Giant craters appear on the Siberian Yamal Peninsula. Petrophiles and botanists
Yamal (meaning “End of the World”) is called the “land of deer”. It is here that indigenous people have lived and worked for centuries, preserving ancient traditions from generation to generation.
The basis of the indigenous population of Yamal are the Nenets, whose life directly depends on the reindeer. For tundra dwellers, deer is an object of worship, food, clothing, transport and the main source of income.
Yamal is home to the largest herds of deer in Russia, which migrate along with the Nenets across the polar tundra over distances of thousands of kilometers. Photos by Steve Morgan.
Under Stalin, the indigenous Nenets were divided into brigades that lived on collective farms and paid taxes with reindeer meat.
Yamal Peninsula(in the language of the indigenous population it means “end of the world”) is washed by the Kara Sea and is located in the north of Western Siberia, on the territory of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug of Russia. Its length is 700 km, width up to 240 km. The landscapes of the peninsula are represented by tundra and numerous lakes.
The largest deposits of natural gas are located on the Yamal Peninsula. The migration routes of the Nenets are now highly dependent on the development of infrastructure associated with the extraction of natural resources. Industrial influence on the environment leads to the formation of significant sources of pollution in this region.
This is a conical hut or tent, covered with deer skins. This form of housing is common throughout Siberia. In total, it takes up to 80 reindeer skins to cover the plague for the winter.
According to official data, Yamal has a reindeer herd of 700,000 heads. “Deer are our home, our food, warmth and transport”:
In Yamal, deer is considered a sacred animal, and as long as it can walk on its own, it doesn’t have to worry that it will become someone’s dinner, and its skin will be used to insulate a home.
Venison is the most important food for the indigenous population. It is eaten in any form - raw, frozen or boiled. This meat contains vitamins A, C, as well as all B vitamins.
With the fall of the communist system, young people increasingly began to leave their villages and go to the cities. But after living in the tundra, they find it difficult to adapt to urban conditions, where they begin to suffer from alcoholism, mental disorders and unemployment.
The family is preparing to move to a new place: they are dismantling the tents and packing their things. This is the life of the tundra nomads:
Tundra— spaces with permafrost soil. The surfaces of the tundra are swampy, peaty and rocky. The southern border of the tundra is taken to be the beginning of the Arctic.
About 20% of Russian natural gas reserves are concentrated in Yamal. OJSC Gazprom began developing the Yamal megaproject together with the Administration of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug back in 1990. Every year, billions of cubic meters of natural gas will have to be supplied to Western Europe. The first gas supplies should begin in May 2012. “Everything that happens to the land is very important to us,” says a local resident. “We are afraid that we will not be able to survive the development of new industries in our region. Our people may simply disappear."
Now the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug is concerned about the problems of water pollution. Will the nature of Yamal withstand such a rapid human invasion? Time will show.
Today, pipelines, drilling rigs, and asphalt and railroad roads are rapidly changing the tundra. The photo shows the 520-kilometer, northernmost railway in the world (Obskaya-Bovanenkovo), opened at the beginning of 2011:
Several years ago, a Nenets shepherd discovered a perfectly preserved baby mammoth buried in the permafrost of the Yamal Peninsula. It is believed that he died 42,000 years ago. By the way, in the Nenets language a mammoth is called “bull of the earth,” and the Nenets call the tusks of a mammoth “horn of the earth.”
Nenets shepherds change their camp sites depending on the season of the year, moving thousands of kilometers along ancient migration routes. In winter, when temperatures can drop to -50 degrees Celsius, the Nenets move with their reindeer to the southern forests or taiga.
Man and deer in the Arctic have been inextricably linked for thousands of years. It is not for nothing that deer is translated from the Nenets language as “life-giver,” and the indigenous people call themselves the children of deer.
In the far north of the vast West Siberian lowland plain, within the boundaries of the administrative Yamalo-Nenets Okrug between the Gulf of Ob and the Yenisei Gulf, the Gydan Peninsula deepens into the cold Kara Sea. It has the shape of a regular square 400/400 km. The relief of the peninsula continues gradually with the low Tanama high orographic structure. The shallow, low-lying coast of Gydan, with curves gently concave into the territory, is strongly indented. Nearby in the sea there are large islands: o. Oleniy, Fr. Shokalsky, Fr. Sibiryakova.
Geology and tectonics
The territory of the peninsula is located in the outer belt of the young West Siberian platform (plate), forming its side. The foundation of the peninsula has a heterogeneous, rather complex structure, little studied. At its base, drilling revealed crystalline Late Precambrian strata, overlain by Paleozoic sedimentary rocks. During the Soviet years, scientific research was carried out on Gydan, which was discontinued in 1991. Now scientific work on the peninsula has been resumed, research stations from the Soviet period are being restored, and new bases for scientists are being built. First of all, geophysical, geological, archaeological and climatic research will be launched on Gydan. The surface of the Gydan Peninsula is composed of a thick sedimentary cover, it contains glacial and loose marine sediments with extensive pockets of permafrost, which appear in the orography as a low, hilly plain.
Relief
In orography, the peninsula is represented by a low, up to 200 m, hilly plain, which to the south passes into the elevated Tanama region. The elevated peninsulas of Yawai and Mammoth, separated by the Gydan and Yuratsk bays, protrude above the sea surface. Near the hills there are low-lying, swampy, vast depressions. In such low-lying areas there are wide lake basins and extensive river valleys. There are many icy deposits and thick layers of underground monolithic ice. The thickness of permafrost in the lowlands of Gydan reaches three hundred meters. It was here that, in the permafrost layers, archaeologists discovered the remains of a prehistoric mammoth, stored in the laboratory of the St. Petersburg Zoological Institute.
Climate
The climatic conditions of Gydan are arctic and extremely harsh. Winter temperatures range from –26 to –30 °C; July from +4 to +11.5 °C. There is little precipitation on the shores of the cold Kara Sea, covered with ice most of the year, from 200 to 300 mm per year. The cold land of Gydan receives up to 70 kcal/cm2 of solar heat per year, the number of days with above-zero temperatures annually is up to 110.
In winter, the circulation of atmospheric flows over Gydan is subject to the climatic laws of the Asian anticyclone. With the weakening of anticyclonic weather, warmer air masses penetrate here, gradually transforming from the Atlantic. They bring with them snow thaws, during which snow falls abundantly, the height of the cover can reach up to 80 cm. Winter here is the longest season, up to 8 months long, severe and frosty. Temperatures can drop to -63 C in winter, and the frosty period on the peninsula can last up to 200 days.
Summer on Gydan is short and very cool, temperatures rarely rise above +10 C, and the main precipitation in the tundra falls from July to August. Autumn here comes with a drop in temperature below this indicator, accompanied by winds, long drizzling rains and bad weather. In the mountains and tundra, the first frosts can occur as early as the end of August.
Hydrology
One of the largest rivers of the Gydan Peninsula is the Gyda (Nyarmesalya), flowing from the lake reservoir Hoseinto, and named after the Nenets clan living close to it. For more than 60 km it flows with large meanders among the tundra of Gydan. The Yuribey, Mongoche, Bolshaya and Malaya Nenereyakha, Lakurya or, as it is often called Sidi-Yakha, Mongocheyakha also flow here. Fresh river waters affect the sea area up to 2 thousand km from the mouth, changing the salinity indicator in the open sea. Along the low-lying coastal plain, the rivers Periptavose and Antipaetayakha, Ngetatoyakha Ngetatoyakha and Nadohoyakha, Left Ngarkasidayakha and Nyarmhoyakha flow more often to the north. The hydrochemical indicators and hydrological regime of the rivers of the Gydan Peninsula have been little studied, and there is practically no data.
Many streams flow through numerous ravines towards reservoirs. Most of the thermokarst lakes on Gydan were formed as a result of melting ice and permafrost. During cold winters, rivers and lakes freeze to the bottom. The largest lake on the peninsula is Yambuto. There are also deep lake reservoirs of tectonic origin.
Nature of the Gydan Peninsula
Representatives of the flora and fauna have adapted to the specific natural conditions of Gydan, the harsh climate of the Arctic, permafrost, and cold arctic winds. In the north of the Gydan Peninsula, the vegetation is quite poor, up to 200 species in total, represented by mosses, northern species of lichens, sedge grasses and low-growing dwarf creeping shrubs. And only in the south of Gydan does woody vegetation and forest-tundra shrub woodland appear in the landscape. In the center of the territory there is alder, to the south you can find larch.
Animals of Gydan also have adaptations to life in the Arctic climate; rodents lemmings, wolves, arctic foxes, reindeer, insectivorous shrews, foxes, ptarmigan feel great in the tundra; in the summer, whole flocks of birds fly to nest from southern countries. The rugged and low northern seashores are a wonderful nesting place for brent geese and white-fronted goose, common eider and brown-winged Asian plover, long-tailed duck and many other birds. In total, scientists count 36 species of birds in the Gydan tundra and on the sea coast.
Among them, three species are the rarest, included in the Red Data Books of the country and regions of their habitat: the red-breasted goose, the rare northern lesser goose and the lesser swan. Rare birds for this area are also white-tailed eagles and gyrfalcons. Among the mammals included in the Red Book are the walrus, its roosts are noted by scientists on the Bely Peninsula, the northern fin whale, and the owner of the icy expanses, the polar bear. Large beluga whales and narwhal whales are often found in the sea.
In the reservoirs of Gydan, biologists distinguish up to 25 species of freshwater fish. Sturgeon, salmon fish such as Arctic char, Siberian grayling and nelma, tugun and vendace, Arctic omul and burbot, smelt and ruffe are found here.
In the far north of Gydan, the fragile tundra ecosystem is under protection; it is here in the Tazovsky district on an area of 878,174 thousand hectares that the Gydansky biosphere state reserve, created in 1996, is located. The young Tyumen reserve occupies the area of the Gydana Peninsula, the Mammoth, Olenye, Yawai Peninsulas and a group of low-lying islands in the sea. It is organized for the conservation and research of tundra ecosystems and communities of Western Siberia, coastal natural complexes, nesting sites of the sandpiper and other waterfowl and migratory birds.
The Polar Reserve preserves the routes of migratory birds that pass here along the Asian northern shores. The reserve's specialists are monitoring the impact of anthropogenic impact on the tundra and the sea in connection with the development of the territory's oil and gas reservoirs. Indeed, during geological and drilling operations, the tundra ecosystem, hunting and grazing lands are seriously disturbed, and the habitats of birds and animals are disturbed.
Mining in Gydan
On Gydan there are Messoyakha oil and gas fields that are very promising for further development. Drilling operations significantly exceeded the damage caused by the local inhabitants of the tundra, the indigenous Nenets, to natural communities over centuries. Traditionally, they grazed reindeer in the tundra and were engaged in fishing and hunting.
Geological work to search for oil and natural gas in Gydan began in the sixties of the last century. Planned seismic exploration was carried out using a special reflected wave method. Then the famous Yamal deposits were discovered. The marine area was actively studied by geologists in the eighties of the last century.
Then the next stage of development of the richest subsoil of Gydan and the adjacent marine area began. In 1999, specialists prepared for drilling exploration offshore wells. This could only be accomplished the following year, when for the first time the indisputable gas content of deep sea sediments was established on an industrial scale. The explored gas fields of Gydan were gradually mapped, and at the same time their economic development began. They have explored and contain 1.5 tens of million tons of oil, 2 trillion. cubic meters of natural gas and 40 million tons of gas condensate.
The lost world of the polar Gydan Peninsula, still little studied, is an economically promising territory. An amazing tundra region, mysterious and charming, with flashes of the northern lights, a long harsh winter is extremely attractive and alluring. , preserving the magnificent natural complexes of land and the cold northern sea, have enormous tourism potential and excite the imagination of researchers and Arctic travelers.
Scientists. Most of them don't see anything good in this.
The name of the Siberian peninsula Yamal literally translates as “end of the earth.” And it's a pretty fitting name for a place where the effects of global warming manifest themselves in the form of giant sinkholes oozing gas.
Mysterious holes began to appear back in 2014 - one of the first was 15 m wide. At that time, scientists did not understand what was happening at all. When a dozen more craters formed, they concluded that the culprit was most likely thawing permafrost, which is not a good sign for the environment.
Rising temperatures have drowned Siberian permafrost, creating large craters as previously frozen ground caves in under its own weight.
“The last time this permafrost melted slowly was 130,000 years ago,” says Oxford professor Dr Gideon Henderson. “This is a natural phenomenon as the Earth’s orbit changes slightly.”
Thus, melting in itself is not a problem, but its scale is truly problematic.
“The rate of warming is really crazy,” Henderson explains. “The warming that occurred 130 thousand years ago occurred over several thousand years... What we see now occurs over decades or centuries.”
This accelerated climate change is especially noticeable in permafrost: it is thawing and releasing carbon in considerable quantities. The release of carbon accelerates global warming, which means it will melt even more permafrost. So it becomes a vicious and potentially deadly cycle.
“People living in that region are accustomed to frozen ground and design their infrastructure around it,” Henderson says. “As soon as the ground melts, railway tracks and highways are destroyed, and houses fall into the ground... And this is already a reality.”
Photo: Scientist studying a crater on the Yamal Peninsula
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change notes that permafrost also releases methane, which warms the planet 86 times faster than carbon dioxide.
The exact cause of the craters remains unclear, so researchers are not sure how much gas is released from the holes. But every proposed theory relies on the problem of temperature. Many scientists also believe that crater explosions are caused by the release of gases underground.
A number of the resulting craters can already reach 100 m in width, and some of them have turned into lakes.
Photo: Crater on the Yamal Peninsula, northern Siberia
While these dips are certainly a sign of global warming, they may also provide an answer to how to combat them.
As the earth's surface continues to open up, planet Earth is beginning to reveal its 200,000-year-old secrets that were previously buried in a layer of thick ice.
"If we can understand the essence of such an ecosystem, it will give us some idea of how the environment might change if the climate continues to warm."
Local residents, however, also found a positive side to what was happening, calling the craters “the door to the underworld.”
The Kola Peninsula is sometimes called "European Siberia". Here, in a relatively small area (approximately the size of three Moscow regions), there is almost everything with which we associate the vast expanses beyond the Ural ridge.
Landscape and natural areas
Along the Tersky coast of the White Sea, the taiga extends several tens of kilometers deep into the peninsula. Thanks to the Gulf Stream, which carries the remnants of its heat into the waters of the Barents Sea, the evergreen forest here in some places “reaches” such northern latitudes, where in other parts of the world only moss grows. The center of the peninsula is occupied mainly by forest-tundra. Between the hills, swamps and marshy fields, here and there thousands of lakes, rivers and streams sparkle. As scientists have calculated, if you pull all the Kola rivers and streams into one ribbon, you can wrap it around the globe more than 20 times.
The center of the peninsula also has its own mountains – the Khibiny. Not the highest even by European standards (the highest point is Mount Yudychvumchorr - 1200 meters above sea level), but extremely picturesque.
In the north of the peninsula, taiga and forest-tundra give way to that very edge of the world that lovers and poets so often remember. Polar tundra. There are only mosses, boulders, and the sound of the Barents Sea. In general, for those who want to spend their holidays in nature virtually untouched by anthropogenic changes, there is a complete variety of landscapes.
A bait for English lords
Perhaps, fishing enthusiasts most often go to the Kola Peninsula. The peninsula is unique in that most of the species living in its reservoirs belong to the salmon family: trout, brown trout, grayling, whitefish, char, and palia. Well, and, of course, the queen of the Kola waters – salmon. By the way, the Norwegians, who before the history of sanctions were the main suppliers of red fish to Russian shelves, and who, since the early 90s, have been very concerned about preserving the nature of the Murmansk region, have not preserved their natural stocks of salmon. Back at the beginning of the 20th century, “real salmon”, which goes away for several years to fatten up in the vastness of the world’s oceans, and then after thousands of miles returns to its native river to give birth, this kind of salmon disappeared from Norway.
It is not surprising, therefore, that amateurs and professionals from all over Russia and Europe come to Russia to look for special experiences from catching this powerful, beautiful and, of course, tasty fish. There are bases on the Ponoi River that are favored by English lords, and world-famous stars also come here. For example, Eric Clapton tried his luck as a fisherman on the Varzuga River. More than once, the president and some members of the Russian government were spotted on the Kola rivers with spinning rods.
However, even for mere mortals, fishing for salmon is a relatively affordable pleasure. The license to catch one “royal fish” is one thousand rubles. True, recently visiting tourists are increasingly being offered catch-and-release licenses. That is, in this case you will not be able to enjoy the taste of the caught trophy.
Where to fish?
In the rivers of the southern part of the Kola Peninsula, the chances of catching salmon are greater. The average trophy here can weigh 3-4 kilograms. In the east and north of the Murmansk region, salmon is found less frequently. But if you’re lucky, you can experience the fishing joy of fighting with 13-17 kilogram salmon. Moreover, the speed of the river flow is added to the strength of the fish itself (salmon are usually caught on a spinner on the riffles). Therefore, combat with the “queen of the river” sometimes lasts several hours.
Those who are going salmon fishing for the first time must keep in mind that fishing luck, in this case, is a particularly unpredictable thing. Even experienced spinning and fly fishermen can spend days unsuccessfully fishing the most catchy riffles. And amateur beginners, if lucky, can “redeem” 3-4 salmon licenses in an hour.
Exclusive
In recent years, local travel agencies are increasingly offering “exclusive conditions” for wealthy fishermen. Groups of tourists are dropped by helicopters and all-terrain vehicles into remote places far from roads and populated areas. This is due to the fact that due to the influx of fishing enthusiasts, it is becoming increasingly difficult to catch salmon near populated areas. In addition to salmon rivers, there are a lot of reservoirs on the Kola Peninsula where you can catch a fish that is not as large as salmon, but no less tasty and very beautiful - brown trout.
Winter fishing in the Murmansk region is less attractive for picky fishermen from other regions of Russia. Lake char, which catches well in winter, rarely exceeds a weight of 700-800 grams. True, on the large lakes of the peninsula - Imandra, Lovozero, Kolozero - burbot bite well in the harshest winter months. There are specimens weighing 7-8 kilograms or more. In fact, among local fishermen, until recently, burbot was considered a “trash” fish. Although its taste is not much inferior to sea cod.
Khibiny
The above-mentioned Khibiny Mountains are the center of ski tourism on the Kola. The capital of Khibiny is the small town of Kirovsk, which was previously called Khibinogorsk.
This is where the main hotels for winter extreme lovers are concentrated. As already mentioned, the Khibiny mountains are not high, so either beginners or those who are forced to spend an economy-style vacation come here. The main advantage of Kirovsk over the famous ski resorts is inexpensive prices combined with the friendliness of northerners and quite acceptable service. In addition, Kirovsk is located near the airport and half an hour’s drive from the railway station. Equipped ski slopes are located within the city, so the time from hotels to them rarely takes more than half an hour.
In recent years, freeride – descent along pristine mountain slopes – has become increasingly popular. In principle, the conditions here are suitable for it, since winters on the Kola Peninsula are usually quite snowy. But in this case one cannot do without “special services”. It is necessary to negotiate with local representatives of the tourism industry about transportation by snowmobile to hard-to-reach corners of the Khibiny. In this case, you must definitely register at the local Emergency Ministry center and find out the degree of avalanche danger. Although the Khibiny mountains are not high, mountains always remain mountains.
Season
Those skiers who have not yet been to the Kola Peninsula should remember that in November - January the Polar Night begins here. Only for two or three hours a day does darkness give way to gray twilight. True, it is at this time that there is a high probability of seeing the mesmerizing northern lights. But opportunities for skiing and snowboarding are sharply limited. The best time for skiers on Kola is the end of February - April. At this time there is already a lot of sun and still a lot of snow in the mountains.
Petrophiles and botanists
In summer, the Khibiny Mountains are a favorite place for beginner climbers and petrophiles - those who like to collect rare, beautiful stones. Here, almost all the minerals found on the planet are concentrated in a small space. That is why, at the foot of the Khibiny in the town of Apatity, the Stone Flower festival has been held more than once, attracting stone carving masters from all over Russia and beyond.
Kirovsk is also notable for its northernmost Botanical Garden in the world. It was founded in the 30s of the 20th century, when industrial mining of apatite began in the Khibiny Mountains. During the Great Patriotic War, it was here that a unique technology for producing sugar from mosses was developed. In addition, many medicines were produced from local plants for scurvy patients and wounded Soviet soldiers. Now, in harsh polar conditions, scientists have managed to acclimatize thousands of plant species from all over the planet.
Underwater kingdom
Other types of tourism in the Murmansk region are in their infancy. Until recently, the only place on the Kola Peninsula where diving enthusiasts liked to come was Kandalaksha Bay on the Tersky Coast. The water here warms up to 14-15 degrees in the summer months. By northern standards, this is quite a resort temperature. As many experienced divers note, the underwater world of the White Sea is much more beautiful and interesting than, say, the Black Sea. A few years ago, a base was opened for lovers of underwater beauty on the shores of the Barents Sea in the village of Teriberka. The underwater world of this icy sea is interesting with steep walls, sea anemones, seals, whales, beluga whales, northern dolphins, salmon, and crabs. And also all sorts of, as divers put it, “iron” - scatterings of shell casings, shells and sunken ships.
Ethnotourism
Ethnotourism on the Kola Peninsula is mainly concentrated in the village of Lovozero and its surroundings. Representatives of a small but very interesting people live here - the Sami. In the old days they were called Lapps, and the western part of the Murmansk region is still considered Russian Lapland. Those who spend several hours getting from the regional center to the village of Lovozero will be able to try exotic dishes in the Sami chum, observe and even participate in ancient Sami rituals. Well, and of course, have a great ride on a sled pulled by the most natural reindeer.
My friend Marat Efremov works as a gas worker on the Yamal Peninsula, and now he is on another shift, so he keeps complaining about why on our website there are articles about all the places in Russia - but not about the legendary Yamal!?!
Now it's time to make an article about this wonderful region!
Far, far away, beyond the Polar Urals, to the east - meet the sun, as our ancestors said, on the shores of the endless Kara Sea, beyond the Yugra Peninsula, lies the land of Yamal, and in translation - this is the end of the Earth!
Endless tundra, millions of lakes, bird caravans, aurora in winter, false suns in spring, and a riot of short flowering in summer!
Yamal is a treasury of Russia! Pensions, salaries for teachers, doctors and military personnel, schools, hospitals, military power, a well-fed life in megacities - all this rests on the wealth that was discovered by generations of Russian pioneers and geologists!
map of Yamal, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug
Yamal is a peninsula in the north of Western Siberia, on the territory of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug of Russia. The length of the peninsula is 700 km, width up to 240 km. It is washed by the Kara Sea and the Ob Bay.
The landscapes of the peninsula are represented by tundra, in the south there are forest-tundra areas. There are numerous lakes.
The peninsula is poorly developed by humans. Reindeer herding and fishing are carried out. The peninsula is home to the largest natural gas deposits.
Etymology
In “A Brief Report on a Journey to the Yamal Peninsula” by B. M. Zhitkov in 1909, the following interpretation of the name of the peninsula is given: “The exact Samoyed name of the peninsula is Ya-mal, a combination of the words Ya (earth) and small (end).” The Latvian Jurmala is called similarly: jūra (“sea”) + mala (“edge, edge”).
Geography
The Yamal Peninsula is located in the north of Western Siberia, washed by the Kara Sea from the west (including its Baydaratskaya Bay), and from the east by the Ob Bay. To the north of the peninsula, across the narrow Malygina Strait, is Bely Island.
Located at 68° N. w. up to 73° N. w. and from 66° east. d. to 73° east. d.
The relief of Yamal is extremely flat, the elevation differences do not exceed 90 m. The average height of the peninsula is about 50 meters.
At the base of Yamal lies an Epi-Paleozoic platform plate with a Meso-Cenozoic sedimentary cover. There are no protrusions of the crystalline basement. Yamal is home to many natural gas fields, mainly located in the south and west coast of the peninsula. Proven gas reserves as of 2009 amount to 16 trillion m³.
New Urengoy - polar night Yamal Peninsula
Minerals
About 20% of Russian natural gas reserves are concentrated in Yamal. On the peninsula and adjacent waters, 11 gas and 15 oil and gas condensate fields have been discovered, the explored and preliminary estimated (ABC1+C2) gas reserves of which are about 16 trillion m³, and the prospective and forecast (C3-D3) gas resources are about 22 trillion m³. Condensate reserves (ABC1) are estimated at 230.7 million tons, oil reserves at 291.8 million tons. In the near future, Yamal will become the main gas production area in Russia and one of the largest in the world.
Most of the natural gas reserves are concentrated in five unique (reserves > 500 billion m³) fields: Bovanenkovskoye, Kharasaveyskoye, South Tambeyskoye, Kruzenshternovskoye and North Tambeyskoye. 13 large deposits (reserves of 30-500 billion m³), three medium-sized (10-30 billion m³) and five small (< 10 млрд м³). Несмотря на 700 глубоких поисковых и разведочных скважин, геологическая изученность полуострова остается низкой, в среднем 1 скважина приходится на 305 км² территории, что на порядок ниже южных районов Западно-Сибирской нефтегазоносной провинции. Это позволяет надеяться на значительный прирост разведанных запасов углеводородов, а также открытие новых месторождения на шельфе.
Gas fields in Yamal are distinguished by their greater depth compared to already developed fields, as well as by the chemical composition of the gas. Deep gas-bearing formations contain so-called “wet” gas, with high contents of propane, butane and pentane, which are more valuable than the main components of natural gas - methane and ethane. In particular, the propane-butane mixture is an environmentally friendly motor fuel that can be stored in liquefied form over a wide temperature range. However, “wet” gas cannot be transported through gas pipelines without complex preliminary preparation, during which “dry” gas is obtained, consisting almost exclusively of methane and ethane. The remaining components are separated into a separate fraction and transported in a liquefied state, in tanks or tankers, or burned in flares.
tundra - in the distance Labytnangi Yamal Peninsula
Development of gas fields
Drilling geological exploration work began in 1963. The sheer swampiness of the area forced work to be carried out mainly in winter, when it was possible to transport heavy drilling equipment, despite frosts down to −50 degrees Celsius and squally winds. To deliver equipment and materials, cargo delivery was organized by the Murmansk Shipping Company; as a result, several very early Arctic flights were carried out with cargo for oil workers.
In December 1964, the first field was discovered - the Novoportovskoye oil and gas condensate field. During the period from the late 1960s to the late 1980s. New deposits were discovered almost every year. Including Bovanenkovskoye in 1971, Kharasaveyskoye and South Tambeyskoye in 1974, Kruzenshternovskoye in 1976, North Tambeyskoye in 1983.
At the end of the 1970s, the volume of exploration drilling at already known deposits increased significantly. For example, at the Novoportovskoye field in 1978-1985. 80 wells were drilled in addition to the existing 29. The contours of the deposits and the volume of reserves were clarified. In the mid-1980s. Plans for the industrial development of the peninsula's gas resources were adopted. In 1987, the development of a feasibility study was completed. The Bovanenkovskoye field was planned to be put into operation in 1991, producing 20 billion m³ of natural gas. In 1992, it was planned to produce 50 billion m³ of gas, and by the end of the 1990s. to produce up to 200 billion m³ annually, also developing the Kharasaveyskoye field. In 1988, it was planned to begin construction of the Yamal-Torzhok-Uzhgorod gas pipeline. However, in March 1989, amid the crisis of the Soviet economy, funding for industrial development projects was stopped.
In the early 1990s, the pace of drilling operations decreased tenfold, although they were never completely interrupted. A new stage of development began after 2002, when Gazprom identified Yamal as a region of the company’s strategic interests. Yamal Peninsula
Currently, four fields have been prepared for industrial development: Bovanenkovskoye, Kharasaveyskoye, Kruzenshternovskoye and Novoportovskoye. In 2006, Gazprom began the industrial development of the Bovanenkovskoye field and the construction of a main gas pipeline. In 2008, drilling of production wells began here. Initially, the commissioning of the field was planned for 2011, currently - for 2012. The design volume of gas production at the Bovanenkovskoye field is determined at 115 billion m³ per year, in the long term - up to 140 billion m³ per year.
It is expected that by 2015 the volume of gas production in Yamal will be 75-115 billion m³ (at the Bovanenkovskoye field), in 2020 - 135-175 billion m³, by 2025 - 200-250 billion m³, by 2030 - 310-360 billion m³.
In addition, as part of the development of natural gas deposits on the peninsula, it is planned to build a gas liquefaction plant (Novatek Yamal LNG project). In accordance with the Comprehensive Plan for the Development of LNG Production on the Yamal Peninsula, the first stage of the LNG production plant should be built in 2012-2016, the second line commissioned in 2017, and the third in 2018. The main source of raw materials will be the South Tambeyskoye field. LNG transportation systems will be handled by Novatek OJSC, Sovcomflot OJSC and the Russian Ministry of Transport.
The total estimated volume of investment in the development of Yamal gas fields in 2010 was estimated by government experts at 6.8-8 trillion rubles. for 25 years.
Nadymsky district Yamal Peninsula
Railway
The Obskaya-Bovanenkovo-Karskaya railway line, built by Gazprom, stretches across the Yamal Peninsula.
Sea ports
In October 2013, the port for year-round navigation, Sabetta, which was built on the Yamal Peninsula as part of the Yamal LNG project to ensure the export of liquefied natural gas from the South Tambey fields, received its first cargo.
The port of Kharasavey also operates.
Factors hindering development
Harsh climate (cold long winters, cool short summers, strong winds)
Severe swampiness, especially on the southwestern and northeastern coasts
Widespread permafrost
High moisture coefficient
Winter begins in October, but there is also winter in June.
Poorly developed transport and other infrastructure
Climate
Yamal has a subarctic climate, and in the north there is an arctic climate. Average temperatures in January range from −23 to −27 degrees Celsius, in July - from +3 to +9. Precipitation is low: about 400 mm/year. The thickness of the snow cover is on average 50 cm.
Hydrography
The annual runoff layer in the north of the peninsula is 150 mm, in the south - 300 mm. Rivers freeze by mid-October, open in early June, and many rivers and lakes freeze to the bottom by the end of winter. The type of river feeding is snow. High water in June.
There are a large number of lakes on the peninsula, the largest of which is Yambuto (the Neito lake system), through which the Yamal portage passed in the Middle Ages.
The largest rivers of the peninsula:
Mordyyakha, Nerutayakha and Yumbydyyakha (Yumbatayakha), Syadoryyakha, Pyyakoyayakha, Pukhuchayakha, Tiuteyakha (Tiutei-Yakha), Kharasavey, Soyakha (Muddy), Soyakha (Green), Yasoveyakha, Yuribey, Lata-Mareto-Yakha, Khuty-Yakha, Nenzoto- Yaha, Pemakoda-Yaha. Yamal Peninsula
Soils, flora and fauna
Yamal is located in the natural tundra zone, the southern part is in the forest-tundra. Permafrost is widespread; thawed soils are found only under large rivers and lakes.
The soils are dominated by podburs, gleyzems and peat soils.
In the north of the peninsula there are shrub-grass-lichen-moss arctic tundras, in the central part there are shrub-moss northern tundras, in the south there are birch moss-lichen and southern tundras.
The peninsula is home to many species of animals, including: reindeer, arctic fox, lemming, snowy owl, partridge, ruffed buzzard, sandpiper, red-breasted goose (endemic), eider, long-tailed duck, bunting, pink gull, Siberian crane, etc. Among fish found: whitefish, char, muksun, pike, burbot, lenok, grayling, Siberian sturgeon, perch, cyprinids, etc.
spring - the Ob River opened up
OB BAY OF THE KARA SEA
The Ob Bay is the largest bay of the Kara Sea, the estuary of the 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 flow forest (driftwood) 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 small rivers flow in, some of which in the lower reaches are accessible to small river vessels, such as the rivers Yada, Oya, Ivocha, Zelenaya, Soyakha and others.
The lip is quite rich in fish; it contains both river and sea fish species: sturgeon, sterlet, nelma, burbot, herring, muksun, shchekur and others. Yamal Peninsula
History of the study
The acquaintance of Russians with the Gulf of Ob began in 1600; in 1601, an expedition from Berezov to the mouth of the Taz River, under the leadership of governor Savluk Pushkin and Prince Masalsky, was successful, and since then, by this route, until the destruction of the city of Mangazeya, voyages from the mouth of the Ob along its lip and the Taz Gulf to Mangazeya were made annually. Arkhangelsk residents, Pustozers and Mezen residents also once sailed across the Ob Bay to Mangazeya; they walked with goods, on light carbas, from the Kara Bay up the Mutnaya River to the lake from which it flows, then unloaded the ships, dragged them empty through a small portage to the Zelenaya River, which flows from the west into the Ob Bay, loaded their ships again, sailed down the Zelenaya River to its mouth, crossed the Ob Bay and walked further along the Tazovskaya Bay to the mouth of the Taz River to the city of Mangazeya. They returned the same way from Mangazeya the next year. These voyages stopped with the destruction of Mangazeya.
In 1734, Lieutenant Ovtsyn, the head of that part of the large northern expedition, which was tasked with exploring part of the coast of Siberia between the mouths of the Ob and Yenisei, entered the bay in a double boat in early August, reaching 70 ° 4 "N. Latitude. In 1736 he reached 72° 34" N. sh., and in 1738, with navigator Koshelev, by August 8, he passed the entire bay to the Kara Sea. In the same year, favorable for sailing in the northern seas, lieutenants Malygin and Skuratov, coming from the Kara Sea, entered the Gulf of Ob and the mouth of the Ob River. In 1738, Lieutenant Skuratov, fighting the ice in the Gulf of Ob, passed it all the way to the mouth and entered the Kara Sea.
In 1828, the western shore of the bay, from Cape Drovyanoy to the mouth of the Ob, was bypassed by land and the building was described. fl. storm. Staff Captain Ivanov and Lieutenant Berezhnykh. In 1863, an expedition equipped by M.K. Sidorov, under the command of Kushelevsky, left Obdorsk on a sailing schooner to the Gulf of Ob and reached the mouth of the Taz River. In 1874, the English captain Joseph Wiggins, on the steamship Diana, was at the mouth of the Ob Bay. In 1877, the steam schooner “Louise”, Trapeznikova, came from Europe to the mouth of the Ob and reached Tobolsk. In 1878, the Danish steamer Neptune sailed the entire Gulf of Ob to the mouth of the Nadym River, as did the English steamer Warkworth by Wiggins, and both managed to return to Europe the same summer with the return cargo. In the same summer, the schooner “Sibir”, built in Tyumen by Mr. Trapeznikov, entered the Ob Bay from the Ob, passed it and safely arrived in London. In 1880, the same steamship Neptune successfully sailed from Europe to the mouth of the Ob River and back. In 1893, the northern part of the bay was crossed by one of the ships of the expedition of the Maritime Ministry - the steamer "Lieutenant Malygin", under the command of Lieutenant Shwede. At the same time, for the first time, indications were received of the existence of a bay north of Cape Mate-Sale.
According to the research of the expedition of A.I. Vilkitsky, in 1895, this bay turned out to belong to a rather large low-lying island named after Vilkitsky. In 1895 and 1896, the expedition of Lieutenant Colonel Vilkitsky, sent by the Maritime Ministry to inventory part of the Kara Sea and the Ob and Yenisei provinces, on the steamship "Lieutenant Ovtsyn" and the sailing barge "Lieutenant Skuratov", safely sailed in the Gulf of Ob, wintered in the Ob and, having fulfilled its purpose assignment, returned across the Kara Sea to Arkhangelsk in the fall of 1896.
It turned out that the Ob Bay is convenient for swimming; the entrance to the Ob River, the bar of which is shallow and filled with banks, has a fairway for ships with a draft of 2.7 to 3.4 m; There is no ice in the bay in late summer. The survey of the eastern shore of the bay, made by Ovtsyn, turned out to be incorrect; in some places it lay on the maps more than 30, 40 and 50 miles to the east; the western coast, filming by Ivanov, was applied much more accurately. Research by Vilkitsky's expedition showed that in general the lip is not nearly as wide as it seemed from pre-existing maps.
Since 1897, a steamship connection between the Ob River and London was established through the Ob Bay by the English company Lybourn Poppam, which purchased up to 3.2 thousand tons of bread in the Barnaul district and hired steamships to deliver this cargo to Nakhodka Bay and to transport from there goods that would be brought by sea from England to Tyumen and Tomsk.
Orthodox mission
BAYDARATSKAYA GUBA
Baydaratskaya Bay is one of the largest bays of the Kara Sea, in its southwestern part, between the Yugra Peninsula and the Yamal Peninsula.
The length of the lip is about 180 km. The width at the entrance is 78 km. Depth up to 20 m.
The surface water temperature in summer is 5-6 °C. From October to June it is almost completely covered with ice. Ice movements in the central part of the bay can only occur during strong winds and high tides (the amplitude of the latter is 0.5-1.0 m). Storms in the open part of the Kara Sea can raise waves in Baydaratskaya Bay and break up the ice in its northern and central parts. The limit of stable ice conditions changes every year.
Yamal - the land of a thousand lakes
The coast is mostly flat, covered with tundra vegetation, and in places very swampy. About 70 rivers flow into the bay. The largest of them (from southwest to northwest): Sibirchatayakha, Kara, Labiyakha, Pakucheyakha, Ngoyakha, Ngosaveyakha, Talvtayakha, Tungomayakh, Ngyndermayakha, Nenzoyakha, Baydarata, Yorkutayakha, Yavkhalatose, Tambyakha, Nganorahayakha, Heyakha, Yuribey, Yasaveyakha, Toyasho, Yumbyakha, Lyyakha, Yureyakha, Lyhyyakha, Sedatayakha, Khahayakha, Marayakha and Yabtoyakha.
There are five islands in the waters of Baydaratskaya Bay: Litke, Ngonyartso, Crescent, Levdiev, Torasavey. All of them are uninhabited.
The water area and coast of the bay belong to the territory of three administrative entities: the Yamal and Priuralsky regions of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug and the Zapolyarny region of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug.
Most of the coast of the bay is uninhabited. The only populated areas are Ust-Kara, Ust-Yuribey, Yary and Morrasale. Near the southeastern and eastern extremities of the bay, at a distance of 20 to 90 km, there is first a railway (to the final station of Khralov), and then a permanent road winter road.
Underwater gas pipelines have been laid along the bottom of Baydaratskaya Bay, which will connect the largest gas fields of Yamal, primarily Bovanenkovskoye, Kharasaveyskoye and Yuzhno-Tambeyskoye, with the European part of Russia. Five branches will run from the Baydaratskaya compressor station (CS) to the Yarynskaya CS through the central part of the bay; another branch will go much further north, at the exit from the bay between the Bovanenkovskoye field itself and the Ust-Kara compressor station near the village of the same name.
midnight on a polar day in Yamal
BORIS ZHITKOV - TRIP TO YAMAL
But let’s return to the wonderful publication about the trip to Yamal. As Zhitkov writes, the expedition set out for the North at the end of the winter of 1908. In addition to the scientist, it included the captain of the sapper battalion V. Vvedensky (as a topographer and assistant) and a representative of the Moscow Agricultural Institute D. Filatov (who was involved in collecting zoological and botanical collections).
To help the researchers they also sent a priest - Father Martinian, a translator and five foreigners, one of whom took with him the whole family - with a plague and deer.
The interpreter Kudrin turned out to be the most valuable personnel. He had extensive acquaintances with the Aborigines and was responsible and efficient. And everyone loved the translator for his cheerful disposition.
The starting point of the expedition was Obdorsk (now Salekhard). According to Boris Zhitkov, a herd of 480 deer was collected for the trip. Such a significant number was necessary for the delivery of large quantities of supplies to the tundra, as well as for the return along the difficult summer route.
On March 29, 1908, a caravan of five thousand reindeer, 12 people, with two tents, two tents, three boats and 70 sledges loaded with various supplies, set out from Obdorsk on a journey that took seven long months...
tundra - Novy Port
Between rivers and lakes
At first, the expedition was successful. The travelers covered mile after mile, notes were made in their diaries about the next point they passed - a river or lake. But in mid-April, not far from the Gulf of Ob, northern nature showed its tough temper - a terrible snow storm locked the researchers in chums for six days.
On April 18, work began to boil again. We broke camp and sent food supplies ahead through the Samoyed camps. And they prudently organized two warehouses in the tundra - later they were very useful on the way back.
At the end of April, travelers faced another test. They got a little lost and had difficulty figuring out “the relationship between rivers and lakes.”
“The Samoyeds standing near the lakes responded to questions either with complete ignorance, or gave very evasive and incorrect testimony,” Zhitkov recalled.
At the beginning of May, the expedition members split up. Captain Vvedensky began filming rivers and lakes from the Ob Bay to the Kara Sea. Assistant Filatov remained to look after the caravan, simultaneously replenishing the collections - spring has come to the North.
Hungry deer and beaver streams
And Boris Mikhailovich, the leader of the expedition, accompanied by an interpreter, went even further - to the Kara Sea itself...
The travelers did not stay on the shore for long. On hummocky ice on reindeer sleds they reached Bely Island. Here difficulties arose - the reindeer were very tired and hungry, and there was no moss on the island. In addition, the Samoyed guides were reluctant to travel - the island was considered sacred, and there were two sacrificial places on its southern territory.
- We were led, however, to these devils. Before leaving the tents for Belyi, the sleds, deer and people were fumigated with a beaver stream, writes Zhitkov.
(For reference: beaver squirt is an aromatic substance of animal origin, which is produced by beavers in special fat sacs).
The expedition was reunited in mid-June. The northern spring was already in full swing, the snow had disappeared from the flat tundra and lay only in the ravines, the lakes were still partly covered with ice.
But difficulties continued. Large spaces were flooded with water; the direction of movement of the caravan had to be constantly changed. It was decided to lighten the convoy as much as possible - some of the guides with tents and a hundred deer had to be left behind. The rest of the travel participants with tents and boats continued their journey along the peninsula.
This amazing Yamal
Boris Zhitkov in his report talks about what he saw in Yamal. In his opinion, the most interesting are the hydrographic conditions on the peninsula. Yamal is rich in both large lakes and many small ones. Many of them do not freeze in winter and are full of fish. The river system is also of unconditional interest.
Zhitkov noted the amazing ability of the Samoyeds to navigate the terrain: “Accustomed to the vastness of the plains, nomads are unusually confident in their orientation even in completely smooth tundra, they schematize their spatial knowledge well, always being able to draw a plan of the area in the snow or on the sand, and quickly navigate the geographical map offered to them.” "
The fauna of Yamal, as the scientist stated, is “typical tundra.” Of the species associated with the sea, “the polar bear is common along the northern shores.” Here you also come across a rather rare walrus. Samoyeds beat sea hare and seal. The wolf, arctic fox, wolverine and ermine live throughout the peninsula, and the fox and hare live in the southern part. The travelers came across a hoofed mouse and an Ob lemming.
Among the birds the expedition saw were swans, geese, eiders, red goose, gulls, waders, plovers, peregrine falcons, white-tailed eagles, white and short-eared owls, partridges, larks, wagtails and many others.
Boris Mikhailovich included the abundance of winds and temperature differences as climate features. In spring, snowstorms vary in duration and severity. The travelers had to face the last big snowstorm at the end of May.
Researchers have repeatedly seen the Northern Lights in March. And in early April, with severe frosts and high cirrus clouds, they were lucky to see “very spectacular light phenomena” - in the form of “false suns and circles around the sun and moon.”
Of great interest, as Zhitkov writes, are the life and living conditions of the local population - the stone Samoyeds. The scientist estimates their number as follows: “in ten clans there are up to 700 yasak souls and up to 2000 cash souls.” On the peninsula, the Samoyeds own 100 thousand deer, which speaks of the local residents as wealthy people.
Their lifestyle is mainly nomadic. At the beginning of winter they move south to the border of the forests and visit fairs in Obdorsk. In February-March, the return migration to summer pastures begins. Some families stay near the Kara coast for the winter to hunt for bears. In summer, seals are killed near the Kara Sea.
Concluding his story, Boris Zhitkov drew attention to the “cordial assistance provided to the expedition by local people.”
MYSTERIOUS HOLE IN YAMAL
Scientists are exploring a giant hole in the ground that appeared in Yamal. A crater with a diameter of 60 (and according to other sources, up to 80) meters was discovered last week (July 2014) - it was accidentally noticed from a helicopter. All sorts of versions of its origin have already appeared on the Internet. Scientists have to find out whether it is the result of a man-made impact or the fall of a cosmic body.
Some media even suggested that the crater appeared as a result of alien intervention. But to accurately determine the cause of its appearance, you need to take soil samples. As Rossiya 24 reports, this is not yet possible, since the edges of the crater are constantly crumbling, and it is dangerous to approach it. The first expedition has already visited the site, and Marina Leibman, chief researcher at the Earth Cryosphere Institute of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, spoke about what the scientists saw there.
“There are simply no traces of a person with any kind of equipment here,” she said. “We can assume something fantastic: a hot meteorite fell and everything melted here. But when a meteorite falls, there are traces of charring, that is, high temperature. And There are no signs of being affected by high temperatures. There are traces of water flows, there is some accumulation of water."
According to the Rossiyskaya Gazeta portal, scientists are considering several versions of the formation of this hole. The version that this is an ordinary karst failure is unlikely, because the crater is surrounded by soil emissions. If a meteorite formed a hole in the ground, then such a powerful blow could not go unnoticed.
Executive Director of the Subarctic Research and Training Site, Candidate of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences Anna Kurchatova suggested that a not very strong underground explosion occurred here. Gas had probably accumulated underground; at a depth of about 15 meters, pressure began to build. As a result, the gas-water mixture burst out, throwing out ice and sand, like a cork from a champagne bottle. Fortunately, this happened far from a pipeline or gas production and processing facility.
Reindeer herders of the Tazovsky district of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug discovered a second crater, outwardly similar to the recently famous “bottomless pit” 30 kilometers from the Bovanenkovskoye deposit.
The new crater is located on another peninsula - Gydansky, not far from the coast of Tazovskaya Bay. The diameter of the crater is significantly smaller than that of the first one - approximately 15 meters. The other day, the deputy director of the state farm, Mikhail Lapsui, became convinced of its existence.
However, there is no need to talk about a discovery as such. According to the nomads, the crater appeared at the end of September last year. They just didn't make this fact widely public. And when they heard about a similar phenomenon on the neighboring peninsula, they told the local authorities about it.
The “hole” in Yamal could have appeared due to swamp gas
Mikhail Lapsui confirms the identity of the Gydan and Yamal natural formations. By the way, they differ little in distance from the Arctic Circle. Externally, except for the size, everything is very similar.
Judging by the soil bordering the upper boundaries, it was ejected to the surface from the depths of permafrost. True, those reindeer herders who call themselves witnesses to the phenomenon claim that there was first a haze over the area where the ejection occurred, then a fiery flash followed and the earth shook.
At first glance, this is speculation. However, this version of the release should not be dismissed out of hand, says Anna Kurchatova, executive director of the Subarctic Research and Training Site, Candidate of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, since when methane is mixed with air in certain proportions, an explosive mixture is formed.
GODS OF YAMAL
Gods of Yamal
Just like other peoples, the religion of the indigenous inhabitants of the North determines the foundations of their worldview, morality, forms and directions of creativity.
Sources for getting acquainted with the religion of the Northerners can be the Yarobtsy, Syudbabtsy storytellers and the stories of old people who have preserved the ancient religious and magical beliefs in the greatest purity. Thus, numerous rich tales about the relationships between gods and heroes created a rich arsenal of mythological images.
In heaven there also live people (Nu Hasova) who have deer. When snow melts in the lower sky, it flows down to the ground as rain. The stars are lakes on that earth that serve as our firmament.
The land is flat, slightly hollowed out in the middle, where there are mountains from which rivers flow in different directions, including the Ob. The land is surrounded by the sea. There are seven more lands under our land. On the first of them live the Sirtya (sikhitrya), for them our land serves as the sky, the Sun and the moon are the same for all worlds, they shine for the Sirtya through the water and our land.
The sun, according to ancient Nenets beliefs, is a woman. She grows grass, trees, moss. When frost sets in, the sun hides from them - it turns along with the sky and night falls (polar night). The moon is perceived as flat and round. The dark spots on the moon are the legs of Iriy Khasava (moon man), the torso and head of whom are on the other side of the moon.
The religious beliefs of the Nenets are based on animistic ideas, i.e. belief in spirits. The entire world around them seemed to be inhabited by spirits who took a direct part in people’s lives, bringing them success or failure in business, bringing joy and sorrow, sending them various diseases and the like.
All travelers and explorers of the 18th and early 20th centuries. claimed that the Nenets had an idea of a “supreme being”, which was called Num. This Num, an incorporeal creature without any image, was, according to researchers, the creator of the earth and everything that exists on it. The most common myth about the universe among the Nenets told that in the beginning there was only water. Num sent a loon. She dived and brought back a lump of clay. The lump began to grow and turned into earth. Then all the mountains and rivers, people and animals were created. The word Num in the Nenets language means weather. Obviously, the supreme being is in reality the spirit of heaven, the bright principle.
In this world, the body becomes “earthy” and turns into a black shiny bug. The black beetle si, the larva of the beetle pui and the long earthworm challah are considered messengers of the Nga country. They are deceptively small when they crawl out on a summer day. At night and in winter they are able to appear as huge monsters, all of them are the embodiment of the god Nga.
Horrors about the world of Nga are usually told by shamans, since they have to disturb the Underground. Every night a person is overcome by the messengers of Nga, who climb into the tent and sleeping bodies. When a person falls asleep, Nga quietly flies into his mouth and the person falls ill. Nga hunts people just as people catch animals, fish and birds. The flesh of a sick or dying person is gnawed by the worm of death challah. Only the shaman can see the worm that Nga sends, and by making an incision in the sore spot with a knife, he will remove it. Nga is sometimes called Si iv Nga Nisha - the Father of the Seven Deaths. That is, various diseases that are fatal to both people and animals are seen by the Nenets as his children. Thus, the children of Nga are considered to be Yakdainga (Scabies), Meryunga (Smallpox), Hodenga (Cough-tuberculosis), Singa (Scurvy), Hedunga (Disease that kills all people and deer in one night), etc.
The Nenets also consider Nga to be a participant in the Creation of everything that exists on earth. Only Num created everything bright, pure, reasonable and useful for people, and the god Nga, on the contrary, created everything evil, unclean and harmful.
In every creature created on earth, something from Num and something from Nga can be discerned, but it was more difficult than others for those to whom the Co-Creators paid especially much attention - man and dog, or rather only man, because neither Num nor Nga initially created the dog. She “came” from man. There are several Nenets parables on this subject. A version of one of the parables goes like this: “Created by Num, at one time a man and a dog lived separately. The dog had clothes, as well as a cargo sled where food was stored. One day the dog took and ate everything in one day, without caring about the future. Then Num got angry and said: “You don’t know how to live on your own at all, go to a man and live with him.” Then Num made the dog stop speaking like a human being.”
According to Nenets legends, it is through the fault of a forgetful dog that a person falls into the power of Nga for a time, which is enough to be eaten, spat on or sprinkled with ashes (that is, Nga managed to perform his ritual). And then the person became mortal (subject to “diseases”), i.e. belongs equally to the Upper and Lower worlds.
The dog now has a special mission to perform.
The world of the Underworld is great, and its messengers are able to penetrate (usually at night) into the world of people, and in a variety of guises: a pack of wolves, deadly diseases, destructive elements. And then in the plague they are confronted by a dog guarding the “hole” that serves as a transition between the Lower and human worlds.
When one of Nga's daughters comes to the camp - Sing's disease (Scurvy), a dog is sacrificed to her. The dog is also considered a human assistant, a good shepherd, capable of independently gathering and driving a herd of deer to the camp.
Therefore, the dog is not a gloomy image. She just got a completely dog’s fate - to guard the “hole”.
So, Num and Nga are two powerful forces waging war among themselves.
There is a legend according to which Nga once complained to Num that in the darkness underground, in search of a way out, he often stumbled upon the sharp corners of seven layers of permafrost. Num, not wanting to spoil relations with Nga, with whom, according to legend, he was related, gave up the moon and the sun. Darkness fell on the earth. People, animals and birds could only use the meager light of the heavenly stars, bumping into trees in the dark and falling into holes. People began to make sacrifices at holy places, begging Numa to return the light to the people.
At the prompting of one of the gods, the heavenly lord Num managed to return the Sun from the dungeon by cunning and the day came. Since then, the struggle between Numa and Nga for the possession of light has continued.
The debate about “Who is first,” Num or his eternal rival Nga, takes place in mythology from Creation to re-creation, covering every year, day, person, thing. This dispute causes a clash in which the earth dies (overflowing with “diseases”), the Sun disappears (in the dungeon of Nga), a person is born and dies.
A series of days changes, and the human century gradually flows from east to west. In the east is the monastery of Numa, where the souls of people come from, in the west is the country of Nga, where they go after leaving the human body.
The image of Numa is also associated with the Southern Sky, often contrasted with the Northern sky, whose ruler is the powerful god Ngerm. And if the revival of nature is associated with the image of Numa, then with Ngerm its solidification, i.e. the onset of winter. In the cycle of nature, Ngerm plays the same role as Nga in the circle of human life and death.
In the host of Nenets spirits, there is only one that Num himself cannot control. His name is Hebidya Ho Erv (Owner of the Sacred Birch).
He lives in the hollow of a seven-trunk birch tree. Every two thousand he raises his birch tree, and from under its roots the water of the great flood spills over the earth. With “big water” Hebidya Ho Erv washes the land where too many diseases have spread. The flood continues for seven days. At this time the Sun does not shine, people and animals die. Then they appear again and again live for two thousand years.
An equally popular Nenets god is Yavmal (Yavmal Iriko) - the Sources of the Rivers Old Man, the Waters of the Land Grandfather, the Seas of the Land Spirit. In many legends he is presented as the heir of Num. According to one of the legends, Num makes the hero the god of the middle earth, orders him to “sit on the upper Ob” all his life, gives him a winged horse and names him Yavmal. Yavmal, as the god of the Upper (Warm) Sea (meaning the Ob River), is in the power of both living spring waters and destructive floods. His will predetermines the coming to Earth of both good warmth and terrible heat. Connected with this are the sacrifices dedicated to Yavmal during the flood season, as well as during the season when “the deer get hot.” In those years when “great heat” comes to the tundra, the Nenets hit the water with sabers and exhort Yavmal to ease the heat, after which “it becomes cold overnight.”
Yavmal, who is also the guardian of the well-being of all people living “on the great water” (the Ob River), was often approached for assistance in marine fishing.
Typically, sacrifices to Yavmal were performed in the spring and summer. But neither water nor heat itself is the element of Yavmal. He is only an intermediary between Earth and Heaven.
The owner of all waters is Id Erv (Lord of the Waters). He is connected with people by a respectful recognition of mutual significance, flavored with a series of gifts. A person makes a sacrifice - the Lord of the waters, grants a safe crossing; the sea provides abundant prey - the hunter responds with a counter ritual of thanksgiving.
Thus, going out on a sea hunt was preceded by a sacrifice. A deer was slaughtered at the sanctuary. A handful of the victim's blood is poured into the sea; It is also used to smear the faces of idols, the bow and rudder of the boat. If someone happens to be carried away by a storm wind into the open sea, then they give the most valuable thing to the sea (usually it was a weapon) and, if the outcome is happy, they rush to sacrifice a deer.
It is a rare Nenets god who does not roam. However, there is one among them who does it as people should do after him. This is Ilibembertya. This name combines two concepts - Ilebts (life, well-being, economy, wild deer) and Perts (to do, hold, call). Ilibembert's main initial concern was the protection of wild deer. But with the development of reindeer husbandry among the Nenets, his concern also extends to domestic reindeer. That is why Ilibembert is called the Guardian of the Deer. According to Nenets legends, he travels around the whole earth, giving people reindeer. The Nenets also consider him the first reindeer herder.
As a bright spirit in the Nenets religion, YaNebya (Mother Earth) or YaMyunya (Womb of the Earth), which according to some legends is the wife of Numa, occupied a prominent place. She was considered not only the patroness of women (often helping during childbirth), but also was some part of each of them.
An equally revered god among the Nenets is the Master of the White Island, Serngo Iriko (Ice Island Old Man). In Yamal he is considered the main spirit.
Of course, these are not all the gods of the Nenets pantheon. Their number is much larger and more diverse. But getting to know these most popular Nenets gods allows you to understand how many phenomena were explained in their own way: the changes of night and day, winter and summer, the human age.
So YaNebya or YaMyunya (i.e. the Earth) is surrounded by the spirits of the South (Num) and North (Ngerm), East (Ilibembertya) and West (Nga) fighting for it. And since Ngerm and Nga posed the greatest danger to humans, the northern and western shores of Yamal are fenced with numerous sanctuaries.
The edge of life, “Edge of the Earth” (lit. Yamala) was the name given to the northernmost part of the peninsula. The sanctuaries of the main guardian spirits were located on the northern “Sacred Cape” of Yamal (Hahensal) and the White Island. It was there that ritual sacrifices were performed. The sanctuary of Yamala - not (the goddess Yamala) on Hahensal resembles a camp and a fortress. Five pointed piles of horns and poles look like plagues standing in a row. At the same time, the entire “camp”, each “chum” is surrounded by sculptures of wooden idols. The image of Yamal Khadok (Old Woman), a wooden sculpture in the form of a reclining woman, surrounded by three syadais (idols) is located at the edge of the shore. The face of the goddess is turned south towards the land inhabited by people.
On the White Island, opposite Hahensala, is the temple of Sero Iriko (White Old Man), the main protector of the goddess Yamalne. It stands surrounded by wooden idols (syadai) on the southern coast of the island, facing Yamal. The White Old Man (Serngo Irika) is the first to take the blows of Ngerm (God of the North) and weaken their impact on people.
As a rule, the Nenets rarely turned to Num - only in the most important cases, happy or unfortunate. In the oral tradition of the Nenets there are two places associated with Numa. This is Vaygach Island and Lake Numto.
According to legend, Vaygach was once smooth. Then “a cliff appeared on the seashore, which grew more and more and finally formed like a man.” Since then, Vaygach was called Hegeya (Holy Land) or Hegeo (Holy Island).
The seven-faced, three-sided wooden idol standing on the man-cliff bore the name Vesako (Old Man). In the middle of the island there is a stone called Nevehege (Mother of the Gods) or Hadako (Old Woman). All the Nenets gods were considered their children, including four sons, “who went to different places across the tundra.”
Nyuhege (Son of God) a small cliff on Vaigach, Minisegora - in the Polar Urals; Yav`mal - Yamal Peninsula; StoneHege, Kozmin copse - in the Kaninskaya tundra.
In his work “Yamal Peninsula” Boris Zhitkov gives a description of the sacred place: “This is a long row of heaps of syadei lined with the skulls of sacrificial deer, tied with scraps of skins... Wooden idols (syadei) are grouped into seven separate heaps, standing in an elongated row at a distance of several steps from one another . Wooden idols here... are in the form of short stumps of a tree trunk with a head beveled at the top and rough notches in place of the eyes, nose, mouth; or in the form of long and thin hewn sticks, covered with groups of notches, seven in each group... In the middle of each heap, as is usual at other sacrificial sites in Yamal, dry larch is inserted - the sacred Samoyed tree. Each pile of syadeys is considered a place of worship for individual rows.”
Myad'khahe - house spirits - acted as a guardian of the home and property. They were usually kept in the front corner of the chum si (i.e., opposite the entrance) along with images of YaMenu, sculptures of spirits, nature, sacred objects from various sanctuaries, taken in exchange for offerings.
When families moved or migrated, all these religious accessories were transported in special sacred sledges - hekhekhan. These are special sledges where a chest or box with lids was placed, where idols were located.
Among the Nenets household spirits, the most revered are myadpukhutsya, the patroness of the family (literally, the old woman or mistress of the plague). The Nenets say: “Without meat, a house is not a home.” She protects him. Previously, there was meat in every tent, and it was in the women's quarters, usually on the pillow of the older woman or in a bag above her headboard. Myadpukhatsya wore a lot of clothes. Every time one or another family member recovered after a difficult birth or illness, new clothes were sewn to her in gratitude. They also resorted to the help of myadpukhutsya in case of serious illness, for which it was placed at the head of the patient. To find out about the outcome of the disease, they took the flesh in their hands and weighed it: if it seemed mild, then the patient should recover, if the seriously ill person died.
To facilitate childbirth, they also turned to Yanebe (or Yamina - mother earth).
Yanebya was considered the patroness of the female half of the family. During childbirth, the woman in labor held Yaneby on her stomach with both hands, squeezing her in pain and asking for relief. It is characteristic that Yanebya did not have a wooden or stone body or head. Instead of the latter, pieces of cloth were put into clothes. If the birth was completed successfully, the patroness of women was given a new fur coat, copper ring, sash, etc. (deer were never sacrificed to Yane), and then they were put in the newborn’s cradle for three days, after which they were put in a casket and placed until the next need in the “clean” part of the tent opposite the entrance.
To compile the most complete picture of the Nenets household spirits, it is necessary to dwell on the images associated with the cult of the dead, the so-called ngytarma and sidryang. According to some information, ngytarma is an image of an ancestor (male or female) who died a long time ago and at an advanced age.
A wooden figure was made from a flake taken from the coffin of the deceased, and then it was dressed in a “malitsa” or “yagushka”, and sometimes fed. Rich reindeer herders sometimes killed a deer as a sacrifice to Ngytarma. Ngytarma is made 710 years after death and kept in the chuma for several generations. Ngytyrma can be located either on a woman’s bed or outside the chum, on a small sledge standing on top of the hehekhan (sacred sledge).
In Yamal, the ngytyrma is taken outside during a snowstorm to guard the deer. The Nenets say that he is an intermediary between the tundra siadai and house spirits, and protects the approaches to the house from evil spirits.
Among the Nenets of Khanty origin, after death, an image of the deceased was made, called sidryang. It was made from aspen, covered with birch bark and dressed in clothes. They kept him in a sleeping place, during meals they sat him at the table and fed him constantly, and they put a knife, a snuffbox, etc. in front of him. Rich reindeer herders slaughtered a deer every month on the full moon for sidryang, and the poor made a bloodless sacrifice.
Three years later, it was buried in a special box, separate from the deceased in whose honor it was made, but close to the latter’s coffin.
In addition to making sacrifices to the spirits, there was also a way to communicate with them through shamans. Shamans were like intermediaries between people and spirits. “Shaman” is a Tungus word. Among the Nenets, a person endowed with a special spiritual gift was called tadebya. The shamanic gift was inherited, usually through the male line from father to son. A woman became a shaman only if there was a lack of male heirs. However, in order to become a shaman, it was not enough to have shamans among your ancestors. Only the one chosen by the spirits can become a shaman. There is numerous evidence of this, left by many researchers. The election took place as follows: “They (spirits) appear to him (the future shaman) in various forms, both in a dream and in reality, torment his soul with various worries and fears, especially in secluded places, and do not leave him until until he, no longer seeing any means of going against the will of the deity, finally realizes his calling and decides to follow it.” Thus, people became shamans not of their own free will, but under strong pressure from the spirits, and the shamanic title was not accepted with joy, but as a heavy burden.
The first signs of special recognition were revealed already at birth: on the crown of the baby there was a film, which, according to the Nenets, was a symbol of the skin of a tambourine. A special sign of a shaman was also a birthmark.
When such a child, marked with a special sign, grew up, he seemed to begin to notice things that were inaccessible to the eyes of other people. During puberty, he fell into the so-called shamanic illness: he either began to sing, or slept for days, or walked around without noticing anyone.
It was believed that spirits - assistants to the shaman's ancestor - came to him and forced him to engage in shamanic activities and tortured him. Only a certain category of shaman could help.
If the shaman learned that the tormented young man should become a shaman of the same category as himself, he would say: “I can teach him.” If he concluded that the spirits that overcome the young Nenets do not belong to his world, that he will be a shaman of a different category, he said: “I cannot teach. Go to so-and-so.”
Thus, the chosen one could get rid of mental suffering and be initiated into shamans only with the mentoring of an adult.
The apprenticeship lasted several years. In order to become a real you, it was necessary to go through a path of knowledge and testing spanning two decades.
At first, the young shaman kamlal (i.e., addressed the spirits), using only a belt and garters from pimas, with which he bandaged the sore spot of patients. Seven years later, the shaman-teacher showed the student where the larch should be cut down for the shell of the tambourine. If a novice shaman knew how, he made a tambourine without pendants himself; if not, he asked another person. Then the beater was made. The first tambourine served the shaman for several years.
Salekhard city - Obdorsky fort
MYSTERIES OF YAMAL - PANTUEV TOWN
Trade has always played one of the main roles in the development of any state. The history of the development of the Russian state was no exception. Russia had trade relations with both European and Asian countries. But few people know that the same relationship existed with Siberia almost from the beginning of the existence of Rus'. The first mention of connections with the Siberian and, most interestingly, northern peoples is found in the very first written source that has come down to us - the well-known monastic chronicle “The Tale of Bygone Years,” which tells how Novgorod merchant travelers exchanged metal products for “ soft junk,” that is, furs. As is known, the first stage of the development of Western and Eastern Siberia followed the northern route; Russian industrialists, Cossacks and merchants came to Siberia by land through the polar Urals and on small ships (kochs) through portages along the rivers on the Yamal Peninsula. Siberian fur, an expensive and lightweight commodity, more than paid for these long and dangerous journeys. And at the beginning of the 16th century, the Pomors had already firmly mastered the sea and land-river routes at the mouth of the Ob and further on the Pura and Taz. And the Russian Tsar Vasily III included in his numerous titles of the Grand Duke of the Russian Land also the title of Prince of Yugorsk. The official Russian exploration of southern Siberia dates back to the first campaign of the Cossack squad of Ataman Ermak Timofeevich in 1582. Until this time, the Siberian land was under the complete rule of the descendants of the Mongol-Tatars.
The history of the northern development of Siberia has been little studied for a number of reasons, but in terms of its economic significance, this great northern trade route, laid by Russian industrialists and Cossacks, is quite comparable to the Great Silk Road. Only they carried along it not silk and spices, but “soft junk” (furs), mammoth and walrus ivory and other countless riches of Siberia. And the history of the discovery and development of the north of Siberia for the development of civilization is no less significant than travel to distant eastern countries.
The similarity of the development of all territories in those years was in one thing - fortified towns were built after a certain distance in convenient places, and, having settled in these lands, the pioneers moved on. There were such fortress towns on the northern rivers: Ob, Nadym, Pure, Taz. Their heyday is associated with the development of the fur trade at the beginning of the 17th century. We will not talk in detail about Mangazeya. Many scientific articles have been written about this polar city. There were other fortresses on the banks of the northern rivers. These are the well-known Berezovsky and Obdorsky towns on the Ob, the Nadymsky town at the confluence of the Tanlava River and the Nadym River and the Nadym settlement in the lower reaches of the Nadym River, and there were several towns on the Taz River. Among them, historians identify three of the most significant: Verkhne-Tazovsky in the area of the present village of Kikkiakki (founded in 1627), Khudoseisky in the area of the Khudosey River, it was also called Turukhansky (founded in 1607), Ledenkin Shar between Mangazeya and the mouth of the Taz River, in the mouth of the Russian River (founded in 1620).
The version of the existence of small towns - peculiar satellites of such large settlements as Obdorsky town or Mangazeya - is confirmed by a simple count of sable skins exported to Tsarist Russia. In “fruitful” years, tens of thousands of them were exported. An idea of the number of sables that passed through Mangazeya during its heyday is given by the surviving books of tithe collection (every tenth sable from private fishing was collected into the treasury). Calculations show that in 1624, 68,120 sables were delivered to Mangazeya from the fisheries, in 1625 - 81,230, in 1628 - 103,330, in 1630 - 80,000. It is necessary, however, to take into account that other fur-bearing animals were also hidden under the “sables”. animals whose skins in a certain ratio were equal to the skin of a sable. One must think that in previous years the scope of production of “soft gold” was no less. Knowledge of the habitat of fur-bearing animals allows us to say with complete confidence that there were towns on the rivers Nadym, Pur and Taz, and other towns still unknown to researchers. To harvest such a huge number of fur-bearing animals, even for our time (and sable, as you know, is not a pack animal), it was necessary to develop vast territories. Historical documents more than convincingly prove that the tribute collected from the indigenous inhabitants was only a small part of the sable skins that entered the royal treasury. Most of it was mined by visiting industrialists. Fortress towns were built to help them.
But few people know that there was also a “Mangazeya” on Pura - it was Pantuev town. Most researchers name its possible location on the left bank of the Pur, approximately in the middle between the present-day villages of Urengoy and the village of Samburg, almost at the latitude of the Arctic Circle.
Pantuev town is one of the pages of the development of the northern endless expanses lost in time. As already mentioned, industrialists penetrated into Mangazeya mainly in two ways. The Mangazeya sea passage ran along the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the western coast of the Yamal Peninsula and further through the watershed lakes Neito and Yambu to Tazovskaya Bay. In early spring and favorable ice conditions, the Pomors also used the direct sea road, skirting the Yamal Peninsula from the north. The second route was by land through the Berezovsky and Obdorsky towns and then by water through the Ob and Taz bays. But there was a third way, many researchers call it river or Kazymo-Nadym-Purovsky. Mainly Cossacks and trading people from the Komi-Zyryans walked along it to Mangazeya. It passed from the Berezovsky town up the Kazym River, then along a short portage to the Nadym River, then along its right tributary Tanlava and again along a short portage to the left tributary of the Pur River - Bolshoy Yamsovey. Due to the fact that on the Nadym and Pur rivers the spring ice drift occurs almost a month earlier than the Ob and Taz bays are freed from ice, this route, although it passed along two portages, allowed one to reach or leave Mangazeya in late spring . The appearance of the Nadymsky town in the middle reaches of the Nadym River and the Pantuev town on the Pur River at the beginning of the 17th century is connected with this route. The latter, using its exceptionally advantageous geographical position, could exist both as a transit satellite town of Mangazeya and as a tribute winter hut.
Why was the named place, almost at the latitude of the Arctic Circle, chosen by the builders of Pantuev town? Taking into account the fact that our ancestors approached the choice of the location of their home more than seriously, there must be compelling reasons for choosing the named place for the construction of an ancient settlement. And they are.
Firstly, this territory is located on the border of the northern taiga. To build further north in the windswept tundra, far from the forest, means dooming yourself to solving problems with the delivery of not only construction timber, but also with the procurement of firewood - the only fuel available in those years.
Secondly, this place is also supported by the fact that this territory is, as it were, “no man’s land”: the forest Nenets live to the south, and the tundra Nenets live to the north. And in terms of safety from attacks by local tribes (and there are many such examples of military clashes with local princelings recorded in history), this place is more than convenient.
Thirdly, the historically established ancient routes for the exchange of goods of the forest and tundra Nenets, Selkups and Entsy passed through this place. Representatives of the last of the named Samoyed peoples in those years inhabited the lower and middle reaches of the Taz River. Many ethnographers are inclined to believe that the Entsy also lived in the middle reaches of the Pur River, but were subsequently assimilated by the tundra Nenets. This may be confirmed by the fact that the names of several Nenets clans do not have a literal translation from the tundra dialect of the Nenets language. Perhaps in ancient times these were Entets clans? Subsequently, the Enets living in the lower reaches of the Taz River, under pressure from the more warlike Selkups, moved to the north.
Fourthly, the named place was convenient for the construction of an ancient town also because such towns were built (again in terms of safety) only on high hills or hills. And in this place there are many such hills - this is reflected in the names of several rivers flowing in these places, for example, Khoyakha - a mountain river, Malhoyakha - a small mountain river, Sangeyakha - a river with steep banks (a river flowing between the hills).
The origin of the name of the ancient town on the Pura is interesting - Pantuev town (in some sources Panteev town). Most researchers agree that this name should not be associated with the harvesting of deer antlers - antlers. The Nenets’ knowledge of the anatomy of reindeer is simply amazing; each bone of this animal has its own name. And the indigenous northerners used deer antlers for medicinal purposes, but their mass procurement for sale appeared much later. Most likely, the town got its name from the Slavic word “antler” - that is, desperate and even proud. However, another version has a right to exist. Mention of the Siberian Cossack family of the Pantuevs is found in many historical documents. And since the Cossacks made up most of the first settlers in the northern lands, it is quite possible that this first settlement on Puru was founded by Siberian Cossacks.
The question quite legitimately arises: why is there no mention of this town in the legends of the indigenous people? An explanation may be that the Urengoy dialect of the Forest Nenets, who lived closest to the named place, was lost before the researchers were lucky enough to write down the ancient legends. And if the Enets lived in these places, then, having undergone forced assimilation and resettlement to the whiter northern lands, they took with them legends about the ancient city. Unfortunately, today almost all Enets speak the tundra dialect of the Nenets language.
The search for this town is also somewhat confused by the fact that in the lower reaches of the Ob River there was a town of the same name. But in history nothing disappears and nothing disappears without a trace. There is another indirect evidence of the existence of an ancient city on Pura. As is known, the Samoyed tribes came to the northern lands from the Sayan-Altai Highlands and therefore all their geographical names (like the names of many northern animals) are descriptive or characterizing, for example, White Mountain or Shchuchya River. One of the streams flowing in the immediate vicinity of the place that most historians name as the possible location of the ancient settlement can be literally translated as “first,” but not in number, but in significance. Perhaps this is the stream on which the first most important person lived - the ruler who collected tribute. But since this territory (as mentioned above) was not inhabited by the Nenets, it can be assumed that a medieval city stood on the high bank of this stream in the place where it flows into the Pur. At the same time, it was protected on both sides by water, and its high location made it possible to provide reliable defense against attacks by local warring tribes. It is noteworthy that this stream is not subject to freezing and freezing in cold winters, which means that the problem with drinking water for the residents of the ancient city was solved simply and practically. And in a sufficiently deep mouth of the stream, it was possible to reliably preserve the kochi from spring ice drift and autumn freeze-up.
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SOURCE OF INFORMATION AND PHOTO:
Team Nomads
Kushelevsky Yu. I. The North Pole and the land of Yalmal: Travel notes. - SPb.: Type. Ministry of Internal Affairs, 1868. - II, 155 p.
Yalmal // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: In 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional ones). - St. Petersburg, 1890-1907.
Brief report on the trip to the Yamal Peninsula: (Read in the general collection of I. R. G. O. February 19, 1909) / B. M. Zhitkov p. 20. Retrieved February 15, 2012.
http://t-i.ru/
Elena Mazneva, Maxim Tovkaylo. At the ends of the earth // Vedomosti, 09.25.2009, 181 (2451)
News Agency "SEVER-PRESS"
http://www.edu.severodvinsk.ru/after_school/nit/2012/polyanin/mifs.html#Gods
LNG technology is a promising option for developing gas resources on the Yamal Peninsula // gasforum.ru
German Burkov, Valentina Karepova Vladimir Ignatyuk - man and icebreaker // Arctic Star: Journal. - Murmansk, 2009. - V. No. 9 of September 25.
Zhitkov B. M. Yamal Peninsula. - SPb.: Type. M. M. Stasyulevich, 1913. - X, 349 p.
Evladov V.P. In the tundra I am small. - Sverdlovsk: Gosizdat, 1930. - 68 p. — 5,000 copies.
Kozlov V. Polar trading post. - Sverdlovsk: UralOGIZ, 1933. - 184 p. — 10,000 copies.
Yamal / Yastrebov E. V. // Bookplate - Yaya. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1978. - (Great Soviet Encyclopedia: in 30 volumes / chief editor A. M. Prokhorov; 1969-1978, vol. 30).
http://www.photosight.ru/
photo S.Vagaev, S.Anisimov, A.Snegirev, G.Shpikalov, E.Zinchuk.
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