For the settlement, see Chukochya.

The Bolshaya Chukochya or Chukochya (Russian: Большая Чукочья; Chukot: Рэвум-Рэву, Revum-Revu)[1] is a river in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) of the Russian Federation. It is 758 kilometres (471 mi) long, and has a drainage basin of 19,800 square kilometres (7,600 sq mi).[2]

Course

It has its sources in Lake Usun-Kyuel and crosses the tundra roughly northeastwards. In its lower course it flows south of Lake Bolshoye Morskoye. Finally it flows into the Kolyma Gulf of the East Siberian Sea west of the mouths of the Kolyma. Owing to its extreme northerly location the Bolshaya Chukochya freezes up in early October and remains icebound until June.

The Bolshaya Chukochya basin is located between the basins of the Alazeya and the Kolyma. There are study sites near the Bolshaya Chukochya in order to investigate the mineral transformations in the soils affected by permafrost.[3]

Tributaries

The main tributaries of the Bolshaya Chukochya are the 229 km (142 mi) long Olyor (Олёр) and the 121 km (75 mi) long Semen-Yuryakh (Семен-Юрях) on the left, as well as the 106 km (66 mi) long Savva-Yuryakh (Савва-Юрях) on the right. There are more than 11,500 lakes in the Bolshaya Chukochya basin, totaling an area of 3,600 km2 (1,400 sq mi).[2][4][5]

Ecology

The Kolyma Lowland, the area where the Bolshaya Chukochya flows, has many lakes and marshes. A great variety of birds, such as Siberian cranes, waders and sandpipers, make their habitat in this riverine area.[6] The Cherskii's char (Salvelinus czerskii), is a char species found in the river basin.[7]

Fossil insects, early Pleistocene equids and mammoths have been found in the basin of the Bolshaya Chukochya.[8]

See also

References

  1. ^ Словарь названий гидрографических объектов России и других стран — членов СНГ Archived 2016-03-06 at the Wayback Machine, Federal Service for Geodesy and Cartography of Russia, 1999, p. 60
  2. ^ a b "Река Чукочья (Рэвум-Рэву) in the State Water Register of Russia". textual.ru (in Russian).
  3. ^ Mineral Transformations in Permafrost-Affected Soils Archived 2008-09-06 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ nature.ykt Большая Чукочья (Чукочья)
  5. ^ "R-57_58 Topographic Chart (in Russian)". Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  6. ^ Birds
  7. ^ Salvelinus czerskii, Cherskii's char
  8. ^ Fossil Coleoptera Archived 2012-02-27 at the Wayback Machine, Early Pleistocene equids (Perissodactyla) & mammoths Archived 2007-10-25 at the Wayback Machine

Further reading