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{{Infobox River {{Infobox river
|river_name = Kolyma River | name = Kolyma
| native_name ={{native name|ru|Колыма}}
|image_name = Debin_Siberia.jpg
| name_other =
|caption = ] through the morning mist over the Kolyma River, 8 September 2004
| name_etymology = ] ''kulumaa'', "river"<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AR7xAwAAQBAJ&q=kolyma+etymology&pg=PA19|title=Studia Linguistica Universitatis Iagellonicae Cracoviensis Vol. 127 (2010)|first=Elżbieta|last=Mańczak-Wohlfeld|date=September 1, 2010|publisher=Wydawnictwo UJ|isbn=9788323330271|via=Google Books}}</ref>
|origin =
| image = Р. Колыма. Сеймчанский участок.JPG
|mouth = ]
| image_caption =
|basin_countries = ]
| pushpin_map = Russia Far Eastern Federal District
|length = 2,129 km
| pushpin_map_size =
|elevation =
| pushpin_map_caption= Location of the river mouth in the ], Russia
|discharge = 3,800 m³/s (near mouth)
| source1 = ]
|watershed = 644,000 km²
| source1_location = ], Khabarovsk Krai
| source1_coordinates= {{Coord|61.918|144.603|format=dms|display=i}}
| source1_elevation = {{Convert|1426|m|ft|abbr=on}}
| source2 = ]
| source2_location = ], ]
| source2_coordinates= {{Coord|62.910|146.130|format=dms|display=i}}
| source2_elevation = {{convert|992|m|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name="waterrussia">{{cite web |title=Аян-Юрях |url=https://water-rf.ru/%D0%92%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%BD%D1%8B%D0%B5_%D0%BE%D0%B1%D1%8A%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%82%D1%8B/1048/%D0%90%D1%8F%D0%BD-%D0%AE%D1%80%D1%8F%D1%85 |website=Вода Россия |access-date=10 July 2021 |language=ru |trans-title=Ayan-Yuryakh |trans-work=Water Russia}}</ref>
| mouth = ]
| mouth_location = Kolyma Gulf
| mouth_coordinates = {{coord|69.5477|161.3641|format=dms|region:RU-SA|display=it}}
| mouth_elevation = {{Convert|0|m|ft|abbr=on}}
| subdivision_type1 = Country
| subdivision_name1 = ]
| length = {{convert|2,129|km|mi|abbr=on}}<ref name=gvr>{{GVR|264248|Водоток Колыма (пр. Каменная Колыма)}}</ref>
| discharge1_location= Kolyma Delta, ], ]
| discharge1_avg =(Period: 1984–2018){{cvt|130|km3/year|m3/s|abbr=on}}<ref name="Recent changes to Arctic river discharge">{{cite journal|journal=Nature Communications|doi=10.1038/s41467-021-27228-1|last1=Dongmei|first1=Feng|last2=Colin|first2=J. Gleason|last3=Peirong|first3=Lin|last4=Xiao|first4=Yang|last5=Ming|first5=Pan|last6=Yuta|first6=Ishitsuka|title=Recent changes to Arctic river discharge|date=2021|volume=12|number=6917|page=6917 |pmid=34824255 |pmc=8617260|bibcode=2021NatCo..12.6917F }}</ref>
{{convert|4,190|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sZX_p5IKAxUC|title=The Freshwater Budget of the Arctic Ocean|last1=Edward Lyn|first1=Lewis|last2=E. Peter|first2=Jones|last3=Peter|first3=Lemke|last4=Terry D.|first4=Prowse|last5=Peter|first5=Wadhams|date=1998|publisher=Springer |isbn=0792364392}}</ref>
| discharge2_location= ] (Basin size: {{convert|526,000|km2|mi2|abbr=on}}<ref name="Kolyma At Kolymskoye"/>)
| discharge2_min = {{convert|30.6|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}} (in April 1979)<ref name="Kolyma At Kolymskoye"/>
| discharge2_avg = (Period of data: 1978–2000) {{convert|3,254|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}<ref name="Kolyma At Kolymskoye">{{cite web|url=http://www.r-arcticnet.sr.unh.edu/v4.0/ViewPoint.pl?Point=5952|title=Kolyma At Kolymskoye|publisher=R-ARCTICNET|access-date=2017-08-11}}</ref>
| discharge2_max = {{convert|26,201|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}} (in June 1985)<ref name="Kolyma At Kolymskoye"/>
| basin_size = {{convert|647,000|km2|mi2|abbr=on}}<ref name=gvr>{{GVR|264248|Водоток Колыма (пр. Каменная Колыма)}}</ref>
| tributaries_left = ], ], ], ], ]
| tributaries_right = ], ], ], ], ], ], ]
}} }}

]
The '''Kolyma River''' ({{lang-ru|Колыма́}}) is a river in northeastern ], whose basin covers parts of the ], ], and ] of ]. It The '''Kolyma''' ({{langx|ru|Колыма}}, {{IPA|ru|kəlɨˈma|IPA}}; {{langx|sah|Халыма|translit=Xalıma}}) is a river in northeastern ], whose basin covers parts of the ], ], and ] of ].
rises in the mountains north of ] and ], in the area of {{coord|62|N|149|E|}} and
empties into the ] (Kolymskiy Zaliv) of the ], a division of the ], at {{coord|69|30|N|161|30|E|}}. The length of the Kolyma is 2,129&nbsp;km. The area of its basin is 644,000&nbsp;km².


The Kolyma is frozen to depths of several metres for about 250&nbsp;days each year, becoming free of ice only in early June, until October. The Kolyma is frozen to depths of several metres for about 250&nbsp;days each year, becoming free of ice only in early June, until October.

==Course==
The Kolyma begins at the confluence of the ] and the ] (Kolyma a natural continuation of Ayan-Yuryakh). The confluence happens in the ] (Охотско-Колымское нагорье), which lies within the watershed that separates the Kolyma basin and the basins of rivers flowing into the ].<ref></ref> Kolyma flows across the ] roughly southwards in its upper course. Leaving the mountainous areas it flows roughly northwards across the ], a vast plain dotted with thousands of lakes, part of the greater ].
The river empties into the ] of the ], a division of the ].

The Kolyma is {{convert|2129|km|mi}} long. The area of its basin is {{convert|647000|km2|mi2}}.<ref name=gvr>{{GVR|264248|Водоток Колыма (пр. Каменная Колыма)}}</ref> The average ] at ] is {{convert|3254|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}, with a high of {{convert|26201|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}} reported in June 1985, and a low of {{convert|30.6|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}} in April 1979.<ref name="Kolyma At Kolymskoye"/>

===Tributaries===
The main ] of the Kolyma are, from source to mouth:<ref name=gvr/>
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
*] (left)
*] (right)
*] (right)
*] (right)
*] (right)
*] (left)
*] (right)
*] (right)
*] (right)
**]
*] (left)
*] (left)
*] (left)
*] (left)
*] (left)
*] (left)
*] (left)
*] (right)
*] (right)
**]
*] (right)
**]
**]
{{div col end}}
{|
|- valign="top"
|]
|}
===Islands===
In the last {{convert|75|km|mi|adj=on}} stretch, the Kolyma divides into two large branches. There are many islands at the mouth of the Kolyma before it meets the East Siberian sea. The main ones are:

*Mikhalkino {{coord|69.416|N|161.255|E}} is the largest island, it lies to the west of the Kolyma's eastern branch, the Kamennaya Kolyma ]. This island breaks up into smaller islands on its northern end. It is {{convert|24|km|mi}} long and {{convert|6|km|mi|0}} wide. Mikhalkino is also known as "Glavsevmorput Island" after the ].
*Sukharnyy, or Sukhornyy, is 3 kilometres from the northeastern shores of Mikhalkino. It is {{convert|11|km|mi|0}} long and about {{convert|5|km|mi|0}} wide. Northeast of Sukhornyy lies a cluster of small islands known as the Morskiye Sotki Islands.
*Piat' Pal'tsev lies 5&nbsp;kilometres to the southeast of Sukhornyy's southern end. It is 5&nbsp;kilometres long and has a maximum width of 1.8&nbsp;kilometres.
*Nazarovsky Island {{coord|69.533|N|161.086|E}} lies on the western side of the Kolyma's western branch, the Prot. Pokhodskaya Kolyma, in an area where there are many small islands. It is 4.5&nbsp;kilometres long and 1.3&nbsp;kilometres wide.
*Shtormovoy Island {{coord|69.666|N|161.031|E}} lies offshore, about {{convert|10|km|mi|0}} to the north of Nazarovsky Island. Shtormovoy is the northernmost island off the Mouths of the Kolyma. It is 4.3&nbsp;kilometres long and 1.5&nbsp;kilometres wide.


==History== ==History==


In 1640 '''Dimitry Zyryan''' (also called Yarilo or Yerilo) went overland to the Indigirka. In 1641 he sailed down the Indigirka, went east and up the Alazeya. Here they heard of the Kolyma and met ] for the first time. In 1643 he returned to the Indigirka, sent his yasak to Yakutsk and went back to the Alazeya. In 1645 he returned to the Lena where he met a party and learned that he had been appointed prekazshchik of the Kolyma. He returned east and died in early 1646. In the winter of 1641-42 ''']''', accompanied by ], went overland to the upper Indigirka. He spent the next winter there, built boats and sailed down the Indigirka and east to the Alazeya where he met Zyryan. Zyrian and Dezhnev stayed at the Alazeya, while Stadukhin went east, reaching the Kolyma in the summer of 1644. They built a zimovye, probably at ] and returned to Yakutsk in late 1645.<ref name= Lantzeff>{{cite book In 1640 Dimitry Zyryan (also called Yarilo or Yerilo) went overland to the ]. In 1641 he sailed down the Indigirka, went east and up the ]. Here they heard of the Kolyma and met ] for the first time. In 1643 he returned to the Indigirka, sent his ''yasak'' (tribute) to ] and went back to the Alazeya. In 1645 he returned to the ] where he met a party and learned that he had been appointed ''prikazchik'' (land administrator) of the Kolyma. He returned east and died in early 1646. In the winter of 1641–42 ], accompanied by ], went overland to the upper Indigirka. He spent the next winter there, built boats and sailed down the Indigirka and east to the Alazeya where he met Zyryan. Zyryan and Dezhnyov stayed at the Alazeya, while Stadukhin went east, reaching the Kolyma in the summer of 1644. They built a ''zimovye'' (winter cabin), probably at ], and returned to Yakutsk in late 1645.<ref name= Lantzeff>{{cite book
| last = Lantzeff | last1 = Lantzeff
| first = George V., and Richard A. Pierce | first1 = George V.
|last2=Pierce
|first2=Richard A.
| title = Eastward to Empire: Exploration and Conquest on the Russian Open Frontier, to 1750 | title = Eastward to Empire: Exploration and Conquest on the Russian Open Frontier, to 1750
| publisher = McGill-Queen's U.P. | publisher = McGill-Queen's U.P.
| year = 1973 | year = 1973
| location = Montreal | location = Montreal
|isbn=0773501339
| page = }}</ref>
}}</ref>


In 1892-1894 ] carried out geological surveys in the basin of the Kolyma (among other Far-eastern Siberian rivers) on behalf of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Barr, 1980). During one year and two days the expedition covered 25,000&nbsp;km, of which 4,200&nbsp;km were up rivers, carrying out geodesic surveys en route. In 1892–94 ] carried out geological surveys in the basin of the Kolyma (among other Far-eastern Siberian rivers) on behalf of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Barr, 1980). During one year and two days the expedition covered {{convert|25000|km|mi}}, of which {{convert|4200|km|mi}} were up rivers, carrying out geodesic surveys en route.


The Kolyma is known for its ] ]s and ], both of which have been extensively documented since ] era Soviet archives opened. The river gives its title to a famous anthology about life in Gulag camps by ], '']''. The Kolyma is known for its ] ]s and ], both of which have been extensively documented since ]–era Soviet archives opened. The river gives its title to a famous anthology about life in Gulag camps by ], '']''.


After the camps were closed, state ], local industries and communication dwindled to almost nothing. Many people have migrated, but those who remain in the area make a living by fishing and hunting. In small fishing settlements, fish are sometimes stored in caves carved from ].<ref>Personal observation in 1991, journals kept by Wallace Kaufman</ref> The last Americans to visit the Kolyma during the Soviet era, before '']'', were the crew of the sailing ] '']'' in August 1929, whose visit was captured in a film taken by the ''Nanuk'' owner's 18-year-old daughter, Marion Swenson.<ref>{{cite book |last=Gleason|first=Robert J. |title=Icebound in the Siberian Arctic |publisher=Alaska Northwest Publishing|year=1977|isbn=0882400673}}</ref> The first two Americans to visit the Kolyma after the ''Nanuk'''s visit were writer Wallace Kaufman and journalist Rebecca Clay, who traveled by cutter from Ziryanka to Green Cape in August 1991.<ref>unpublished journals of Wallace Kaufman</ref> Kaufman and his daughter Sylvan and CPA Letty Collins Magdanz also travelled part of the Kolyma in August 1992, the first American visitors since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Both trips were arranged by North-East Scientific and Industrial Center: Ecocenter to try out an ecotourism route which was found to be impractical.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}} In February 2012, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reported that scientists had grown plants from 30,000-year-old '']'' fruit, which was stored in ] burrows near the banks of the Kolyma river and preserved in permafrost.<ref name=bbc120220/>
After the camps were closed, state subsidies, local industries and communication have dwindled to almost nothing. Many people have migrated, but those who remain in the area make a living by fishing and hunting.


==Settlements==
==Mouths of the Kolyma==
Settlements at the Kolyma river include (listed downstream) ], ], ], ], ], ] and ].
In the last 75&nbsp;km stretch the Kolyma divides into two large branches. There are many islands at the mouth of the Kolyma before it meets the East Siberian sea. The main ones are:


==Constructions==
*'''Mikhalkino''' {{coord|69.416|N|161.255|E}} is the largest island, it lies to the west of the Kolyma's eastern branch, the Prot. Kammennaya Kolyma. This island breaks up into smaller islands on its northern end. It is 24&nbsp;km long and 6&nbsp;km wide. Mikhalkino is also known as '''"Glavsevmorput Island"''' after the ].
].]]
*'''Sukharnyy''', or '''Sukhornyy''' , is located 3&nbsp;km from the northeastern shores of Mikhalkino. It is 11&nbsp;km long and about 5&nbsp;km wide. Northeast of Sukhornyy lies a cluster of small islands known as the '''Morskiye Sotki Islands'''.
The ] is a hydropower plant at ], downstream from the ] in the upper part of the river. The plant was started in the 1980s by Kolyma Gestroi and both the plant and the town of Sinegorye were built under the supervision of chief engineer Oleg Kogadovski. The town included an olympic sized swimming pool, an underground rifle range, and many amenities absent in most other small Russian towns. Kogadovski said that in order to attract and employ good talent in such a remote place, the town had to be exceptional. <ref>Personal observation in 1991, journals kept by Wallace Kaufman</ref> The dam provides most of the electricity to the region including Magadan. the Kolyma dam is an earthen dam some 150&nbsp;ft high. Air circulation tubes carry frigid winter air into the core of the dam where frozen earth stabilizes the structure. Kolyma Ges. said it was the largest dam ever built in a permafrost region. In 1992 a new hydropower plant was under construction at Ust-Srednekan, the ]. Larch forests cleared for the reservoir were cut in winter when the trunks were frozen and easily snapped. The wood was sold for pulp.
*'''Piat' Pal'tsev''' lies 5&nbsp;km to the southeast of Sukhornyy's southern end. It is 5&nbsp;km long and has a maximum width of 1.8&nbsp;km.

*'''Nazarovsky Island''' {{coord|69.533|N|161.086|E}} lies on the western side of the Kolyma's western branch, the Prot. Pokhodskaya Kolyma, in an area where there are many small islands. It is 4.5&nbsp;km long and 1.3&nbsp;km wide.
There are only a few bridges over the river, including at ], at Sinegorye and at Debin (which carries the ]).
*'''Shtormovoy Island''' {{coord|69.666|N|161.031|E}} lies offshore, about 10&nbsp;km to the north of Nazarovsky Island. Shtormovoy is the northernmost island off the Mouths of the Kolyma. It is 4.3&nbsp;km long and 1.5&nbsp;km wide.


==See also== ==See also==
{{Portal|Siberia}}
The ] article which provides additional information about the Gulag.
*] (greater region)
*]
*]


==References== ==References==
{{Reflist|2}} {{Reflist|refs=


<ref name=bbc120220>{{cite news | url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17100574 | title = Ancient plants back to life after 30,000 frozen years | first = Richard | last = Black | work = ] | date = February 20, 2012 }}</ref>
==General References==

}}

==Further reading==
* ], ''Baron Eduard von Toll’s Last Expedition: The Russian Polar Expedition, 1900-1903'' (1980). * ], ''Baron Eduard von Toll’s Last Expedition: The Russian Polar Expedition, 1900-1903'' (1980).
* Shalamov, Varlam Tikhonovich (1994) ''Kolyma tales'' , Glad, John (transl.), Penguin twentieth-century classics, Harmondsworth : Penguin, ISBN 0-14-018695-6 * Shalamov, Varlam Tikhonovich (1994) ''Kolyma tales'' , Glad, John (transl.), Penguin twentieth-century classics, Harmondsworth : Penguin, {{ISBN|0-14-018695-6}}
* Once-cursed Gulag river now Siberian lifeline: * Once-cursed Gulag river now Siberian lifeline:
*
*
*


==External links== ==External links==
{{commonscat|Kolyma River}}
*
* {{GSEn|063085|Колыма}}
*
* {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050408063506/http://earthtrends.wri.org/maps_spatial/maps_detail_static.cfm?map_select=358&theme=2 |date=2005-04-08 }}
*


{{East Siberian Sea Islands}} {{East Siberian Sea Islands}}
{{Rivers of Russia}}
{{Authority control}}


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Latest revision as of 01:18, 19 December 2024

River in Russia
Kolyma
Kolyma (river) is located in Far Eastern Federal DistrictKolyma (river)Location of the river mouth in the Far Eastern Federal District, Russia
EtymologyTundra Yukaghir kulumaa, "river"
Native nameКолыма (Russian)
Location
CountryRussia
Physical characteristics
SourceKulu
 • locationOkhotsky District, Khabarovsk Krai
 • coordinates61°55′05″N 144°36′11″E / 61.918°N 144.603°E / 61.918; 144.603
 • elevation1,426 m (4,678 ft)
2nd sourceAyan-Yuryakh
 • locationSusumansky District, Magadan Oblast
 • coordinates62°54′36″N 146°07′48″E / 62.910°N 146.130°E / 62.910; 146.130
 • elevation992 m (3,255 ft)
MouthEast Siberian Sea
 • locationKolyma Gulf
 • coordinates69°32′52″N 161°21′51″E / 69.5477°N 161.3641°E / 69.5477; 161.3641
 • elevation0 m (0 ft)
Length2,129 km (1,323 mi)
Basin size647,000 km (250,000 sq mi)
Discharge 
 • locationKolyma Delta, East Siberian Sea, Russia
 • average(Period: 1984–2018)130 km/a (4,100 m/s) 4,190 m/s (148,000 cu ft/s)
Discharge 
 • locationKolymskoye (Basin size: 526,000 km (203,000 sq mi))
 • average(Period of data: 1978–2000) 3,254 m/s (114,900 cu ft/s)
 • minimum30.6 m/s (1,080 cu ft/s) (in April 1979)
 • maximum26,201 m/s (925,300 cu ft/s) (in June 1985)
Basin features
Tributaries 
 • leftPopovka, Yasachnaya, Zyryanka, Ozhogina, Sededema
 • rightBuyunda, Balygychan, Sugoy, Korkodon, Beryozovka, Omolon, Anyuy

The Kolyma (Russian: Колыма, IPA: [kəlɨˈma]; Yakut: Халыма, romanized: Xalıma) is a river in northeastern Siberia, whose basin covers parts of the Sakha Republic, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, and Magadan Oblast of Russia.

The Kolyma is frozen to depths of several metres for about 250 days each year, becoming free of ice only in early June, until October.

Course

The Kolyma begins at the confluence of the Kulu and the Ayan-Yuryakh (Kolyma a natural continuation of Ayan-Yuryakh). The confluence happens in the Okhotsk-Kolyma Upland (Охотско-Колымское нагорье), which lies within the watershed that separates the Kolyma basin and the basins of rivers flowing into the Sea of Okhotsk. Kolyma flows across the Upper Kolyma Highlands roughly southwards in its upper course. Leaving the mountainous areas it flows roughly northwards across the Kolyma Lowland, a vast plain dotted with thousands of lakes, part of the greater East Siberian Lowland. The river empties into the Kolyma Gulf of the East Siberian Sea, a division of the Arctic Ocean.

The Kolyma is 2,129 kilometres (1,323 mi) long. The area of its basin is 647,000 square kilometres (250,000 sq mi). The average discharge at Kolymskoye is 3,254 m/s (114,900 cu ft/s), with a high of 26,201 m/s (925,300 cu ft/s) reported in June 1985, and a low of 30.6 m/s (1,080 cu ft/s) in April 1979.

Tributaries

The main tributaries of the Kolyma are, from source to mouth:

Map of the Kolyma river basin

Islands

In the last 75-kilometre (47 mi) stretch, the Kolyma divides into two large branches. There are many islands at the mouth of the Kolyma before it meets the East Siberian sea. The main ones are:

History

In 1640 Dimitry Zyryan (also called Yarilo or Yerilo) went overland to the Indigirka. In 1641 he sailed down the Indigirka, went east and up the Alazeya. Here they heard of the Kolyma and met Chukchis for the first time. In 1643 he returned to the Indigirka, sent his yasak (tribute) to Yakutsk and went back to the Alazeya. In 1645 he returned to the Lena where he met a party and learned that he had been appointed prikazchik (land administrator) of the Kolyma. He returned east and died in early 1646. In the winter of 1641–42 Mikhail Stadukhin, accompanied by Semyon Dezhnyov, went overland to the upper Indigirka. He spent the next winter there, built boats and sailed down the Indigirka and east to the Alazeya where he met Zyryan. Zyryan and Dezhnyov stayed at the Alazeya, while Stadukhin went east, reaching the Kolyma in the summer of 1644. They built a zimovye (winter cabin), probably at Srednekolymsk, and returned to Yakutsk in late 1645.

In 1892–94 Baron Eduard Von Toll carried out geological surveys in the basin of the Kolyma (among other Far-eastern Siberian rivers) on behalf of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Barr, 1980). During one year and two days the expedition covered 25,000 kilometres (16,000 mi), of which 4,200 kilometres (2,600 mi) were up rivers, carrying out geodesic surveys en route.

The Kolyma is known for its Gulag labour camps and gold mining, both of which have been extensively documented since Joseph Stalin–era Soviet archives opened. The river gives its title to a famous anthology about life in Gulag camps by Varlam Shalamov, The Kolyma Tales.

After the camps were closed, state subsidies, local industries and communication dwindled to almost nothing. Many people have migrated, but those who remain in the area make a living by fishing and hunting. In small fishing settlements, fish are sometimes stored in caves carved from permafrost. The last Americans to visit the Kolyma during the Soviet era, before perestroika, were the crew of the sailing schooner Nanuk in August 1929, whose visit was captured in a film taken by the Nanuk owner's 18-year-old daughter, Marion Swenson. The first two Americans to visit the Kolyma after the Nanuk's visit were writer Wallace Kaufman and journalist Rebecca Clay, who traveled by cutter from Ziryanka to Green Cape in August 1991. Kaufman and his daughter Sylvan and CPA Letty Collins Magdanz also travelled part of the Kolyma in August 1992, the first American visitors since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Both trips were arranged by North-East Scientific and Industrial Center: Ecocenter to try out an ecotourism route which was found to be impractical. In February 2012, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reported that scientists had grown plants from 30,000-year-old Silene stenophylla fruit, which was stored in squirrel burrows near the banks of the Kolyma river and preserved in permafrost.

Settlements

Settlements at the Kolyma river include (listed downstream) Sinegorye, Debin, Ust-Srednekan, Seymchan, Zyryanka, Srednekolymsk and Chersky.

Constructions

Old bridge over the Kolyma before its dismantling in Debin.

The Kolyma Hydroelectric Station is a hydropower plant at Sinegorye, downstream from the Kolyma Reservoir in the upper part of the river. The plant was started in the 1980s by Kolyma Gestroi and both the plant and the town of Sinegorye were built under the supervision of chief engineer Oleg Kogadovski. The town included an olympic sized swimming pool, an underground rifle range, and many amenities absent in most other small Russian towns. Kogadovski said that in order to attract and employ good talent in such a remote place, the town had to be exceptional. The dam provides most of the electricity to the region including Magadan. the Kolyma dam is an earthen dam some 150 ft high. Air circulation tubes carry frigid winter air into the core of the dam where frozen earth stabilizes the structure. Kolyma Ges. said it was the largest dam ever built in a permafrost region. In 1992 a new hydropower plant was under construction at Ust-Srednekan, the Ust-Srednekan Hydroelectric Plant. Larch forests cleared for the reservoir were cut in winter when the trunks were frozen and easily snapped. The wood was sold for pulp.

There are only a few bridges over the river, including at Ust-Srednekan, at Sinegorye and at Debin (which carries the Kolyma Highway).

See also

References

  1. Mańczak-Wohlfeld, Elżbieta (September 1, 2010). Studia Linguistica Universitatis Iagellonicae Cracoviensis Vol. 127 (2010). Wydawnictwo UJ. ISBN 9788323330271 – via Google Books.
  2. "Аян-Юрях" [Ayan-Yuryakh]. Вода Россия [Water Russia] (in Russian). Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  3. ^ "Водоток Колыма (пр. Каменная Колыма) in the State Water Register of Russia". textual.ru (in Russian).
  4. Dongmei, Feng; Colin, J. Gleason; Peirong, Lin; Xiao, Yang; Ming, Pan; Yuta, Ishitsuka (2021). "Recent changes to Arctic river discharge". Nature Communications. 12 (6917): 6917. Bibcode:2021NatCo..12.6917F. doi:10.1038/s41467-021-27228-1. PMC 8617260. PMID 34824255.
  5. Edward Lyn, Lewis; E. Peter, Jones; Peter, Lemke; Terry D., Prowse; Peter, Wadhams (1998). The Freshwater Budget of the Arctic Ocean. Springer. ISBN 0792364392.
  6. ^ "Kolyma At Kolymskoye". R-ARCTICNET. Retrieved 2017-08-11.
  7. МАГАДАНСКИЙ ЗАПОВЕДНИК
  8. Lantzeff, George V.; Pierce, Richard A. (1973). Eastward to Empire: Exploration and Conquest on the Russian Open Frontier, to 1750. Montreal: McGill-Queen's U.P. ISBN 0773501339.
  9. Personal observation in 1991, journals kept by Wallace Kaufman
  10. Gleason, Robert J. (1977). Icebound in the Siberian Arctic. Alaska Northwest Publishing. ISBN 0882400673.
  11. unpublished journals of Wallace Kaufman
  12. Black, Richard (February 20, 2012). "Ancient plants back to life after 30,000 frozen years". BBC News.
  13. Personal observation in 1991, journals kept by Wallace Kaufman

Further reading

  • William Barr, Baron Eduard von Toll’s Last Expedition: The Russian Polar Expedition, 1900-1903 (1980).
  • Shalamov, Varlam Tikhonovich (1994) Kolyma tales , Glad, John (transl.), Penguin twentieth-century classics, Harmondsworth : Penguin, ISBN 0-14-018695-6
  • Once-cursed Gulag river now Siberian lifeline:
  • Position and names of islands

External links

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Russia Rivers of Russia by drainage basin
Barents Sea and White Sea (Arctic Ocean)
Baltic Sea
Lake Peipus
Lake Ladoga
Lake Ilmen
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Black Sea
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Arctic Ocean, east of the Urals
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