Usa River (Komi Republic)
Encyclopedia
Usa is a river in the northeast corner of European Russia which drains the Polar Urals southwest into the Pechora River
. The Polar Urals tend to the northeast and the Usa runs parallel to them. It is in the Komi Republic
of Russia
and the largest tributary
of the Pechora River
, which it joins from the right. It is 565 km long, with a drainage basin
of 93 600 km².
The Usa has an average discharge of 1310 m³/s, but this varies from a maximum of 21 500 m³/s in June to a minimum of 43.9 m³/s in April. It freezes over in October/November, and is icebound until the spring thaw begins in May or June. Its largest tributaries are, from the left: Yelets, Lemva, Bolshoy Kochmes and Koshu, and from the right: Vorkuta, Seyda and Kolva
.
The river has its sources in the northern Ural Mountains
, and it flows towards the southwest, roughly parallel to the mountain range. The main river is formed by the confluence of the Bolshaya Usa (Large Usa) and the Malaya Usa (Little Usa) some 30 km east of Vorkuta
. The two tributaries are steep, with many rapids and waterfalls. After the confluence the main river is calm, with only a few rapids in its upper sections. Its banks here are high and cliff-like, but further downriver they become lower, wooded and boggy, except for a section around the settlement of Adak (Russian: Адак), where the river cuts through the Chernyshov Hills.
Below the settlement of Sivomaskinsky (Russian: Сивомаскинский) the river gets much wider, and in its lower reaches it is from 700 meters to 2 kilometers wide. It also starts forming meanders and sand islands, and it keeps this appearance all the way to its mouth. Some 30 km from its mouth lies the town of Usinsk
and the river port of Parma. The Usa flows into the Pechora River at the settlement of Ust-Usa.
The river is navigable 325 km from its mouth, and there are river ports at Abez, Petrun, Makarikha, Parma and Ust-Usa. Within the Usa basin is the large Pechora coalfield, and in its lower parts, by the town of Usinsk, there are several big petroleum- and natural gas fields.
The Usa valley has been inhabited for 40,000 years, as evidenced by the archaeological site Mamontovaya Kurya
(Russian: Мамонтовой Курьи, "the mammoth curve").
With the Russian conquest of Siberia
it became one of the main routes into Siberia. The route ran from the Pechora, which connects to other rivers in northern Russia, up the Usa, across the low Kamen Portage and down the Sob River to Ob River
where there were customhouses at the Sob barrier and Obdorsk. During the short summer season this route was preferred by west-bound travellers since most of the sailing was down-river. For other Ural crossings see Verkhoturye
.
Pechora River
The Pechora River is a river in northwest Russia which flows north into the Arctic Ocean on the west side of the Ural Mountains. It lies mostly in the Komi Republic but the northernmost part crosses the Nenets Autonomous Okrug. It is 1,809 km long and its basin is 322,000 square kilometers...
. The Polar Urals tend to the northeast and the Usa runs parallel to them. It is in the Komi Republic
Komi Republic
The Komi Republic is a federal subject of Russia .-Geography:The republic is situated to the west of the Ural mountains, in the north-east of the East European Plain...
of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and the largest tributary
Tributary
A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...
of the Pechora River
Pechora River
The Pechora River is a river in northwest Russia which flows north into the Arctic Ocean on the west side of the Ural Mountains. It lies mostly in the Komi Republic but the northernmost part crosses the Nenets Autonomous Okrug. It is 1,809 km long and its basin is 322,000 square kilometers...
, which it joins from the right. It is 565 km long, with a drainage basin
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
of 93 600 km².
The Usa has an average discharge of 1310 m³/s, but this varies from a maximum of 21 500 m³/s in June to a minimum of 43.9 m³/s in April. It freezes over in October/November, and is icebound until the spring thaw begins in May or June. Its largest tributaries are, from the left: Yelets, Lemva, Bolshoy Kochmes and Koshu, and from the right: Vorkuta, Seyda and Kolva
Kolva River (Usa)
Kolva River is a river in Nenets Autonomous Okrug and the Komi Republic in Russia. It is a right tributary of the Usa River of the Pechora basin. The length of the river is . The area of its basin . The Kolva River freezes up in late November and stays under the ice until mid-May....
.
The river has its sources in the northern Ural Mountains
Ural Mountains
The Ural Mountains , or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western Russia, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the Ural River and northwestern Kazakhstan. Their eastern side is usually considered the natural boundary between Europe and Asia...
, and it flows towards the southwest, roughly parallel to the mountain range. The main river is formed by the confluence of the Bolshaya Usa (Large Usa) and the Malaya Usa (Little Usa) some 30 km east of Vorkuta
Vorkuta
Vorkuta is a coal-mining town in the Komi Republic, Russia, situated just north of the Arctic Circle in the Pechora coal basin at the Usa River. Population: - Labor camp origins :...
. The two tributaries are steep, with many rapids and waterfalls. After the confluence the main river is calm, with only a few rapids in its upper sections. Its banks here are high and cliff-like, but further downriver they become lower, wooded and boggy, except for a section around the settlement of Adak (Russian: Адак), where the river cuts through the Chernyshov Hills.
Below the settlement of Sivomaskinsky (Russian: Сивомаскинский) the river gets much wider, and in its lower reaches it is from 700 meters to 2 kilometers wide. It also starts forming meanders and sand islands, and it keeps this appearance all the way to its mouth. Some 30 km from its mouth lies the town of Usinsk
Usinsk
Usinsk is a town in the Komi Republic, Russia, situated east of the republic's capital city of Syktyvkar and north of the town of Pechora, on the northern bank of the Usa River, before its confluence with the Pechora River. Population:...
and the river port of Parma. The Usa flows into the Pechora River at the settlement of Ust-Usa.
The river is navigable 325 km from its mouth, and there are river ports at Abez, Petrun, Makarikha, Parma and Ust-Usa. Within the Usa basin is the large Pechora coalfield, and in its lower parts, by the town of Usinsk, there are several big petroleum- and natural gas fields.
The Usa valley has been inhabited for 40,000 years, as evidenced by the archaeological site Mamontovaya Kurya
Mamontovaya Kurya
Mamontovaya Kurya is a Palaeolithic site on the Usa River, Komi Republic, Russia. The site includes stone artifacts, animal bones and a mammoth tusk with human-made marks. Dated to 40,000 years before present, this is the oldest documented evidence of humans at this latitude....
(Russian: Мамонтовой Курьи, "the mammoth curve").
With the Russian conquest of Siberia
Russian conquest of Siberia
The Russian conquest of Siberia took place in the 16th and 17th centuries, when the Siberian Khanate had become a loose political structure of vassalages which were becoming undermined by the activities of Russian explorers who, though numerically outnumbered, pressured the various family-based...
it became one of the main routes into Siberia. The route ran from the Pechora, which connects to other rivers in northern Russia, up the Usa, across the low Kamen Portage and down the Sob River to Ob River
Ob River
The Ob River , also Obi, is a major river in western Siberia, Russia and is the world's seventh longest river. It is the westernmost of the three great Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean .The Gulf of Ob is the world's longest estuary.-Names:The Ob is known to the Khanty people as the...
where there were customhouses at the Sob barrier and Obdorsk. During the short summer season this route was preferred by west-bound travellers since most of the sailing was down-river. For other Ural crossings see Verkhoturye
Verkhoturye
Verkhoturye is a historic town and the administrative center of Verkhotursky District of Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, located in the middle Ural Mountains on the left bank of the Tura River north of Yekaterinburg. Population: 7,815 Verkhoturye is a historic town and the administrative center of...
.