and the sixth in the world.
The Ob, whose tributaries are located mostly in the Tomsk region, is distinguished by the fact that there are many lakes, ponds and small rivers in it. Their total area exceeds 7 thousand hectares. Most of them are currently overgrown with aquatic vegetation. Some reservoirs were created as a result of various natural factors.
Irtysh is the main tributary
All tributaries of the Ob River can impress every person, but the most powerful is the Irtysh. In addition to the fact that it plays an important role for the countries in which it flows, this water flowis the longest in the world. After it is Missouri, whose length is only 3700 km.
The river got its name due to the fact that throughout its existence it changed its course several times due to the destruction of the banks. Translated from Turkic, her hydronym means "digger".
Practically all tributaries of the Ob, including the Irtysh, have a calm current, the maximum speed of which rarely exceeds 2 m/sec. The channel is narrow, no more than 700 m. Surprisingly, the ecology of the river was practically not affected, the waters of the stream are clean, contain a minimum amount of harmful substances. Food is provided by melt water. Due to the fact that hydroelectric power stations have been built on the river, floods are very rare.
Tom
Like other tributaries of the Ob, the Tom is located in the Tomsk region. Flowing, it washes Khakassia and the Kemerovo region. Due to the fact that in some parts of the river the water level has reached a critical level, there is no navigation here. The shallowing occurred due to the fact that gravel was constantly scooped out of the watercourse for their own needs.
The Ob, whose tributaries amaze with their numbers, is a popular and significant river.
It often becomes an object for successful fishing and recreation, as well as the water streams flowing into it, famous for their picturesque views.
