Report about the Amur River. Amur as a border river

The Amur River flows in East Asia.

In due time different countries they called it in their own way. Since ancient times, the Chinese called it the black dragon river or “Heilong Jiang”, the Manchus - “Amar”, the Mongols - the black river “Har Moron”.

The name Amur was given by the Russians and has stuck better than ever before.

Source

The beginning of the river in the mountains of Manchuria. At approximately three hundred three meters above sea level, the Argun and Shilka rivers merge into one, and they are the source of the Amur. Flows in an easterly direction.

sunset. Amur river photo

Most scientists believe it flows into the Tatar Strait of the Sea of Okhotsk, although there is a different opinion. Some researchers insist that it flows into the Sea of Japan.

Amur river photo

The upper part of the Tatar Strait is also called the Amur Estuary, therefore in many textbooks and books you can find a mention that the Amur flows into the Amur Estuary. This is also a completely correct statement.

Characteristics

The Amur is 2824 km long and passes through three countries: Russia, China and Mongolia. The latter only affects her a little. The area of the river basin is 1.855 million square kilometers, which is the fourth largest in Russia and 10th among the rivers of the entire planet. The current varies at different intervals, ranging from 4.2 to 5.5 km/h.

Amur river photo

It is conditionally divided into three sections. The upper one is considered from the source to Blagoveshchensk, the middle one - from Blagoveshchensk to Khabarovsk and the lower one - from Khabarovsk to the mouth. The pool runs through temperate latitudes. Along its length it affects 4 physical-geographical zones: steppe, forest-steppe, semi-desert and forest.

River mode

Water levels can fluctuate greatly throughout the year. This is primarily due to monsoon rains. Depending on the seasons, in the upper and middle sections the difference between the maximum and minimum water often reaches from 10 to 15 meters, and in the lower section - 8 meters. IN lately Scientists have taken up the issue of river flooding during the rainy season.

Amur river nature photo

During the summer, the most frequent spills occur due to a large number precipitation, the same picture is observed in the spring, when ice and snow melt. Its annual flow also depends on the water regime of the Amur. There are four in Amur different types flow: low, low, moderate and high level.

Khabarovsk. Amur River photo

The river is fed primarily by rain and downpours. Snow can feed it only if there are heavy snowfalls, and this is not recorded every year.

Flora and fauna

There are more than 136 species of fish, among them: silver carp, kaluga, aukha, rotan, white and black carp, and so on. Among them, no more than 40 are considered commercial. The rest are either not of particular interest for fishing or are protected by law. There are also endemic fish: killer whale, yellowjacket, snakehead, kaluga, Chinese perch.

Cities

Along its course, the Amur crosses many cities. Among them are Khabarovsk, Blagoveshchensk, Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Amursk, Nikolaevsk-on-Amur, Heihe.

Tributaries

Flowing through numerous settlements, the Amur takes water from various tributaries. The Zeya, Burey, Sungari, Ussuri, and Amgun rivers also flow into it. The largest of the tributaries is the Zeya. Its peculiarity is that it is deeper and wider than the Amur, although it is its left tributary. The right tributary is considered to be the Bureya, which flows in China.

The Ussuri River is the second right tributary, as well as natural boundary Russia and China. The Amgun and Anyui rivers are left and right tributaries, respectively.

Tourism on the river

Navigation is permitted and observed along the entire length of the river. The restriction of movement applies only to private and small vessels only in border areas. Moreover, this restriction applies only to Russia; there are no such restrictions from China. Passenger transportation is regularly carried out between China and Russia.

It is actively used for fishing, hydroelectric power stations, timber rafting, recreation, and tourism. Tourists travel on ships and boats in search of amazing places and beautiful landscapes.

The first working, large bridge across the Amur was erected in 1916. Its length is 2599 meters.
Under the river there is a single-hull railway tunnel 7198 meters long. It was built in 1937-1941. It is the only underwater tunnel in Russia. Due to the release of various chemical wastes from plants and factories into the water, the ecology of the Amur River leaves much to be desired. Regularly recorded increased level phenol and nitrates.
For many years there has been debate about whether the Zeya is a tributary or a river to which the Amur adjoins.

The river that flows through the territories of the Khabarovsk and Amur regions on Far East, as well as in the Jewish Autonomous Okrug for about three thousand kilometers and then, having absorbed the waters of the Far Eastern rivers, flows into the Sea of Okhotsk - this is the Amur.

The Chinese called the Amur, according to their ancient legend: “the river of the black dragon” (Heilong Jiang), and the Manchus and Tungus called it “Amar”, which is translated in their language “ big river“, but the first Russians who set foot on the banks of the river in 1644 called it Amur, and since then it has been that way.

The river begins in Manchuria after the confluence of Shilka and Argun, where the height of the source is at an altitude of 304 meters.

Covering the territory of three states, the Amur runs to the east of Russia, representing a natural border with China and then flowing into the Sea of Okhotsk.

Tributaries of the Amur: Ussuri, Bureya, Anyui, Sungari, Amgun, .

The Amur is divided into three conventional sections. This is the upper one, which starts from the source and stretches to the city of Blagoveshchensk, then the middle section, which stretches to the city of Khabarovsk and the lowest one, which already goes to the mouth of the river, that is, to the connection of the Amur with the Tatar Strait of the Sea of Okhotsk.

The Amur is completely navigable, from source to sea, however, for about two thousand kilometers on the river, the use of small and private vessels is prohibited, only passenger transportation is allowed.

The entire Middle and Upper Amur is a border river; the border with China passes here and the presence of outsiders without a special pass is prohibited.

The Amur River is the largest and richest fishing area in Russia, home to more than a hundred valuable species of fish, such as salmon, chum salmon, pink salmon, lamprey and smelt.

In addition, there are sturgeons, as well as kaluga, reaching a length of five meters, snakeheads, Chinese perch, yellowjackets and many others.

Of the several dozen species of mammals living along the banks of the Amur, we especially note the Amur tiger.

After heavy and prolonged rains in 2013, the Amur overflowed its banks, causing a catastrophic flood and flooding many populated areas Khabarovsk Territory, Amur and EO regions, causing enormous damage to the region.

Among the attractions on the Amur River, we note:

The first bridge over the Amur, built in 1916, was 2,600 meters long, which then allowed Trans-Siberian trains to cross the river without using a ferry.

In the city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, a 1.4 km long railway and road bridge was built in 1975.

The bridge in Khabarovsk has undergone several changes and reconstructions throughout its existence. In 1999, in addition to the railway connection between the banks, cars began to travel along it. In 2009, the bridge was reconstructed again, expanded to 29 meters, and a second railway track was opened along it.

The underwater single-track railway tunnel, built before the war, is more than 7 kilometers long, initially used only by the military, and today it is used by both passenger and freight trains.

This is today’s brief excursion into the history and present of the Amur River.

Have fun travels and excursions!

But what about our native rivers? We at TravelAsk decided to talk about the TOP 5 widest and mightiest rivers of our Motherland.

Generally speaking, narrow rivers are those whose width is less than 60 meters, medium - up to 150 meters. Well, the big ones are all rivers that stretch more than 150 meters in width. But there are giants in our country, the width of which is measured in kilometers. Of course, reservoirs reach their maximum parameters in the spring, during the flood period, when the river overflows its banks. Territory river valley, which is periodically flooded is called a floodplain. This is what we based our rating on.

Ob (60 kilometers)

The Ob is not only the widest river in Russia, but also. In the Khanty-Mansiysk region it merges with its tributary the Irtysh, where during flood periods it forms a huge floodplain up to 60 kilometers wide. By the way, downstream the Ob is even wider and forms an estuary (the mouth of a river that expands towards the sea) up to 80 km wide. It was named the Gulf of Ob.

Some facts about Obi:

Fact #1. The area of the Ob basin is five times larger than France.

Fact #2. The Ob has many names (they were given different peoples, who lived on its banks), but almost all of them mean “big river”.

Fact #3. In the warm season, at the source of the Ob, it is striped. This is due to the fact that the rivers Biya and Katun, which form it, carry water different colors. The water does not mix immediately, which is why this effect is created.

Amur (40-50 kilometers)

The Amur is divided into three parts: to Blagoveshchensk - Upper Amur, from Blagoveshchensk to Khabarovsk - Middle Amur, below Khabarovsk - Lower Amur. So, during severe floods, the latter merges with lakes Sindinskoye, Petropavlovskoye, Hummi and Kizi and turns into a reservoir gigantic size, in some places its width reaches 40-50 meters. Amur spills are dangerous: they can sweep away everything in their path. Remember the flood of 2013, when 185 settlements were flooded.

Some facts about Amur:

Fact #1. The Amur flows through the territory of China and Russia. In China it is called "Heihe", which translates as "black river".

Fact #2. About 130 species of fish live in the Amur. Not a single river in Russia can boast of such quantity. The most famous of its inhabitants: two species of sturgeon, kaluga (it reaches gigantic sizes) and 9 species of salmon.

Fact #3. The five thousand dollar bill depicts the Amur Bridge, which crosses the river.

Lena (20-30 kilometers)

The Lena turns into a giant after Yakutsk: below the city the Aldan and Vilyui flow into it. And after this, the river in some places expands to 20-30 kilometers. Tourists come to admire this river and nature. The landscapes here are truly amazing, and the Lena Pillars have become famous far beyond Russia.

Some facts about Lena:

Fact #1. During the spring flood, the level of the Lena can rise by 10-15 meters. For this reason, its shores are not inhabited.

Fact #2. The Lena is the largest of the Russian rivers flowing through the country from source to mouth.

Fact #3. The Lena is the only river in the world whose entire bed is in the permafrost zone.

Volga (15-25 kilometers)

It is located near Krasnoarmeysk: here the spill reaches 27 kilometers. At the borders of the Volgograd region during the flood period, the width can be up to 10.5 kilometers. This territory was named the Volga-Akhtuba floodplain.

Some facts about the Volga:

Fact #1. The reservoirs “shortened” the Volga by 160 kilometers.

Fact #2. Pelicans and flamingos live on the Volga, and lotuses also grow.

Fact #3. The Volga is considered the birthplace of barge haulers. About 600 thousand people worked here during the season.

Kama (about 20 kilometers)

The Kama has a huge floodplain, in some places reaching a width of 20 kilometers. This section stretches approximately 59 kilometers from the mouth of the Belaya River to the mouth of the Ik.

Some facts about Kama

Fact #1. In Russia it is believed that the Kama is a tributary of the Volga. However, this happened due to the fact that the Volga played a huge role in the creation of a unified Russian state. But from the point of view of geology, the opposite is true: the Volga flows into the Kama.

Moreover, Kama is more ancient river: it was she who flowed into the Caspian Sea before ice age, and the Volga was generally a tributary of the Don. Well, after the Cheboksary reservoir was launched on the Volga in 1983, it turned into a cascade of large flowing lakes. And on the Kama, in turn, there are much fewer dams, and the natural river bed has been preserved here. Therefore, there is an eternal dispute: who is more important - the Volga or the Kama?

Fact #2. Today the length of the Kama is 1805 kilometers. The Kuibyshev reservoir “ate” more than 200 kilometers.

Fact #3. About 75 thousand rivers flow into the Kama, mostly small rivers not exceeding 10 kilometers in length.

The Amur River is located in the eastern part of Eurasia. It originates in the mountains of Western Manchuria at an altitude of 303 meters above sea level at the confluence of rivers such as Shilka and Argun. It flows east along the territory of Russia and the Russian-Chinese border. It flows into the Tatar Strait of the Sea of Okhotsk. The length of the river is 2824 km, the basin area is 1.855 million square meters. km. The river basin covers 3 states: Mongolia, Russia and China.

From source to mouth

After the confluence of the Arguni and Shilka, a single river flows east, forming a natural border between China and Russia. Then the river turns southeast. Here it flows through small settlements and receives water from numerous tributaries. Between the cities of Blagoveshchensk (Russia) and Heihe (China), it receives the Zeya River and expands significantly.

Further, the Burei River flows into the Amur, and after 250 km the Sungari River flows through the territory of the People's Republic of China. After this, the river flow turns northeast and continues its path towards the Russian city of Khabarovsk. Here the reunification with the Ussuri River takes place, and the Russian-Chinese border ends.

Then the path continues along a wide valley in Russia. The river bed goes to the northeast. It passes Amursk, Komsomolsk-on-Amur, after which after 200 km the valley noticeably narrows, and the river sharply goes north to its confluence with the Amgun River. After the confluence with the Amgun, the river flow bends sharply to the east, passes Nikolaevsk-on-Amur and flows 20 km downstream into the Tatar Strait.

The river is conventionally divided into 3 sections. The upper section is considered from the source to Blagoveshchensk. The middle section stretches from Blagoveshchensk to Khabarovsk. The lower section flows from Khabarovsk to the mouth. The northern part of the Tatar Strait is called the Amur Estuary. Therefore, we can say that the Amur River flows into the Amur Estuary. This will be absolutely correct.

Amur River on the map

Hydrology

The river is characterized by significant fluctuations in water level. They are caused by summer and autumn monsoon rains. They account for 75% of the annual runoff. Moreover, the difference between the minimum and maximum level can be 10-15 meters in the upper and middle reaches and up to 8 meters in the lower reaches.

During periods of heavy rainfall, the river can overflow 15-25 km and remain at this level for up to 2 months. Thanks to the construction of hydraulic structures on the Bureya, Zeya and Sungari rivers, floods in summer and autumn period became less pronounced, and in the lower reaches their level does not exceed 6 meters.

Tunnel and bridges

The construction of the first bridge across the river in the city of Khabarovsk was completed in 1916. Its length was 2599 meters. This made it possible for Trans-Siberian Railway trains to cross the water barrier without using ferries. In 1975, a road and railway bridge was built across the Amur River in Komsomolsk-on-Amur. Its length was 1400 meters. In 1999, the Khabarovsky Bridge was reconstructed. In addition to railway traffic, the bridge was opened to vehicular traffic. The second railway track was put into operation in 2009. The total length of the structure was 3890 meters with a width of 25 meters.

The single-track railway tunnel under the Amur was built in 1937-1941. Its length was 7198 meters. In Russia it is the only underwater railway tunnel. It was put into operation in October 1942. At first it was used only by the military, and in 1964 it was opened first for freight trains and then for passenger trains. Currently, the river is crossed by 3 railway tracks: 2 along the Khabarovsky Bridge and 1 through an underwater tunnel.

A train leaves an underwater tunnel

Shipping

The Amur River is navigable along its entire length. Navigation starts from the settlement of Pokrovka, located 4 km downstream from the confluence of the Argun and Shilka, and continues all the way to the Sea of Okhotsk. The movement of private and small vessels is prohibited in border river areas. This is approximately 2 thousand km. Passenger transportation is carried out between China and Russia.

Fauna

The river fauna is considered one of the richest in Russia. There are 130 species of fish here, but only 36 of them are considered commercial. Among the fish we can name black carp, supergazers, silver carp, as well as kaluga, which is the largest representative of sturgeon. Its length can reach 5.6 meters. Sakhalin and Amur sturgeon also live in the water and also spawn salmon fish. Endemics include kaluga, Chinese perch, snakehead, yellow-cheeked whale, and squeaky killer whale.

Largest tributaries

One of the most major tributaries are Zeya River with a length of 1242 km. It exceeds the Amur in depth and width, but is considered its left tributary. The Zeya hydroelectric power station was built on the river.

Burey River has a length of 623 km. The Bureyskaya hydroelectric power station was built on it. The Songhua River is 1927 km long. It is a right tributary and flows through the territory of the People's Republic of China. The river's flow is regulated by hydroelectric power plants.

Ussuri River with a length of 897 km, it forms a natural border between China and Russia. It is a right tributary, originating in the Sikhote-Alin mountains. Reunites with Amur in the center of Khabarovsk.

Amgun River reaches a length of 723 km. It is a left tributary. In the upper reaches is mountain river, and then flows through the taiga lowland. Anyui River has a length of 393 km. It is a right tributary. Flows through a flat swampy area. Forms a wide mouth with ducts and branches.

View of the Amur in Khaborovsk

Ecology

Excess levels of phenol and nitrates are constantly recorded in the Amur River. In the fall of 2005, a discharge occurred at a Chinese chemical plant. toxic substances in Sungari. After this, a huge spot of nitrobenzene moved downstream. It was stopped by a dam specially built for this purpose. In the summer of 2008, a large oil slick with a diameter of up to 2 km was discovered in the water in the Amur region. Its origin has never been established.

Flood 2013

In the summer of 2013, after long rains, the Amur River overflowed its banks and flooded dozens of settlements in the Khabarovsk Territory, the Amur Region and the Jewish Autonomous Region. The streets of cities such as Blagoveshchensk and Khabarovsk were flooded. Damage was caused to crop fields and hayfields. In total, 192 settlements with thousands of houses and summer cottages were affected.

In Khabarovsk, the water level rose to 8.08 meters in early September. In Komsomolsk-on-Amur, the water level reached 9.1 meters. At the end of the first ten days of September, the water began to recede. By the end of September, the flood rushed into the Tatar Strait, and a massive decline in water began.

River name

The Chinese called the Heilong River Jiang, which translated means “black dragon river.” And the Tungus and Manchus said “Amar”, that is, “big river”. In Mongolian, "black river" is pronounced "Har Moron". Be that as it may, the Russian discoverers named the long and wide river Cupid. It is indicated with this name on maps.

Makhinov Alexey Nikolaevich

Doctor of Geographical Sciences, Deputy Director of the Institute of Water and environmental problems FEB RAS (IVEP FEB RAS) for scientific work

Makhinov Alexey Nikolaevich - Doctor of Geographical Sciences, Deputy Director for Scientific Work of the Institute of Water and Environmental Problems of the Far Eastern Branch Russian Academy Sci. Laureate of the Academician I.P. Druzhinin, awarded to scientists of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences for scientific work in the field of geography and geoecology (2010).

Date of publication: October 24, 2013

In the lower reaches of the Amur, the real decoration of the river is the high rocky banks, which in some places protrude far into the riverbed due to their strength, forming cliffs of different heights and shapes. Each of them is beautiful and unique in its own way. When floating along the river, they attract the eye from afar, promising an amazing encounter with these masterpieces created by nature. Almost all the cliffs are located on the right bank of the river, as if confirming the well-known rule in geography of the displacement of river channels in the northern hemisphere in this direction.

The Amur cliffs have witnessed not only many natural disasters, but also the movements of peoples, the courage and tragedies of people who discovered and developed the lands of the Amur region. Among these cliffs, Malmyzhsky, Auri and Tyrsky are particularly noteworthy, the high rocky ledges of which were created many millennia ago in the most picturesque places of the Amur Valley. Other cliffs are less high, but also expressive and unique. In addition, on the banks of the river there are a large number of low rocky ledges various forms, sizes and colors.

Despite the stability of the composing rocks, which determine the unchanged appearance of the rocks for centuries, rocky ledges look different in different weather conditions, as well as in different seasons of the year and time of day. They take on especially unusual shapes when the dense morning fog gradually disperses, removing its thick blanket from the river. Constantly changing and taking on a fantastic appearance, the paintings are never repeated and sometimes exist for only a few moments.

It seems that amazing natural monuments on the banks of the Amur have always existed in the form in which we find them now. However, these silent coastal giants have changed throughout their long history, although much more slowly than the flora and fauna in their vicinity. Each of their irregularities captures the events of both the distant past and modern transformations.

Kholalki Cliff

In the center of Khabarovsk, on the banks of the Amur, a low rocky cliff, similar to a sea cape, protrudes into the river bed. It took nature a lot of different forces and time before it created this cliff on the banks of the Amur. Just fifteen thousand years ago, vast areas of land in the northern hemisphere were covered with ice, and the tundra extended far to the south. In the vicinity of Khabarovsk, larch woodlands and dry cold steppes predominated, and only elevated places spruce grew. Herds of mammoths roamed near the shores of large shallow lakes, which were not uncommon in these parts, as evidenced by the finds of their skeletons in Khabarovsk and Komsomolsk-on-Amur.

At this time, many of the low cliffs and rocky cliffs on the banks of the Amur did not exist. Firstly, the river bed was 10-12 meters higher than its current position and a significant part of the cliffs was buried under a layer of sandy-clayey sediments. Secondly, the channel itself was located away from its modern position and had other banks.

Then the river deepened, eroding and carrying previously deposited sediments into the sea. Moving to the side, she dug out bedrock in the loose formation. It was they who blocked the path of the powerful flow. However, the river did not stop. Over thousands of years, with transported grains of sand, it abraded rocky ledges as if with sandpaper, hitting them with huge ice floes during the spring ice drift. Fluctuating temperatures and freezing of water in cracks also eroded solid rocks. The fragments of stones rolled down to the foot of the ledge, where the water slowly turned them into sand and clay, and then carried them away with the water flow.

No matter how hard the strong rocks resisted the gigantic force of the river, they had to gradually retreat before its persistence. And for many kilometers along the river, steep rocky ledges formed. In places where the rocks were stronger, picturesque cliffs arose. The overhanging and protruding parts of the rocks on them are divided by cracks, gullies and depressions in the surface and seem like a bizarre sculpture that only nature can create. This is exactly how, 8-10 thousand years ago, a picturesque cliff appeared on the banks of the Amur, now known to all residents of the city.

It attracted the attention of many travelers and naturalists. We do not know whether participants in the campaigns of Vasily Poyarkov and Erofey Khabarov stopped overnight at its foot. But they undoubtedly admired this elevated shore, where they might have seen the local inhabitants. After all, these places have been densely populated since the Stone Age.

The famous Russian traveler Richard Maack not only spent several days near the cliff, but also left an excellent description of this picturesque place several years before the first houses of the Khabarovka military post appeared. Every line of his diary is full of admiration.

On the evening of July 18, 1855, after a difficult journey last days the travelers stopped at the foot of the rocky ledge of Khalfa (where modern Seryshev Street approaches the Amur). The rains stopped, and it was possible to enjoy the beautiful weather, tidy up and dry out equipment and collections. “... In the surrounding area everything was wonderful and calm, and in the distance from us the lights, laid out by fishermen, flickered and were reflected in the water, as if frozen in the banks, drowning in a mysterious half-light,” notes Richard Maack in his notes.

The next day he walked along the shore to a ledge that jutted out so far into the water that he could only get around it by climbing up. Local residents called this cliff Kholalki. At its foot, on the shore and in the water, life was in full swing, which amazed the naturalist: “... huge kalugas constantly jumped out of the water and disappeared again, waving their wide tail; At our feet, between the stones, sturgeon swam and many different fish played in the sun, constantly splashing the water and leaving quickly spreading circles on the surface of the river. ...there were herons looking out for snakes, of which there were a lot here..."

On the neighboring ledge of Khalfa, located slightly higher upstream, he was struck by the bright green bushes of caragana bushes, which were found only in Transbaikalia, far from these places. No less interesting was probably green world Kholalka cliff. However, the luxurious and lush vegetation on its steep slopes, which R. Maack admired, has not survived to this day.

Usually sad fate comprehends natural attractions in the territories of large cities. Already in the first stages of life settlement wild animals disappear, vegetation and soil change greatly. Then the relief is leveled - ravines and natural depressions are filled in, and elevated areas are cut off.

So the famous Amur cliff in the center of Khabarovsk was also “tweaked” - the foot was dressed in elegant cladding, the crumbling slopes were healed with cement and the steep slopes were sowed with grass. And although the improved appearance of the cliff is very different from the original one, it still attracts attention. Yet it retained some latent challenge to the water stream that had raged furiously at its base for thousands of years.

And if it was not possible to preserve the natural rocky ledge (and there is no particular need for this), then restore the diverse typically Far Eastern vegetation with rare species trees and shrubs intertwined with vines of grapes, lemongrass and actinidia are quite possible.

Red Cliff

The Amur below Khabarovsk is divided into many wide water streams, separated by islands of various sizes. It is difficult to understand this water labyrinth, because the islands and channels are as similar to each other as two peas in a pod. Everywhere behind the coastal wall of willows one can see bright green meadows with tall grasses and long ridges covered with real forest. Occasionally they approach the very shore and then in the high cliff you can see their structure with characteristic inclined layers consisting of fine yellowish sand. Only 80 kilometers from the city, on the right bank, a small red rocky outcrop known as Cape Gasya can be seen from afar.

This rocky ledge on the bank of the Amur River is composed of very strong igneous rocks - basalts, which, under the influence of weathering processes, are destroyed into large angular blocks. At its base and downstream, collapsed rock fragments form chaotic piles. During ice drift, large ice floes crawl ashore and move stones, dragging them along the river. In such areas, a peculiar landscape appears, attracting attention with its disorder, some kind of hidden energy and inexplicable attractiveness.

The main channel of the Amur, meandering freely and smoothly in a wide floodplain, heads straight to this low ledge, beyond which vast ridges with gentle slopes of a low plateau stretch far to the horizon. It’s as if it attracts a stream of water to itself by some unknown force hidden in the depths of the earth. Indeed, this plateau arose several million years ago as a result of an outpouring of earth's surface liquid basaltic lava. It rose along the cracks and filled the depressions, smoothing out the previous relief. Then the Amur destroyed part of the plateau with its current, forming rocky, steep banks. As if having lost all its strength in the struggle, the river cannot tear itself away from these elevated ridges and therefore continues its path along the edge of the plateau for a considerable distance.

Cape Gasya is the only one on the Amur that has a red color to its surface. The ledge acquired this color due to large quantity ferrous compounds formed during the weathering of basalts. During rains, they are washed out of the soil and, in the form of deposits of various shades of red and brown, cover the dark gray surface of the stones. From a distance, the cliff at the top appears bright red and gradually acquires darker shades towards the base of the ledge.

Immediately behind the cape, the coast bends slightly towards land, where behind dense thickets of willow trees there is a small lake, invisible from the river. On the cape itself and on the surface adjacent to it lies the real Ussuri taiga. Despite numerous fellings and fires, this forest still amazes with its diversity of vegetation. Mighty oaks, lindens and maples have been preserved here in some places. On the edges of the forest, here and there, the Manchurian walnut spreads its branches with large leaves. Barberry, lemongrass, grapes, aralia, eleutherococcus and other taiga wonders of the Amur region are often found in the undergrowth.

At the foot of the cliff, at any water level, even in calm weather, the water constantly makes noise, rising in waves above the submerged large stones. Behind them, from time to time, water vortices appear, quickly carried away by the current down the river.

It is interesting that behind the cliff, due to the bend of the coast along its very edge, the movement of water is directed towards reverse side- up the river. Even without oars the boat will carry slow flow and like a magnet will attract you to the cliff itself.

A combination of so many unusual phenomena nature in one place undoubtedly attracted the ancient inhabitants of the Amur. Various tribes lived here in safety and prosperity. Therefore, people had time to create a stone art gallery under open air. They expressed their attitude towards life and nature with various drawings on stones called petroglyphs. These drawings were studied by many researchers and helped to reveal the spiritual world of the ancient inhabitants of the Amur. But not all the mysteries of the petroglyphs have been solved, and further study of them will undoubtedly bring new discoveries.

Sarapul cliff

In front of the village of Sarapulskoye, the right branch of the Amur River makes a sharp bend. For about five kilometers, the water erodes a high steep bank composed of light, almost white clays. In many places, the ledge is devoid of vegetation and the sunlit white surfaces of the cliffs from the river side seem like a huge quarry dug by people for some purpose with the help of hundreds of powerful excavators. Only with gigantic efforts can such a grandiose relief form be created. But people have absolutely nothing to do with it. The river did this work. Year after year, the Amur moved to the right for many millennia, eroding and carrying away in suspension what made up the shore. In the resulting cliff, about 40 meters high, ancient geological layers are revealed, in which the history of the distant past of the Amur is recorded.

And this is true. Scientists who studied the deposits of the Sarapul section found that layers of different ages come to the surface in the cliff. They consist of sediments accumulated over the last few million years.

The lower part of the section contains basalts - rocks of volcanic origin. This means that very long ago, fiery streams of liquid lava spread from the tops of low, gently sloping volcanoes and filled low places, descending in wide tongues to the Amur. One can imagine how pieces of molten lava that had fallen into the water, hissing, stubbornly pressed the river, raising columns of steam of boiling Amur water high into the sky. But in vain. Block this one big flow Even formidable and powerful volcanic processes turned out to be beyond the power. These volcanic rocks destroyed by time now remind us of their unsuccessful attempt.

Then river and lake sediments accumulated layer by layer on the basalts. Each layer contained more than just sand, clay, or rocky debris. Along with them, the smallest organisms were buried in the thickness of the sediments - diatoms, visible only under a microscope, as well as plant spores and pollen, wood fragments, coals and various traces of former life in this area. They are used to determine how many years ago the layer was formed, and what kind of trees, shrubs and grasses grew along the banks of the river at that time. By analyzing this data, scientists determine what the climate was like at that time, how much precipitation fell, where rivers flowed, where deposits of sand, clay, and stones accumulated. After all, they can contain various minerals - coal, gold, building materials.

By studying the deposits of the Sarapul section, it was possible to find out that on the Amur, as in other places on Earth, cold eras alternated with warm ones, the flora and fauna changed. This knowledge helped to present a picture of the distant past of the Amur region and understand why modern landscapes were formed here.

This white cliff, which in the 19th century was called the Uksemi Wall, is not overgrown because the river erodes its base and more and more new blocks of soil fall into the water, constantly renewing the ledge. Along the edges of the cliff, where the erosion of the coast is not so strong, large landslides crowd along the coast in the form of sliding blocks tens of meters in size. In the narrow deep ravines located between them, muddy streams seethe in the rain, contributing to the destruction of the high coastal ledge.

Nowhere else on the Lower Amur are there such high banks composed of layered sediments of different ages and a spectacular amphitheater framing the bend of the river.

Nergen cliff

The Nergen cliff is located on the right bank of the Amur River, two kilometers west of the Nanai village of Verkhniy Nergen. It stretches from the Amur River along the channel to Lake Kaltahaven. Maximum height it reaches 80 meters. The cliff is composed of strong sandstones and siltstones and was formed as a result of the erosion processes of the Amur River, with all its might acting on a low mountain range rising above the surrounding flat surface of the Middle Amur Lowland.

The cliff stretches for more than a kilometer in the form of a high sloping wall, gradually descending from the Amur to Lake Kaltahaven.

The steep slopes of the cliff are complicated by ledges of rocks of various shapes and sizes, hollows, cracks and crevices. Traces of fresh landslides and screes are visible everywhere. Large stones falling from a steep slope sometimes roll down tens of meters from the base of the ledge.

Sometimes a block of rock falls with a roar, crushing into hundreds of fragments of different sizes, lying at the foot of the ledge until the spring ice drift drags them along the shore.

The sheer cliff rests on a massive rock pedestal, the uneven surface of which goes under the water's edge in places like a vertical ledge.

The flood level of the rocks is marked by a light gray thin coating on the rocks formed by sedimentation tiny particles clayey material carried by a turbidity stream into a flood.

There is almost no vegetation on the steep slopes. Only in small areas along the cracks do rare stunted oaks and elms sometimes cling with their roots to the soil-like thickness of loose sediments, existing on the brink of survival due to limited nutrition and moisture. Here and there there are small thickets of low-growing hawthorn. The more common herbaceous cover is represented mainly by wormwood and sedum, among which you can often see onions and beautiful carnation inflorescences.

The surface of the stones is in some places covered with a film of iron oxides and has brown. But largest area occupied by round spots of orange and bluish-gray lichens. Stiff bristles of dark green mosses settled on microscopic-sized horizontal areas.

Malmyzh cliff

The wide Amur valley near the village of Malmyzh suddenly narrows sharply to seven kilometers. From the left bank a mountain range approaches the river, protruding into the valley like a high Silver Cliff. Its slope to the very base is overgrown with dense forest. On the right side of the valley along the river stretches a steep mountain range, also covered with good forest. This massif ends with the highest and most picturesque cliff on the Lower Amur - Malmyzhsky. From its hundred-meter height there is a magnificent view of the Amur Valley. From the top the foot of the cliff is not visible, and it seems that it hangs over the vast expanse of water of the river. IN good weather Lake Bolon, the largest in the Amur Valley, is visible on the horizon.

On the steep slopes, in cracks and on narrow ledges, sparse mostly dry-loving vegetation settled - wormwood, sedum, carnations and several types of mosses. In larger cracks, the surface of which is covered with screes, in some places there are miniature inclined areas. Small maples, oaks and cedars grow on them, firmly enveloping the stones with tenacious roots. This allows them to successfully withstand strong winds, which not only torment stunted trees, but also blow out minor accumulations of soil-like deposits from cracks.

The south-facing cliffside is striking in its diversity of vegetation. A natural corner has been preserved here Ussuri taiga. Huge centuries-old cedars compete in size with oaks, lindens, elms, maples, and black birches. Everywhere in this forest there is a Manchurian walnut with a spreading palm-shaped crown and a cork tree - Amur velvet. Among the shrubs, barberry, hawthorn and lespedeza attract attention. In cleared areas under the tree crowns, vines dominate - grapes, lemongrass, actinidia. Real botanical garden in a small area.

On the southern side of the cliff, the small village of Malmyzh adjoins its steep slope. This place has always attracted people and traces of their activity have been found in the vicinity of the cliff since the Neolithic. It has a special microclimate, as it is protected from cold northern winds by a high mountain range. Here in a large ulus, during his rafting in the fall of 1651, E.P. stayed. Khabarov. In the middle of the 19th century, at the same place, the famous Amur researcher R.K. Maak studied the life of local residents.

Bolbinsky cliff

The Bolbinsky cliff does not stand out among other cliffs either in height, or bizarre rock ledges, or a clear boundary with the surrounding area.

At any time of the year, it stands out for its variegated color, since its slopes combine forests, meadow areas, soil landslides and rocky surfaces covered with multi-colored lichens in a small space.

The cliff itself protrudes far into the channel of the Amur and, resisting the flow, nevertheless gradually gives in to the insistence of the river. At the foot, a steep ledge goes under water and only at low levels in the river can you walk around it. Fifty meters from the shore at the bottom of the Amur, the remains of a collapsed part of the cliff have been preserved - a single flat stone, visible only at low water levels.

On the upstream side of the cliff, the rocks composing it are crushed by tectonic cracks and are easily destroyed to the state of sand and clay, the layers of which lie in a thick cloak on a steep slope. During heavy rainfalls, this entire mass of soil becomes heavy from rainwater and occasionally breaks off and slides down along with the plants, revealing to daylight a chaotically uneven surface painted yellow.

In front of the cliff there is a wide strip of pebble and sand beach, overgrown with tall, sparse grass in the upper part. Everywhere there are chaotic piles of soil in the form of mounds and short ridges, as if hundreds of diggers were looking for some kind of treasure underground. In places, wide gutters are visible, ending in piles of sand and pebbles, reminiscent of the work of a powerful bulldozer.

This grandiose work is done not by people, but by huge ice floes that crawl ashore in the spring, not fitting into the smooth bend of the river.

Auri Cliff

On the right bank of the Amur, near the village of Bulava, rises the picturesque Auri cliff. From the river side, it looks like a conical mountain with a sheer cliff to the water. The cliff is composed of very strong igneous rocks rocks. Steeply dipping tectonic fractures divide a single massif into separate adjacent plates. At the base of the cliff there are small screes near the cracks. The top of the cliff consists of several ledges separated by deep grooves, each of which looks like an outcropping.

The cliff drops straight into the water, and it is impossible to walk around it along the shore. During ice drift, huge ice floes hit the shore with force, leaving grooves and scratches on the stones.

IN summer time During the day, the rocks become very hot and slowly release heat during the night. Therefore, on the sunny side of the cliff, favorable conditions for the growth of heat-loving plant species. Along cracks and on narrow rocky areas grow carnations, thyme, wormwood, onions and white poppies - typical steppe plant species. Neither strong winds nor lack of moisture and nutrients do not interfere with the annual appearance of delicate, fragile plants that successfully resist all the adversities of nature.

The rocky surfaces of the cliff are almost everywhere covered with bluish or light brown lichens, giving it a variegated color. They eat away at strong stones and little by little destroy them. But the high resistance of the rocks allows them to withstand not only aggressive plants, but also wind, temperature fluctuations, frost, and rain.

It is easy to climb to the top along the long southern slope. The top point beckons and it seems that at the top you can see something unusual and special. And indeed, a big surprise meets a person here. On the gentle opposite slope of the cliff, facing northeast, just a few meters from the southern landscapes, dense thickets of rhododendron with rare larches and birches dominate, reminiscent of the harsh northern taiga.

From the top of the cliff there is a magnificent view of the Amur Valley. The river can be seen for tens of kilometers up and downstream, getting lost on the horizon in a light veil of air, saturated with water vapor.

Tyrsky cliff

The Amur becomes wider and deeper as it approaches the sea. It seems that nothing can stand in the way of the powerful flow. However, this is not true. On the right bank of the Amur, almost opposite the mouth of the Amguni, there rises a sheer ledge that drops straight into the water. From a distance it barely stands out against the background of the surrounding hills. But the closer you swim to it, the more attention it attracts. The ledge extends far into the river and partially blocks it. For many millennia it has stood like a wall, not succumbing to the onslaught of the Amur. Wind, snow, ice, rain and other elements help the river, but time is powerless in front of a stone barrier. The ancient volcanic rocks that make up the ledge, although broken by cracks and grooves, are still strong and massive.

Here is one of the most wonderful places all of Amur. In the lower reaches of the river there is no narrower channel, where there are only about 900 meters from bank to bank. This is also the deepest place of the Amur. At the foot of the cliff there is a vast expanse. Its bottom is drilled by a powerful current. It’s as if Cupid is trying to dig up the cliff from below and dump it into the water. But the ledge is strong and the eternal struggle between water and stone will continue for a very long time, until the water flow recedes and moves in the other direction. The depth of the river here is greater than in some seas. Depending on the water level, it varies from 54 to almost 60 meters. And the bottom of the river is located significantly below sea level. However sea water never penetrates here. The powerful current of the Amur does not let her in.

The Tyrsky cliff is interesting for its historical events. Back in 1701, Semyon Remizov compiled an atlas of Siberia. On the map depicting the lower reaches of the Amur, he placed an inscription incomprehensible to us: “Tsar Alexander the Great reached this place and hid his gun and left the bell.”

This inscription appeared on the map because in 1655, Russian Cossacks discovered the remains of some kind of structure and stone columns with inscriptions on the Tyrsky cliff. The Cossacks then reported that on the cliff they saw a Chinese bell weighing more than 21 pounds. They were later accepted as the final destination of the campaigns of Alexander the Great.

The temple, two monuments with inscriptions and two columns were placed at the very cliff by Manchu soldiers who made long military expeditions to the lower reaches of the Amur in 1413 and 1432. The inscriptions meant that the Buddhist Temple of Eternal Peace was dedicated to the deity of mercy, and the monuments were erected for eternity. Local residents, as noted, received gifts and treats. Over time, the temple collapsed and only fragments of thick tiles, which can still be found on the top of the cliff, indicate the place where it once stood.

At the foot of the cliff, Captain G.I. Nevelskoy accepted the local population into Russian citizenship, declaring to the Manchurian merchants who reached these places that the Amur lands belonged to Russia.

Russian settlers in the mid-19th century threw stone monuments and columns into the Amur, where they probably lie to this day, covered with sand. Where the bell went, if, of course, it was here, is unknown. Maybe it also rests on the Amur bottom.

Now on this high bank of the Amur there is also a monument - antique cannon. From the river it seems small dark spot and does not give a formidable appearance to the Tyrsky cliff, the grandeur and tranquility of which for many centuries attracted a variety of people to it - from the Paleolithic era to the present day.