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The Nizhnyaya Tunguska ( rus, Ни́жняя Тунгу́ска, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪjə tʊnˈɡuskə, meaning "Lower Tunguska") is a river in
Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part o ...
,
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eight ...
, that flows through the
Irkutsk Oblast Irkutsk Oblast (russian: Ирку́тская о́бласть, Irkutskaya oblast; bua, Эрхүү можо, Erkhüü mojo) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in southeastern Siberia in the basins of the Angara, Lena, and Niz ...
and the
Krasnoyarsk Krai Krasnoyarsk Krai ( rus, Красноя́рский край, r=Krasnoyarskiy kray, p=krəsnɐˈjarskʲɪj ˈkraj) is a federal subject of Russia (a krai), with its administrative center in the city of Krasnoyarsk, the third-largest city in Sibe ...
. The river is a
right Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical the ...
tributary of the
Yenisey The Yenisey (russian: Енисе́й, ''Yeniséy''; mn, Горлог мөрөн, ''Gorlog mörön''; Buryat: Горлог мүрэн, ''Gorlog müren''; Tuvan: Улуг-Хем, ''Uluğ-Hem''; Khakas: Ким суғ, ''Kim suğ''; Ket: Ӄу� ...
joining it at
Turukhansk Turukhansk (russian: Туруха́нск) is a rural locality (a '' selo'') and the administrative center of Turukhansky District of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located north of Krasnoyarsk, at the confluence of the Yenisey and Nizhnyaya Tu ...
(see
Siberian River Routes Siberian River Routes were the main ways of communication in Russian Siberia before the 1730s, when roads began to be built. The rivers were also of primary importance in the process of Russian conquest and exploration of vast Siberian territori ...
). Settlements on the river include Tura, Yukti and Simenga. The ice-free period on the ''Nizhnyaya Tunguska'' starts in mid-June and ends in the first half of October. The river forms the western limit of the
Lena Plateau The Lena Plateau, also known as Prilensky Plateau ( rus, Приленское плато, ''Prilenskoye Plato''; sah, Өлүөнэтээҕи хаптал хайалаах сир), is one of the great plateaus of Siberia. Administratively it is m ...
.


Hydrography

The Nizhnyaya Tunguska is the second largest right tributary of the
Yenisey The Yenisey (russian: Енисе́й, ''Yeniséy''; mn, Горлог мөрөн, ''Gorlog mörön''; Buryat: Горлог мүрэн, ''Gorlog müren''; Tuvan: Улуг-Хем, ''Uluğ-Hem''; Khakas: Ким суғ, ''Kim suğ''; Ket: Ӄу� ...
, and joins it near the town of
Turukhansk Turukhansk (russian: Туруха́нск) is a rural locality (a '' selo'') and the administrative center of Turukhansky District of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located north of Krasnoyarsk, at the confluence of the Yenisey and Nizhnyaya Tu ...
. It is long, and has a drainage basin of . According to the character of the stream, constitution of the river's valley and its shores, it can be divided into two parts: the first one starts at the source of the river and continues down to the village Preobrazhenskoye and the second section of the river lies downstream of this village in a canyon-like relief.


Upper stream

The upper part of ''Nizhnyaya Tunguska'' is long and follows a wide valley with flat slopes that was formed by sand and clay deposits. The speed of flow at rafts reaches and drops significantly as the river's channel stretches. This section of river has a meandering channel that closely approaches the
Lena Lena or LENA may refer to: Places * Léna Department, a department of Houet Province in Burkina Faso * Lena, Manitoba, an unincorporated community located in Killarney-Turtle Mountain municipality in Manitoba, Canada * Lena, Norway, a village in ...
, another great Siberian river. The minimum distance between them is as short as in the neighbourhood of
Kirensk Kirensk ( rus, Киренск, p=ˈkʲirʲɪnsk) is a town and the administrative center of Kirensky District in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kirenga and Lena Rivers, north of Irkutsk, the administrative center of ...
town. All of the upper course of ''Nizhnyaya Tunguska'' is within the
Irkutsk Oblast Irkutsk Oblast (russian: Ирку́тская о́бласть, Irkutskaya oblast; bua, Эрхүү можо, Erkhüü mojo) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in southeastern Siberia in the basins of the Angara, Lena, and Niz ...
.


Lower stream

Downstream of Preobrazhenskoye village the ''Lower Tunguska'' flows across the
Tunguska Plateau The Tunguska Plateau ( rus, Тунгусское плато) is a mountain plateau in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Siberia, Russia. It is a part of the Central Siberian Plateau. The plateau is located in largely uninhabited area, the village of Noginsk was ...
of the
Central Siberian Plateau The Central Siberian Plateau (russian: Среднесибирское плоскогорье, Srednesibirskoye ploskogorye; sah, Орто Сибиир хаптал хайалаах сирэ) is a vast mountainous area in Siberia, one of the Gre ...
in a narrow and deep valley with high, often rocky shores. The entire landscape here has volcanic origins, the relief alters the flow of ''Nizhnyaya Tunguska'' into a westerly direction. The river channel frequently has lake-like widenings with lengths up to and longer. The locations with close approaches of crystalline layers create numerous
rapids Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a '' cascade' ...
on the river. The most significant of them have names such as: ''"Sakko"'', ''"Vivinskiy"'', ''"Uchamsky"'' and ''"Bolshoy"'' (russian: Большой, ''Big''). The rapids on the river has relatively high speeds of water flux reaching . In some places downstream of the rapids the river channel becomes very deep with maximum depths of . In the river's lowest flow, downstream of join with its tributary river Severnaya, ''Nizhnyaya Tunguska'' runs between
limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms when ...
rocks, which steeply rise from the water. The speeds of flow here grow to . The channel and water flow of the river's lower stream has its own distinguishing features, which can be seen in some places at ''Nizhnyaya Tunguska'', including the following: * The strips of stones with sizes , which stretch near water along the shore line. This peculiar feature of Arctic stony rivers with the local name ''" bechevnick"'' is formed during every period of ice drift and river inundation at spring. At some locations these sorts of pebbles are polished and pressed together to the extent that they create a cobbled road of their own kind. * The slopes of the river canyon during its evolution underwent stone avalanches that formed
stone run A stone run (called also ''stone river'', ''stone stream'' or ''stone sea''whirlpool A whirlpool is a body of rotating water produced by opposing currents or a current running into an obstacle. Small whirlpools form when a bath or a sink is draining. More powerful ones formed in seas or oceans may be called maelstroms ( ). ''Vo ...
s. They originate downstream of cliffs which channels flow to the opposite shore. These whirlpools can reach depths to and occur most often during high-water periods in early summer.Примечательные места Нижней Тунгуски
, ''Осиктакан (звездочка). Эвенкия'']


Tributaries

The most significant tributaries of ''Nizhnyaya Tunguska'' are the rivers entering from the right: Yeyka, Kochechum, Yambukan, Vivi, Tutonchana, Erachimo, and Severnaya. Entering from the left are the
Nepa The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is a United States environmental law that promotes the enhancement of the environment and established the President's Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). The law was enacted on January 1, 1970.Un ...
, Bolshaya Yeryoma, Teteya, Ilimpeya, Nidym, Taymura, and Uchami. The most prominent tributary is Kochechum, which joins the
main stem In hydrology, a mainstem (or trunk) is "the primary downstream segment of a river, as contrasted to its tributaries". Water enters the mainstem from the river's drainage basin, the land area through which the mainstem and its tributaries flow.. A ...
from the north near Tura. The average annual discharge of the Kochechum is , and its basin covers nearly .Плато Путорана
''Студенческий туристский клуб "Фортис"''
On the whole, the right tributaries of ''Nizhnyaya Tunguska'' dominate over the left and add more water. The river has no big lakes in its basin; the biggest is Vivi with a surface area of . Inflows to the ''Nizhnyaya Tunguska'' are strongly seasonal.


Hydrology

The value of average water discharge of ''Nizhnyaya Tunguska'' gives it eleventh place amongst largest rivers of
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eight ...
. The annual water discharge at the river's mouth is equal to . The minimum value observed in 1967 was ; the maximum was in 1974 or, respectively, for the estuary of the river it was about and about . The water supply of the river is from melting snow and summer rains. During winter season ''Nizhnyaya Tunguska'' contains little water as its basin lies in the region of
permafrost Permafrost is ground that continuously remains below 0 °C (32 °F) for two or more years, located on land or under the ocean. Most common in the Northern Hemisphere, around 15% of the Northern Hemisphere or 11% of the global surface ...
and it has no subterranean water sources. According hydrological observations during 52 years, the minimum average monthly discharge was in March 1969—it was exceptionally dry winter—and the maximum value corresponds to June 1959 and was ''Nizhnyaya Tunguska'' at Fakt`Bolshoy Porog
, ''UNESCO: Water resources''
The diagram below contains mean values of monthly average discharges calculated on the base of a 52-year-long period of observations at hydrological station ''"Bolshoy Porog"''.
Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.8) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.3) id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1) id:barra value:rgb(0.6,0.8,0.9) ImageSize = width:600 height:280 PlotArea = left:40 bottom:40 top:20 right:20 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:20000 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:4000 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:2000 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo BarData= bar:Jan text:Jan. bar:Fév text:Feb. bar:Mar text:Mar. bar:Avr text:Apr. bar:Mai text:May bar:Jun text:Jun. bar:Jul text:Jul. bar:Aoû text:Aug. bar:Sep text:Sep. bar:Oct text:Oct. bar:Nov text:Nov. bar:Déc text:Dec. PlotData= color:barra width:30 align:left bar:Jan from:0 till: 313 bar:Fév from:0 till: 237 bar:Mar from:0 till: 197 bar:Avr from:0 till: 195 bar:Mai from:0 till: 6567 bar:Jun from:0 till: 19330 bar:Jul from:0 till: 5024 bar:Aoû from:0 till: 2902 bar:Sep from:0 till: 3286 bar:Oct from:0 till: 1729 bar:Nov from:0 till: 608 bar:Déc from:0 till: 459 PlotData= bar:Jan at: 313 fontsize:S text: 313 shift:(-10,5) bar:Fév at: 237 fontsize:S text: 237 shift:(-10,5) bar:Mar at: 197 fontsize:S text: 197 shift:(-10,5) bar:Avr at: 195 fontsize:S text: 195 shift:(-10,5) bar:Mai at: 6567 fontsize:S text: 6.567 shift:(-10,5) bar:Jun at: 19330 fontsize:S text: 19.330 shift:(-10,5) bar:Jul at: 5024 fontsize:S text: 5.024 shift:(-10,5) bar:Aoû at: 2902 fontsize:S text: 2.902 shift:(-10,5) bar:Sep at: 3286 fontsize:S text: 3.286 shift:(-10,5) bar:Oct at: 1729 fontsize:S text: 1.729 shift:(-10,5) bar:Nov at: 608 fontsize:S text: 608 shift:(-10,5) bar:Déc at: 459 fontsize:S text: 459 shift:(-10,5)
Seventy-three per cent of the entire annual water yield occurs during the spring–summer season. The amplitude of the water-level variations in the lower stream of ''Nizhnyaya Tunguska'' is the highest among all notable rivers of Russia. At narrow places in the river channel, ice jams during its seasonal drift, and this creates temporary dams that block normal water flow and raise water levels up to above the mean value. The summer break-up and drifting of ice passes very violently; it leaves traces in the form of torn-apart uprooted trees and polished rocks. During some days of spring freshets the river's discharge can peak at , and it supplies 50 to 60 per cent of the water volume to the lower stream of the
Yenisey The Yenisey (russian: Енисе́й, ''Yeniséy''; mn, Горлог мөрөн, ''Gorlog mörön''; Buryat: Горлог мүрэн, ''Gorlog müren''; Tuvan: Улуг-Хем, ''Uluğ-Hem''; Khakas: Ким суғ, ''Kim suğ''; Ket: Ӄу� ...
in the time of its seasonal inundation.ОВОС Эвенкийского гидроузла на реке Нижняя Тунгуска
''ОАО «
LenHydroProject Lenhydroproject (russian: Ленгидропроект) is a major research and design institute for hydrotechnology and hydroelectric engineering based in St. Petersburg, Russia. Since 1993 it is incorporated as a "JSC Lenhydroproject", part of ...
»''


Economy

The channel of Nizhnyaya Tunguska with its tributaries constitutes dense network of rivers and creeks which creates convenient summer pathways through the wide rifted valley of
Eastern Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
. Historically, the river was used as a route for the
fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mo ...
,
fishery Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life; or more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a. fishing ground). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farms, ...
, for transportation of goods and mineral resources.
Hunting Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, horn/antler ...
and fur trade is still a significant part of the local economy.


Shipping

Navigation on the river is difficult because of a number of rifts, rapids and whirlpools. The passage of large ships and barges is possible during the spring inundation, and rainy weather during particular years allows short periods of navigation at the end of summer or the start of autumn.Нижняя Тунгуска - судоходство и грузоперевозки
''Енисейское пароходство''
The most problematic for the safe navigation of ships are the rapids ''"Bolshoy"'', which are from the river's mouth. In 1927 the first steamship passed this rapids and it is considered to be the start of modern navigation on the river from
Turukhansk Turukhansk (russian: Туруха́нск) is a rural locality (a '' selo'') and the administrative center of Turukhansky District of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located north of Krasnoyarsk, at the confluence of the Yenisey and Nizhnyaya Tu ...
to Tura. As of 2010 the shipping routes of Yenisey River Steamship Lines (russian: Енисейское речное пароходство) includes the village Kislokan, from the estuary. Timber rafting is possible throughout entire course of the river. It was suggested (and some research was done) in 1911 to build a canal joining the
Lena Lena or LENA may refer to: Places * Léna Department, a department of Houet Province in Burkina Faso * Lena, Manitoba, an unincorporated community located in Killarney-Turtle Mountain municipality in Manitoba, Canada * Lena, Norway, a village in ...
and ''Nizhnyaya Tunguska'' rivers in the neighbourhood of
Kirensk Kirensk ( rus, Киренск, p=ˈkʲirʲɪnsk) is a town and the administrative center of Kirensky District in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kirenga and Lena Rivers, north of Irkutsk, the administrative center of ...
. Near this locality the rivers are separated by no more than , but here the ''Nizhnyaya Tunguska'' is not navigable and flows at an elevation of above sea level, whereas the Lena flows at an elevation of .Lena at Zmeinovo
, ''UNESCO: Water resources''

''UNESCO: Water resources''
In the beginning of 20th century the canal project was considered inexpedient due to its complexity and high cost.


Planned damming

Plans to dam the river existed since the early
Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
period. These plans were the subject of criticism by various
ecologist Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlap ...
s. Construction of the dams also became impossible after disintegration of Soviet Union due to economic reasons. In 2005–10 the interest to this project and the discussion of it revived to some extent. According news media the construction of the Turukhanskaya hydroelectric powerplant would begin as soon as in 2010. Since the precise date is unknown, a more likely start-up is between 2010 and 2020. After completion of this project the ''Lower Tunguska'' River will be dammed, flooding about of forest and tundra (roughly the size of Lebanon or the islands of Hawaii), some of which contains buried
nuclear waste Radioactive waste is a type of hazardous waste that contains radioactive material. Radioactive waste is a result of many activities, including nuclear medicine, nuclear research, nuclear power generation, rare-earth mining, and nuclear weapons ...
, and displacing the indigenous Evenk population. The cost of the plant is estimated at $13 billion
dollar Dollar is the name of more than 20 currencies. They include the Australian dollar, Brunei dollar, Canadian dollar, Hong Kong dollar, Jamaican dollar, Liberian dollar, Namibian dollar, New Taiwan dollar, New Zealand dollar, Singapore dollar, ...
s, which includes costs of electric power lines. The plant will be built and operated by
RusHydro RusHydro (previous name: Hydro-OGK, russian: РусГидро) is a Russian hydroelectricity company. As of early 2012 it had a capacity of 34.9 gigawatts. In late 2009, it was the world's second-largest hydroelectric power producer and is ...
in the Krasnoyarsk region, and the electricity will be channeled to European Russia via a system of power lines.


Notable facts

* The colonisation history of
Western Siberia Western Siberia or West Siberia (russian: Западная Сибирь, Zapadnaya Sibir'; kk, Батыс Сібір) is a part of the larger region of Siberia that is mostly located in the Russian Federation. It lies between the Ural region a ...
by Russians since 17th and 18th centuries was reflected in various names for the river at different times.«В неизведанные края. Путешествия на Север 1917 – 1930 гг»
''
Vladimir Obruchev Vladimir Afanasyevich Obruchev (russian: Влади́мир Афана́сьевич О́бручев; , Klepenino near Rzhev, Tver Oblast, Russian Empire – June 19, 1956, Moscow, USSR) was a Russian and Soviet geologist who specialized ...
''
At some periods it was called Troitskaya Tunguska (russian: Троицкая Тунгуска), Monastyrskaya Tunguska (russian: Монастырская Тунгуске) and Mangaseyan Tunguska (russian: Мангазейская Тунгуска, see Mangaseya). * In literature, the river ''Nizhnyaya Tunguska'' is described in the novel '' Gloomy River'' by
Vyacheslav Shishkov Vyacheslav Yakovlevich Shishkov (russian: Вячесла́в Я́ковлевич Шишко́в) (—March 6, 1945) was and Russian and Soviet literature, Soviet writer known for his descriptions of Siberia. He was awarded the Stalin State Prize p ...
. This writer of the first half of the 20th century visited the river during an expedition in 1911; the name Gloomy River was taken from a Siberian song. * Existing sources indicate that the annual average discharge of water at mouth of its tributary Severnaya is equal to .Северная
Great Soviet Encyclopedia The ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (GSE; ) is one of the largest Russian-language encyclopedias, published in the Soviet Union from 1926 to 1990. After 2002, the encyclopedia's data was partially included into the later ''Bolshaya rossiyskaya en ...
As this river joins ''Lower Tunguska'' downstream of hydrological station ''"Bolshoy Porog"'' it means that the known average discharge at mouth of ''Lower Tunguska'' is significantly underestimated. It must be in the range of .


References

{{Authority control Rivers of Irkutsk Oblast Rivers of Krasnoyarsk Krai