One of my favorite school works is the novel “ Quiet Don" Therefore, I associate this river with the Cossacks, with their free life, with the beauty of nature. What kind of river is this, where does it originate and where does it end?

Source and mouth of the Don

Oddly enough, at different times different lakes were considered the source of the Don. Once upon a time, Lake Ivan was called its source. This assumption was later refuted. Now the place where the Don originates, is known for sure. It located in Novomoskovsk. There is even an architectural monument called “The Source of the Don”. However, even now many mistakenly consider its source to be the Shatsky reservoir, next to which it flows.

Where does the Don flow? There is only one answer to this question - to the Taganrog Bay of the Azov Sea. Once I managed to visit the Sea of ​​Azov. It is completely different from other seas where I have been lucky enough to vacation. It is very small, due to which it is strongly heated by the sun's rays. You can go far, far into it, and the water won’t even reach your neck.

Here the river bed is divided into many branches, the delta of which covers an area of ​​as much as 540 square meters. km. The largest of them:

River Don: what is it?

The river valley is flat, there are no high rapids. Its floodplain is quite wide. In the lower reaches the width reaches 15 km. The Don River flows calmly, without rushing anywhere. It’s not for nothing that Sholokhov called the Don quiet!

As for the water regime of the river, despite the vast catchment area, the water content of the Don is small. This is mainly due to the fact that the river flows in the steppe and forest-steppe. The water level along the entire length of the river is 8-13 m.

Don is actively involved in human economic activity. This river is one of the most important waterways of communication. You can always see ships here.

An interesting distinctive feature of the river is flood, passing as if in two waves. The first one is “cold” when melt water enters the river from the lower reaches. The second is “warm” when water comes in large quantities from the upstream.

• South of France.

  Van Gogh dedicated more than a dozen paintings to the towns of the French Camargue region: fishing schooners on the coast of Sainte-Marie-de-la-Mer and streets under the scorching sun of Arles inspired him year after year.
• St. Petersburg residents Olga and Alexey Valyaev took a year and a half vacation. During this time they traveled to 45 countries.
• Finns know a lot about winter activities and, no matter what kind of winter it is, they are always ready for it. Local residents do not go to warm countries in January - February, but take out skis, skates and... golf clubs.
• If you want to explore several European capitals, travel through picturesque corners of the Old World and take a peek at small towns while staying within a certain budget, it’s time for you to take a bus tour.
• One of the parks' features is the so-called Hidden Mickeys - stylized images of Mickey Mouse, consisting of three circles representing Mickey's head and ears, which can be found literally everywhere, there are even bushes in the shape of a mouse's head.
• Vasca da Gama, the famous navigator, was Portuguese. Now one of the attractions of the capital of Portugal is the bridge named after him. The length of the bridge is 17,185 m. It is the longest bridge in Europe.
• The kilt, the traditional clothing of the Scottish Highlanders, is a piece of fabric fastened around the waist with belts. The Scots believed that the kilt gave a person majesty and masculinity.
• In Thailand, the most respected part of the body is the head; only parents or monks can touch it. And the feet are considered the dirtiest part of the body, so they should not be shown.
• There is an ancient Greek legend about the creation of the world: God sifted all the soil on Earth through a sieve to create countries. When each country received its share, he threw the stones remaining in the sieve over his shoulder - thus Greece was born.
• A direct flight from Vladivostok to Saipan lasts five hours. But Tokyo and Seoul are much closer to it, so the majority of vacationers on the island are Japanese and Koreans. This is a convenient neighborhood: Asians rarely go into the sea, preferring swimming pools, so there are always plenty of free sun loungers on the beach.
• Many people are afraid to travel abroad on their own. But this is the 21st century, and a person who has mastered the Internet has many opportunities! Moreover, as recent examples show, travel agencies can fail.
• Sakhalin is Russia's largest island off the east coast of Asia. It is washed by the Seas of Okhotsk and Japan. About 100 species of animals and plants listed in the Red Book live on Sakhalin.
• Altai is a unique mountainous country with vast spaces untouched by civilization. In ancient Turkic languages, Altai means “golden”.
• Breakfast on the grass, as well as lunch, afternoon tea and dinner will bring a lot of joy to a group of friends or a close-knit family. True, spending time in nature requires following some rules. 1
• In addition to well-known sights, new sculptures are constantly appearing in St. Petersburg, which the townspeople immediately endow with magical properties, and new “places of power” are opening up.
• In South Australia, on the edge of the Great Victoria Desert, in one of the most deserted and sparsely populated places on the continent, lies the city of Coober Pedy.
• Many of our citizens love to relax and travel abroad. But it’s not enough to buy a ticket and fly or arrive to the chosen country and city. In other countries, many pitfalls may await you 1

• Brazil

  In Brazil, it is not customary to pay in cash; almost everyone always uses credit cards. If you pay in cash, it is almost impossible to wait for exact change. Everything, even groceries, can be purchased in installments for 2-3 months.

• India

  India has 150,000 post offices, making the postal delivery network the largest in the world. But it often happens that a letter takes two weeks to travel a distance of 50 kilometers.

• Egyptian pyramids

  Some 19th-century English astronomers argued that the pyramids were astronomical observatories and could have been used as sundials.

• Mariana Trench

  The Mariana Trench is called the fourth pole of the Earth in addition to the North, South and Everest - the highest peak. Earth

• Lake Titicaca

  Today one of the most visited cities on the lake among tourists is Puno. It was founded in 1668 near a mine where silver was mined.

• America

  In some states in America, it is legal to grow hemp at home. In these states, small amounts of home-grown cannabis are considered home-grown medicinal products. About the same as horseradish or mint.

• Official nicknames of US states.

  Each US state, in addition to its name, has an official nickname (some even several), reflecting a feature of history or geography.

• Geographical names

  Off the coast of Alaska there are several rocky islands with very expressive names in Spanish: Albreolo - “look both ways”, Alargetto - “stand aside”, Kita Sueño - “don’t sleep”.

• Geographical facts

  The Philippine and Caroline Islands are named after the Spanish kings Philip II and Charles II. And one of the largest rivers in South Africa - Orange - is called so not at all for the color of its water, but in honor of the Prince of Orange from the royal dynasty of the Netherlands.

• Islands and countries

  The area of ​​Saint-Michel in northwestern France is an island twice a day and a peninsula twice a day. This peculiar phenomenon is caused by strong ebbs and flows in this part of the Atlantic Ocean.

• And in the hot tropics...

  Coffee is grown in approximately 80 countries around the world, which are located in the zone between the northern and southern tropics: it is in this zone that the coffee tree grows best and produces beans of the highest quality.

• From the history of the islands

  In 1568, the Spanish navigator A. Mendaña de Neira landed on then unknown islands in the Pacific Ocean. The Spaniard bartered gold from the locals and named these islands Solomon, comparing them to the “Golden Country of Solomon.”

• Islands and states

  The largest island state in the world is the Republic of Indonesia. It consists of 18,108 islands, of which about 1,000 have a permanent population.

Page 11 of 12

Unique rivers of the world and rivers of Russia. Descriptions of the most unusual rivers.

1. Unusual rivers of the world and rivers of Russia - Reverse flow of rivers.

Volkhov, Russia - known from history as the beginning of the journey “from the Varangians to the Greeks.” When searching for unusual rivers of the world, it is most often encountered. She attracts with a legend that we will retell. In the Middle Ages, the Novgorodians, outraged by the obscene behavior of their bishop John, decided to expel him from their possessions. They put him on a raft and sent him on his way. But that was not the case. No sooner had the raft floated out into the middle of the stream than... it carried it in the opposite direction! That is, upstream. The Lord has done a MIRACLE! - the Novgorodians exclaimed, and, having taken their spiritual shepherd out of the unusual river, they returned him back with honors.

And the box opened simply: the slope of the Volkhov River, flowing from Lake Ilmen to Lake Ladoga, is very small, and when there is heavy rain at the mouth and drought at the source, the ratio of lake levels changes, and the river begins to flow in the opposite direction. This is exactly what happened on the day of the expulsion of the unlucky servant of God. So there was no miracle, but the fact that Bishop John was a very lucky guy is beyond any doubt.

And there are not so few such rivers with reverse flow in Russia and in the world. Let's list some of them. The common point here is the slight slope of the riverbed.

Sukhona, Russia. Just like Volkhov, it has a very slight slope - only a couple of centimeters per kilometer. Flowing from Lake Kubenskoye, the Sukhona calmly makes its way to the mouth. But in the spring, when its tributaries Vologda and Lezha, overflowing with melt water, quickly rush into it, they literally block the flow of the river with their flows. The water level in this place rises and the Sukhona, without thinking twice, turns back and flows again into Lake Kubenskoye. Depending on the year, this lasts from three to nine days.

Ob, Russia. When the mighty, amazing and longest and widest river in Russia floods, its level rises and blocks some tributaries. And for some time they begin to flow in the opposite direction from the Ob.

Penzhina, Kamchatka, Russia . Another unusual river that changes its flow direction. It flows into Penzhinskaya Bay, and with every ebb and flow it flows back and forth.

Shuya, Karelia, Russia . Ushkozero, from which this interesting river flows, is fed by underground springs and, when the volume of feeding water decreases, the water level in the lake decreases. As a result, the river changes its direction. This happens 15-20 times a year.

Sap, Kingdom of Cambodia. It flows out of Tonle Sap Lake and flows into the Mekong River. When the Mekong floods, its level rises by 7-12 meters, and its waters rush along the bed of the Sap River into Lake Tonle Sap. Local residents celebrate this event, even giving it a name - “Festival of Returned Waters.” There is reason for joy, and a great one: the waters of the Mekong greatly replenish the lake’s fish stocks. Its quantity can be judged by the fact that during the return flow of the Sap River, the water level in the lake increases 3-4 times. When the level of the Mekong falls, the Sap begins to flow again from the lake, and it slowly becomes shallow. In the area freed from water, a lot of fertile silt remains, and enterprising Cambodians are growing record harvests of rice here. This lowland is called the "rice dish of Asia."

Avar, Greece. Similar to the Kamchatka river Penzhina. It flows into the Aegean Sea, and with each ebb and flow it changes the direction of its flow.

2. A unique river in the world - A river that exists only at night.

The unique river Huata Rique. Even the most unique! And its unusualness lies in the fact that it exists only at night, and is not there during the day. But this secret has long been revealed. The fact is that the river is fed by Andean snow that melted during the day, the water of which, flowing from the mountains in streams, reaches the bed of Huata Rique only in the evening. During the night, the water supply is depleted and the river ceases to exist until the next night. Of course, there are no fish here. And yes, the name of this unusual river is translated from the local dialect as “Night Butterfly”. Very aptly noted, don’t you think?

3. Unusual rivers of the world and rivers of Russia - Bifurcation of rivers (bifurcation).

A river can have not one mouth, but two. This happens when a river bifurcates into branches that empty into different bodies of water.

An example would be R. Orinoco in South America . The Orinoco branches in the upper reaches into two branches, one of which continues the path under the same name, and the second, called Casiquiare, flows into a tributary of the Amazon - the Rio Negro.

Another example R. Pizhma Mezenskaya – this is already a Russian river. One of its branches flows into the Mezen, the other into the Pechora.

Kur, Far East, Russia . The mouths of its branches are located at a distance of 200 km from each other: one on the Amur near Khabarovsk, the other on Lake Bolon.

4. Unique rivers of the world and rivers of Russia - Rivers that go underground for a while.

There are water streams in the world that flow not only on the surface of the earth, but also periodically go underground. There are no obstacles in the way of such rivers and mountains. This, for example, is R. Sim in the Southern Urals : it goes underground at the foot of the mountain, and comes to the surface on the other side.

A rare sight - a key on the right bank of the same river Sim, one and a half kilometers below the mouth of another river - Berda. It shoots straight out of the cliff, but it’s interesting that the water pours out in spurts: for about three minutes, vigorously, and then calmly for the same amount of time.

In the Perm region, not far from the village of Kyn, the tributaries of the Chusovaya River perform such a trick: they seem to dive underground and then reappear on the surface. The place where they disappear is called dive by local residents, and where they come out into the light again is called dive. Local Kumysh river has cut itself such a channel that for six kilometers it is almost invisible, and only then does it break out from under the rock and again become an ordinary river.

In the Urals, about fifteen rivers, large, small and very small, are distinguished by such inconstancy - sometimes they are visible, sometimes they are not, hidden. Right tributary of the Kosva - Gubeshka - not visible for ten kilometers, the river is hidden for eight Vezhey .

5. Unusual rivers of the world - Rivers that flow higher than the surrounding area.

Yes, this happens too. We are accustomed to the fact that rivers flow in depressions of the relief, but on earth there are natural streams that flow along the hills. This happens with rivers originating in the mountains. Swift streams erode rocks and carry them to the plain. On the plains, the flow becomes slow and the silt, gravel and other material carried by the water are deposited in the riverbeds. Gradually, year after year, the river bed rises and becomes higher than the surrounding landscape. Examples include Rioni in Georgia, Po in Italy, Chinese Yellow River, Red in Vietnam and others.

6. Unusual river of the world - The river with the most violent character.

R. Yellow River, China – fully deserves this title. “The Woe of China”, “The River That Tears the Heart”, “The River That Brings Thousands of Troubles” are just some of the many nicknames given to the Yellow River by local residents. And it fully deserved these unpleasant accusations: 26 times in human memory it abruptly changed its course, overflowed its banks 1,500 times, causing catastrophic destruction. During a flood, the river level becomes 10-12 meters higher than the banks, and the water quickly floods the entire surrounding area, sweeping away everything in its path. Over the past 40 years alone, during the construction of dams and coastal fortifications on this river, three times more work was completed than during the construction of the Panama Canal, and twice as much as the Suez Canal.

7. A unique river in the world - A river with very muddy water.

And again R. Yellow River, China breaks records. It is the muddiest large river: one cubic meter of river water contains up to 30-40 kg of solid material. The annual removal of solids is 2 billion tons. How long will it be, well, not in parrots, but, say, in the pyramids of Cheops? And there will be three and a half hundred of these pyramids, consisting of yellow sand. Therefore, it is not surprising that the sea into which the Yellow River flows is called the Yellow Sea. The Chinese say about the Yellow River that “you can’t drink its water, because it’s too thick for that, you can’t plow on it, because it’s very rare.”

8. Unusual rivers of the world - Rivers that do not flow anywhere.

When we studied the structure of a river, we wrote that every river has a source, a channel and an mouth (i.e., the place where the river flows into another body of water). So, this is not true for all rivers: some of them do not have a mouth. Such rivers are typical, first of all, for arid regions of the globe, for example, Kazakhstan and Central Asia: Big and Small Uzen, Chu, Zeravshan, Murgab, Turgai, Sarysu and others. The largest river of this type is Tejen . Its length is 1150 km. It originates in the mountains of Afghanistan and flows through the territory of Iran and Turkmenistan, where it is completely dismantled for irrigation.

R. Okavango in South Africa also has no mouth: its waters are lost in the Kalahari Desert, forming impenetrable swamps.

9. A unique river in the world - A river with a sharp change in water temperature.

R. Puarenga, New Zealand – simply an extraordinary river! The water on its left bank is almost boiling, while on the right it is cold as ice. This is due to the river’s feeding sources, which are hot and cold springs. And the river flow is so fast that the water does not have time to mix.

10. Unusual rivers of Russia - Rivers with an unusual flow pattern.

R. Sviyaga, Russia, tributary of the Volga. It is unique in that for almost 400 km it flows parallel to the Volga, but in the opposite direction. In some places, for example, near Ulyanovsk, Sviyaga comes very close to the Volga, but then moves away again, slowly pouring its waters into it.

R. Piana, Russia, tributary of the Sura. Also a very unusual river. Its length is about 400 km, and the mouth from the source is located only 30 km. The pattern of its flow is very tortuous, reminiscent of the tread of a drunken person, which is why it got its name. Academician Ivan Ivanovich Lepekhin traveled around Russia in 1768 and described Piana as follows: “Its flow is very radiating and crooked, which is why the name Drunken River came about.”

R. Ural and r. Pechora, Russia. These rivers are interesting because of the stepwise direction of the currents: for some time they flow in a meridional direction to the south, then sharply at an angle of 90 degrees. change their direction, then again turn at a right angle to the south. The reason for this strange behavior is the faults in the earth's crust through which rivers flow.

11. Unusual rivers of the world and rivers of Russia - Rivers whose tributaries are larger than the main one.

As a rule, in a river system, the largest, longest and deepest river is the main river. But, as always, there are exceptions to every rule. Let us list some rivers that confirm the last statement.

By volume of water:

Angara, Russia, right tributary of the Yenisei – the volume of water that the Angara brings to the Yenisei is almost twice as much as it itself brings to the confluence.

Kama, Russia, right tributary of the Volga - the same situation as with the Angara. Only the volume of water is 1.5 times greater.

Yonne, France, tributary of the Seine . To the confluence, the Yonne brings 105 cubic meters of water per second, and the Seine - only 75.

By lenght:

Sukhona, Russia, tributary of the Northern Dvina. 1130 and 750 km respectively.

Brahmaputra, India, tributary of the Ganges. The main river is 200 km shorter than its tributary.

Darling, Australia, tributary of the Murray River. Murray is 170 km shorter than Darling.

Missouri, USA, tributary of the Mississippi. 4740 and 3950 km respectively.

12. A unique river in the world - River under the sand.

Gascoigne, Australia. There is such an amazing river in Western Australia. There is a river, and it is marked on the map, but it is impossible to see it. In place of the channel there is a wide strip of sand, bordered by lush vegetation along the “banks”. And the river flows under the sand and is quite large: it has 36 tributaries. In English, Gascoigne is aptly called “the river up and down”, in Russian “the river in reverse”.

13. Unique rivers of the world - Intersecting rivers.

Welna and Nelba, Poland. They intersect, not merge. Moreover, they intersect at right angles. And even more: when crossing them, the waters do not mix, but each flow their own way. Scientists explained this phenomenon by the difference in temperatures and flow rates of the two rivers. There was even an experiment: paint was poured into two rivers - blue into Nelba, and red into Velna. And at the point of intersection the colors did not mix at all: the red flowed in its own channel, and the blue, on top of the red, in its own way.

14. The unique river of the world is the Multicolored River.

Caño Cristales River, Colombia - an amazingly beautiful “river of five colors”. The variety of colors in the river water is given by the algae living in it, which are red, yellow, green and blue. The water in the river is practically distilled, there are almost no minerals and salts in it, and it is not suitable for drinking. However, small fish live in it, which somehow still find food for themselves.

15. Unusual rivers of the world - Very short rivers.

We are used to measuring the length of rivers in kilometers, but there are many water streams on earth whose length is only a few meters. Let's look at examples.

Rowe, Montana, USA . One of its arms is only 17.7 meters long.

Reprua, Abkhazia. It flows out of underground caves on the shores of the Black Sea and immediately flows into it. It is the coldest river on the Caucasian coast. Its length is 18 meters. According to the ancient Abkhaz legend, Reprua are the tears of the daughters of the underground spirit.

River D, USA. Length – 36 meters. And the name suits the length quite well.

16. Unique river in the world - The highest mountain river.

Rivers flow not only in valleys and lowlands, but also high in the mountains. For example,

Yarlung Tsangpo, Tibet - the highest mountain river flowing through the South Tibetan plains, located at an altitude of almost 3000 meters above sea level.

17. Unique river in the world - The widest river.

When talking about rivers, it is customary to name their length. Well, what is the widest river in the world?

Widest in the world - R. Rio de la Plata . It reaches a width of 225 km and is the result of the confluence of two rivers - the Uruguay and Paraná. By the way, the widest river in Russia is the Ob. During a spill, its width reaches 60 km.

18. Unusual rivers of the world and rivers of Russia - Rivers with acidic water.

R. El Rio Vinegre – the most acidic, flows in the area of ​​the active Purace volcano (Colombia). Its length is about 1260 kilometers. River water contains 11 parts of sulfuric acid and 9 parts of hydrochloric acid for every 1000 parts and is so acidic that no fish can live in it. One of the reasons for the high acid content is the proximity of the volcano.

And in our vast country there is a stream called Sour : it flows from the slopes of the active Mendeleev volcano on the island of Kunashir from the Kuril Islands group.

19. A unique river in Russia and the world - the coldest river.

R. Indigirka , flowing into the Arctic Ocean, is considered the coldest river in the world. Towards the end of winter, the lower reaches of the Indigirka can freeze through - winters in these places (Yakutia) are among the harshest in the world.

20. Unusual rivers of Russia - Rivers with salt water.

Many people believe that river water can only be fresh. But that's not true. If a river flows through salt layers, its water becomes salty. There are many examples of such rivers, here are some of them:

Solyanka, Yakutia, Russia. Salt layers were formed here many millions of years ago, when the sea that once splashed here retreated.

Liquid Solyanka, Saratov region, Russia.

Berdyanka, Orenburg region, Russia. In the upper reaches the river is fresh, but in the lower reaches it erodes the salt layer and becomes noticeably salty.

21. A unique river in the world - A river flowing from the sea.

As a rule, rivers flow into some other body of water: a river, lake, sea, ocean... But there is such an unusual river that flows out of the sea.

Tadjoura, northeast Africa. It flows out of the Gulf of Tadjoura, flows inland and flows into Lake Assal.

22. A unique river in the world - A river sentenced to death.

Examples of tyranny by those in power have always been striking in their unexpectedness. But the Persian king Cyrus surpassed everyone: he sentenced the river to death!

Diala, Iraq. She was sentenced to death for drowning the “sacred” white horse of the Persian king. The sentence was carried out: 360 canals were dug to drain river waters. The river ceased to exist for 1000 years. But nature took its toll. The desert sands covered the canals, and the “sentenced” returned to its previous channel.

23. A unique river in the world - A river that changes its course every year and is the most “load-carrying”.

Kosi, India . The river is known for the fact that every year it creates a new channel for itself, eroding the rocks of the Himalayas on its way. The river carries all the excavated material with it. The annual volume of sediment reaches 120 million cubic meters, which is equivalent to the volume of 8,000,000 freight cars!

24. Unusual river of Russia - Namesake of a fictional river.

The Styx is a mythological river flowing through the kingdom of the dead in the domain of the gloomy Hades. She also has a namesake in the real world.

Styx, Perm region, Russia. And here, however, there were some dead people - the river separates the city of Perm from the cemetery.

25. Unusual rivers of Russia - Namesake rivers, rivers - clones.

Devitsa, Voronezh region, Russia. There are two rivers with this name. And even more than that: they both have tributaries called Rossoshka, and both flow into the Don.

Don. There are six rivers on the globe with this name.

Control guide. Two rivers with one name. One flows into the river. Ussuri, the other in Bikin. For some reason, there is a widespread opinion on the Internet that there is only one river, Kontrovod, and every three months it changes its flow direction and flows into one river, then into another. But, unlike the rivers with a reverse flow described at the beginning of the article, two rivers called Kontrovod are separated by the Strelnikov Ridge, through which the water flow cannot flow back and forth under any conditions.

26. Unique rivers of the world - Blue rivers, icy banks.

Ice rivers, Greenland. Another type of unusual rivers that exist on our planet are the rivers of the icy island of Greenland. Greenland is covered by a thick ice sheet, the surface of which begins to thaw with the arrival of summer. Meltwater collects in streams, and the streams flow into rivers that flow into the Atlantic Ocean. The water of these unique rivers has an amazing aquamarine hue, which, in combination with the dazzling white icy banks, amazes happy observers with its extraordinary beauty.

27. Unique rivers of Russia - The cleanest rivers in the world.

Vonchi, Mari El, Russia - the cleanest river in the world. Vonchi is a shallow river 33 km long and 2-3 meters wide, a tributary of the river. Fly. No contaminants were found in the water of this forest river, which makes it stand out even among other reservoirs in this region known for their purity.

Irtysh, Russia, tributary of the Ob - is also recognized as one of the cleanest rivers on our planet.

28. Unusual rivers of the world and rivers of Russia - Rivers “Tamara and I walk as a pair.”

There are rivers on the globe that have underground counterparts.

Kara-Balta, Kyrgyzstan . The river flows from the Kyrgyz ridge. Kara-Balta, which gives its waters to wheat fields, sugar beet plantations, and orchards. Examining its bed, scientists discovered that even before entering the valley, the river loses about a third of its flow. When they drilled a well, it turned out that this river was two stories high! Seeping through the pebbles and sand, part of its water formed, as it were, a second, underground stream.

Volga, Russia. In 1981, hydrogeologists established that across the territory of the Mari Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic a large underground river runs parallel to the Volga, and in some places even adjoins it.

Amazon, South America. At the beginning of the 21st century, the world's longest underground river was discovered under the longest surface river in the world., flowing parallel to the Amazon at a depth of 4000 m. It originates in the Andes and flows into the Atlantic Ocean. Its unofficial name is Hamza, in honor of the scientist who discovered it. The flow speed of the Hamza River does not exceed several meters per year, and the width is about 400 meters.

29. Unusual river of the world - A river playing hide and seek.

In Yugoslavia there is a river that first carries its waters in a narrow gorge, and then completely disappears into huge caves. Having walked a long way through the underground galleries, she disappears into a deep crack. Exactly - it disappears, because no one knows where it goes. They tried to find out with the help of dyes, but colored water was found in many springs around Trieste and even in the city water supply...

30. The unique river of the world is the Underwater River.

It turns out that there are such unusual rivers on our wonderful planet. In 2010, a unique underwater river was discovered at the bottom of the Black Sea. An amazing river has the same elements as surface rivers: banks, waterfalls, rapids, floodplains and even whirlpools. The latter, by the way, do not twist counterclockwise (like all rivers in the Northern Hemisphere), but along it. Scientists have not yet figured out what causes this phenomenon.

The waters of the unusual underwater river are several times saltier than the surrounding sea water. The river flows through a trench 35 meters deep and about one kilometer wide. The length of the unique river is 60 km. The river flow speed is 6.5 km/h. If this unusual river flowed on the surface of the earth, it would be the sixth largest river in the world.

This was the article " Unique and unusual rivers of the world and rivers of Russia.» See further:

Three hundred and thirty rivers and streams flow into Baikal, and only one flows out of it - the Angara.

I don’t know how many dozens of times I’ve already heard and read this phrase, and every time in oral speech, and in written language too, some kind of surprise is heard here: just think, just one! During a bus excursion from Vologda to Kirillov, the guide uttered a similar phrase three times, only it referred, of course, not to Lake Baikal and the Angara, but to Lake Kubenskoye and Sukhona, respectively, and the number of rivers and rivulets was only one hundred and eighty.

And from what lake, let alone three hundred and thirty, do at least two rivers flow? One please: Angara from Lake Baikal, Neva from Lake Ladoga, Svir from Onega, Sheksna from Bely, Niagara from Erie, White Nile (or Victoria Nile) from Lake Victoria - and so on, almost endlessly. So that not a single one flows out is also not uncommon: rivers from the Caspian, Aral, Balkhash, Issyk-Kul, lakes Baskunchak, Chad, Air, Van, Poopo do not flow...

But it is unlikely that many will be able to name the lake from which two rivers flow. Let's say some lake basin has two outlets, a river flows out of each. These rivers cannot be the same in size, they cannot flow through rocks that are equally resistant to erosion; inevitably, one of the rivers will quickly deepen its channel and lower the level of the lake so much that flow through the second river will become impossible. Therefore, the flow of two rivers simultaneously from one lake does not last long. In the literature, I did not find a single mention of such a phenomenon, and only while looking at a map of Scandinavia, I suddenly discovered Lake Leshaskogsvatnet in the southern part of Norway, from which the Røuma River, which belongs to the Norwegian Sea basin, flows to the northwest, and to the southeast - the river Logen, belonging to the Glomma basin, which flows into the Skagerrak Strait (more precisely, into the Bohus Bay). The fact that this rare phenomenon actually occurs, that there is no cartographic error here, is confirmed by five very respectable atlases: World Desk Atlas A.F. Marx, 1905; Atlas of an officer, VTU MO USSR, 1947; World Atlas, GUGK USSR, 1954; World Atlas, GUGK USSR, 1989; World Atlas, Roscartography, 1999.

It is characteristic that such a lake exists precisely in the Scandinavian mountains, composed of strong crystalline rocks that are poorly susceptible to erosion, where an unstable balance between the cutting of rivers flowing in different directions can be maintained for a relatively long time; in less durable rocks, in the almost full century that has passed since the publication of the first of these atlases, one of the two drainage channels would have ceased to exist*.

Therefore, you should not be surprised that many, many rivers and streams flow into a lake, but only one flows out.

* V.P. Semenov (at that time “Tian-Shansky” was not added to his father’s surname and, therefore, his own) in the second volume of the famous work “Russia. A complete geographical description of our Fatherland" (St. Petersburg, 1902, pp. 273-274) writes that the Don and Shat (a tributary of the Upa, this is the basin of the Oka and, therefore, the Caspian Sea) flow from Ivan Lake in the Tula province. It is difficult to say whether the change in the pattern of the hydrographic network was caused by natural processes or hydraulic engineering construction, but now the source of the Don is shown within the city of Novomoskovsk - very close to Ivan Lake, but not from it. The double flow from the lake has stopped. For more information about this, see: Oko-Don // Geography, No. 31/97, p. 1-3.

Almost every geographical name has a history of origin. It has long been no secret why the Red Sea was called Red. We know from school that this body of water is the saltiest (not counting the Dead Sea), not a single river flows into it. This sea is the youngest of its kind; it has no equal in the beauty and diversity of the underwater world.

The sea is famous for its coral reefs, most of which are bright red in color. Since the water is crystal clear, it appears red from a bird's eye view. There is also a version about large accumulations of algae or fish, which give the water a corresponding red tint.

2. The color of the rocks.

Ancient sailors were delighted with the unusual red rocks reflected in the sea water, so they dubbed it Red. Why the hills were this color, either because of the setting sun or because of the rock, history is silent.

3. The color of blood.

According to the Bible, Moses led his people through the parting of the Red Sea. When the last Jew set foot on land, the sea closed in, burying the bodies of his pursuers. In that place, the water turned red from their blood, which is why they began to call the sea area Red.

4. Incorrect interpretation of the ancient name.

The Arabs found the writings of the ancient people - the Himyarites, who lived on the sea coast until the 6th century. Their writing did not display short vowels, so the name of the sea, consisting of three consonant letters “x”, “m”, “r”, was interpreted as “ahmar”, which means “red” in Arabic.

5. Translator error.

According to the Bible, Moses and his people passed through the “sea of ​​reeds,” translated into English as “reed sea.” There is an assumption that an error occurred, one letter was lost, and “reed” turned into “red sea” - “Red”.

6. Geographical location.

According to the ancient Assyrian calendar, the cardinal directions were associated with certain colors. For example, red symbolized the south, black – north, green – east, white – west. So it turned out that the sea located in the south began to be called Red.

7. Color of foreign bodies.

According to one version, these could be numerous petals of red flowers, according to another, ground red pepper. But scientists put forward a third, associated with a large number of marine inhabitants of the corresponding color.

Love stories of the red piece of the ocean

But how they could get into the water is explained by several very real stories.

Story 1. Love is red

Oddly enough, every person associates love with different colors: from white to black with the most unusual shades and inclusions, maybe even striped. According to Feng Shui, this feeling is green. But one man proved that his love is bright red, like pink petals, and huge, like the sea.

This happened a very long time ago, even BC, so the names of the heroes of history, unfortunately, have not reached the present day. At that time there lived a young guy on the sea coast; he could not boast of beauty and strength. But he was gifted with a big, kind heart and a sharp mind.

The guy came from a poor family and worked from morning to evening, tirelessly. It so happened that at one of the holidays, where all the residents of the city gather, he saw a beautiful girl from whom he could not take his eyes off. Subsequently, the young man learned that she was the daughter of one of the most respected people in the city. And the saddest thing was that preparations were underway for the wedding, which was to take place in a few weeks.

The lover tried to throw the girl out of his head and heart, but he could not help himself. Every minute her figure in a red cape appeared in front of him, her blue, almost transparent eyes looked into her very soul. Hair the color of sand, wavy, like dunes at the bottom of the sea, did not allow me to breathe calmly.

Realizing that there was very little chance of winning the girl’s heart, the guy decided to take a desperate step. He began to think about a plan that seemed almost unrealistic to conquer a woman’s heart.

Every morning the girl went out onto the balcony of her house to admire the sunrise, which illuminated the clear water with bright rays. The sight she saw one morning struck the young soul.

The entire surface of the sea that was in sight turned from transparent blue to bright red. To find out what happened, the girl went down to the sea. On the shore I saw a man in a boat who did not take his eyes off her. What happened to the water, why did its color change? It turns out that the entire surface was strewn with scarlet rose petals.

The girl, fascinated by what she saw, without hesitation got into the boat, the bottom of which was covered with pink petals, only white ones, and looked in surprise at the young man. The words that the guy said during the boat trip remained forever in the girl’s heart. She fell in love with him at first sight and realized that she would not be happy without him. So no one saw them again. And the rose petals swayed on the sea waves for a long time, which is why the locals called it Red.

Story 2. Peppered sea

In ancient times, a merchant lived in a city on the shore of a warm reservoir. He made his fortune by trading spices, especially red pepper. A person often left his home, spending time on a ship due to his profession.

The merchant lived half his life, but never started a family. They didn’t like him in the city for his greed and malice. The whole house was filled with gold, jewelry and bags of spices. The merchant did not participate in the life of the city, did not help the poor, and treated the defenseless cruelly.

The people decided to expel him at a general meeting. They were allowed to take all the goods and sail to other shores. Out of greed, the merchant loaded his ship so much that, not having time to disappear beyond the horizon, the ship sank. A few hours later the sea turned scarlet from the scattering of a huge amount of pepper.

This is interesting:

The gates of cities in Ancient China had different colors, depending on which side of the world they faced. Also, the tips of the arrows in a modern compass have corresponding colors: red, black, green and white, respectively indicating the parts of the world: south, north, east and west.

In the first “documents” dating back to the second century BC, the Red Sea could be referred to as the Eritrean Sea (Eritrea is a state on the shores of the Red Sea from the East of Africa), and in the 16th century it was called the Suez Sea.

If you break off a branch of bright coral, after a few minutes without water it will lose its attractiveness and turn dirty white or brown. Therefore, tourists cannot get a trophy in the form of red corals, and only a photo of it can preserve such beauty for display to family and friends.

This sea is recognized as the cleanest. Most likely due to the fact that no rivers flow into it. As a rule, they are the ones who carry sand, silt and other particles that pollute the water.

The water here is the saltiest. Firstly, no rivers enter the sea, that is, there is no influx of fresh water, and secondly, the high temperature of water and air contributes to intense evaporation of water, which further increases the concentration of salts. Today it is 41 g per liter of water, in the Black Sea it is only 8 g.

The Red Sea is gradually increasing in size. It is located in a seismic zone where plates move without stopping. Therefore, the banks diverge, the displacement reaches up to 1 cm per year, which means that over the course of a century the border will expand by 1 m.

History contains many mysteries and unusual events. That is why the White Sea is called that way; a definite answer has not yet been received. Often the origin of geographical names has several versions, which are supplemented by modern interpretations. It is often difficult to discern the line between fiction and reality.