Olenëk
Olenëk is a mapped river in the YearMaps hydrographic index. River courses organise settlement, agriculture and frontier-making more durably than any political boundary, and this reach is indexed against the dams, lakes and cities within its catchment.
- Feature Class
- River
- Coordinates
- 68.54°, 114.03°
About Olenëk
The Olenyok (Russian: Оленёк, sometimes spelled Оленек, Olenek; Yakut: Өлөөн, Ölöön) is a major river in northern Siberian Russia, west of the lower Lena and east of the Anabar. It is 2,292 kilometres (1,424 mi) long, of which around 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) is navigable. Average water discharge is 1,210 cubic metres per second (43,000 cu ft/s).
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.
Encyclopedic summary adapted from Wikipedia: Olenyok (river) (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Olenëk in Depth
Course
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. Its mouth is at Ust-Olenyok just west of the Lena River delta. Olenyok is a village located on the river bank.
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.
History
In 1633 Ivan Rebrov reached the Olenyok from the Lena delta and built a fort. In 1642–44 Rebrov and Fedot Alekseyev Popov reached the river but were driven out by the natives.
Pioneering Russian Arctic explorer Vasili Pronchishchev and his wife Tatiana 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.
In 1956 the Olenekian Age of the Triassic Period of geological time was named for rock strata in the Olenyok area.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Olenyok (river) (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Olenëk: Key Facts
| Length | 2,270 km |
|---|---|
| Average discharge | 1,210 m³/s |
| Drainage basin | 219,000 km² |
| Source | Central Siberian Plateau |
| Mouth | Olenyok Gulf |
| Tributaries | Arga-Sala, Pur, Buolkalakh, Birekte, Beyenchime, Siligir, Alakit, Kuoyka |
Facts from Wikidata Q26799 (CC0).
Major River Dossiers
Hand-written studies of the great river systems of history.
Connected Reaches
Nearby watercourses in the same drainage network.
Water Bodies in the Catchment
Settlements Along the Reach
Hydraulic Infrastructure Nearby
Surrounding Terrain
Olenëk: Quick Answers
- Where is Olenëk?
- Olenëk is located in Russia, at 68.5376° N, 114.0319° E.
- Are there dams on the Olenëk?
- No dam on the Olenëk is recorded in the YearMaps dam index, which covers major structures only.