The Olenyok (, sometimes spelled ''Оленек'', ''Olenek''; , Ölöön) is a major

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

in northern

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

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, west of the lower Lena and east of the Anabar. It is long, of which around is navigable. Average water discharge is . The Olenyok is known for its abundance in fish. It is frozen for over eight months every year and the climate in its area is harsh because of the direct influence of the Arctic.

History

In 1633 Ivan Rebrov reached the Olenyok from the Lena delta and built a fort. In 1642–44 Rebrov and Fedot Alekseyev Popov reached the river but were driven out by the natives. Pioneering Russian Arctic explorer Vasili Pronchishchev and his wife Tatiana (Maria) died of

scurvy Scurvy is a deficiency disease (state of malnutrition) resulting from a lack of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Early symptoms of deficiency include weakness, fatigue, and sore arms and legs. Without treatment, anemia, decreased red blood cells, gum d ...

in the area of the river in September 1736, while mapping the coasts of the Laptev Sea. After their deaths, husband and wife were interred at Ust-Olenyok, near the mouth of the Olenyok. Their tomb was moved after the bodies were exhumed in 1999. In 1956 the

Olenekian In the geologic timescale, the Olenekian is an age (geology), age in the Early Triassic epoch (geology), epoch; in chronostratigraphy, it is a stage (stratigraphy), stage in the Lower Triassic series (stratigraphy), series. It spans the time betw ...

Age of the

Triassic The Triassic ( ; sometimes symbolized 🝈) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.5 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.4 Mya. The Triassic is t ...

Period of geological time was named for rock strata in the Olenyok area.

Course

The river's source is in

Krasnoyarsk Krai Krasnoyarsk Krai (, ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (a krai) of Russia located in Siberia. Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Krasnoyarsk, the second-largest city in Siberia after ...

, on the

Vilyuy Plateau The Vilyuy Plateau () is a mountain plateau in Krasnoyarsk Krai and the Sakha Republic (Yakutia), Siberia, Russia. It is a part of the Central Siberian Plateau and it is made up mainly of the upper course section of the Vilyuy River. Permafrost ...

, part of the

Central Siberian Plateau The Central Siberian Plateau (; ) is a vast mountainous area in Siberia, one of the Great Russian Regions. Geography The plateau occupies a great part of central Siberia between the Yenisei and Lena rivers. It is located in the Siberian Plat ...

. The river flows east and then north descending into the

North Siberian Lowland The North Siberian Lowland (; ), also known as Taymyr Lowland (), is a plain with a relatively flat relief separating the Byrranga Mountains of the Taymyr Peninsula in the north from the Central Siberian Plateau in the south. To the southeast ...

. In its lower course it bends northwestwards skirting the western slopes of the Kystyk Plateau and the Chekanovsky Ridge before emptying into the Olenyok Gulf of the

Laptev Sea The Laptev Sea () is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is located between the northern coast of Siberia, the Taimyr Peninsula, Severnaya Zemlya, and the New Siberian Islands. Its northern boundary passes from the Arctic Cape to a point with ...

. Its mouth is at Ust-Olenyok just west of the Lena River delta. Olenyok is a village located on the river bank.

Google Earth Google Earth is a web mapping, web and computer program created by Google that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satelli ...

Tributaries

The major tributaries of the Olenyok are the Arga-Sala (with its tributaries Kengeede, Kukusunda and Kyuyonelekeen), Bur, Ukukit, Birekte, Kuoika, Beyenchime and Buolkalakh on the left, and the Alakit, Siligir, Merchimden, Kyuyutingde (Кюютингдэ), Khorbusuonka and Kelimyar on the right.

Islands

Dyangylakh or Dzhyangylakh (Ostrov Dyangylakh) is a large flat delta island at the mouth of the Olenek River. There are many smaller islands in its immediate vicinity, such as Eppet Island off its eastern side, but none comes close to its size. Dyangylakh is long and wide.Dyangylakh
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References

External links