Altai rivers. Rivers and lakes of Altai

Altai region

Officially. Altai Krai is located in the southeast Western Siberia, 3419 km from Moscow. Territory 168,000 square km.

Informally. Altai Krai is very large and diverse. The topography changes as you move through the territory. He is like a growing bear, at first quiet and calm, then huge and majestic. So steppes and plains grow into foothills and mountains.

Officially. The climate is temperate continental, formed as a result of frequent changes in air masses.

Unofficially. The four seasons have many options and come back every year to see them from different angles. You can come in a hot summer, or you can come in cool and rainy weather. Give variety! - this is the main rule of Altai weather.

Summer and Altai mountains

Officially: The Altai Mountains are a complex system of the highest ranges in Siberia, which are separated by deep valleys. mountain rivers and vast basins located inside the mountains.

Informally: The nature of Altai is amazing. Tourists from all over the world rush to these places to enjoy the beautiful views of high mountains, mountain rivers, mysterious caves and deserted spaces. Immerse yourself in the tranquility and beauty of these places.

Settlement Altai Territory began
in the eighteenth century

Young Russia needed metal for the production of weapons and coins. Ural breeder Akinfiy Demidov founded in 1729 the first metallurgical plant - Kolyvano-Voskresensky. The bowels of Altai were also rich in silver. In 1744 Demidov began the production of silver. The result of Akinfiy Demidov's activities in the Altai Territory was the establishment of a feudal mining industry based on the serf labor of bonded peasants and artisans.

Event tourism in the Altai Territory

Creation and development of bright, interesting events in business, cultural, sports life Altai Territory has become the basis for the development of event tourism in the region. More than a dozen festivals, forums, holidays are held annually in the region, which can attract thousands of tourists from various regions of Russia and from abroad. These are the International Tourism Forum "VISIT ALTAI", the holiday "Blossoming of the Maral", the festival of drinks "Altaifest", the Day of Russia on " Turquoise Katun”, Festival “Shukshin Days in Altai”, International Youth Forum of the Asia-Pacific Region, SCO Forum, Siberian international forum on health and medical tourism, the holiday "Altai wintering" and many others.

beauty and health

Officially. Useful flora The region has 1184 plant species. The most large group drugs, including widely used in official medicine about 100 species.

Informally. Decoction, herbal teas, berry fruit drinks - this is what everyone who comes to the Altai Territory needs to try. Spas, health and wellness centers use products made from Altai herbs.

Gorny Altai is an area of ​​intensive feeding of the Ob, the main river of the region under consideration. Against the background of the adjacent plains, Altai stands out in relief not only for its mountainous character, but also for its dense river network. The sources of the Ob are born here - pp. Biya and Katun, to the basins of which most of the Altai rivers belong, with the exception of the watercourses of its western part, belonging to the Irtysh basin (the rivers Kaldzhir, Bukhtarma, Ulba, etc.). Katun - the left component of the Ob - originates on the southern slope of Mount Belukha; bending around it, it describes almost a circle. From the mouth of the Argut, the Katun turns sharply and heads straight north, at 665 km from the source it merges with the Biya near the city of Biysk. The catchment area is 60,900 km2.

The river has a mountainous flow; its valley is deeply incised, and its channel is replete with rapids and small waterfalls. Only in the lower reaches the slopes of the channel decrease and the current becomes calmer. Navigation is only possible up to 90 km from the mouth. Katun is characterized by significant water content. Its average annual water consumption is 630 m 3 / s, and the runoff module is 10.3 l / s km 2. The relative water content of the river is still somewhat lower than the Biya; this is explained by the fact that its basin includes vast high-mountain steppe spaces, characterized by a relatively small surface runoff. The main tributaries of the Katun are the Chuya and the Argut.

Biya is the right component of the Ob; it flows from the largest body of water in Altai - Lake Teletskoye. In terms of its length (306 km, counting from the point of exit from Lake Teletskoye) and the catchment area of ​​37,000 km 2, Biya is significantly inferior to Katun. Just like Katun, she is in upstream has a mountainous character, and in the lower part it becomes calmer, here it is available for navigation for 205 km above the city of Biysk.

The average annual water flow of the river is 480 m 3 / s (13.0 l / s km 2). Right-bank tributaries of the Irtysh. A significant number of rivers belonging to the Irtysh basin flow down from the western slopes of Altai. Among them, the largest are Bukhtarma, Ulba and Uba. These rivers are mountainous; their slopes are great, and the valleys look like gorges. The river basins are located on the western slopes of the Altai, abundantly irrigated with precipitation, so the rivers are characterized by high relative water content: runoff moduli range from 15 to 25 l/s km2. The Anui and Charysh, which flow from its northern spurs and flow directly into the Ob, are also among the major rivers of Altai.

Chumysh, Tom and Chulym. Below the confluence of the Biya and Katun, the Ob receives a number of large tributaries flowing from the slopes of the Salair Ridge and the Kuznetsk Alatau. Among them are Chumysh, Tom and Chulym. The first place among these rivers in terms of catchment area is occupied by the Chulym, and by water content - by the Tom, although in terms of catchment area it is approximately 2 times smaller than the Chulym (Table 1).

Table 1. Basic information about the Chumysh, Tom and Chulym rivers

Chulym and Chumysh in a significant part of the course are steppe, relatively low-water rivers, and only their upper reaches are in the mountainous region of Salair and spurs of the Kuznetsk Alatau. In contrast, Tom, whose basin is located between the Salair Ridge and the Kuznetsk Alatau, is predominantly mountainous. Only below the city of Tomsk, in the area of ​​the lower reaches, its slopes decrease and the valley becomes wide.

The water regime of the Tom is similar to that of other Altai rivers. The river is characterized by a spring flood, consisting of a series of waves formed by water from melting snow in the mountains; the maximum runoff is observed around mid-May. The Tom has a very high annual runoff modulus - about 20 l/s km2, which is a record value for other Russian rivers with such catchment areas. Powerful ice jams are observed on the river during periods of spring floods, which are especially significant in the region of Tomsk. They occur mainly due to the later opening of the river in the lower reaches compared to its middle course.

At present, navigation on the river is possible only in the lower reaches - from the mouth to the city of Tomsk, but ships can rise to the city of Novokuznetsk in high water. General features of the rivers of Altai. The rivers of Altai are typical mountain streams with large falls, often reaching 50-60 m/km; their channels are replete with rapids and drops, sometimes there are waterfalls.

Due to the dominant latitudinal direction of the ridges, the rivers have transverse valleys in areas of considerable length. An example is r. Argut, interrupted between the Katunsky and Chuisky ridges in a gorge up to 2000 m deep.

Depending on the position of the basin in the system of mountains, the longitudinal profiles of the rivers have a concave or convex shape. The first is characteristic of rivers flowing from ridges with sharply defined forms resembling those of the Alps; these rivers include the Katun, Bukhtarma, Charysh, and others. The second form of profiles is typical of rivers flowing from plateau-like uplands; these include the rivers Sary-Koksha, Pyzha, and others. In the upper reaches, such rivers flow, as it were, along a plain elevated high above sea level; here their slopes are small, and the banks are often swampy. In the middle course, they cut deeply into the plateau, the slopes increase, their course takes on a mountainous character; in the lower reaches, the slopes of the rivers decrease again and their course becomes more calm.

Nutrition of the rivers of Altai

A large amount of precipitation and the mountainous nature of the relief create favorable conditions for surface runoff, so the rivers have a high water content here. Especially water-bearing are the rivers of the western part of Altai, the basins of which are located on the path of moisture-bearing winds blowing from the west. The relative flow of rivers here reaches 15-25 l/s km 2 , and in some places (upper reaches of the Katun) - up to 56 l/s km 2 . Rivers central regions Altai (plateau Chulyshman and Ukok) are characterized by relatively low water content.

The feeding of the rivers is mixed; it includes: seasonal snow, high-mountain snowfields and glaciers, as well as rainfall and groundwater. Among other types of nutrition, snow is predominant, which is carried out mainly due to the melting of seasonal snows. As an example, the distribution of runoff by sources of supply for the Biya River can be given, where the share of snow supply is 40%, glacial - 22%, rain - 19% and ground - 15% of the annual runoff. Only in the highest mountain regions of Altai there are small rivers that are fed mainly by glaciers. With an increase in the height of the basin, as a rule, the importance of snow and glacial nutrition increases, while the share of ground nutrition, on the contrary, decreases.

The regime of most rivers of Altai is characterized by the following:
1) a relatively low spring flood, extended until the first half of summer due to the arrival at different times melt water from different high-altitude zones; floods from rains are also superimposed on the main wave of the spring flood;
2) weakly pronounced summer low water, often interrupted by rain floods, which are inferior in height to the spring flood;
3) the lowest water content in winter.

On the rivers of the foothill zone, the basins of which are located no higher than 800 m above sea level, the spring flood passes in the form of one, more or less high wave, and the low water is clearly expressed. On the rivers of the alpine region, with basins above 2000 m, the spring flood merges with the summer flood, which is formed due to the melting of eternal snows and glaciers; summer low water is not expressed in them. Thus, the higher the basin is located, the smaller the share of spring runoff and the more falls on summer runoff. The runoff maximum in the foothill zone takes place in the spring (in May), and in the high mountain zone - in the summer (in July).

Freezing Altai rivers (ice regime)

The ice regime of Altai rivers is complex. The development of ice phenomena is greatly influenced by the slopes and speeds of the flow of rivers. Combination climatic conditions with the nature of the flow of rivers in some areas causes large differences in the timing of the onset of ice phenomena. Before freezing on the rivers, an intense sludge drift is usually observed, lasting up to 1.5 months and often accompanied by ice jams.

Most of the Altai rivers, excluding rapids, freeze in the second half of November. The most significant rapids do not freeze all winter. They are powerful "factories" of sludge, which poses a serious threat to the hydropower plants of Altai. The thickness of the ice cover is highly dependent on the speed of the current: the greater the speed of the current, the less the thickness of the ice. Often there are icings, the origin of which is associated with jamming phenomena.

The opening of the rivers occurs in the period from the second half of March to the end of April. Sometimes it is accompanied by traffic jams, the cause of which is the earlier opening of the rivers in the upper reaches, where rather significant current velocities contribute to the rapid destruction of the ice cover. Economic importance Altai rivers are great. The total reserves of hydropower are estimated at about 10 million kilowatts. The large water content of rivers and the presence of concentrated falls, as well as the alternation of narrowed sections of river valleys with expansions that favor the creation of reservoirs, open up broad prospects for hydropower construction in Altai. Of particular importance in this regard is the Biya, flowing from Lake Teletskoye, which is a natural regulator of its flow. In the narrow gorge of the Argut, it is possible to build a powerful high-pressure hydroelectric power station.

The transport significance of the Altai rivers is insignificant, since the mountainous nature of the river flow makes it difficult for the development of water transport. Only the lower sections of the main rivers of Altai - the Biya and Katun - are used for navigation and timber rafting.

The rivers of the Altai Territory mainly belong to the Ob system. In the west and north-west of the region there is an area of ​​internal flow - the drainless basin of the Kulunda lowland.

The Altai Territory is crossed in its upper reaches by the Ob River. At a distance of 500 km, its wide ribbon forms two giant bends. Ob and its tributaries Chumysh, Alley, Big River, Barnaulka and others have a calm flow, wide developed valleys, in which lie strongly winding riverbeds, with well-defined sandy stretches.

The river network in the Altai mountains, with the exception of the southeast, is well developed. Rivers start from glaciers and numerous lakes. On some flat watersheds there are swamps that give rise to rivers (Bashkaus is a tributary of the Chulyshman). Mountain rivers flow in narrow valleys, sometimes in dark, gloomy gorges. Along the rocky channel, strewn with boulders and pebbles, the water rushes down during a big fall, meets solid crystalline ledges, thresholds on the way, breaks against them, turning into white bubbling foam. The noise of the rapids is replaced by the roar of waterfalls, which are many in the Altai highlands.

The picture of roaring water falling in ledges from a height of tens of meters is amazing. The highest and most beautiful waterfalls are located on the slopes of the Belukha massif. On the northern slope along the Tekel (the right tributary of the Akkem) there is a 60 m high waterfall; on the Tigirek (left tributary of the Kucherla) - a 40 m waterfall. On the southern slope of the Belukha, in the upper reaches of the Katun, on its right tributary, there is a 30 m high placer waterfall. There are dozens of waterfalls on the rivers flowing into Lake Teletskoye. The Korbu waterfall is well known, its powerful stream falls from a 12-meter height.

The rivers of the Altai Territory have a mixed supply: rain, snow, glacier and soil.

Near the rivers of the Kulunda lowland, snow feeding prevails. They are characterized by spring floods. Very few in summer precipitation, the rivers become very shallow, in many places they dry up. By the end of summer, there is almost no water left in the upper reaches of the Kuchuk River; the channel represents chains of small elongated lakes.

Ob- a flat river, but its sources and main tributaries are located in the mountains, therefore, signs of flat and mountain rivers are observed in the feeding and regime of the Ob. The Ob has two maximum water rises - in spring and summer. The spring rise of water comes from the melting of snow, the summer - from the melting of glaciers. Most low level water in the Ob in winter.

Low water in winter is typical for most rivers of the region. Rivers freeze for a long time. Freezing on the Ob and the rivers of the plains begins in the second half of November; by the end of April they are freed from ice.

Mountain rivers belong to the Altai type, which has a special regime and nutrition. First of all, they are rich in water, as they have power sources that continuously replenish water from atmospheric precipitation, from the melting of glaciers and the influx of groundwater.

Snow in the mountains melts for several months, from April to June. The second feature of snowmelt is that first the snow melts in the north Gorny Altai in the low mountains, and then in the middle mountains, and finally in the southern highlands. In June, snowfields and glaciers begin to melt. Sunny clear days alternate with rainy ones. There are years with long summer rains. Often, precipitation falls in the form of showers, and the water level in the rivers rises rapidly and strongly. The rivers of the highlands are fed by snow and glaciers, and therefore they are characterized by a summer, namely, June rise in water. There are autumn floods. Drains in four or five months most of annual water rate.

Hydrography gives an idea of ​​the maximum water level in the river. Altai rivers can roughly be divided into five groups.

1. Rivers with spring floods. Snow food. This group includes medium and small rivers of the foothill part with an average catchment height of up to 500 m.
2. Rivers with spring floods and rain floods. This group includes medium and small rivers with an average catchment height of 500 to 1500 m.
3. Rivers with spring-summer floods and rain floods. Food - snow, ice, rain. This group includes all large and medium-sized rivers with a catchment height of 1500 to 2500 m.
4. Rivers with a summer flood. Ice food. These are mainly medium and small rivers at altitudes above 2500 m.
5. Rivers with an even course of flow throughout the year. Ground food. Mostly these are small rivers.

The greatest groundwater supply is observed in rivers with an average catchment height ranging from 600 to 2000 m. The exception is the Chuya River, in which the share of groundwater is 33% of the annual runoff. This is due to the fact that the Chuya basin, filled with sand and pebble deposits, is a huge accumulator of groundwater, gradually entering Chuya.

The duration of freeze-up on the rivers of Altai ranges from 110 to 200 days, and in some parts of the rivers the water does not freeze. The beginning of freeze-up usually occurs in November, the opening - at the beginning - mid-April.

Belukha is not only a glacial knot, but also the most important feeding center for large and small rivers flowing from Belukha in different directions. The Belukha glaciers are very active in this regard, because they end low, which means they melt strongly and at the same time receive a lot of precipitation. According to the available hydrometric data, the first place in terms of water content belongs to the river Iedygem, the second and third place belongs to the Katun and Berel, then Ak-kem and Myushtu-airy. The total flow of glacial waters, which gives Belukha, is estimated at approximately 400 million cubic meters. m. per year. All this mass of water is taken at an altitude of about 2000 m and, therefore, has a huge potential reserve of power.

Characteristics of the rivers of Altai

The Masha River, 94 kilometers from the mouth, flows along the bank on the left side into the Chuya River. The river begins at the slope of the Maashey-Bash mountains, at the source of the river there is a glacier with the same name.

According to the statistics of the State Water Register of Russia, the Masha River is part of the Upper Ob Basin District. It is a water management section of the Katun River and a river sub-basin of the Biya and Katun Rivers. And also it was the river basin of the Upper Ob River, before it flowed into the Irtysh River.

The river extols a very picturesque and fresh view Altai mountains. The water in it is clean and transparent, and the banks are bordered by small shrubs.

Black Iyus River

Black Iyus is a mountain river located in the north of Khakassia. It flows through the territories of Ordzhonikidzevsky and Shirinsky districts. The river merges with the White Iyus, forming the Chulym River, the right tributary of the Ob.

Inzhul is the left tributary of the Black Iyus.

The length of the river is 178 kilometers, the spillway area is 4,290 square kilometers. Its source is a karst lake, which is located in the eastern part of the Bely Golets mountain of the Kuznetsk Alatau. The mouth is the Chulym River. The source has a height of 1340 meters, the mouth - about 380 meters.

The basin is waterlogged by 5%, forest cover occupies 75% of the territory. AT annual course The water regime can be divided into spring high water, summer-autumn and winter low water. Rain pickups repeatedly break off the summer-autumn low water period. The total runoff of the summer-autumn period is 80-85%. In winter, icing appears with the release of water onto the ice.

The water of the river has a hydrocarbonate chemical composition. For a year, its consumption averages 43.1 meters per second.

Chemal River

The length of the Chemal River reaches 54 kilometers. Covers a decent part of the Altai Territory. Settlements there are many on the way of Chemal. The largest village has exactly the same name as the river. There it connects with the small river Kuba, from where, after seven kilometers, they flow into the Katun.

By the way, the very name "Chemal" is translated from Altai as "anthill". This name appeared because of the goats and sheep that grazed in this area more than a hundred years ago. From above, they looked like ants swarming in the grass.

In some places, Chemal is quiet and calm, pleasing to the eye with its calm, in others it seethes and foams. In an area where there is a strong flow in 1935, the Chemal hydroelectric power station was built.

In addition, the Chemalsky district is famous for the purity of its air. Therefore, along the banks of the river great amount tourist bases and campsites. There are even two sanatoriums: one just for children, and the second for children with tuberculosis.

Rivers of the Altai Territory

Ob
The main river of the Altai Territory is Ob formed from the confluence of two rivers - Bii and Katun. At a distance of 500 kilometers, the wide ribbon of the Ob crosses the Altai Territory, forming two giant bends. In terms of its length (3680 km), it is second only to the Lena (4264 km) and the Amur (4354 km) in Russia, and in terms of the area of ​​the Ob basin it is the largest major river of our country, second only to five rivers on the planet: the Amazon, Congo, Mississippi, Nile and La Plata.

Ob and its tributaries Chumysh, Anui, Aley, big river, Barnaulka and others have a calm current, wide developed valleys, in which strongly winding channels with sandy stretches adjoin.

Barnaulka River - a tributary of the Ob River

The bottom of the Ob is sandy for a large extent. Sometimes rocky rifts and shoals come across, especially a lot of them in the section of the river between Biysk and Barnaul. During floods, the water level in the Ob is high, water floods the right low bank for several kilometers.

Name great river The Ob owes its origin not to the peoples who have lived on its shores for centuries. The Nenets living in the lower reaches of the river called it "Salya-yam", which means "cape river". The Khanty and Mansi gave it the name "As" - "big river", the Selkups called the river "Kvay", "Eme", "Kuai". All these names had the meaning of "large river". The Russians first saw the river in its lower reaches, when, together with the Zyryan guides, they went beyond the Stone (as they called then Ural mountains) hunters and merchants. Long before Ermak conquered Siberia, the region around the Ob was called Obdorsky.

There is a version that the name of the great Siberian river comes from the Komi language, which means “snow”, “snowdrift”, “place near the snow”.

There is also an assumption that the name is associated with the Iranian word "ob" - "water". And such a name deep river could well have been given by the peoples of the Iranian-speaking group who lived in the south of Western Siberia in the period from the Early Bronze Age to the Middle Ages.

Biya

The Biya is the second largest river in Altai. It originates in Lake Teletskoye. Its length is 280 kilometers. In the upper part of the river - rapids, waterfalls, rifts. Merging with the Katun, Biya gives birth to the Ob.

The name Biy is associated with the Altaic word "biy", "beg", "bii" - "master".

Katun

The Katun flows out of the Gebler Glacier at an altitude of about 2000 meters on the southern slope of the highest mountain in Altai - Belukha. In the upper and middle reaches, the river has a mountainous character, especially in summer time when snow and glaciers melt intensively. In the lower reaches, it acquires a flat character, spilling below the village. Maima into channels and channels, and flows along the sloping plain to the north to the confluence with the Biya.

The water in the Katun is cold, its temperature rarely rises above 15 C in summer. The river is fed mainly by melting snow and ice from glaciers. The length of the river is 665 kilometers, in its basin there are about 7,000 waterfalls and rapids.

Alley

The Aley is the largest tributary of the Ob in the flat part of the region. In length (755 km), it surpasses the Katun and Biya, but is inferior to them in terms of high water content. Aley originates in the low mountains of the northwestern Altai. This is a river from mixed type supply (snow and rain), the spring flood reaches a maximum in April. Loop-shaped large bends are characteristic of Aley, in the lower reaches the river has wide clay soil.

Chumysh

Chumysh is the right tributary of the Ob. The river originates in Salair, from the confluence of two rivers: Tom-Chumysh and Kara-Chumysh. Although the river is twice as long as the Biya (644 km), the Chumysh is a relatively shallow river. In many places its valley is marshy and covered with mixed forest. The share of snow supply is more than half of the runoff per year, and the maximum flood in Chumysh is in April.

Lakes of Altai

Picturesque Altai lakes. There are thousands of them in the region, and they are located throughout the territory.

Most of the lakes are located in the Kulunda lowland and on the Priobsky plateau. No wonder Altai is called the land of blue lakes. Small mountain and steppe lakes give natural landscapes a peculiar charm and originality.

The largest lake in the Altai Territory is a bitter-salty lake Kulunda(area 600 sq. km, length - 35 and width 25 km). It is shallow, maximum depth- 4 m), feeds on the waters of the Kulunda River and groundwater. To the south of Kulundinsky is the second largest lake - Kuchukskoe(square 180 sq. km). It is completely similar in regime and nutrition to Kulunda and used to be connected to it by a canal.

Kulunda the lakes are all remnants of an ancient sea that existed many millions of years ago on the site of the present plains. Many of these lakes have long been famous for their mineral waters, possessing healing properties, as well as therapeutic clays and mud. Gorkoe-Peresheechnoe, Crimson- are places of pilgrimage for residents of the region and numerous guests. on salty Big Yarovoye For many years there has been a health-improving complex on the lake. Salty water, abundance of steppe sun, picturesque Pinery along the shores of such lakes create unique conditions for recreation.

There are a lot of fish in the fresh flowing lakes, and waterfowl in the thickets of reeds along the banks.

The lakes of the mountainous part of the Altai Territory are very picturesque. They are located in the hollows of the ancient runoff, in the place of the old channels of long-disappeared mountain rivers, which arose during the melting of the ancient glacier.

Between the Biya and Chumysh rivers there are small and shallow freshwater lakes. There are lakes on the floodplains of flat rivers, and in the ancient and modern river valleys there are small elongated lakes - oxbow lakes.

The Altai Territory is also rich in mineral springs. Radon springs, which have been used by the local population for medicinal purposes since time immemorial, are especially famous for this. Both in our country and abroad, the famous radon waters of Belokurikha are famous, where numerous resorts and health resorts have been built. The presence of radon waters in the valleys of the Kalmanka and Berezovaya rivers was noted.

Not uncommon in Altai and waterfalls, like a waterfall on a river Shinok, not far from the Denisova cave, about 70 meters high, until recently it was known only local residents. Now many people dream of visiting here. At present, there are eight waterfalls and one waterfall on the Shinok River. In 2000, the "Cascade of waterfalls on the Shinok River" nature reserve acquired the status of a natural monument.