Tschaja (Lena)
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Tschaja Чая |
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 Upper Chaya |
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| Data | ||
| Water code | RU : 18030000412117100012080 | |
| location | Republic of Buryatia , Tomsk Oblast ( Russia ) | |
| River system | Lena | |
| Drain over | Lena → Arctic Ocean | |
| source |
Upper Angaragebirge ( Stanowoihochland ) 56 ° 17 ′ 0 ″ N , 110 ° 37 ′ 18 ″ E |
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| Source height | approx. 1780 m | |
| muzzle |
Lena below Kirensk Coordinates: 58 ° 14 '10 " N , 109 ° 33' 30" E 58 ° 14 '10 " N , 109 ° 33' 30" E |
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| Mouth height | 228 m | |
| Height difference | approx. 1552 m | |
| Bottom slope | approx. 4.4 ‰ | |
| length | 353 km | |
| Catchment area | 11,400 km² | |
| Left tributaries | Olokit, Abtschada, Kiljakta | |
| Right tributaries | Nalimda | |
| Navigable | not navigable | |
 Location of the Tschaja in the catchment area of the Lena |
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The Tschaja ( Russian Ча́я ) is a 353 kilometer long right tributary of the Lena in eastern Siberia , Russia .
course
The Tschaja flows from a mountain lake at an altitude of around 1780 m in the 2200 m high Upper Angaragebirge (Werchneangarsk Mountains), the westernmost part of the Stanovoi highlands . The origin of the river is about 75 km as the crow flies northeast of the northern tip of Lake Baikal . The Tschaja leaves the high mountains in alternating northern directions through a pronounced trough valley in the upper part , in which the river is covered in sections by year-round ice surfaces that occupy the entire valley floor (in Russian, naled , наледь ).
It then reaches the Northern Baikal Highlands , 1000 to 1500 m high in the summit areas, through which the river flows in a deep and mostly narrow valley while maintaining the northern direction. The Chaya leaves the territory of the Republic of Buryatia and reaches the Irkutsk Oblast . About 100 river kilometers before the mouth it crosses the Alakit ridge in a narrow breakthrough valley, which is the northernmost foothill of the Baikal Mountains and borders the Northern Baikal Highlands from the northwest. The Tschaja finally flows into the Lena at a height of 228 m above the small settlement Mironowo and about 100 km below (northeast) the city of Kirensk .
The most important tributaries of the Chaya are the Nalimda from the right and the Olokit, Abtschada and Kiljakta from the left.
Hydrography
The catchment area of the Tschaja covers 11,400 km². In the lower reaches the river reaches a width of almost 250 m with an average depth of only one meter; the flow velocity here is 1.6 m / s.
The spring and summer floods last from May to September.
Infrastructure and use
The Tschaja is not navigable due to its shallow depth, the high flow speed and the large number of rapids, even in the lower reaches.
The area through which it flows is practically uninhabited. There are no towns on the river today; the small settlement of Tschaja on the upper reaches was already uninhabited in the 1970s. Because of the relatively easy accessibility of the upper reaches - near the Nizhneangarsk settlement on the north bank of Lake Baikal and on the Baikal-Amur Mainline (BAM), a 70 km long road begins, which goes through the valley of the Cholodnaya and over the watershed to the upper reaches of the Chaya leads - the river is popular as a destination for water sports enthusiasts. Because of the large number of rapids, the river is classified in the third highest (Russian) difficulty category for rubber boats and the second highest for canoes . 15 days are estimated to cover the 300 km long route.
Web links
- Photo report about a rubber dinghy and kayak tour on the Tschaja (Russian)