The mouth of the Amu Darya. Syrdarya river on the map. The Aral Sea and the reasons for its death

The Amu Darya River is the largest water stream in Central Asia. Its length is 1,415 kilometers, and its water intake basin is more than 309 thousand square kilometers. It flows through the territory of five states: Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. The river is formed by Vakhsh and Pyanj at their confluence. The main flow is formed in Tajikistan - 85% and Northern Afghanistan - 15%. The Amu Darya flows into and near which it forms 3 large right tributaries: Sherabad, Kafirnigan and Surkhandarya. There is a small left tributary - Kunduz. The river is fed by glacial and melt waters. 80% of the water is regulated by 36 reservoirs with a capacity of 24 billion cubic meters. The annual flow of the river is 73.6 km 3 . The maximum water flow is in summer, the minimum is in January and February.

Economic importance of the Amu Darya

This river is vital to the huge number of people who inhabit its basin. Its waters are used for domestic needs, electricity generation, agriculture, drinking purposes and industrial consumption. Fishing is developed in the lower reaches of the river and floodplain lakes. In the area of ​​the city of Turkmenabad, the Amu Darya River is navigable. The water is mostly used by agriculture to irrigate fields, as this activity is an important sector of the economies of all 5 countries - up to 35% of GDP. For example, in Afghanistan up to 80% of the population is employed in this area. Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan take the most for agricultural needs - up to 40%. The world's largest canal, the Karakum canal, was built on the Amu Darya, along which there are giant fields of wheat and cotton. Watermelons and melons are also grown in large quantities.

Story

The river has been known since time immemorial. The ancient Greek historian Herodotus wrote that in ancient times the Amu Darya had 40 mouths going into swamps and had 360 canals, but flowed into the river with only one branch. But modern scientists have discovered that the water flow reached only up to Thus, the information of the ancient chronicler was most likely based on oral legends. In ancient times, the Amu Darya bore many names. Zoroastrians called it Vaksh, Arhara, Raha or Ranha. The ancient Greeks called it Arax. And during the conquering campaigns of Alexander the Great, the river was called Oxos. Along the banks of the Amu Darya were located the great states of antiquity: Khorezm, Bactria and Sogdiana. In the Middle Ages, there was a trade route from Rus' to Bukhara along the Amu Darya. Peter I actively tried to involve the river in Russian trade. In those days, the Amu Darya River was examined. The map of that time is quite accurate. Systematic research of the river began only in the 20th century. Then they began to observe the composition of the water.

Ecology

The load on the Amu Darya has increased in recent decades, which has caused a sharp deterioration in the composition of the water. There was also an imbalance. The Amu Darya River today shows alarming parameters of mineralization and hardness. For example, in 1940 it was 4.2 mg.eq/liter. In 1990 - 9. And today - 9.8 mg.eq/liter. The salt concentration depends on the season. These indicators are due to the massive discharge of household and industrial waters into the river; surface runoff and emissions from river vessels are also important. Since the river flows through the territory of several states, the problem of cleaning it is a complex effort. To date, all five governments have made plans and signed treaties.

Fishing

The fish is found in the lower reaches of the river and in the lakes of the Amu Darya basin. The main catch of fishermen is carp, salmon, asp, marinka and barbel. But in the upper reaches there is also fish - osman, which replaces trout on the river. These are commercial objects, and more than a hundred different species are found in the waters of the Amu Darya. Marinka, barbel and osman are quite unique living creatures that are found mainly in the Amu Darya. They have antennae with which they search for prey. Osman differs from barbels and marinkas in that its tail and sides are covered with small sparse scales, its belly is completely naked, and there are also 2 additional antennae. Fishing on the Amu Darya lasts from May to October. You can fish with spinning rods, donks and half-donks.

Tourism

Rafting enthusiasts love to come here. Both the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya are attractive in this regard - there are several interesting places. The route begins a few kilometers from Tashkent. The peak of rafting occurs in mid-September and October. Lovers of history and travel come here from all over the world to admire the ancient majestic cities and visit the Amudarya Nature Reserve. Along the banks of the river there are several climatic zones: desert, semi-desert and mountains. This region is home to snow leopards and the snow leopard, listed in the Red Book. In addition, the miraculous Lake Mollakara is located here, where many diseases are cured. The ancient city of the times of Alexander the Great - Nisa - once flourished here. The Amu Darya is the eternal charm of history.

Central Asia still remains an unexplored and little-known region for most Europeans. The places here are beautiful - the steppes, the Pamir and Tan Shan mountains, the Karakum desert...

But the most significant objects in these places are the rivers. The Syr Darya and Amudarya are the two largest water arteries in Central Asia, which contribute to the preservation of life in a difficult climatic region. Both rivers flow into the Aral Sea, which, unfortunately, has almost completely dried up over the past 50 years.

It is also worth noting that on the map the Syrdarya is located to the north, the Amur Darya to the south, but both rivers seem to flow from the same place and practically in the same direction, flowing into the same body of water, albeit a former one. So, in this sense, these rivers can be compared with different Turkic peoples: Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Turkmens, Uzbeks, Tajiks. They come from the same root and “flow” in the same direction. And despite the differences between themselves, they, like these rivers, are very similar. Let's take a closer look at each artery and their former refuge - the Aral Sea.

“Cheese” in the first part of the river’s name can be translated from local Turkic dialects as “mysterious”, “secret”. And “Daria” means river.

A water stream more than 2000 km long originates in the western part of the Tan Shan Mountains and is formed at the confluence of two rivers: Naryn and Karadarya.

Compared to the major waterways of the world, the Syrdarya is not the deepest - about 700 m3/s. But thanks to the melting of ice and snow in the mountains in the spring, the river floods heavily.

There are three states on the path of the Syrdarya water flow: Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. Also, a large number of tributaries of the river are located on the territory of Kyrgyzstan. In winter, the river is almost completely free of ice by April.

The main part of the flow flows through the territory of Kazakhstan. On the river there are cities such as: Baikonur (Baikonur), Zhosaly, Kyzylorda. Relatively close to the river - about a hundred kilometers - is the city of Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan.

Many irrigation canals were built on the river and its tributaries, such as the Big Fergana, Northern Fergana, Akhunbabaev Canal and many others. Due to the large withdrawal of water from the river and the tributaries that feed it, the Syr Darya does not reach the Aral Sea and the actual flow of the river ends approximately 150 kilometers from the former Greater Aral. The city of Kazalinsk, with a population of slightly less than 7,000 people, is actually the last settlement along the river’s path to the Aral Sea. Then the river dries up.

The second major water artery in Central Asia. The length of the stream is about 1400 km, but the water flow near the Amu Darya compared to the Syr Darya is about 3 times higher - about 2000 m3/s.

"Amu" is part of the name of the city of Amul. This is a historical city, it does not exist now, it was located on the territory of modern Turkmenistan. More precisely, there is a city, but it is called Turkmenabad, and in the Soviet years it was called Chardzhou.

The river originates in the Pamir Mountains, formed at the confluence of the Pyanj and Vakhsh rivers. The Amu Darya occupies one of the first places in the world in terms of turbidity. More than 80% of the river flow is generated in Tajikistan, as well as in northern Afghanistan. The river flows along the border of Uzbekistan and Afghanistan, crosses the northeastern part of Turkmenistan and then flows again through the territory of Uzbekistan.

Unlike the Syr Darya, the Amu Darya freezes only in the upper reaches. In its lower reaches it passes through the warm and dry regions of Central Asia.

The most famous derivative of the Amu Darya River is the Karakum Canal.

The canal begins near the city of Kerki in Turkmenistan. Its total length is comparable to the length of the Amu Darya itself - about 1400 km. After its source, the canal flows south, crossing the Karakum Desert. Further on the path of the flow, there is the so-called Murghab oasis, which has existed for a very long time and is a historical place in this region of Central Asia. The canal passes through the city of Ashgabat and ends approximately 400 km west of the capital of Turkmenistan near the city of Balkanabad or Nebit-Dag (the Soviet and modern name of the city). The Karakum Canal has a width of up to 200 meters and is 7.5 meters. The water flow of the canal is about 600 m3/s, which is only slightly less than the level of the Syrdarya.

The canal is important for Turkmenistan. Water is used as drinking water after purification in large Turkmen cities. Agricultural lands have been created along the banks of the canal.

But there is also another side to the coin. Due to significant withdrawal, the Amu Darya water does not reach the Aral Sea. The actual mouth of the river is located 200 km from what was previously the Aral Sea.

Now let’s try to deal with the Aral itself.

Aral Sea

Once upon a time it was a huge and deep body of water - a real sea. I heard in one program that before the shallowing of fish there was so much fish in the Aral Sea that they even lit stoves in the settlements located nearby the lake.

Shallowing began after the main canals were opened in Central Asia. On the one hand, dry areas received an influx of water. Cotton and other crops began to be grown there, and on the other hand...

50 years after the “improvement of life” for the residents of Central Asia (Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan), by and large, all that remained of the Aral Sea were memories and huge accumulations of salt, which spread hundreds of kilometers around, causing considerable harm.

Until the 60s of the 20th century, the surface area of ​​the Aral Sea exceeded 60 thousand square kilometers, which corresponds to the size of the Tambov region of Russia. By 2010, this figure had dropped to 10-13 thousand km2, that is, approximately 6 times. What remains is a narrow strip of water in the western part of the former lake.

A huge number of fish died, including special species, such as the Aral sturgeon.

If we take and calculate objectively what we gained and what we lost... They built canals and grew so many thousands of tons of cotton, but at the same time they lost millions of tons of fish and received dust storms and toxic chemicals that spread hundreds of kilometers around... Restoring the lake is only possible in in the event that the main channels of the Syr Darya and Amu Darya are inoperative.

And it turns out that Turkmenistan, which operates the Karakum Canal, receives its main income through the sale of natural gas; agriculture in this country is symbolic, except for livestock farming. Uzbekistan, of course, is an agricultural country, but even there, state budget revenues are determined by oil and other sources of raw materials. Cotton plays an important part in the income of Uzbekistan, but the main flow of the Syr Darya would be quite enough to grow cotton along its banks...

In short, there are suspicions that the massive construction of canals in Central Asia during the Soviet era was a mistake. There is not as much benefit from this as harm.

So, Syrdarya and Amu Darya. Central Asian. And here lives a relatively united ethnic people - the Turks.

Like these rivers, the people have a lively but violent disposition. Heavy river floods in the spring can be compared to the vibrant emotional character of the local population. At the same time, like rivers, people live in rather difficult conditions of an arid climate with large differences in average annual temperature.

Here in Central Asia there is a lot - mountains, deserts, rivers, oases, a huge amount of undiscovered natural resources, oil and gas and much more.

But, as elsewhere, it is important not to get carried away by human pride, which wants to conquer nature, so as not to harm ourselves.

Amudarya River

(Tajikistan-Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan)

The sources of this great Central Asian river lie, strictly speaking, outside the CIS. From the slopes of the sky-high Hindu Kush ridge in Afghanistan, from under a glacier located at almost a five-kilometer altitude, a stream flows, swift and turbulent due to the steepness of the fall. In its lower reaches, it has already become a small river and is called Vakhandarya. A little lower, Vakhandarya merges with the river The Pamir takes a new name - Pyanj, and for a long time becomes a border river, separating the three Central Asian republics of the CIS from Afghanistan.

Most of the right bank of the Pyanj is occupied by Tajikistan. The river gnaws through rocky ridges in this area, has a rapid current and is absolutely unsuitable for either navigation or irrigation. It’s just a stormy white stream in the abyss, and even the roads along it have to be laid in places on concrete cornices hanging over Pyanj.

The mountains of Tajikistan tirelessly feed the river with meltwater from glaciers flowing from their slopes. Gunt, Murgab, Kyzylsu and Vakhsh, having flowed into Pyanj, make it so full of water that below Vakhsh, having finally changed its name to Amu Darya, the river already carries more water than the famous Nile.

But even before this, the “Central Asian Volga” meets on its way the first curiosity that nature has scattered along its banks with a generous hand. On the right bank of the Pyanj, just above the confluence of the Kyzylsu, rises the unusual, one-of-a-kind mountain Khoja-Mumin, consisting of... pure table salt.

Geologists call such formations “salt domes.” They are found in many places in the world: off the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, in Iraq, in the Caspian region, but everywhere they are more like hills - their height does not exceed tens, or at most hundreds of meters. And KhojaMumin is a real mountain peak with steep slopes, gorges and even caves. The height of this extraordinary mountain is one thousand three hundred meters! Rising nine hundred meters above the surrounding plain, it is visible for tens of kilometers.

The surrounding residents have been mining salt here since ancient times. Now science has managed to unravel many of the secrets of this mysterious natural anomaly. Khoja-Mumin, it turns out, is a huge massif composed of salt, and at the top and in places on the slopes covered with a thin layer of soil formed from dust brought by the wind. At ground level, the area of ​​the massif reaches forty square kilometers, and further down the salt column sharply narrows and goes to depth in the form of a column with a diameter of about a kilometer.

The slopes of the mountain are not white, as one might expect, but pale pink, greenish or bluish, depending on the impurities trapped in the salt layer. In some places they break off with sheer walls up to two hundred meters high. In some areas of the slopes, rainwater washed deep caves with huge halls and beautiful smooth-walled passages. And the places where the soil cover has formed are covered with low thickets of thorny bushes.

Hidden in the depths of the mountain are gigantic reserves of table salt - about sixty billion tons. If it were divided among all the inhabitants of the Earth, each would receive almost ten tons! Penetrating deep into the thickness of the mountain, rain streams dug long tunnels and wells into them and, having passed right through the mountain, emerge at its foot to the surface in the form of unusual salty springs. Their waters, merging, form many (more than a hundred!) salty streams running across the plain to the nearby Kyzylsu. In summer, under the hot rays of the sun, part of the water in the streams evaporates along the way, and a white salt border forms along their banks. As a result, a peculiar semi-desert landscape is formed, reminiscent of science fiction films about Mars: a brown, scorched plain along which poisonous-reddish watercourses with lifeless whitish banks meander.

Surprisingly, but true: on the flat top of Mount Khoja-Mumin there are several sources of absolutely fresh water! Geologists say that it is possible that layers of other, insoluble rocks are sandwiched within the thickness of the salt dome. It is along them that, under pressure from below, the water rises to the top, without coming into contact with the layers of salt and maintaining a fresh taste.

Thanks to her, grasses grow on the mountain (of course, only where there is soil). And in the spring, among the rocks sparkling with snow-white salt crystals, scarlet carpets of tulips appear on the top of the mountain.

Having left the borders of Tajikistan, the full-flowing Amu Darya receives the last major tributary, the Surkhandarya, on Uzbek territory and rapidly rushes further to the west. Behind us is the green city of Termez with its unique, southernmost zoo in the CIS. Here, at the latitude of India, the warm climate allows even elephants to live in the fresh air all year round, without knowing stuffy enclosures. True, polar bears have a hard time here. They are saved only by the icy mountain water in the pool.

Having parted with Uzbekistan, the Amu Darya soon says goodbye to the left-bank plains of Afghanistan, turning to the northwest and entering the territory of Turkmenistan on both banks. From here, two thousand kilometers, all the way to the Aral Sea, it flows along the border of the two main Central Asian deserts: Kyzylkum and Karakum. From the city of Chardzhou, where the first (and only) bridge across the wide river was built, motor ships are already running along the Amu Darya.

The countries lying along the banks of the river - Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan - use the waters of the generous Amu Darya to irrigate their cotton fields and orchards. To the right, to the Uzbek Bukhara, the Amu-Bukhara Canal is laid, and to the left, into the sultry sands of the Karakum Desert, the wide navigable channel of the Karakum Canal, or the Karakum River, as it is also called, goes.

The Karakum Desert occupies three quarters of the vast territory of Turkmenistan. When you fly over it on an airplane, below you see an endless sea of ​​golden sands with green beads of oases scattered here and there.

And from the south, the border of Turkmenistan is high mountains. From there, two large rivers run down to the plain - Tedzhen and Murghab. They flow for several hundred kilometers across the country, irrigating the surrounding lands, until they are finally “drinked up” by numerous canals-aryks. Ancient agricultural civilizations existed in these places before our era; the most valuable fine-fiber cotton, luxurious melons, fragrant juicy apples and grapes are grown here and now.

Nature has generously endowed Turkmenistan with fertile lands, but, as the local proverb says, “in the desert it is not the earth that gives birth, but the water,” and that is precisely what is lacking. And hundreds of thousands of hectares of excellent land lay scorched by the sun, deserted and barren.

The Karakum River changed life in Turkmenistan. The canal route stretches for one thousand two hundred kilometers across the entire republic. He filled the Murgab and Tejen oases, Ashgabat, Bakharden, Kizyl-Arvat and Kazandzhik with Amudarya water. Further, to the oil workers' city of Nebit-Dag, water flowed through the pipeline. The land of the Karakum now produces cotton and vegetables, watermelons and melons, grapes and fruits.

And the Amu Darya runs further - to the fertile gardens and cotton fields of the ancient Khorezm oasis stretching beyond the horizon. The power and width of the huge water artery in these places is simply amazing, especially after a two-three-day trip by train or car across a dry, waterless plain.

Already near Turtkul the river is so wide that the opposite bank is barely visible in the distant haze. A gigantic mass of water rushes towards the Aral Sea with enormous speed and power. Slanting, some irregular, although quite high waves constantly rise on the surface of the Amu Darya. This is not a wave that is blown by the wind, it is the river itself that oscillates and boils from fast running along an uneven bottom. In some places the water boils, foams and bubbles, as if in a boiling cauldron. In some places, whirlpools form on it, drawing in fragments of boards or bundles of reeds floating along the river. In the evening, in the slanting rays of the setting sun, their ominous spirals are visible from afar from the deck of the ship on the river surface shining from the sunset light.

It is not surprising that the channel laid by the Amu Darya among the low-lying plain is not always able to hold this wayward flow within its banks. Here and there the river suddenly begins to wash away the bank, usually the right one. Block after block, huge pieces of loose rock that make up the plain begin to fall into the water. At the same time, they produce a deafening roar, reminiscent of a cannon shot. No force can hold back the furious pressure of the river.

The Amu Darya has long been famous for its whims. It is known that in the old days it flowed into the Caspian Sea. Then it changed its direction and began to pour into the Aral Sea. Its ancient channel, called the Uzboy, can still be traced in the sands of the Karakum Desert, and in the Krasnovodsk Bay on the Caspian Sea you can easily find a place where all the signs of a large river flowing into the sea have been preserved.

Even the Arab medieval historian al-Masudi said that in the 9th century large ships with goods descended along the Uzboy from Khorezm to the Caspian Sea, and from there sailed up the Volga, or to Persia and the Shirvan Khanate.

At the beginning of the 16th century, the Amu Darya was divided in the area of ​​​​the current river delta into two branches: one of them, the eastern one, flowed into the Aral Sea and the western one into the Caspian Sea. The latter gradually shallowed and dried out until, in 1545, it was finally covered with moving sand dunes.

Since then, the once densely populated area along the banks of the Uzboy has become a desert, and only the ruins of ancient cities remind of the quarrelsome nature of the capricious and violent river.

Actually, the channel changed periodically even above the delta - starting from the steeply bending Tuya-Muyun ("Camel's Neck") gorge. The river flow here is fast, the banks are composed of loose clays and sands, easily washed away by water. Sometimes a continuous zone of deigish stretches for several kilometers along one of the banks - this is what they call the destructive work of the river here. It happens that in three to four weeks of high water, the Amu Darya “licks away” up to half a kilometer of the coastline. It is very difficult to fight this scourge.

Even in the 20th century, catastrophic situations occurred in the lower reaches of the river. So, in 1925, the Amu Darya began to erode the right bank in the area of ​​​​the then capital of the Karakalpak Autonomous Republic of Uzbekistan - the city of Turtkul. In seven years, by 1932, the river “ate” eight kilometers of the coast and came close to the outskirts of Turtkul, and in 1938 it washed away the first quarters of the city. The capital of the republic had to be moved to the city of Nukus. Meanwhile, the Amu Darya continued to do its dirty work, and in 1950 it did away with the last street of Turtkul. The city ceased to exist, and its inhabitants were moved to a new town built further from the river.

But finally, the lands of ancient Khorezm stretching along the left bank were left behind, the domes and minarets of the pearl of Central Asia - the unique Khiva, disappeared in the haze, which, like no other Asian city, has preserved the flavor of the Middle Ages, not disturbed by typical modern buildings. In this regard, even the famous Samarkand and Bukhara cannot be compared with Khiva.

And the Amu Darya hurries forward to the Aral Sea. However, before flowing into its light blue expanse, the wild river presents another surprise: it spreads into a dozen channels and forms one of the largest river deltas in the world - with an area of ​​more than eleven thousand square kilometers.

There is no exact map of this huge tangle of riverbeds, channels, canals, islands and swampy reed jungles. Since the fickle river changes its course every now and then, some channels dry up, others, previously dry, fill with water, the outlines of the islands, capes and bends of the river change, so that it is impossible to cultivate the lands of the delta, despite the presence of water. Here lies the kingdom of tugai - dense thickets of two-three-meter reeds and bushes, where even the formidable Turanian tigers lived fifty years ago. And even now the tugai forest is a real paradise for birds, turtles, wild boars and muskrats that were recently brought here. Fishermen sometimes pull out two-meter catfish on a spinning rod.

And beyond the green sea of ​​the Tugai, the Aral, suffering from lack of water, awaits the Amu Darya, which has almost completely lost its recharge from the waters of the Syr Darya, the second most important river in this region. Almost all of its water is used for irrigation, and it flows into the Aral Sea only during high water. So Amu Darya has to water the drying sea alone.

This is how this amazing river with three names, which has fed three CIS republics, ends its journey from the distant glaciers of the Hindu Kush. To be precise, over two and a half thousand kilometers of its tireless running we saw three different rivers: a mad mountain stream, a mighty water artery in the endless desert and a web of channels in the reed labyrinths of the delta. This changeable, formidable and fertile river, which four countries and five peoples call by the ancient name Amu Darya, will remain in the memory as diverse and unusual.

From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (AM) by the author TSB

From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (KR) by the author TSB

From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (MA) by the author TSB

From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (MU) by the author TSB

From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (OB) by the author TSB

Ma (river) Ma, Song Ma, a river in northern Vietnam and Laos. The length is about 400 km. It originates on the slopes of the Shamshao ridge and flows into Bakbo Bay, forming a delta. High water in July - August; in the lower reaches it is navigable. The Delta is densely populated. On M. - Thanh Hoa city

From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (TA) by the author TSB

Mur (river) Mur, Mura (Mur, Mura), a river in Austria and Yugoslavia, in the lower reaches of the Mura there is a section of the border between Yugoslavia and Hungary; left tributary of the Drava (Danube basin). The length is 434 km, the basin area is about 15 thousand km2. In the upper reaches it flows in a narrow valley, below the city of Graz - along the plain.

From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (UF) by the author TSB

Ob (river) Ob, one of the largest rivers in the USSR and the globe; the third most water-bearing river (after the Yenisei and Lena) in the Soviet Union. Formed by the merger of pp. Biya and Katun in Altai, crosses the territories of Western Siberia from the south to the north and flows into the Ob Bay of the Kara Sea. Length

From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (CHI) by the author TSB

Taz (river) Taz, a river in the Yamalo-Nenets National District of the Tyumen Region of the RSFSR, partially on the border with the Krasnoyarsk Territory. Length 1401 km, basin area 150 thousand km 2. It originates on the Sibirskie Uvaly, flows into the Tazovskaya Bay of the Kara Sea in several branches. Flowing

From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (EM) by the author TSB

From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (EN) by the author TSB

Chir (river) Chir, a river in the Rostov region of the RSFSR (lower reaches in the Volgograd region), a right tributary of the Don. Length 317 km, basin area 9580 km2. It originates on the Donskaya ridge and flows into the Tsimlyanskoye Reservoir. The food is predominantly snowy. Flood at the end of March -

From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (YL) by the author TSB

Ems (river) Ems (Erns), a river in the north-west. Germany. Length 371 km, basin area 12.5 thousand km2. It originates on the southwestern slopes of the Teutoburg Forest mountains, flows through the North German Lowland, flows into Dollart Bay of the North Sea, forming an estuary 20 km long. Average water consumption

From the author's book

River A river is a watercourse of significant size, flowing in a natural channel and collecting water from the surface and underground flow of its drainage basin. The river begins at the source and is further divided into three sections: the upper reaches, the middle reaches and the lower reaches,

Local residents call the Amu Darya "mad river." And in fact, this river makes a rather strange impression on the person who first saw it. It flows through flat terrain, however, its current is stormy and swift, like a mountain river. The river is replete with whirlpools and waterways, the banks are constantly being washed away and falling, and all this is accompanied by a continuous roar.

In addition, the Amu Darya has one interesting feature. The flood on this river occurs at the end of April and lasts almost until mid-August. This is due to the glacial feeding regime of the river. Nevertheless, fishing in Amu Darya very popular among many sports fishermen and just fishing enthusiasts.

For sport and amateur fishing, among the fish that live in the Amu Darya, the most interesting are catfish, barbel, scaferingus and carp. Of particular interest to sports fishermen, among the listed fish species, skaferingus is of particular interest. In addition to the Amu Darya River, this fish lives only in the waters of the Mississippi River.

As for such fish as carp, in the waters of the obstinate Amu Darya, individuals weighing up to 10 kg, catfish up to 40 kg, and barbel up to 12-14 kg are often caught. So trophy fishing on the Amu Darya , can impress any experienced fisherman.

These trophies are caught using a tackle called “karmak”. It consists of a specially strong cord, which is attached to the end of a strong long pole. It is installed on the edge of the coastline at an angle of 45 0. Such a pole must spring back, and for this purpose a special support is installed. A huge bait in the form of barbel or carp weighing 1-3 kg is placed on the hook of this tackle!

As a rule, the pocket is installed in those places where catfish spawn. This fish usually carefully guards its clutches and fry and rushes at any other fish in order to drive it away from the forbidden spawning area.

Simply giant catfish are caught using this type of gear. Eyewitnesses claim that they have repeatedly seen catfish weighing about 120 kilograms or more being caught. Fishing for such a giant can last for several hours in a row. That's why Catfishing in the Amu Darya This is not only gambling, but also a very spectacular action.

Mostly local amateur fishermen fish with bottom gear. The fisherman's assortment includes 3-4 donks equipped with bells and a pair of float rods. The most promising places for fishing are considered to be quiet backwaters where the current is very weak.

As for the river itself, they only fish there by dipping. The most common bait for catching carp and barbel is boiled dumplings, into which rye flour, earthworms and earthworms, mole crickets, and small grasshoppers are mixed. Catching barbel and carp in the Amu Darya , has its own peculiarity. In autumn, this fish is well caught with fry. The nature of Turkmenistan is very sparse, with reeds and thorny bushes along the river bank. And only occasionally can you see a grove of elm or elm. However, for a real fisherman there is no greater pleasure than spending the night with a fishing rod or donka near a quiet backwater.

After midnight, the most awaited time begins, the bite of large carp. And the battle with powerful and large fish will be remembered for a long time by any fisherman. In such a fight, the carp often becomes the winner; such fishing will be remembered for a long time and you will want to return again to the shores of the Amu Darya.

Now a little about barbel fishing. The most promising fishing in the Amu Darya for barbel occurs in the lower reaches of this river. In addition to barbel, carp, asp and Amu Darya trout are excellently caught there. But let's return to the Amu Darya barbel. This large fish is always a desirable trophy for any angler who tries his strength and skills in the Amu Darya.

This fish deserves its name because it has small antennae on its snout. These are organs of charm that help the barbel find food. Usually barbel is caught on the Amu Darya using bottom tackle or half-bottom. The best time to catch barbel in this river is from May to October. In addition to bottom tackle, barbel is also caught using spinning baits; this type of fishing is best done from the second half of June to the end of August.

In conclusion, we can summarize that the obstinate and stormy Amu Darya can offer both fishermen and tourists a wide variety of adventures and unforgettable sensations. And there is no need to be afraid of this stormy and obstinate river, which is considered the stormiest river in Central Asia. Here you can excellently raft along difficult routes, and the main thing is to engage in high-quality and successful fishing. Amu Darya is waiting for you!

Other interesting materials:

The Mezen River carries its waters through two northern regions of the Komi Republic...

; the name was transferred by the Arabs from South. Turkey (see also Syrdarya) . From the XIV-XV centuries. local usage includes the name Amu Darya. This hydronym is derived from the name of the city of Amul located on the river. (Amu, Amu, modern Chardzhou) , and its name goes back to the ancient ethnonym Amarada; Iran., Turk, Daria - "big deep river". In Russia, the name Amu Darya began to be used from the end of the 17th century. V. Cm. also Aral Sea, Vakhsh, Jeykhun, Zorkul, Kelifsky Uzboy, Muynak, Turtkul, Khorezm region.

Geographical names of the world: Toponymic dictionary. - M: AST. Pospelov E.M. 2001.

AMUDARYA

river in Sr. Asia, length 1415 km (from the source of Pyanj - 2540 km). The source is on the slopes of the Hindu Kush, it gets its name after merging with the Vakhsh. Most of the basin is within the Pamirs, then flows through the Turan Lowland through desert areas, often changing its course. It flows into the Aral Sea in branches, forming a delta. The spring-summer flood does not reach the sea in some years. It freezes in the lower reaches. The main tributaries are Gunt, Bartang, Kyzylsu, Surkhandarya, Kunduz. Used for irrigation.

Concise geographical dictionary. EdwART. 2008.

Amudarya

Amu Darya , the largest river in Central Asia. Formed by the confluence of rivers Panj And Vakhsh , essentially being a continuation of the first. The length of the river itself is 1415 km, together with Pyanj and Vakhandarya 2620 km, area. bass 309 thousand km². Collects water from a vast Pamir-Alai mountainous country, overlooks the plain to the west of the ridge. Kugitang, crosses the deserts Turanian lowland. and comes to Aral Sea. The riverbed is subject to wandering. In the recent past, there was a flow to the west: the dry river bed remained. Uzboy and an ancient delta on the shores of the Caspian Sea. Over a long distance, the border (between Afghanistan and Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan), the lower reaches and the delta in Karakalpakstan(Uzbekistan). Basic tributaries Kafirnigan , Surkhandarya , Sherabad (right) and Surkhab (left). Below the city of Kerki, where the water flow is approx. 2000 m³/s, does not receive tributaries, the runoff is intensively used for irrigation and its value is constantly decreasing both downstream and over time. If in the 1st half of the 20th century. avg. the water flow at the mouth was 1400 m³/s, then by the end of the 80s the river in the delta began to dry up. The food is glacial and snow. Flood from the end of March - beginning of April until the second ten days of October, max. expenses in early July. The sediment discharge (on average near the city of Kerki is 6900 kg/s) is the largest among the rivers of Central Asia and one of the first in the world. Ice cover forms on Wednesday. flow only in cold winters, and in the lower. during most winters (usually from December 19 to January 2). In the delta there was a large number of small lakes, channels, wetlands, and tugai thickets, which have recently disappeared, with the exception of those lakes that began to receive recharge from collector waters. The river flow is regulated by a number of hydraulic structures, incl. Tyuyamuyun and Takhiatash (over-regulated over 90%). Main cities and marinas: Termez , Kerki and Chardzhou, not far from the river – Urgench . Ship from the city of Chardzhou and along the Karakum Canal. Developed fish. Near the city of Termez on the Aral-Paigambarsky reserve sq. 3093 ha, avg. flow Amudarya and Kyzylkum nature reserves (10,140 hectares), in the right bank delta the Badai-Tugai nature reserve. Due to the flow of return irrigation water, the river to the lower reaches is significantly polluted, mineralization near the city. Nukus exceeds 2 g/l.

Dictionary of modern geographical names. - Ekaterinburg: U-Factoria. Under the general editorship of academician. V. M. Kotlyakova. 2006 .

Amudarya

(Amu-Darya, Oks, Balkh, Jeyhun, Amu, Akdarya, Engineer-Uzyak), the river, the largest in Central Asia. Serves as Afghanistan's border with Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. In the middle reaches - in Turkmenistan, in the lower reaches - the border of Turkmenistan with Uzbekistan, the lower reaches and delta - in Uzbekistan. Formed by the merger of pp. Panj and Vakhsh. It collects water from the Pamir-Alai mountain system and reaches the plain to the west of the ridge. Kugitangtau, crosses the deserts of the Turan lowland. and flows into the Aral Sea, forming a vast delta. The riverbed is subject to wandering. Dl. 1415 km, together with the river. Pyanj and Vakhandarya – 2620 km, pl. bass. 309 thousand km². Basic tributaries: Kafirnigan, Surkhandarya, Sherabad (right) and Surkhob (left). Water consumption near Kerki is approx. 2000 m³/s. Below the city of Kerki there are no tributaries, water is intensively used for irrigation, and its flow is constantly decreasing downstream. Water was used especially quickly for irrigation in 1960–80. From the end 1980s the river reaches the Aral only in certain years. The food is glacial and snow. High water from the horse. March - beginning April to the 2nd ten days of October. The largest expenses in the beginning. July. The water is very cloudy. Wed. sediment flow near the city of Kerki is 6900 kg/s (the largest for the rivers of Central Asia and one of the largest in the world). Freeze-up 2 months. In the channel of the Amu Darya are the Tyuyamuyun and Takhiatash hydroelectric complexes. The flow regulation exceeds more than 90%. Ch. cities and marinas: Termez, Kerki and Chardzhou. Shipping from Chardzhou and along the Karakum Canal. Fishing. Due to the flow of return irrigation water into the river to the lower reaches, the water becomes significantly saline and polluted; mineralization near the city of Nukus exceeds 2 g/l.

Geography. Modern illustrated encyclopedia. - M.: Rosman. Edited by prof. A. P. Gorkina. 2006 .

See what "AMUDARYA" is in other dictionaries:

Persian. آمودریا‎ ... Wikipedia

Amu, Oks, Balkh. River in Central Asia. 1415 km, basin area 309 thousand km2 (up to the city of Kerki). Formed by the merger of Pyanj and Vakhsh; flows into the Aral Sea, forming a delta (during low-water periods it does not reach it). The average water consumption near the city of Kerki is about... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

Modern encyclopedia

- (Amu, Oxus, Balkh), river in Sr. Asia. 1415 km, basin area 309 thousand km² (up to the city of Kerki). Formed by the merger of Pyanj and Vakhsh; flows into the Aral Sea, forming a delta (during low-water periods it does not reach it). The average water consumption near the city of Kerki is approx.... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

Amu Darya- (Amu, Oxus, Balkh), a river in Central Asia (partially along the border of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan). It is formed by the confluence of the Pyanj and Vakhsh rivers. Length 1415 km (from the source of Pyanj 2540 km). Headwaters on the slopes of the Hindu Kush in Afghanistan; falls into... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

I Amudarya (“Amu Darya”) literary and artistic magazine. Published in Nukus in the Karakalpak language. Organ of the Writers' Union of the Karakalpak Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. Published since 1932 (with a break in 1941 55). The original name was “Miynet Edebiyaty”... ...

Amu Darya- a river that flows into the Aral Sea; Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, partly along the border with Afghanistan. Other Greek is mentioned. and Rome by authors of the 1st and 2nd centuries. n. e. as Oke or Oxus; name Greekized form of the local name Okuz from ... ... Toponymic dictionary

Amu Darya- (Amu Darya)Amu Darya, a large river in Central Asia with a length of 2542 km, formed as a result of the confluence of the Pyanj and Vakhsh rivers, which originate in the Pamirs. Leaking in the west direction 270 km along the north. Afghanistan border, A. turns to N... Countries of the world. Dictionary

"AMUDARYA"- “AMUDARYA”, a literary, artistic and socio-political monthly magazine in the Karakalpak language. Organ of the SP of the Karakalpak Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. Ed. in Nukus from 1932 (until 1934 under the name “Literature of Labor”) ... Literary encyclopedic dictionary

Amu Darya (until 1962 - Samsonovo), an urban-type settlement in the Khodzhambas district of the Turkmen SSR, on the right bank of the Amu Darya, 3 km from the river. Railway station on the line Karshi - Termez. 4.7 thousand inhabitants (1968). Enterprises d. transport. Karakul-vodchesky… Great Soviet Encyclopedia

Books

• St. Andrew's flag over the Barkhanes. Participation of Russian sailors in the conquest of Central Asia, Katorin Yu.. The book introduces little-known aspects of the conquest of Central Asia by the Russian Empire - the participation of the Navy in this. It tells about the history of the creation of the Aral Flotilla, as well as…