TheLena is ariver in theRussian Far East and is the easternmost river of the three great rivers ofSiberia which flow into theArctic Ocean, the others beingOb andYenisey.[note 1] The Lena river is 4,294 km (2,668 mi) long and has a capaciousdrainage basin of 2,490,000 km2 (960,000 sq mi); thus the Lena is theeleventh-longest river in the world and the longest river entirely withinRussia.[6] Geographically,permafrost underlies all the Lena River'scatchment and it is continuous in over 75 percent of the basin.[7]
The Lena originates at 1,640 meters (5,381 ft) of elevation in theBaikal Mountains, 7 kilometres (4 mi) west ofLake Baikal, south of theCentral Siberian Plateau. The Lena flows north-east and traverses theLena-Angara Plateau, then is joined by three tributary rivers: (i) theKirenga, (ii) theVitim, and (iii) theOlyokma. FromYakutsk, the Lena River enters theCentral Yakutian Lowland and flows north until joined by the eastern tributary, theAldan River, and the western tributary, theVilyuy River. Afterwards, the Lena bends westwards and northwards, flowing between the mountains of theKharaulakh Range to the east (part of theVerkhoyansk Range) and the mountains of theChekanovsky Ridge to the west. Travelling approximately due north, the Lena widens into a greatriver delta that merges into theLaptev Sea, a marginal region of the Arctic Ocean, south-west of theNew Siberian Islands. TheLena Delta is 30,000 square kilometres (12,000 sq mi) in area,[8] being traversed by seven main branches, the most important being the Bykovsky channel, farthest east.
The lower course of the Lena River in Siberia.The upper course of the Lena River in Siberia.
The Lena is navigable over a length of 3540 kilometres. The annual navigation period, when ice is minimally present or absent, lasts about 70 days in the estuarine region and 125 days elsewhere.[9]
The area of the Lena River basin is calculated at 2,490,000 square kilometres (960,000 sq mi) and the mean annual discharge is 489 cubic kilometers per year.Gold is washed out of the sands of the Vitim and the Olyokma, andmammoth tusks have been dug out of the delta. There are numerous lakes in the floodplain of the river. LakesNedzheli andUlakhan-Kyuel are the largest in the basin of the Lena.
TheKirenga flows north between the upper Lena River and Lake Baikal. TheVitim drains the area northeast of Lake Baikal. TheOlyokma flows north. TheAmga makes a long curve southeast and parallel to the Lena and flows into the Aldan. TheAldan also curves roughly parallel to the Lena until it turns east and flows into the Lena north of Yakutsk. TheMaya, a tributary of the Aldan, drains an area almost to the Sea of Okhotsk. The T-shapedChona-Vilyuy system drains most of the area to the west.
The main tributaries of the Lena are, from source to mouth:
It is commonly believed that the Lena derives its name from the originalEven-Evenk nameElyu-Ene, which means "the Large River".
The river around 1890
According to folktales related a century later, in the years 1620–1623 a party of Russian fur hunters under the leadership ofDemid Pyanda sailed upNizhnyaya Tunguska, discovered the Lena, and either carried their boats there or built new ones. In 1623 Pyanda explored some 2,400 kilometres (1,500 mi) of the river from its upper reaches to the centralYakutia.[10] In 1628 Vasily Bugor and 10 men reached the Lena, collected 'yasak' (tribute) from the 'natives' and then foundedKirinsk in 1632. In 1631 thevoyevoda ofYeniseysk sentPyotr Beketov and 20 men to construct a fortress atYakutsk (founded in 1632). From Yakutsk other expeditions spread out to the south and east. The Lena delta was reached in 1655.
Baron Eduard Von Toll, accompanied byAlexander von Bunge, led an expedition that explored the Lena delta and the islands ofNew Siberia on behalf of theRussian Imperial Academy of Sciences in 1885. In 1886 they investigated the New Siberian Islands and theYana River and its tributaries. 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 outgeodesic surveys en route.
TheLena massacre was the name given to the 1912 shooting-down of striking goldminers and local citizens who protested at the working conditions in the mine nearBodaybo in northern Irkutsk. The incident was reported in the Duma (parliament) byKerensky and is credited with stimulating revolutionary feeling in Russia.
Lena River Delta in Autumn 2014Lena river Delta by Landsat, February 2000
At the end of the Lena River there is a largedelta that extends 100 kilometres (62 mi) into the Laptev Sea and is about 400 km (250 mi) wide. The delta is frozentundra for about seven months of the year, but in May the region is transformed into a lushwetland for a few months. Part of the area is protected as theLena Delta Wildlife Reserve.Fyodor Matisen mapped the delta.
The Lena Delta divides into a multitude of flat islands. The most important are (from west to east): Chychas Aryta, Petrushka, Sagastyr, Samakh Ary Diyete, Turkan Bel'keydere, Sasyllakh Ary, Kolkhoztakh Bel'keydere, Grigoriy Diyelyakh Bel'kee (Grigoriy Islands), Nerpa Uolun Aryta, Misha Bel'keydere, Atakhtay Bel'kedere, Arangastakh, Urdiuk Pastakh Bel'key, Agys Past' Aryta, Dallalakh Island, Otto Ary, Ullakhan Ary and Orto Ues Aryta.
Turukannakh-Kumaga is a long and narrow island off the Lena Delta's western shore.
One of the Lena delta islands, Ostrov Amerika-Kuba-Aryta or Ostrov Kuba-Aryta, was named after the island ofCuba during Soviet times. It is on the northern edge of the delta.[11]
Alexander von Bunge &Eduard von Toll (1887),The Expedition to the New Siberian Islands and the Yana country, equipped by the Imperial Academy of Sciences.
Jeffrey Tayler (2006),River of No Reprieve: Descending Siberia's Waterway of Exile, Death, and Destiny
^Kirillov, A. F.; Knizhin, I. B. (August 2014). "Ichthyofauna of the Lena River (Laptev Sea Basin): Modern composition and historical formation".Journal of Ichthyology.54 (7):433–445.Bibcode:2014JIch...54..433K.doi:10.1134/S0032945214040031.
Alfred Wegner institute (AWI) Publications,Berichte zur Polar- und Meeresforschung (Reports on polar and marine research) - free, downloadable research reports on the biology, geology, oceanography, hydrology, paleontology, paleoclimatology, fauna, flora, soils, cryology, and so forth of the Lena Delta, Laptev Sea, and other parts of the Arctic Circle.
