Ob

The Russians first saw the river when hunters and merchants, along with the Zyryan guides, went over the Ural Mountains . And before Yermak conquered Siberia, the region around the Ob was called Obdorsky .

As far back as 1187, the lower Ob was part of the “volosts of subjects” of Veliky Novgorod , and after its fall passed to the Moscow princes, who from 1502 began to add the words “Obdorsky and Ugra” to their titles ^[4] .

In 1844, shipping began to be carried out along the Ob; the first steamboat was operated by commerce adviser N.F. Myasnikov ^[5] . In 1895, there were already 120 ships operating on the Ob and its tributaries; most of them belonged to private owners ^[5] . Since 1923, the transportation of passengers and goods along the Ob was carried out by the West Siberian River Shipping Company ^[6] ( Ob-Irtysh River Shipping Company ).

The origin of the name of the river is not known for certain. According to one version, it came from a word in the Komi language, which meant " snow ", "snowdrift", "place in the snow" ^[7] .

According to the data of Wolfgang Steinitz and Alfred Dulzon, the name is associated with the Komi-Zyryan word Obva - “ snowy water ”, since the Russians recognized Ob in its lower reaches, and its name was received from the Komi conductors ^[8] .

There is also an assumption that the name of the river is of Iranian origin, from * ap “ water ” ( taj. Ob ). The steppe Iranian-speaking peoples who lived in the south of Western Siberia during the period from the Early Bronze Age to the Middle Ages could well have given such a name to the full-flowing river ^[7] .

The Nenets , who live in the lower reaches of the river, called it Salya-yam , which means "cape river." The Khanty and Mansi gave it the name As - “the big river”, the Selkups called the river Kwai, Eme, Kuai, and Colt . These names meant “large river”. In the Altai Ob - Ah-Umar (North River) ^[9] . In Ostyacki - Colt, Qui. In Tatar - Omar, Humor ^[10] .

By the nature of the river network, the nutritional conditions and the formation of the water regime, Ob is divided into 3 sections: the upper (to the mouth of Tomi ), the middle (to the mouth of the Irtysh ) and the lower (to the Gulf of Ob ). At the same time, after the construction of the Novosibirsk reservoir, the upper Ob River is also divided into sections: from the confluence of Biya and Katun to Barnaul, where the Novosibirsk hydroelectric complex does not affect the water regime, from Barnaul to Kamen-na-Obi, where the hydroelectric complex itself is felt and the section from the downstream of the Novosibirsk hydroelectric station to the mouth of Tomi, where the flow is regulated by the Novosibirsk hydroelectric complex. The average speed of the current is: in the spring period 5-5.6 km / h, at low water 2.7-3.0 km / h. In the bends of the river and in the constrictions, pressure currents are observed, and in the places where the river branches into channels, there are protracted currents, especially strong at high water levels. In many places there are dump currents.

The name Ob is used for the watercourse below the confluence of the Katun and Biya rivers, that is, after the city of Biysk . It flows through the Altai Territory through Barnaul , then for some time it separates the Altai Territory and the Novosibirsk Region . About 300 km of the current - through the Novosibirsk region, including through Novosibirsk . To the north, after the adoption of Tomi in the Tomsk region , it changes direction to the northwest and for about 900 km of the Tomsk region receives large tributaries - Tom , Chulym , Ket , Chayu , Parabel and Vasyugan . In the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug, the Ob flows along the coast of Nizhnevartovsk , then to the west, rounding Surgut from the south, and Nefteyugansk from the north. After Khanty-Mansiysk, the Ob takes the Irtysh and turns to the north and flows further, almost 660 km through the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug and the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug to Salekhard and Labytnanga . Before the village of Peregrebnoye, the Ob River flows in one channel, then it bifurcates into two branches - the Big and Small Ob . The sleeves reconnect after 460 km, 20 km south of Salekhard , rounding the Siberian Uvaly , the valley here narrows from 20 km to 6-8 km with a channel deepening almost 2 times - up to 10-15 meters. After Salekhard, the Ob turns sharply east. The final target of the Ob itself is the line drawn from Cape Salemal to the ledge of the convex bank of the Ob River. Below this place, the river forms a delta ^[11] . From this point of flow of the normal channel of the river into the Ob Bay of the Kara Sea , a noticeable expansion of the watercourse occurs. The Ob forms a huge delta with an area of ​​4.5 thousand km² ^[12] . The Ob River Delta , located on a latitudinal stretch, starts from the Bolshaya Yary Island (below the village of Salemal), where the river is divided into two broad branches - the Nadym Ob and the Hamanelskaya Ob (Ganeizer 1975), that is, between 69º11 ′ and 71º40 ′ in. d. ^[13]

The river’s food is mainly snow, in Altai it is mixed: the share of snow supply is 40%, glacial 22%, rain 19% and ground 15%; in the taiga zone, the share of snow supply is 55%, rain - 25%, ground - 20%. ^[14] During the spring-summer flood, the river brings the bulk of the annual flow. In the upper reaches of the flood - from the beginning of April, on average - from the second half of April, and in the lower - from the end of April - beginning of May. The rise in levels begins even during freezing; during the opening of the river as a result of congestion, intense short-term level rises. Because of this, some tributaries may reverse the direction of the current. In the upper reaches, the flood ends in July, the summer low-water period is unstable, and from September to October a rain flood occurs. In the middle and lower reaches, the decrease in flood with layered rain floods continues until ice freezing. On average, the river is under ice from 180 to 220 days a year, depending on how severe the winter is ^[15] .

The Ob basin area is 2 million 990 thousand km². By this indicator, the river ranks first in Russia . The Ob is also the third river in water availability in Russia (after the Yenisei and Lena ).

In the southern part of the Ob is the Novosibirsk reservoir , formed by the dam of the Novosibirsk hydroelectric station . The dam was built from 1950 to 1961; when creating the reservoir, many villages and the bulk of the city of Berdsk were flooded. The Ob Sea (as locals call it) serves as a resting place for many Novosibirsk citizens; on its banks are numerous recreation centers and sanatoriums . Tourists from neighboring regions come here.

At the end of the 19th century, the Ob-Yenisei Canal was built, connecting the Ob with the Yenisei. It is currently unused and abandoned.

The main tributary of the river is the Irtysh ^[16] . The length from its source on the border of Mongolia and China to the confluence of the Ob into the left is 4248 km - it exceeds the Ob by 592 km in length.

Other significant tributaries:

• left - Sandy , Anuy , Charysh , Alei , Barnaulka , Kasmala , Shegarka , Tea , Parabel , Vasyugan , Big Yugan , Northern Sosva , Shchuchye , Son ;
• right - Chemrovka , Chumysh , Berd , Inya , Tom , Chulym , Ket , Tym , Kiev Yogan , Vakh , Vatinsky Egan , Tromyegan , Pim , Lyamin , Kazym , Poluy .

Ob is navigable all over. At the same time, the following shipping areas are distinguished on the Ob and its tributaries:

• Barnaulsky - from the confluence of Biya and Katun to Kamen-on-Ob, including the estuaries of Biya, Katun, Charysh and Lake Teletskoye. Guaranteed depths - 110-140 cm;
• Novosibirsk reservoir - from Kamen-on-Ob to the outskirts of the Novosibirsk lock,
• Novosibirsk - from the outport of the Novosibirsk lock, including the lock itself to the mouth of Tom. Guaranteed depths - 210-240 cm,
• Tomsky - from the mouth of Tomi to the Parabel channel and the site of Tomi from the mouth to Kemerovo. Guaranteed depths on the Ob and on Tomi to Tomsk - 210-240 cm,
• Kolpashevsky - from the Parabel channel to the border of the Tomsk region and a section of 274 kilometers along the Ket River. Guaranteed depths on the Ob 240-270 cm,
• Ob-Irtysh - along the Irtysh from Omsk to the mouth of the Irtysh. Guaranteed depths on the Ob 140-180 cm;
• Surgut - from the border of the Tomsk region to the mouth of the Irtysh. Guaranteed depths on the Ob are 240-270 cm;
• Khanty-Mansiysk from the mouth of the Irtysh to the mouth of Kazym. Guaranteed depths on the Ob 270-300 cm;
• Salekhard - from the mouth of Kazym to the Gulf of Ob. Guaranteed depths on the Ob are 270-300 cm.

In the Gulf of Ob there is a maritime regime of navigation.

Since ancient times, fishing was developed on the Ob. So, at the end of the 19th century, perch , ruff , goby , sculpin , pike , burbot , muksun , cheese , pike , pyzhian , nelma , grayling , trout , taimen , crucian carp , gudgeon , roach , chebak , dace , minnow got into the network of fishermen. char , pinch , sturgeon , sterlet , lamprey and other fish species ^[5] .

Currently, about 50 species and subspecies of fish live in the waters of the Ob and the Gulf of Ob, half of them have industrial value. The most valuable species: sturgeon , sterlet , nelma , muksun , chir , tugun , whitefish , peled . The objects of fishing are mostly partial - pike perch , pike , ide , burbot , bream , dace , roach , crucian carp , perch .

• Biysk (southwestern part: Fominskoe )
• Barnaul
• Novoaltaysk
• Stone on Ob
• Novosibirsk
• Kolpashevo
• Strezhevoy (on the Pasol duct)
• Nizhnevartovsk
• Megion
• Langepas (on the Kayukovskaya channel )
• Surgut
• Nefteyugansk
• Labytnangi
• Salekhard

The main ports and marinas of the Ob-Irtysh basin: Biysk river port , Barnaul river port , Novosibirsk , Tomsk , Samus , Nizhnevartovsk , Surgut , Labytnangi , Pavlodar , Omsk , Tobolsk , Tyumen , Khanty-Mansiysk .

In the direction from the mouth to the source:

• Ugra bridge ( Surgut , Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug );
• Railway bridge ( Surgut );
• Shegarsky bridge (near the village of Melnikovo , Tomsk region );
• North Bridge in the Novosibirsk Region ( 2008 ) ^[17] ;
• Dimitrovsky bridge in Novosibirsk ;
• Transsib Railway Bridge (Novosibirsk) ;
• Communal bridge (Novosibirsk) (October);
• Metro bridge in Novosibirsk ;
• Bugrinsky bridge in Novosibirsk;
• Komsomolsky railway bridge in Novosibirsk;
• Bridge over the gateway of the Novosibirsk hydroelectric station ;
• Railway bridge in Kamen-on-Ob of the Altai Territory ;
• Communal bridge (car, train) in Barnaul ;
• New bridge in Barnaul .

Before the construction of bridges on the Ob on ancient land routes, for example, “From Tara via Baraba to Tomsk” ^[18] (“Bukhara Way”), water crossings were used (“Perevoz”, on the Ob at the mouth of the Urtamki River; it was here the Ustamsky prison was delivered).

It is planned to build another bridge across the Ob near the city of Strezhevoy , the Aleksandrovsky district of the Tomsk region for full traffic through the future Northern latitudinal highway , but there is no funding. In the case of the beginning of the construction of a railway line to the foothill areas of the Altai Territory and the Altai Republic on the territory of the Bystroystoksky District, another bridge will be built about 20 km from the confluence of Biya and Katun.

• Ob (river) // Nikko - Otoliths. - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1974. - (The Great Soviet Encyclopedia : [30 vol.] / Ch. Ed. A. M. Prokhorov ; 1969-1978, vol. 18).
• Varpakhovsky N. A. Fishing in the river basin Obi. II. Fish of the river basin Obi . - SPb. , 1902.
• Ob (neopr.) . Modern place names . Institute of Geography RAS.
• Ob fly fishing. The book of the famous Novosibirsk fisherman Sergei Shatalov (neopr.) . web.archive.org . Date of treatment January 13, 2019.
• Kirillov V.V., Bezmaternykh D.M., Yanygina L.V., Tretyakova E.I., Kirillova T.V. Kotovschikov A.V., Ermolaeva N.I. Factors and indicators of self-cleaning of the Ob River // Fundamental problems water and water resources: Mater. III vseros. conf. from the international participation (Barnaul, August 24-28, 2010). - Barnaul: Publishing house of ART, 2010. - S. 137-140. (Russian) . bezmater.narod.ru . Date of treatment January 13, 2019.
• Salekhard's water consumption for 1930-1999 (neopr.) . www.r-arcticnet.sr.unh.edu . Date of treatment January 13, 2019.
• Patch of the Ob River (Russian) (inaccessible link) . www.fishingsib.ru . Date of treatment January 13, 2019. Archived November 5, 2013.