Depth of the Volga, width, location and other features
The Volga is one of the deepest rivers in Russia. It flows along the European part of the country, and its mouth is located in the Caspian Sea. Officially it is believed that the length of the Volga is 3,530 km. But if we add some more reservoirs to this figure, it turns out that the length of the queen of Russian rivers will be 3,692 km. The Volga is the longest river in the whole of Europe.
The area of its basin is 1 million 380 thousand square meters. km. It is interesting that there are references to the Volga already in the works of the ancient Greek scholar Ptolemy. He calls her in his research "Ra". And the Arabs once called the Volga word "Itil", which means "river".
Burlaki and Volga
For all times the Volga entered the history because ofuse of heavy Burlat labor. It was necessary only at a time when the movement of the ships was impossible against its current, that is, during the floods. For a day the burlatsk artel could go up to ten kilometers. And the total number of toiling boatmen for the whole season could reach six hundred.
Sources of the Great River
The river originates from the Valdaielevations. Not far from the village Volgoverkhovye from under the ground beats several keys. One of these springs is recognized as the source of the great Volga. This spring is enclosed by a chapel. All springs on this territory flow into a small lake, from which, in turn, flows a stream not more than a meter in width. The depth of the Volga (if conventionally designated this stream as the beginning of a great river) here is only 25-30 cm.
It is believed that the Volga exists mainlythanks to the snow. About 60% of its food is due to melting snow. Another one-third of the Volga is provided by underground waters. And rainfall is only 10%.
Upper Volga: depth and other characteristics
Moving further, the stream becomes more and morewide and then flows into a lake called Sterzh. Its length is 12 km, width is 1.5 km. And the total area is 18 km². The stern is a part of the Upper Volga Reservoir, the total length of which is 85 km. And already beyond the reservoir begins part of the river, called the Upper. The depth of the Volga here on average ranges from 1.5 to 2.1 m.
The Volga, like most other rivers, is conditionallyis divided into three parts - the Upper, Middle and Lower. The first big city on the way of this river is Rzhev. It is followed by the ancient city of Tver. In this region is located Ivankovskoe reservoir stretching for 146 km. In its area increases to 23 m and the depth of the river. The Volga in the Tver region stretches for 685 km.
There is a section of the river in the Moscow Region, buton this territory it occupies no more than 9 km. Near to it the city of Dubna is located. And next to the Ivankovskaya dam in the Volga flows and its largest tributary in the Moscow region - the same name river Dubna. Here in the 30-ies of the XX century was built the channel. Moscow, which connected the Moscow River and the Ivankovo Reservoir, whose waters are indispensable for the economy of the capital.
Further downstream is the Uglichreservoir. Its length is 146 km. The depth of the Volga on the Uglich reservoir is 5 meters. The Rybinsk Reservoir, which is the northernmost point of the Volga, has a depth of 5.6 m. Behind it, the river changes its direction from the northeast to the southeast.
The depth of the Volga and other indicators in the middle and lower sections
The section of the Middle Volga begins at the point whereit flows into the Oka - the largest right tributary of the river. On this site stands Nizhny Novgorod - one of the largest settlements of Russia. The width and depth of the Volga are as follows:
- the channel width is from 600 m to 2 km;
- the maximum depth is about 2 m.
After the merger with Oka, the channel of the Volga River becomes allwider. Near Cheboksary, a great river meets an obstacle - the Cheboksary HPP. The length of the Cheboksary reservoir is 341 m, width - about 16 km. Its greatest depth is 35 m, average - 6 m. And even larger and mighty becomes the river, when the Kama River flows into it.
From this point the section of the Lower Volga begins, andnow it flows into the Caspian Sea. Even higher upstream, after the Volga passes the Togliatti mountains, the largest of all its reservoirs, Kuibyshev, is located. Its length is 500 m, width - 40 km, and depth - 8 m.
What is the depth of the Volga in its delta? Features of the delta of the great river
The length of the delta near the Caspian Sea is about160 km. The width is about 40 km. The delta includes about 500 canals and small rivers. It is believed that the mouth of the Volga is the largest in the whole of Europe. Here you can meet unique representatives of the animal and plant world - pelicans, flamingos, and even see the lotus. It is already difficult to talk about such a parameter as the depth of the Volga. The maximum depth of the river in its delta is according to various estimates up to 2.5 m. The minimum depth is 1-1.7 m.
By its size this section of the Volgaexceeds even the deltas of such rivers as Terek, Kuban, the Rhine and the Meuse. He, like the river itself, played a very important role in the formation of the first settlements in these territories. There were trade routes that connected the Lower Volga with Persia and other Arab countries. The tribes of Khazars and Polovtsians settled here. Presumably, in the XIII century. here for the first time appeared the Tatar settlement called Ashtarkhan, which eventually became the beginning of Astrakhan.
What is unusual about the Volga delta
The peculiarity of the Volga delta is that, unlike in the Volgafrom other deltas, it is not marine, but lake. After all, the Caspian Sea is inherently a big lake, because it is not connected with the World Ocean. The Caspian is called the sea only because of its impressive size, which makes it look like the sea.
The Volga flows through the territory of 15 constituent entities of the Russian Federation and is one of the most important waterways for industry, shipping, energy and other important spheres of the state.
