Where the Ob River flows. The largest bay in Russia is the Gulf of Ob (7 photos)
Today “I and the World” is heading to the Gulf of Ob - the largest bay on the map of Russia.
The edge of the Siberian land
The length of the bay is about 800 km, the width in different places is from 30 to 80 km and the depth is up to 25. The Ob Bay, together with the nearby Tazovskaya Bay, has an area of almost 62 thousand square meters. km and is washed by the Kara Sea. It was formed as a result of the flooding of a huge valley in downstream Ob River.
Looking at the map of the North, these places seem very distant and inaccessible, because here is the real edge of the tundra, permafrost and terribly cold sea. The Gulf of Ob occupies a place between the two peninsulas of Gydansky and Yamal and has the following coordinates: latitude 69.058882 N, longitude 73.404696 E. Height above sea level: -5.6 m.
Getting here is not so easy. Cold winds often blow in the lower reaches of the Great Ob River. It collects water from all over Siberia and carries it towards the Kara Sea, which directs its current inland. And where they connect, this bay was formed. This place is not yet considered a sea, but it is no longer a river. The salinity of the water here is weak, but the width is not at all like a river, and shipping operates according to maritime rules, because there is quite a storm in the bay.
"Attractions"
In July, the surface is free of ice, and freezes again in October. There is absolutely no forest along the banks and the monotonous, dull landscape is refreshed by several settlements: Novy Port, Yamburg, Mys-Kamenny. You can normally drive through the villages only in winter in a regular car, and when the snow melts, this kind of equipment (photo) with huge wheels rolls out everywhere.
But the bay is very rich in fish: sterlet, sturgeon, salmon, muksun, burbot, herring and others are caught here - this is the gift the Gulf of Ob gives to people.
There are slow but clearly visible currents in the bay. At Cape Trekhbugorny the current is from 0.06 to 0.15 m/s. In the south and in the middle of the bay, the water speed increases to 0.3 - 0.4 m/s.
Here, back in 1964, gas, hydrocarbon and oil fields were discovered. In 2012, the first gas field with a capacity of 60 billion cubic meters was launched. m of gas per year. A gas liquefaction plant is currently being built here, which has brought huge investments into the area, allowing it to change beyond recognition.
All fishing enthusiasts are offered a 10-day trip to Yamal, where those who wish will visit the Tazovskaya and Ob Bays and, accompanied by experienced Nenets, will fish in the northern waters.
VIDEO
Huge Gulf of Ob formed by the Great Russian Ob River, which flows into the Kara Sea. What kind of place this is and where it is located, you now know. The vast expanses of the Russian North have not yet been fully explored, but gradually all the “gifts” of northern nature will be revealed to man.
March 15th, 2016
The outlines of the Ob Bay together with the adjacent Tazovskaya Bay, as well as the entire northern part of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, are easily recognizable on the map. The Yamal Peninsula juts out into the Kara Sea, which gives the district its name. Once upon a time, when looking at a map, these places seemed to me something distant and unattainable - a land of tundra, permafrost and cold seas. In August 2015, I finally had the chance to find myself in the Siberian Arctic, and for some reason the landscape of the village in the Far North made me feel as if I had seen it in a dream long ago.
Our route on the map of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. Here the path is drawn with a red line.
A village at the End of the Earth, where the surf roars and seagulls cry - an image already familiar to me from Teriberka on Kola Peninsula. But the difference is that it is much easier to get there - there is a road there, but here there is only the tundra and the Ob Bay. And here, unlike the Murmansk region, the ground is completely permafrost...
August 15, Ilya and I varandej first we got on the Meteor to Salekhard and transferred there to the motor ship Mekhanik Kalashnikov to the village of Antipayut A. The weather in Salekhard was cloudy and rainy. In the lower reaches of the Ob it blew cold wind, which dispersed the wave. But after midnight, when I went to bed, a bright strip was visible on the northern horizon clear skies. Great River The Ob, which collects water from all over Western Siberia, ends its journey here. This enormous flow of water meets the harsh Arctic: the current Kara Sea goes deep into the continent to meet the Ob, and the Ob Bay is formed. This is a river estuary - a bay of the sea, where the river current still remains, and the water is slightly salty, but the width of the bay is tens of kilometers. This is no longer a river, but not yet the open sea. At the same time, maritime navigation rules apply here, and there are strong storms, pretty much rocking the ship on the waves.
2. But that day the weather was calm. Coming out on deck on the morning of August 16, I saw this landscape around me - the waters of the Ob Bay to the horizon. And the wave is very weak - by local standards, almost calm.
3. The fact that there are storms here is reminiscent of the appearance of the deck free of luggage: if on the motor ship Omsk - Salekhard the entire deck is filled with some kind of boxes and bags, then here everything is stored strictly in interior spaces motor ship. Otherwise, at the first storm and the ship rolls, everything will fly overboard to feed the fish.
4. The endless space amazes with its grandeur. It would seem that there is completely homogeneous water all around, and this minimalistic landscape should quickly become boring. But for some reason not...
5. Somewhere in the distance, a tugboat is dragging two empty barges with a cable. By the way, it is not entirely clear how they transport cargo during storms.
6. Seagulls are catching up with the ship astern. There is a wind on the deck. Although the weather is much more pleasant than it was the day before, it is still cold here. Still, you need to understand that we are in the Arctic, and seven to eight degrees Celsius in August is quite common here.
The atmosphere here was already somehow harsher than on the ship "Rodina" on the Irtysh. There, music was playing muffledly on the deck; overboard was the landscape of southern Siberia, the banks of the winding Irtysh. And here... Here is the whistle of the wind, the sound of waves and the cry of seagulls. On the Gulf of Ob, the ship sometimes swayed slightly, but not so much that it affected our well-being.
Most of the ship's passengers are Nenets. Not those who roam the tundra and raise reindeer, but residents of the villages of Novy Port and Antipayuta. Ordinary people, in general, wear ordinary clothes. And in communication they generally turn out to be very interesting people. By the way, the Nenets guys of 15-16 years old sitting on the aft deck showed genuine interest in the company of travelers from somewhere in the southern regions (yes, in comparison with Yamal, St. Petersburg is still the south). By the way, there was a funny episode in the conversation with them: we touched on the topic of climate and polar days and nights, and to their question “When does winter begin for you?” I couldn't even find an answer :)
7. This is how we spent our time...
8. Already at one o’clock in the afternoon, a multi-colored town suddenly appeared as if right out of thin air. Like some kind of polar Kitezh-grad, which, it seems, will now also disappear and dissolve in the icy water.
9. But here the shore also became visible. A fiery torch is burning in the deep tundra—gas production is underway.
10. About an hour later, the shore became closer, the houses on it are now clearly visible, and it becomes clear that this is not a mirage, but the village of New Port - the only stop on the two-day journey to Antipayuta. By the way, the ship’s schedule here was drawn up with an obvious expectation of the possibility of storms, since due to good weather we arrived in New Port five hours earlier than we should have.
11. But our ship does not approach the shore - the shallow depth of the bay does not allow it. Due to the shallow waters, the passenger floating pier sits on the water about one and a half kilometers from the shore. On the other side, a boat is moored to it, which ferries passengers to the village in several calls.
12. In Novy Port, about a third of the passengers leave the Kalashnikov, and we seem to be the only ones who just want to go ashore and return. The pier sways and creaks on the waves; the screams of seagulls and the voices of a crowd of passengers mix with the noise of the wind. And now we are already on the deck of the boat heading to the shore.
13. Passengers of the Kalashnikov. Faces of the North...
15. And these are the passengers of the boat. In Novy Port, too, more than half of the population are Nenets.
16. Slowly, the boat goes towards the shore across the waves. The Kalashnikov stationed in the roadstead is left behind, and the people on the pier are waiting for the boat to return from the shore for them.
17. Here we are on the shore. Up close, the village no longer seems as beautiful as from afar; rather inconspicuous details are added to the colorful new buildings. Here, for example, is some half-rotten old pier next to the one on which we landed, a swampy shore, rusty barrels...
By the way, the western shore of the Ob Bay, where we are now, is nothing more than the Yamal Peninsula, which gave its name to the entire autonomous region. In everyday life, the entire Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug is sometimes called “Yamal”, including such places as, for example, New Urengoy and Noyabrsk. And, I must say, of those who were in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, not so many people visited the Yamal Peninsula itself.
18. The landscape of the New Port is immediately impressive. The village looks rough and rather unsightly in places, and the bright new buildings only enhance this impression. But you need to understand what the climate is like here. The polar winter, which lasts almost nine months a year, and during which there are blizzards and polar night; summers are short and cool, with rare on warm days. Life is different here, and in such natural conditions just not up to aesthetics.
The village of New Port was founded in 1920, and, despite the name, a large port never appeared here, and it has been “new” for almost a hundred years. According to its original purpose, this is the true meeting place of river navigation and sea traffic - a point of exchange of goods between Ob river workers and Arctic sailors, that is, ships traveling along the Northern Sea Route were supposed to enter here.
19. View from the shore to the pier. A Kalashnikov is visible in the distance. Judging by the marshy shore in the foreground, it is now low tide in the Gulf of Ob.
However, plans to create a port here were never realized, and the main enterprise of the village became the Novoportovsky fish factory, founded in 1931. A particularly interesting detail is the underground fish storage facility in permafrost, dug in the 1950s. The director of the fish factory willingly allows tourists there, and before the trip Ilya agreed on a tour of the permafrost area, which was given to us by the head of the permafrost department, Alexander Nikolaevich Nelyapin.
20. It is unlikely that you can find a permafrost if you don’t know where the entrance to it is. Built into the coastal slope is this inconspicuous wooden barn, into which a conveyor belt goes. Standing outside, you'd never guess what's inside.
21. And this is what is hidden inside. Real ice cave in permafrost. Outside it was the usual August temperature of +7 degrees for these places, but here, inside, it was about 10 degrees below zero. I even thought that visiting the permafrost was for me the apotheosis of the cold of the summer of 2015.
22. In August, the corridors of the permafrost are quiet and empty. Fish is not stored here all year round, but only in late spring and early summer - then, after navigation opens, a refrigerated ship comes from Salekhard and takes the fish to Mainland. At the same time, even now in some corridors and corners there were empty wooden boxes with the names of the fish.
23. This is what the entrance to the permafrost looks like from the inside. On the right you can see the same conveyor belt, which at the right moment unloads boxes of fish from the permafrost.
24. As Alexander Nikolaevich himself told us, in winter the temperature in the permafrost is not much colder than in summer. This means you can bask here: it’s -50 outside, but in the permafrost it’s only -20 :)
25. The iridescent pattern of ice crystals looks extremely beautiful:
27. Coins frozen in ice:
28. Frost-covered wires:
By the way, when I saw the conveyor belt, I jokingly thought that to transport boxes of fish, a narrow-gauge railway with trolleys could be laid here :) The result would be a freight Novoportovsk metro like the Loknyansky trolleybus.
29. Boxes. The names of the fish are very different - peled, muksun, pyzhyan, nelma.
31. Distant corridors of the permafrost:
32. Kingdom eternal ice. It was already hard to believe that it was August on the calendar.
Finally, having examined the permafrost, we go back outside. We are warming up - now even +7 degrees with the wind seems warm.
33. There is still quite a lot of time before the ship departs, and we go for a walk around New Port. Basically it looks something like this. Streets, houses, new buildings, and pipes laid above the ground due to permafrost. A little less than two thousand people now live in the village, mostly Nenets.
34. The old fish factory office building is a clear illustration of the fact that in the climate of the Far North, buildings need to be maintained more often. However, as already mentioned, the Far North cannot be measured by Middle zone, — the presence of shabby and dilapidated buildings in the village does not negate the possibility of new buildings in the neighborhood.
35. There are snowmobiles and motor boats in the courtyards of houses. And in the village you can see these cars with huge wheels, especially for driving through the tundra and swamps. You can drive a regular car here only in winter, when a winter road is opened along the Gulf of Ob.
36. And you can only get here by water, like we did, or by air - by helicopter from Salekhard. From here even Salekhard is perceived as such a “Small Continent”.
37. Arctic village at the Edge of the World. The wind whistles across the frozen ground; in the Arctic it is especially piercing. For some reason, here I often had the feeling that I had long ago seen this village, or one similar to it, in a dream. However, this may be true.
38. The rumble of the wind, the ringing of some metal wire that swings on it, the cries of seagulls, the roar of helicopters overhead - these sounds seem to count down time here instead of a pendulum. A completely different life - here it’s strange to remember even about Central Russian villages, and even more so about St. Petersburg and Moscow with their traffic jams and crush at the entrance to the metro.
39. Bright colors new houses here wedge themselves into the landscape, in defiance of the meager colors of the long polar winter.
41. And here is this new and very impressive building - a boarding school:
42. And this is a kindergarten:
43. In general, the landscape of the Arctic village is an amazing sight.
44. A pile of rusty scrap metal peacefully coexists with residential buildings and streets. In the villages of the Far North, which are not connected to the mainland by roads, this is almost everywhere. The fact is that it is simply unprofitable to export scrap metal from such remote places - the sale does not pay for the removal.
45. Funny street name. Vanuito is a common Nenets surname.
46. And these are new houses that are also actively being built in the village. By the way, pay attention - the houses are slightly raised above the ground. This is all due, again, to permafrost.
47. Houses are built here on stilts. By the way, there is a common misconception associated with this phenomenon - that they are building this way because it is impossible to dig a pit here and pour the foundation. In fact, this is not so: building a foundation is no more difficult than driving piles into the permafrost to a depth of 12 meters. The fact is that the top layer of permafrost thaws in the summer and freezes again in the winter, and the building on the foundation simply cannot withstand such fluctuations and will collapse in a few years; Therefore, the piles are driven to a depth where the permafrost persists all year round. In addition, it is important that the building, which is warm inside, does not come into contact with permafrost and did not melt it (for the same reason the pipes are placed above the ground).
48. Fire equipment on the outskirts of the village:
49. So we left the village. The tundra stretches to the horizon - grass, cotton grass and dwarf trees. It’s even breathtaking - a completely flat plain with an open horizon, where the wind blows freely.
50. We are located on the 67th parallel, that is, approximately at the latitude of Kirovsk and the Khibiny Mountains. But if you don’t know geography, then it seems that we are much further north: in the Murmansk region the climate is noticeably warmer, and at the same latitude there is still a full-fledged forest, and here there is already tundra.
I have already seen the tundra near Murmansk, near Teriberka. But the landscape there is different: although the vegetation is about the same, the landscape there is hilly and consists entirely of stone. Whereas here, on the Yamal Peninsula, there is still the same flat West Siberian Plain as in the forest-steppe near Omsk, where the soil is sandy-clayey, and it’s hard to even imagine a stone in the ground.
51. Near the village there is a helipad. Urals cargo trucks scurry past us, some of them for some reason have Dagestan license plates.
52. Having taken some cargo on board, the helicopter, loudly rotating its blades, rose above the ground and flew somewhere further.
53. View back. There, behind the village, is the shore of the Ob Bay.
55. And somewhere in the tundra distance the torches that we have already seen from the ship are burning. They are about 15 kilometers from here. This is the Novoportovskoye gas field, which was discovered back in 1964 (when most of the gas fields of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District were not yet known), but began to be developed only in the last few years. The helicopter was apparently flying exactly there.
56. In August, the tundra is already beginning to turn into autumn colors. If you stand with your back to the village, then straight ahead, about two hundred kilometers from here, is Baydaratskaya Bay, washing Yamal from the west, and a little to the south - Polar Urals, a narrow mountain range separating the West Siberian Plain and the Bolshezemelskaya tundra.
57. Sometimes there are small swamps in the tundra. Although, in general, New Port is in a dry place.
58. A motorcycle with big wheels is another exotic northern form of transport:
59. And we return to the village:
60. Between the houses is the lead-silver water of the Ob Bay:
61. An unusual house made up of construction trailers:
62. Some old boarded up barn. Possibly dating back to the founding of the village.
63. Nearby is a brand new one wooden chapel. By the way, it also stands on stilts, which are covered with shields.
64. The cross faces the pier:
65. Finally, a couple more views of the village:
67. Soviet motorcycle near the shore:
68. The shore of the Ob Bay and a very unusual pattern of clouds:
69. But in the distance “Mechanic Kalashnikov” is waiting for us. It's time to go back and continue on your way!
70. Again the pier and the boat "Yar". I never found out the origin of its name, but, by the way, a common Nenets surname sounds the same.
71. Wheelhouse of the boat. There is a steering wheel and binoculars!
72. We say goodbye to New Port and sit down on a wooden bench on the bow deck. There is no one on the boat except us, because there are no passengers traveling from New Port to Antipayuta. Let's set sail. The boat rocks pleasantly on the waves, and the Kalashnikov is getting closer.
73. Polar sky:
74. Along the already familiar floating pier we return to the ship and take a last look at the New Port.
The stay in Novy Port lasted three hours, and towards evening the Kalashnikov set sail and went further north, and Novy Port disappeared astern for a long time. In the next part we will admire the evening landscapes of the Ob Bay.
Gulf of Ob
Kara Bay, off the coast Russian Federation, between the Yamal and Gydansky peninsulas. Length 800 km, width 30-90 km. Depth 10-12 m. Branches to the east from the Gulf of Ob Tazovskaya Bay. The river flows Ob. Most of the year it is covered with ice. On west bank- New. Port.
Ob Bay
Gulf of the Kara Sea off the coast of the Asian mainland, between the Yamal and Gydan peninsulas. Length 800 km, width from 30 to 90 km. The prevailing depths are 10≈12 m. The western coast is low-lying, the eastern coast is predominantly elevated and steep. To the east, the Tazovskaya Bay branches off from the O. city. The river flows Ob. Most of the year it is covered with ice. The tides are semi-diurnal, their magnitude is 0.7 m. The magnitude of surge level fluctuations is up to 2 m. On the western shore, the port is ≈ New Port.
Wikipedia
Ob Bay
Ob Bay- the biggest bay Kara Sea, estuary Ob River, located between the Gydansky and Yamal peninsulas. In the eastern part of the bay, the Tazovskaya Bay branches off from it, into which the Taz River flows.
The length of the bay is more than 800 km, width from 30 to 80 km, depth up to 25 m, it is free of ice, except for the southern part, in July and covered with ice in October.
Settlements - Novy Port, Yamburg, Mys-Kamenny.
The soil in the bay is viscous, blue silt, while the coastal shallows and banks are sandy. The wave in the lip is very steep, short and irregular. The water in the lip is fresh and very muddy. The banks of the bay are completely treeless, monotonous, steep on the western side, flatter or lumpier on the eastern side. The soil on the banks is marshy; There is almost no waste forest on the banks. Islands are found only at the mouths of rivers and streams flowing into the bay. There are few bays and bays, only at Drovany Cape there is a small, shallow Preobrazhenya Bay and near Cape Yamasol there is a small convenient Nakhodka Bay.
In addition to the Ob, several other rivers flow into the Gulf of Ob. The rivers Nadym and Nyda flow into its southeastern part, forming an entire archipelago of islands at their confluence. On the western side, bounded by the vast Yamal Peninsula, most of them flow small rivers, of which some in the lower reaches are accessible to small river vessels, such as the rivers Yada, Oya, Ivocha, Zelenaya, Soyakha and others.
Number
12Compiled by
A.V.Molochaev (TsNIL of the Department of Hunting of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of the Russian Federation. 129347, Moscow, Losinoostrovskaya Lesnaya Dacha, Apt. 18).L.K.Kamenev (Protection Committee environment Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. 626608, Salekhard, Yamalskaya st., 12).
Site name
Islands of the Ob Bay of the Kara Sea.Geographical coordinates
66°40´N 70°58´EGeographical location of the site
The site is located in the lower reaches of the Ob River north of the Arctic Circle, 15 km south of the regional center of Yar-Sale. The site includes the entire island of Narech and most of the island of Ermak. Settlements not on the territory of the reserve.Description of the boundaries of the land: northern - down the right bank of the Khamanelskaya Ob, from the beginning of the Khudobinskaya Ob to the Layskaya tributary and downstream to the Ob Bay; eastern - from the mouth of the Lai Channel to the south, including all coastal islands and shoals (Varna, Golye); further west along the left bank of the Khudobinskaya Ob to the Khamanelskaya Ob channel with all the adjacent shoals and islands.
Land area
128,000 hectares.Height
2-10 m above sea level.Wetland type
According to the Ramsar classification - F.According to Russian classification: 2.5.1.1.
Ramsar Criteria
1c, 1d, 2a, 2c, 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b. The most important criterion- 3a, the site is one of the largest breeding and molting areas of waterfowl in the northern hemisphere.Brief description of the site
The “mouth of the Ob” is represented by large flat islands (up to 30 km in diameter), dissected by a dense network of channels. The landscape is dominated by sedge-cotton grass meadows on floodplains turf soils and thickets of willow along the river banks. Mass nesting sites waterfowl- river and diving ducks, swans. Large concentrations of ducks during molting. A powerful flyway for waterfowl runs through the site. On migration, species listed in the Red Book of the RSFSR and in Appendix II to the CITES Convention are not uncommon - the red-breasted goose and the little swan; in summer, the Siberian crane can be found. Spawning and feeding takes place at the mouth of the Ob valuable species fish, predominantly whitefish.Relief
Geological development of the West Siberian Plain, with a predominance in modern era negative tectonic movements, determined the formation of a vast floodplain and a very large delta in the lower reaches of the Ob. The significant thickness of alluvial deposits indicates the duration of this process. The slow flow of the river, associated with very low surface slopes, contributes to intensive accumulation of alluvium and the predominance of lateral erosion.The Ob channel here is divided into a number of branch channels of varying widths. The main watercourse, the Ob, being the southern border of the land, gradually passes into the Nadym Ob, up to 15-20 km wide.
Channels of different orders cut through the Ob delta in all possible directions, breaking it up into floodplain massifs of varying sizes. The outer part of these massifs is usually raised, while the inner part is lowered and leveled.
The climate is harsh, continental. Winter lasts 6-6.5 months, the average temperature in January is −20-24°C. Spring is usually short (30 days), cold, with sudden changes in weather, with frequent returns of cold and frosts. The duration of the growing season is 110 days. average temperature most warm month+12-14°C. Autumn is short, with maximum instability of the pressure gradient, sharp changes in temperature and frequent early frosts (Alisov, 1969). The mouth of the Ob is located in a zone of excess moisture. The average annual precipitation is 400 mm. Summer precipitation is twice that of winter.Hydrology
The mouth of the Ob is characterized by highly extended spring-summer floods, accompanied by a rise in water of almost two meters. The most wet years repeat every 18-20 years. Various elements of the floodplain relief are flooded during the different terms. The highest areas are covered with hollow waters for an average of 20 days. The low-lying elements of the relief of the Ob mouth experience a very long-term impact of floods. The period of their flooding reaches 90 days.
Soils In the development of the soil-forming process of the floodplain, the main role is played by the floodplain and alluvial activity of the river. Intensive accumulation of alluvium in certain areas periodically causes a break in the development of the process, which determines the layering of soils and the weak expression of genetic horizons (Rodnyanskaya, 1973). In areas of high hypsometric level, the turf soil-forming process develops, and on the floodplains of the middle level, the meadow process predominates. On huge areas central floodplain depressions, the soil-forming process is characterized by the most initial stagedevelopment.
The reason for this phenomenon is the severity of the climate, the duration of the spring-summer flood, the poor development of vegetation and the slow activity of microorganisms. The swamp soil-forming process is not widespread and is confined to areas of overgrown oxbow lakes.
Environmental conditions The site is a complex complex of channels that divide the land into many islands and lake-like reservoirs. The area of the islands ranges from 0.6 to 163 km2. Most important feature islands is the presence in their center of temporary reservoirs - “sorov”, which occupy 40% total areaCloser to the Ob delta, there are huge sors, almost devoid of vegetation, with isolated patches of sparse groups of sor herbs and grasses (Arctophila fulva, Eleocharis acicularis, E.palustris, Beckmannia eruciformis) (Ilyina, 1985).
From the standpoint of vertical division, the floodplain and the mouth of the Ob are classified according to ecological levels or high altitude zones, depending on the relief and flooding regime (Shennikov, 1941). Based on this principle, areas of three floodplain levels are allocated for the territory - low, medium and high (Ilyina, 1985).
The low floodplain is most widely represented within the site. The relative height of the land during low-water periods does not exceed 1.5-1.8 m. The territory of the average ecological level is raised above the surface of the “low” floodplain by 0.5-1 m.
A high floodplain (3-4 m at low water) is developed in the western part of the land, but nowhere does it form large massifs. The high floodplain is flooded only in the wettest years. The territory of medium levels is flooded in years with medium floods, floodplain low level— annually and for a long period (from the end of May to the beginning of September). Differences in the duration and timing of floods determine a clear differentiation of vegetation cover.
In the area of the estuary with a low ecological level, along with litters, lowland swamps and litter marshy meadows are widely represented. The vegetation of the meadows is dominated by forb-sedge-grass communities with the participation of small willow bogs. The swamps are heavily watered and tussocked, have a peat layer 30-50 cm thick. The hummocks are formed by sedges - aquatic (Carex aquatilis) and turfy (C.cespitosa). Inter-tussock depressions are occupied by grass-hypnum groups of Carex chordorrhiza, Eriophorum polystachyon, Calliergon stramineum. In poorly drained flat areas of the floodplain, small willow bogs transform into swampy, highly hummocky meadows formed by the same hummocky sedges (Carex aquatilis, C.cespitosa). Along the banks of the channels, shrub and tree-like park willow forests are developed, with a predominance of Salix lanata (Baryshnikov, 1961; Ilyina, 1985).
The surfaces belonging to the medium and high ecological levels of the Ob delta are occupied by communities of sedge and reed meadows (Carex acuta, Calamagrostis langsdorffii), willow, willow-bush and birch-alder tundras.
In internal parts On the delta islands there are small areas of elevated relief - ridges with smoothed peaks, representing the remains of an ancient high floodplain. Such areas of land are not flooded even during years of catastrophic floods. Their vegetation cover is close in composition to tundra phytocenoses and is represented by communities of willow-bush and birch-alder tundras, as well as a sparse grass layer and moss cover.
Forms of land ownership on the site
Federal property.Use of land and water
Agricultural enterprises of the APO use the territory of the reserve in the summer for making hay. The shipping company uses the Bolshaya Narechinskaya Ob during the navigation period for the passage of ships.Main land users: Agro-industrial association "Yamal", JSC "River Port" of the Ob-Irtysh Shipping Company and the state farm "Yarsalinsky".
Threats and concerns
Oil pollution, as well as pollution from industrial wastewater coming from the upper and middle reaches of the Ob, negatively affect all parts of the area’s aquatic ecosystems.High floods are detrimental to nesting waterfowl, but catastrophic levels do not occur frequently enough to affect overall numbers.
The Yarsalinsky state farm produces hay in the summer, which negatively affects the well-being of nesting waterfowl.
Existing security
The boundaries of the land coincide with the boundaries of Nizhneobsky state reserve. The reserve's security staff includes three inspectors. It is proposed to double the security staff.Social and cultural value
Valuable fish-producing area. Place of migration and feeding of whitefish and sturgeon fish— the basis of existence of the indigenous peoples of the North of Western Siberia, the Khanty and the Nenets. Convenient testing ground for scientific activities.The role of the area as a place of bird migration
The site is located in the migratory area of waterfowl nesting in the Lower Ob, its tributaries, the tundra of Yamal, the Tazovsky Peninsula and wintering in Western Europe, Africa and Western Asia.In spring, the flight is usually transitive, in the northern and eastern directions with short stops. During a prolonged spring with the return of cold weather, the stopping time increases, and sometimes migrations in the opposite direction occur.
Ducks are the most large group waterfowl flying through the mouth of the Ob. Dabbling ducks (up to 70% total number): pintail Anas acuta, wigeon A.penelope, teal A.crecca, shoveler A.clypeata, teal A.querquedula, mallard A.platyrhynchos. Diving ducks (15%): tufted duck Aythya fuligula, goldeneye Bucephala clangula, scoter Melanitta fusca, black scoter M.nigra, sea duck Aythya marila.
Swans: whooper swan Cygnus cygnus, little swan C.bewickii.
Geese: white-fronted goose Anser albifrons, bean goose A.fabalis, greylag goose A.anser, lesser white-fronted goose A.erythropus, red-breasted goose Branta ruficollis. Swans and geese make up 15% of the total number.
In autumn, the species composition of waterfowl is the same as in spring. Migration begins in mid-August when male dabbling ducks have finished molting. Autumn migration is less intense than in spring and ends in mid-October. Transit migrations are usually pronounced in the event of a sharp deterioration in weather.
The role of the area as a nesting and molting site
The mouth of the Ob River is an important breeding ground for waterfowl. Many waterfowl concentrate here to moult.The dynamics of the number of birds nesting in the floodplain is related to inverse relationship with changes in the average monthly June water level in the Ob. The population density of waterfowl at the mouth of the Ob River is never constant and varies from 500 to 2000 individuals per 10 km2 (Molochaev, 1990).
Optimal conditions for nesting of waterfowl are in years with average water levels (1976, 1980, 1982, 1984), unfavorable in years of high floods (1978, 1979, 1981, 1983).
The average long-term indicators of the ratio of nesting species of waterfowl at the mouth of the Ob River are (%%): Anas acuta - 53.4; A.penelope - 11.0; A.crecca and A. querquedula - 16.9; Aythya fuligula - 5.5; A. marila - 1.0; Melanitta nigra - 6.1; M. fussa - 3.1; Bucephala clangula - 0.4; Clangula hyemalis - 0.1; Mergus spp.- 0.1; Anser anser- 0.1; Cygnus cygnus - 1.9 (Molochaev, 1990).
The number of molting waterfowl also undergoes significant fluctuations from year to year. Particularly large concentrations of molting ducks at the mouth of the Ob River form in years with high and prolonged floods, which are most negatively reflected in the birds of the adjacent region - Dvuobye. It is in such situations that ducks from Dvuobye move to moult at the mouth of the Ob. The most numerous during molting is Anas acuta - up to 49% of the total number, A.penelope and A.crecca - 16% for each species, Aythya fuligula - up to 10%.
The total number of ducks at the mouth of the Ob River after breeding and molting ranges from 0.7 to 1.5 million individuals.
The role of the area as a habitat for rare and endangered birds
Species listed in the Red Books International Union Nature Conservation (IUCN) and Russia:— The white crane, Siberian Crane (Grus leucogeranus) is a rare species found on migration.
— Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) is a rare breeding species.
— The white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) is a rare breeding species.
— Red-breasted goose (Branta ruficollis) — found on migration.
— Little swan (Cygnus bewickii) — found on migration.
The role of the area as a habitat for economically important animals
Common in the area commercial species mammals - muskrat (Ondatra zibethica), ermine (Mustela erminea), fox ( Vulpes vulpes) and - during migrations - the arctic fox (V.lagopus).The area is the world's largest center of whitefish abundance and diversity - nelma, vendace, tugun, peled, shokur, pyzhyan, muksun (Stenodus leucichthys, Coregonus sardinella, C.tugun, C.peled, C.nasus, C. lavaretus, C. muksun). In addition, there are Siberian sturgeon (Acipenser baeri), sterlet (A.ruthenus) and Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus).
Scientific research
Ornithological research was carried out spontaneously in the 60s - the first half of the 70s (Braude, 1972; Vengerov, 1970). Subsequently, they are periodic in nature (Krivenko et al., 1980; Stopalov, Pokrovskaya, 1983; Molochaev, 1990). There are enough full cycle hydrological observations (Maksimov, Merzlyakova, 1990).Currently, the Committee for the Protection and rational use Hunting Resources of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug annually conducts aerial surveys of waterfowl.
Control
Committee for Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug: 626600, Tyumen region, Salekhard, Yamalskaya str., 12. Tel. 4-52-48.Jurisdiction
Administration of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug: 626600, Tyumen region, Salekhard, Respubliki St., 72.State Committee for Ecology of Russia: 123812, Moscow, Bolshaya Gruzinskaya, 4/6.
Literature
Baryshnikov M.K. Meadows of the lower reaches of the Ob, their characteristics and prospects for use. Tr. Research Institute of Agriculture Kr. Severa, t.10. Norilsk, 1961.Braude M.I. Hunting for waterfowl in the floodplain of the Lower Ob. Waterfowl resources in the USSR, issue 2. 1972.
Vengerov M.P. The number of gray goose in the Tyumen region. NTI VNIIOZ, issue 43. Kirov, 1974.
Ilyina I.S. Vegetation river valleys. Vegetation cover of the West Siberian Plain. Novosibirsk: Nauka, 1985.
Krivenko V.G., Ivanov G.K., Azarov V.I., Molochaev A.V., Linkov A.B., Antipov A.M., Debelo P.V. Summer migrations and numbers of waterfowl in the Central region of the USSR. Ecology and protection of game birds. M., 1980. P. 46-64.
Maksimov A.M., Merzlyakova E.P. Characteristics of floods in the Ob River floodplain. Biological resources floodplains of the Ob. Novosibirsk, 1972.
Molochaev A.V. Features of the dynamics of the number of waterfowl in the lower reaches of the Ob. Biological basis recording the number of game animals. M., 1990.
Rodnyanskaya E.Ya. Landscapes and food resources of the Ob floodplain. Physico-geographical zoning of the Tyumen region. 1973.
Stopalov V.S., Pokrovskaya I.V. Spatiotemporal dynamics of the summer population of waterfowl in the Lower Ob floodplain. Ecology and rationality. use of game birds in the RSFSR. M., 1983.