Ob River
Ob River , also Obi, is a river in West
Siberia,
Russia, the country's fourth longest.
It is known to the Ostiaks as the As, Yag, Kolta and Yema; to the
Samoyedes as the Kolta or Kuay; and to the Siberian
Tatars as the Omar or Umar.
It is formed eight miles southwest of
Biysk in
Altai Krai, by the confluence of the Biya and the Katun. Both these streams have their origin in the
Altay Mountains, the former issuing from
Lake Teletskoye, the latter, 80 mi. long, bursting out of a glacier on Mount Byelukha. The Ob zigzags west and north until it reaches 55? N, where it curves round to the northwest, and again north, wheeling finally eastwards into the
Gulf of Ob, a deep bay of the
Kara Sea of the
Arctic Ocean.
Encyclopedia
Ob River , also
Obi, is a river in West
Siberia,
Russia, the country's fourth longest.
It is known to the Ostiaks as the As, Yag, Kolta and Yema; to the
Samoyedes as the Kolta or Kuay; and to the Siberian
Tatars as the Omar or Umar.
It is formed eight miles southwest of
Biysk in
Altai Krai, by the confluence of the Biya and the Katun. Both these streams have their origin in the
Altay Mountains, the former issuing from
Lake Teletskoye, the latter, 80 mi. long, bursting out of a glacier on Mount Byelukha. The Ob zigzags west and north until it reaches 55° N, where it curves round to the northwest, and again north, wheeling finally eastwards into the
Gulf of Ob, a deep bay of the
Kara Sea of the
Arctic Ocean.
The river splits up into more than one arm, especially after joining the large river
Irtysh in 69° E. Originating in
China,
Irtysh is actually longer than Ob to their confluence. From the river-head of Irtysh to the mouth of Ob, the Ob-Irtysh river flow is the longest in Russia at 5410 km. Other noteworthy tributaries are: from the east, the
Tom, the Chulym, the Ket, the Tym and the Vakh; and, from the west and south, the Vasyugan, the
Irtysh , and the Sosva.
The navigable waters within its basin reach a total length of 9300 mi. By means of the Turn, an affluent of the Tobol, it secures connection with the
Ekaterinburg-
Perm railway at
Tyumen, and thus is linked on to the rivers
Kama and
Volga in the heart of
Russia. Its own length is 3700 km , and the area of its basin 2,600,000 kmē .
The combined Ob-Irtysh system, the second longest river system of
Asia, is about 5410 km long. The largest river port is on
Irtysh in
Omsk, with a link to the
Trans-Siberian Railway. A system of canals, utilizing the Ket River, 560 mi. long in all, connects the Ob with the
Yenisei.
The river basin of the Ob exists mostly of steppe, taiga, swamps, tundra and semi-desert. The floodplains of the Ob are characterised by many tributaries and lakes.
The Ob is ice-bound at southern
Barnaul from early in November to near the end of April, and at northern
Salekhard, 100 miles above its mouth, from the end of October to the beginning of June. Its middle reaches have been navigated by steamboats since 1845.
Near
Novosibirsk city there is a dam built in 1956. This dam created the largest artificial lake in
Siberia called
Ob Sea.
The river is used mostly for irrigation, drinking water, hydroelectric energy, and fishing.
There are more than 50 species of fish in this river.
Cities along the river include:
See also: Rivers of RussiaReferences
External links
