Olenyok (river)

Template:Infobox river The Olenyok (Template:Langx, sometimes spelled Оленек, Olenek; Template:Langx, Ölöön) is a major river in northern Siberian Russia, west of the lower Lena and east of the Anabar. It is Template:Convert long, of which around Template:Convert is navigable. Average water discharge is Template:Convert.<ref>Russian State Water Register - Olenyok River</ref>

The Olenyok is known for its abundance in fish. It is frozen for over eight months every year and the climate in its area is harsh because of the direct influence of the Arctic.

HistoryEdit

In 1633 Ivan Rebrov reached the Olenyok from the Lena delta and built a fort.<ref name= Lantzeff>Template:Cite book</ref> In 1642–44 Rebrov and Fedot Alekseyev Popov reached the river but were driven out by the natives.<ref>Historical data</ref>

Pioneering Russian Arctic explorer Vasili Pronchishchev and his wife Tatiana (Maria) died of scurvy in the area of the river in September 1736, while mapping the coasts of the Laptev Sea. After their deaths, husband and wife were interred at Ust-Olenyok, near the mouth of the Olenyok. Their tomb was moved after the bodies were exhumed in 1999.<ref>Excavations at the burial site of the couple</ref>

In 1956 the Olenekian Age of the Triassic Period of geological time was named for rock strata in the Olenyok area.

CourseEdit

The river's source is in Krasnoyarsk Krai, on the Vilyuy Plateau, part of the Central Siberian Plateau. The river flows east and then north descending into the North Siberian Lowland. In its lower course it bends northwestwards skirting the western slopes of the Kystyk Plateau and the Chekanovsky Ridge before emptying into the Olenyok Gulf of the Laptev Sea.<ref name="STMr-51_52">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Its mouth is at Ust-Olenyok just west of the Lena River delta. Olenyok is a village located on the river bank.<ref name="GЕ">Google Earth</ref><ref name="STM">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="STM1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

TributariesEdit

The major tributaries of the Olenyok are the Arga-Sala (with its tributaries Kengeede, Kukusunda and Kyuyonelekeen), Bur, Ukukit, Birekte, Kuoika, Beyenchime and Buolkalakh on the left, and the Alakit, Siligir, Merchimden, Kyuyutingde (Кюютингдэ), Khorbusuonka and Kelimyar on the right.<ref name=gvr>Template:GVR</ref><ref>Olenyok River, Great Soviet Encyclopedia, in 30 vols. / Ch. ed. A.M. Prokhorov - 3rd ed. 1969-1978.</ref>

IslandsEdit

Dyangylakh or Dzhyangylakh (Ostrov Dyangylakh) Template:Coord is a large flat delta island at the mouth of the Olenek River. There are many smaller islands in its immediate vicinity, such as Eppet Island off its eastern side, but none comes close to its size. Dyangylakh is Template:Convert long and Template:Convert wide.<ref>Dyangylakh</ref>

File:Olenyokrivermap.png

Location of the Olenyok River course

File:Могила прончищевых 1921.jpg

1921 image of the grave of Vasili and Tatiana Pronchishchev in Ust-Olenyok