How pleasant it is to spend the weekend somewhere outside the city near the lake, away from the bustle of the city, after a week of work. For many, such a pastime is an integral part of their vacation. But do people really know how lakes are formed, how they can be useful, and how sometimes harm?

What are lakes like?

A lake is a closed depression in the ground, where underground flows down and which do not evaporate. Such a depression is called a lake basin. By origin, all lakes are divided into tectonic, river (oxbow lakes), seaside, sinkhole, underground.

By salinity, freshwater (Baikal), brackish (Chany) and (Chad) are distinguished. All bodies of water can be wastewater when one or more rivers flow out of the lake; flowing - several rivers flow into the lake and one or more - flows out; drainless - the rivers only flow into the lake.

Reservoirs are filled with precipitation (rain, snow) or with the help of groundwater. Also, the feeding of the lake can be mixed.

According to the mineral composition, the lakes are carbonate, sulfate and chloride.

How are lakes formed?

Most of the lakes of our planet are of tectonic origin, that is, they were formed in large troughs of the earth's crust or in rifts (tectonic cracks). The bottom of such a lake has a rough outline and is located below the level of the World Ocean. Its banks are covered with hard-stone rocks, poorly eroded. All the deepest lakes are formed as a result of faults in the earth's crust.

Many reservoirs are also obtained as a result of geological processes (weathering, erosion, glacier activity). Among them, the most common are glacial lakes on the plains and in the mountains, as well as sinkholes, which were formed as a result of thawing of terrestrial rocks. Such reservoirs are round in shape. They are small in area and depth.

After earthquakes and landslides, dammed lakes are formed, which can block river valleys. Lakes also appear in river valleys. These are the so-called oxbow lakes. How oxbow lakes are formed can be judged by the long-term functionality of the river. If the climate is dry, there are formed lakes that stretch in the form of chains for hundreds of kilometers. But when the channels wander, delta lakes are formed.

Lake Baikal

Baikal is the deepest lake on the planet. Its greatest depth is 1642 m, and reaches 460 m.

The formation of Lake Baikal occurred as a result of large Baikal geographically located in Russia, on the border of the Buryat Republic and the Irkutsk region. The area of ​​the reservoir is 31,722 km2. More than three hundred rivers and streams flow into Baikal, including the Selenga, Turka, Snezhnaya, and Surma. And the river Ankara flows out of it. Thus, Baikal is a flowing lake.

Baikal waters are fresh and transparent. The stones are visible even at a depth of 40 meters! The amount of minerals in the lake is insignificant, so the water can be used as distilled water.

Baikal's climate is cool. The winters are mild and the summers are cold. The lake is inhabited by more than 2600 different representatives of plants and animals, most of which are characteristic only of Lake Baikal.

Scientists determine the age of the lake at 25-35 million years. The origin of the name has not been precisely established. But translated from the Turkic - Baikal (Bai-Kul) is a rich lake, which is an indisputable fact.

The origin of the swamps

A swamp is a part of the land characterized by high humidity and acidity. In such places, stagnant or underground groundwater comes to the surface, but "does not linger" for a long time. All swamps occur in two ways:

1. Overgrowth of the lake.

According to the type of vegetation, swamps are divided into forest, dwarf shrubs, herbaceous and mossy. The relief of bogs can be flat, convex or bumpy. Some bogs are characterized by the formation of peat (dead, but not completely decomposed plants). Peat is used as a combustible material, as well as in medicine (mud therapy) and industry.

If we talk about how lakes and swamps are formed, then the latter is the process of evolution of the former. The deposition of silt gradually leads to pollution and shallowing of the lake, resulting in low-lying bogs with a rich water supply.

The value of the swamps

Swamps are a valuable natural asset. It is a natural complex that is home to rare species of flora and fauna.

Bogs are most common in the tundra, taiga and forest-tundra - in areas with excessive moisture, where the amount of precipitation exceeds evaporation.

All bogs are subdivided into lowland, upland, and transitional. Low-lying ones feed on groundwater, high-lying ones - on atmospheric precipitation. Transitional swamps are the middle stage between the two previous types.

The flora of swamps is very valuable for humanity. Lingonberry, cranberry, cloudberry, juniper are berries that are widely used in medicine. Many bog plants are used in perfumery and industry.

Bogs are an important source of water for rivers. Most of the reservoirs originate precisely from swamps. Swamps are the second "lungs" of the planet after the forest. They recycle carbon dioxide and produce oxygen.

Secrets of the lakes

For example, the Lake of Death, which is located in Italy, is awe-inspiring by its name alone. There is no vegetation around it, and living creatures in its waters. Swimming in the lake is prohibited, and hardly anyone wants to, because it contains a high concentration of sulfuric acid.

The only logical explanation for all the anomalies occurring in water bodies is how lakes are formed. Perhaps the reason for everything is the flora and fauna, not fully studied by mankind.

Conclusion

Lakes are an important part of the Earth. Half of all plants and animals useful to humans are inhabitants of rivers and lakes. Why lakes are formed, can be judged by the inner and our Earth. Tectonic and geological changes are the main reason for the formation of all reservoirs.

WATER, WATER ... AROUND WATER

A person is given a name when he is still in the cradle, and it is difficult to imagine how he will grow up - he will be “like an angel”, “a winner” or quiet, “kitten”. Only a naive person can think that all Alexandras are necessarily “defenders” and that thanks to their name they differ in character and fate from Mikhailov, Antonov, Sergeev ... Of course, names do not play any role here.

It is quite another matter - geographical names, or, in a scientific way, toponyms. Much of what was named at different times already had its own history. and... their own "character": a river, a mountain, a waterfall, a volcano ... People who inhabited any area loved to accurately determine what surrounded them: a river River (Rhine or Ganges), Mountain Mountain (Alps or Balkans), Lake Lake (Nyanza - that's the name of a lake in Africa) ... No individuality, even boring!

But most of the geographical names are not like that, they are unusual, unique. And we will talk about them. Let's start with the main thing - from the water. It is not for nothing that it is considered: water is life.

Oceans and seas

In the past, the North Atlantic was called By the northern ocean and the South Atlantic - The Southern Ocean. Also distinguished Western Ocean, later renamed the Pacific Ocean, and Eastern Ocean - now the Indian Ocean. The date of the new legalized naming is 1845.

Origin of the toponym Atlantic Ocean goes back to ancient myths. Atlant(Greek. Atlas, Atlantos - bearing) - in Greek mythology, a titan, a pre-Olympic god, brother of Prometheus. After the defeat of the titans in the fight against Zeus and other inhabitants of Olympus, Atlas, as punishment, supported the vault of heaven in the far west near the garden of the Hesperides. The ancient Greeks, identifying the mythical titan with the mountain ranges towering in northwest Africa, called their Atlas.

With toponym Indian Ocean everything seems to be simple: the ocean is named so for the vast, fabulous wealth of the country India, the banks of which he washes. India itself got its name from the great river flowing in the "country of the Indians" Indus(linguists suggest that this hydronym is the Sanskrit distorted by the Greeks and Romans sindhu, ie "river").

Name honor The Pacific should be given to the Spaniards, because it was their caravels, led by the Portuguese Fernand Magellan, set off in 1519 in search of the "spicy" Moluccas. The expedition passed through the strait from Tierra del Fuego, in 1521 crossed the ocean and reached the Philippines. The Italian Pigafetta wrote in his diary: “We wandered for three months and twenty days, having covered about 4000 miles in this time on the sea, which we called the Quiet, because we were never disturbed there even by a weak storm”. This is how a new name appeared on the maps, Spanish Mar Pacifiko -"The sea is peaceful, quiet, calm", which replaced the name South Sea, Whose "godfather" eight years earlier was the Spanish conquistador Vasco Balboa. He first saw the ocean from the Isthmus of Panama and named it South Sea as opposed to North Sea(Atlantic Ocean). With the light hand of already English cartographers, the name was introduced Pacific Ocean, then adopted in many countries. This is what the Spaniards and Portuguese, Italians and Germans call him. So, Pacifico, it is also called in the language of international communication - Esperanto.

Near the polar water basin, which is Arctic Ocean, many names. In ancient times, he was known with us By the icy sea later - Breathing sea Names were used in official Russian cartography North polar sea and North Arctic Sea. When in the former USSR in 1935 a unified form of ocean naming was approved, they preferred the main function of the Russian suffix -ovit: express the predominant quality in the adjective. Compare at least militant, businesslike, gifted. well and ice-cold -"Teeming with ice."

World Ocean. The deepest place is the Mariana Trench (in the Pacific Ocean)

The most-very deep and wide

Do you know the name of the deepest place in the world? V Pacific near the Mariana Islands, a Soviet expedition aboard the Vityaz in 1957 recorded the deepest place - 11,022 m. Mariana Trench is an underwater gorge about 1500 km long. Its deepest place is called Vityaz's gutter in honor of the famous Russian hydrographic vessel from which the observations were made. To understand how deep this depression is, imagine that a 1 kg steel ball thrown here will only reach the bottom of the cavity after 64 minutes - more than an hour!

And on the area of ​​which ocean would all the continents be located? Of course, in the Pacific Ocean. It would accommodate all the continents rather freely (and there would be room for another Africa). After all, its area is 180 million km2. By the way, it occupies almost the same area on Earth as all other oceans - the Atlantic, Indian and Arctic - combined.

Why is the southern tip of the magnetic needle colored red and the north tip black on the compass? It turns out that this is an "echo" of ancient times. Even in the Assyrian calendar, the north was called Black country, south - Red, East - Green, and west - White. That is why the Turks began to call the sea that stretched north of their country, Black Sea (Karadeniz).

The Slavs designated the north with white and the south with blue. By the way, are you familiar with the words from the song: "The bluest in the world is my Black Sea ..."? In Russia, this sea was once really called Blue. The prevailing "amateur" opinion that the name was given for the color of the water, which in cloudy weather or in a storm darkens, turns black, is irrevocably rejected by scientists. Surprisingly, the science of etymology showed itself here too!

Caspian Sea because of its location, what names it did not receive! The medieval Arab geographers called it Khorasan, in the Iranian province of Khorasan. The name was fixed in the ancient Russian monuments Khazar, because the Khazars visited part of the coast. There was a sea and Khvalissky, and Derbensky(in the city of Derbent). Under this last name, he was repeatedly mentioned by a Russian traveler of the 15th century. Afanasy Nikitin. The Turks also called the sea White(!), Turkmens - Green(!). In part of Central Asia, he was known as Astrakhan... A number of other names are no less interesting: Girkanskoe, North, Gilyanskoe, Khvalynskoe, Persian, Western, Mazandaran, Gurgenskoe ...

Colored seas

Many seas have color names.

White Sea so named because of the ice that covers this water basin seven months a year. Scientists suggest that for the first time the name Mare Album -"White Sea" was put on the map of Peter Plantation, dating back to 1592. And two years later, the Flemish cartographer G. Mercator will not only display the Latin name on his map, but also accompany it with the Russian "Belle Sea". According to one version Baltic Sea - also "white", because the name comes from the Latvian balte and Lithuanian baltas -"White".

Red sea got its name not because it is located in the south, but because of the microscopic coloring algae, the name of which includes the Greek word erythros (erythros) -"Red". By the way, the Greek name was kept for a long time over the sea Eritrean, and then it was literally translated. But stayed Eritrea - the name of a province in Ethiopia. There is a city Eritra in Greece.

Yellow Sea and indeed yellow from rivers flowing into it with muddy muddy water, especially during floods.

Sargasso Sea has a "vegetable" name. On September 16, 1492, during the first crossing of the Columbian caravels across the Atlantic Ocean, an entry appeared in the navigator's diary: “They began to notice many tufts of green grass, and as one could judge by its appearance, this grass was only recently torn off the ground” ... But three more weeks passed, and the huge stretch of the Atlantic, covered with bunches of olive-green algae, did not end. The sea resembled endless floating meadows. And another entry follows, which says that on their way there was "so much grass that it seemed that the whole sea was teeming with it."

The plants, covered with many air bubbles, reminded Spanish sailors of the grape variety. "Sarga", grown in the native hills of Spain. Name Mare de las Sargas actually meant "sea of ​​grapes", "sea of ​​vines".

The Sargasso Sea is unlike other seas. Look at the map. You will see that this sea has no shores. According to Jules Verne, it is "a lake in the open ocean." By the way, the science fiction writer believed that it was the depths of this sea that swallowed Atlantis. The sea was notorious for superstitious sailors: they believed that monsters lived in it, dragging ships into the bottomless abyss.

Among the islands of Indonesia, you will find a sea with an amazing name - Flores(floral). That is what the Portuguese called it. And here's why - let's remember: Flora in ancient Roman mythology - the goddess of flowers, spring and youth. Latin word f? s (f? ris) denotes a flower (another meaning is "blooming state"). When the famous naturalist Karl Linnaeus published his work on the flora of his country, he entitled it "Swedish flora". Apparently, this scientist is the author of the term accepted in science: flora is a set of plant species inherent in some natural region, country or part of it. The now familiar Flores sea caresses the shore Flores Islands.

Name Sea of ​​marmara also refers to one island. On the sea route "Bosphorus Strait - Dardanelles Strait", closer to the latter, lies island of Marmara. The city on this island bears the same name. The island, famous for the development of white marble, gave its name to the sea. Greek marble - marmaros, in Latin - marmor; marmor / marble - such a permutation of sounds (metathesis) is characteristic of many languages, in this case it occurred in Russian.

Rivers and lakes

Look at the map of our planet. Large rivers and small rivers flow from north to south and from south to north, which play an exceptional role in the life of mankind. They are sources of water and provide fishing, one of the oldest industries; from time immemorial, they were arteries (they are called the "blue arteries" of the Earth) that connected peoples to each other. But the rivers have long served as boundaries dividing tribal territories.

How and for what reasons did the names of the rivers appear? What is hidden behind their sometimes strange names? Any inquisitive person must have these questions.

Scientists argue that in the area of ​​the Volga-Klyazma interfluve, to which the Moscow region belongs, before the appearance of the Slavs, there was some kind of Indo-European language, very close to the modern Baltic. By the end of the 1st millennium A.D. NS. these ancient Balts were in contact with the Finno-Ugric population, represented, in particular, by the tribes measure and muroma, known from their mentions in the annals. In the VIII-IX centuries. the first Slavic colonists appear in these places, but even after the arrival of the Slavs, the Baltic population did not retreat, remained in their places (this is evidenced by the mention of the chronicle under 1058 and 1147 about the Baltic tribe goliad, inhabited by the river Protva, in the southwest of the modern Moscow region). From what has been said, it follows that in this geographical area hydronymy of Baltic origin, Finno-Ugric and Slavic is represented, which is why the names of the rivers and rivulets of this region, and there are more than two thousand of them, often cause difficulties and require serious scientific analysis.

The largest rivers of the Moscow region are Volga and Oka. True, the first washes the territory for only 15 km (out of 3530 km of its total length), and the second flows over an area of ​​204 km (out of 1500 km). Naturally, the names of these large European rivers have long attracted the attention of toponymists, who have proposed a variety of hypotheses. So, the name Volga explained from Slavic moisture. The fact is that Volga there is not only in Russia, but also in Poland and the Czech Republic: in Poland such a name - Wilga - carries the river of the Vistula basin, and in the Czech Republic flows a river Vlha, related to the Laba basin. Our namesake Volga allow you to restore the most ancient phonetic structure of the analyzed hydronym. In the pre-Slavic era, this word sounded like vьlga(wet, wet; cf. Polish. wilgos - moisture), on the one hand, deposited in the verb flutter(getting wet) adjective volgly, and on the other hand, it is closely related (since it has the same basis, but with a mutation o / b ) noun moisture, or (assuming that the word moisture borrowed from the Old Slavonic language) Old Russian vologa(liquid, water). Sound similarity, according to scientists, words Volga and moisture is not accidental: they are words of the same root. Volga named so simply because it is a river, that is, a stream, flowing water, moisture.

Volga basin

The Volga river flows

Our mother Volga has three names. This is what L. V. Uspensky tells about this in his most interesting book "The Name of Your House".

"At the cradle Volga gathered if not seven fairies - godmothers with their gifts-names, then at least not less than three "nominators". They brought her three different names, and Volga - just the last one.

It is unknown who named our river the first of these names, but we know him. It sounded like this: Ra. The ancient Greeks and Romans knew this name, but were not its authors. It is not known what and in what language it meant, although there were many assumptions. Russian linguist of the 19th century O. I. Senkovsky cites the message of the ancient Roman historian Marcillin: “Not far from Tanaisa (Don. - L. U) the river "Rha" flows, on the banks of which there are thickets of medicinal root of the same name… » This root is ordinary rhubarb, in Latin - rheum, in French - rubarbe, i.e. rha barbarum, - explains Senkovsky.

If this were actually so, the most ancient of the names of the Volga, its last shadow, would have come down to us in the name of an ordinary rhubarb. But is it? Most likely no.

The second name belongs to tribes already closer to us. Those "unreasonable Khazars" with whom the Kiev prince Oleg fought, called Volga - Itil; even the capital of their kingdom, which stood on the same Volga, bore that name. There has been a lot of controversy about its origin and significance; there is reason to think what it meant - this should no longer surprise us - just river. Khazars lived in places, from ancient times inhabited by a related tribe of the Volga Bulgars. It is possible that the word itil meant "river" in the Bulgar language. This is all the more similar to the truth that in the language of the modern Volgars - Chuvashes, descendants and relatives of the ancient Bulgars - the word itil and now it means "river". "Volga - Itil" - that's how they call the river now, on which the whole history of their people has flowed. "

Name Oka suggested from Slavic eye(eye), from Finnish joki(river), but settled on the Baltic interpretation; Wed litas. akis, Latvian. acis -"A spring gushing from the depths", "a small open space of water in an overgrown lake or swamp."

Name Klyazma(the river begins on the territory of the Moscow region and flows along it for 245 km out of its 686 km) some researchers consider the most ancient hydronym of the Moscow region, preserved since the Stone Age. The explanation of this word requires a deep linguistic analysis, and it, according to scientists, is in the future.

River name Moscow leads in the number of explanations, from the most primitive amateur speculations to quite scientific hypotheses. Author of the 17th century. considered it possible to form this word from the addition of the personal names of the grandson of the biblical forefather Noah Mosokh and his wife Kwa, and the scientist of the XVIII century. I saw the Russian word at the base of the hydronym gangway. It was even allowed to participate in the formation of this name of the ancient Permians and the use of pre-Permian geographical terms mosk -"Key, spring, source, stream, tributary" and wa -"river". According to the Finno-Ugric hypothesis, the word Moscow is explained as "Bear River" or "Bear River". There is even a Sanskrit hypothesis, that is, proceeding from the "proto-language", according to which the word Moscow means liberation, salvation.

But the Baltic etymology of hydronym was widely recognized among specialists. Moscow, developed by Academician V.N.Toporov (1982). He convincingly shows that the source of the oldest forms Moscow, Moskov, Moskova there could be Baltic forms like Mask- (u) va, Mask-ava or Mazg- (u) va, Mazg-ava, denoting something "liquid, wet, slushy, slushy, viscous." Of course, in general Moskva river cannot be considered swampy, but in some parts of its course such a characteristic was quite possible. It is enough to remember that the river begins in Starkovo swamp(it is Moskvoretskaya Puddle), that near Borovitsky hill there were tracts Swamp and Balchug(from Tatar - swamp, mud) that were flooded Vasilievsky meadow, Luzhniki.

However, V.N.Toporov draws attention to the possibility of another explanation: the same root mask- / mazg– could be understood as an indication of the tortuosity of the river (cf. lit. mazgas - node, megzti - to knit). Looking at the map of the Moscow region, we will make sure that no river of this region knits such "knots", and this is its distinctive feature, which the ancient settlers could not fail to note.

Among the names of the rivers, one should highlight those that have the meaning of "river, water flow". By the way, remember that the word itself river is common Slavic. It is probably formed with the suffix -ka from a base that has an Indo-European character (cf. lat. rivus - stream, others - ind. rayas - flow, retas - flow).

River Nara(lp Oka) got its name from the Baltic languages ​​(lit. nara- stream), like a river Llama(item Shoshi) - litas. loma, Latvian. lama“Lowland, narrow long valley; swamp; small pond, puddle. " Hydronyms Lobnya(lt of Klyazma), Lobets(lp Istra), Forehead(nt Shoshi) go back to the Baltic geographic term loba, lobas(valley, river bed). This also includes the hydronym. Lopasnya(lp Oka), where the Baltic basis is complicated by the Russian suffix common in river names - nya... Names Ruza(lp of Moscow) and Russa(Ruzza, Rustsa) (лп Lobi) are based on a term related to the Latvian word ruosa(a narrow meadow with a stream, located between fields or forests). Finally, two rivers Setun(both bp of Moscow) have a name comparable to the Lithuanian sietuva and Latvian sietava- “deep or wide place of the river; midstream".

As for the hydronym Yauza, then four rivers with this name are known, of which three are in the Moscow region: one is a tributary Moscow, the other is Sisters and third - Llamas... Another one Yauza flows in the Smolensk region (pp Gzhati). Name variant Auza allows us to compare this hydronym with a number of similar names in Latvia: rivers Auzas and Auzets, swamp Auzu, meadow Auzi... The relatively limited territory of these names: the west of the Moscow region, the Smolensk region, Latvia - suggests their common Baltic origin, although the meaning of the name for scientists remains unclear.

The names of rivers such as Oak(lt of Ruza), Dubenka(lt of Nara, lt of Klyazma), Dubna(pp of the Volga, pp of the Klyazma), seem obvious in their origin - from the Slavic name of the tree oak... Of course, in most cases this is true, but we must not forget that in the Baltic languages, whose primacy in hydronymy is approved by most scientists, there is a basis dub-: litas. dubine(deepening), du be(valley, depression, hollow), dubuma(pit, depression, depression), etc. So, determining the name of the river with the base oak- , one should take into account not only the vegetation along the banks of the stream, but also the terrain along which it flows. This is confirmed by the hydronym Fields(pp Klyazma) from the Baltic basis pal, pol(swamp), especially since this river flows along the Shatura bogs practically along its entire length.

And here is the name of the river Big Smedva(pp Oki), in the annals Smyadva, outwardly looks like Baltic, formed with the suffix - ( u) va(cf. Moscow, Protva). However, scientists argue that the name is of Vyatichi origin. The fact is that the southern and western Slavs know the word smed, meaning "brown, brown, dark-skinned, brown" in various forms. A number of toponyms are also known on their territory: Smyadovo (Smedovo) In Bulgaria, Smedovac in Serbia, Smyadovo in Poland, etc. Considering that all these are the names of settlements, it can be assumed that they are not formed directly from the adjective smed, but through the anthroponym Smed. Anthroponymic bases, although less common, are also found in river names.

In the northeast of the Moscow region, on the border of the Sergiev Posad region with the Vladimir region, a river flows Mo-lokcha. The presence of variants helps to clarify the origin of this name. Molokhta and Moloksha, which were recorded in the materials of the General Survey of the late 18th century. These options indicate that the item -okcha formed from topoformants -ohta and -oksha , which are related variants of a single ancient term with the meaning "river". Scientists point to the preservation of traces of this ancient Finno-Ugric term in the Mansi language, where there is a term akht(duct). This term, both as a topoformant and independently, as the name of rivers, is widespread throughout the European North. It is enough to remember the river with the name Okhta, flowing into the Neva in St. Petersburg, and many more rivers Okhta, lakes Okhtozero, rivers Okhtoma, Okhtonga, Okhtuya, and Sanokhta, Se-rokhta, Solokhta, Chelmokhta, Shomokhta etc. The river should also be noted Shibakhta(lt of Dubna, rt of the Volga), in the name of which the ancient form -ahta.

By the way, one cannot fail to notice the consonance -ohta/ -akhta with a word understandable for any Russian-speaking person hunting, and immediately remembered ... Let's look at the most eastern outskirts of our country. It is washed by the harsh, eternally cold, but rich in sea animals and fish Sea of ​​Okhotsk. At first glance, it is named so for these qualities: a sea of ​​hunters, a sea of ​​hunters and fishermen ... But no!

Sea of ​​Okhotsk got its name from a relatively small river Hunting, flowing into its waters. This happens: Kara Sea named for the river Caret; it happened here too. But the river Hunting, probably, it was just a real paradise for industrialists who hunted animals and birds, since they called it that ...

Arriving in these lands, Russian explorers asked local residents - Lamuts (now we call them Evens), what is the name of this river. Lamuts answered: "Okat", because in their language the word okat means river. Russians did not hear okat, but your word hunting and they understood it in their own way, as a proper name. Near the mouth of the river Hunting they built a port and named it Okhotsk, and soon the sea, where it flowed, became Okhotsk... This name has gone around all countries of the world, sounds in all languages, appears on all geographical maps. The name is a mistake ... However, we will find many examples of such errors, but more on that later.

The foundation pier– in combination with various topoformants, it is also widespread throughout the North: Mola(Sukhona basin), Rumor(Oka basin), Molonga(Sukhona basin), Molenga(Vagi basin), Mologa(Kostroma basin), Moloksha(the Volga basin), etc. Scientists have not yet determined the meaning of the basis, but its belonging to the language of the people who inhabited the North before the arrival of the Slavs is considered indisputable.

The hydronyms also reveal an undeniable closeness to the hydronyms of the North, which is predominantly of Finnish origin. Vondyuga, Kuyma, Kurga, Fir, Senga, Sundush, Yalma, Yamuga and etc.

Some of the Finnish names can be identified as Meryan. First of all, it is a river Yakhroma(pp Sestry, pp Volga), the largest of the rivers with Finnish names. In the hydronym, the basis is isolated yacht-, defining it as a Meryan "lake", and a topoform-mant - ma.

The people want to know

Many place names are of exceptional antiquity. Some of them have long lost their etymological connections in the language, others have never had these connections, since they were borrowed from other languages. But the desire to somehow explain these incomprehensible names often led to the emergence of the most ridiculous "etymologies" and even entire legends, "backed up" by references to actual historical events. Here is some of them.

Where did the name of the river and the city come from? Samara? According to legend, a small river ran from east to west, and a mighty river rushed its waves from the north Ra(remember that name?).

- Step aside! - the big river shouts to the small river. - Make way for me: because I - Ra!

- And I herself - Ra, - the river responds calmly and continues its run to the west.

Two streams collided with each other - and the majestic river gave way Ra to her small rival: she was forced to turn her current to the west. From words itself+ Ra and was named the river Samara, and at the collision site Volga-Ra formed Samara onion(bend).

Another equally fantastic example of this type is the "etymology" of river names Yakhroma and Vorskla... The first name was allegedly obtained from the exclamation of the wife of Prince Yuri Dolgoruky, who, while crossing this river, twisted her leg and exclaimed: "I am lame!" The legend connects the second name with the name of Peter the Great. Looking through a telescope, the king dropped a lens into the water. Attempts to find "glass" ( squawk) were unsuccessful. Since then, the river began to be called Vorskla("Thief of glass").

Of course, these legends have nothing to do with the actual origin of the corresponding toponyms. But they are important in another respect. The examples considered show how closely folk etymology is associated with oral folk art - folklore. Many legends and legends arose in the same way - as a result of an attempt at etymological understanding of incomprehensible words and names.

By the way, scientists offer several explanations for the name of the river. Vorskla... The most reliable they think is the connection with the Ossetian pile- "white" means "pure water". The name of the river has been known in Russia for a very long time: a hydronym in the form Vrskla mentioned also by Nestor the chronicler in the "Tale of Bygone Years", in the entry under 1111 ("in the summer of 6619").

Of course, you already understood that the rivers in the languages ​​of the ancient settlers were most often called so rivers, streams, channels, water etc. Scientists believe that the Merey (Finno-Ugric tribe) also retained the name Iksha(a small left tributary of the Yakhroma). Hydronym Iksha(option X) often found in the North: Iksha(lp Vyga), Iksha(lt Vetluga), X and Ixozero(Onega basin), X(pp. Vychegdy), X(Pinega basin). This use of the hydronym gives reason to assume in it an ancient river term, which is reflected in the modern Mari language, where xx means "a stream, a small river". In addition, the rivers Iksa / Iksha are also found in the Ob basin, below Novosibirsk, and in the Urals, in the Tavda basin.

By analogy with the northern river names, in the Moscow region hydronym Voymega(pp Poly) Scientists identify the basis voym– and to-formant (element for the formation of a toponym) -ega and indicate that it is the formant (it is easy to find it in the names of such large rivers of the North as Onega, Pinega) is quite plausibly interpreted as a "river" (cf. Karelian. jogi- river, stream).

In the east of the Moscow region, also in the zone of the alleged Meryan settlement, there are rivers Shuvoya(Nerskaya basin) and Shuvoyka or Shuvaika, Shuika(the Moscow basin), the names of which are explained as “swamp rivers” (cf. Karelian, Fin. suo- swamp, oja- stream, ditch). In the same part of the region, in the Lukhovitsky district, the river flows into the Oka Shya- "neck", which in Russian folk terminology means "strait, breakthrough." But a little below the source on this river there is a village Selma(compare Fin. salmi- the strait), and this gives reason to assume that the Russian name was formed by tracing Meryan.

In the north of the area below Suloti v Dubna a canalized river flows into Nushpolka... Its name is derived from the name of the village Nushpola, which, as scientists assume, has Meryan roots ( nusha- nettle). The name of the river is probably also Meryan. Korbushka(Vory basin), which in the scribes of the XVI century. referred to as Korbuga, where the base is korb- (Wed Karelian. korpi, korbi- dense forest), and - huh- widespread in the North topoform-mant (river term).

By the end of the 1st - the beginning of the 2nd millennium A.D. NS. the appearance of early Slavic hydronymy, which is usually associated with tribes Krivichi and Vyatichi... The Krivichi came to the Moscow region from the lower reaches of the Vistula and settled along the right tributaries of the Volga, and the Vyatichi, coming from the southwest, settled along the Oka and its tributaries.

The low density of the Baltic and Finnish population allowed the new settlers to freely settle on unoccupied lands. As a result of peaceful coexistence with their predecessors, the Slavs mastered the names of large and most of the middle rivers that existed before their arrival, and gave their names only to previously unnamed rivers. These turned out to be some medium-sized rivers and numerous small rivers. Russian people did not come as conquerors and did not impose their linguistic laws on the world they were living in!

Of the middle rivers, relatively few and not very significant (length 50 - 75 km) are of Slavic (Russian) origin. They are easily recognized due to the formation of their names from Old Russian words: Velya(pp of Dubna) - from others - rus. velia(large), Gum(lp Pakhra; lp Guslitsy) - from the glories. gums(right), Lutoshnya- from Russian. lutoshka(linden tree, from which the bark was removed, the bark was torn off), Sword(lp Vozhi) - from others - Russian. sword(bearish), Urine(pp Pakhry) - from Russian. urine(water, moisture; slush, dirt, dampness, phlegm), Hotch - from a non-canonical anthroponymic basis Hot(there is such a male name in the modern Kabardino-Circassian language).

The name should be assigned to the same category. Ponora. It is formed by the term ponor, brought from the southern Slavs. In Bulgarian and Serbo-Croatian languages, it means "the place where water goes underground", which is due to the development of karst. In the world scientific literature, the term entered as "absorbing well in karst sinkholes." But in the Moscow region the river Ponora(the Klyazma basin) flows through a vast swamp massif, where there is no karst, and the “disappearance” of the river is associated with the uncertainty of its banks in a waterlogged bog.

Among the early Slavic hydronyms, there are many such that reflect the characteristic features of the named objects, for example, a river Kamenka(rocky bottom), lakes Long, Black, Trostenskoe etc. For the formation of adjectives, the suffix was often used -nya: rivers Voloshnya - from dragging(a place for dragging ships from one river to another), Nails - from guazda(mud, swamp), Golutnya(naked, with treeless shores), Zlobinya(furious, dangerous) Mutnya(cloudy), Sand(sandy character of the soil), Sitnya - from sieves(a generalized name for a number of aquatic plants).

Rivers (rivers) were also named after the villages located on them: Bunyatka - in the village Bunyatino, Dyatlinka - on Dyatlino, Elinka - on Yelnya, Samoryadovka - on Samoryadovo etc. As a rule, a characteristic feature of such names is the presence of a diminutive suffix -ka, if it is not present in the name of the village (cf. river Melnichevka - in the village Melnichevka).

A number of Russian hydronyms are formed using folk geographic terms meaning "river". The very term river, as you can see, it is not used in the names. Single name Old River refers to an old lake in the floodplain of the Moskva River. But speaker, old diminutive river, in the past it seems to have been very common. There are 26 rivers in the Oka basin with the name Rechitsa, moreover, four of them are located within the Moscow region (the Severki settlement, the Sturgeon settlement, the Nerskoy settlement, the Mordves settlement).

Interesting term well, which has only an external resemblance to the modern word and is in no way synonymous with it. In the past, this term meant "a source, a small waterway", was mentioned in scribes from the 16th century. So, within the former Kashirsky district, they celebrate Thunderwell, Creek Well, spring Holy Well and even a ravine Well, along which, apparently, melt and rainwater ran down. The names of two settlements with this term have also survived to this day: White Wells(Ozersky district) and Wells(Naro-Fominsk district).

Of other terms, it should be noted student and talitsa... The first is “a key, a source, a spring; a well that gives cold water. " Name Student carries a number of rivers and streams - tributaries of the Istra, Klyazma, Oka, Sturgeon, Yauza and Moscow. Within the city of Moscow, two are known Studenetsky lane (on Presnya and Taganka).

Places in the river, where springs gush, springs come out, often do not freeze. Such places are called talits. Talitsa- the name of a number of non-freezing springs, streams, rivers, and two villages are named after them Talitsy(Istra and Pushkin districts).

In the Moscow region, there are several hundred lakes of various origins, mostly small. Scientists argue that there are few pre-Russian names for these reservoirs: the lake Senezhskoe(Solnechnogorsk district) named after the river with a Finnish name Senga; Lake Nerskoe(Dmitrovsky district), according to scientists, got its name from the Indo-European root bunk/ ner associated with the concepts of "humidity, flow"; Lake Imles has a name of unknown origin.

Russian names absolutely dominate, among which are descriptive names that characterize any features of the lake: Round, Long, Borovoe, Oak, Karasevo, Shchuchye, Trostenskoe etc. There are several White and Black lakes, and often these are paired names: Black-Spasskoye, Black-Bordukovskoe.

Name White As a rule, they get non-growing lakes with light sandy bottom and shores, clear water, which gives the impression of purity and whiteness. Look different Black lakes: they usually have a peat bottom, swampy shores, water saturated with organic substances; the peat bottom gives the impression of the blackness of the water, although it is completely transparent.

Name Deep have really deep lakes. One of them, in the Ruza region, has a depth of up to 32 m, that is, it is one of the deepest lakes in the European part of Russia. Several lakes have a name Holy, which is usually associated with local legends.

A small karst lake is known on the territory of the Prioksko-Terrasny reserve Shafts Eye... A popular geographical term is used in this name. eye, which is a metaphorical borrowing from anatomical vocabulary. Realistically, this term connects the Moscow region with the North, where in the forms oculist, glazin, glazovina it means "a puddle, a window in a swamp."

It is worth noting in the names of lakes the term and a friend(deaf lonely lake; oxbow; pool; swamp, flooded with water; branch of the river). This term is fixed in the south of the region in the name of the lake. Istrug(the right bank of the Oka), but in the past, as scientists note, it had a wider use.

The water is alive and dead

Did you know that the most "dead" is not the Dead Sea, but the Lake of Death on the island of Sicily? There is no vegetation on its shores, and every creature that falls into it dies. As it turned out, two sources of concentrated sulfuric acid gushed from the bottom of the lake. It is they who poison the water.

Lake Balkhash(in Kazakhstan) is one of a kind: in its western part, where a full-flowing river flows into Or, the water is fresh, and in the eastern part, which is not replenished with a significant amount of fresh water, it is salty.

The world's deepest lake is ours Baikal. Its depth is up to 1620 m. Imagine how much good fresh water! The Angara River flows out of Baikal, and 336 rivers flow into it.

Now let's open a large atlas and turn to other hydronyms of our planet.

Have Dnipro, like the Volga, the modern name is not the first and not the only one. The ancient Greeks mentioned the great northern river famous for its dangerous rapids Borisfen: it flowed along the steppes of Scythia and emptied into the Black Sea - the Euxine Pontus, as they called it, not far from the mouth of other rivers well known to them - Dunastra and Bront. In these names it is easy to guess the current Dniester and Rod. Decrypt the name Dnieper, relying on the Greek language, it was not possible, just as it was not possible to find out the meaning of this name based on the Turkic languages, since the nomadic Turks, the neighbors of the ancient Russians in the Dnieper region, called the river Uzu or Ozu.

Several centuries later, the Genoese called it in their own way: Elsie, Eleksi... None of these names have anything to do with the word Dnieper does not have.

Of course, only the people who lived along its banks could give the name to the Dnieper. Scientists have suggested that these were the Scythians. Once they inhabited the entire steppe south of Eastern Europe, and throughout this space we meet rivers with names that resemble each other: Don, Dnieper, Dniester, Danube... We find many rivers bearing the name Don, in Ossetia. Among the Ossetians, the closest relatives of the long-disappeared Scythian people, this word simply means "river", "water".

Scientists admit that the Scythians, moving along our steppes from east to west, first stumbled upon the first nameless river, which amazed them with its greatness. As was typical of ancient people, they "called the cat - Cat", gave the river a name River, Don... Then, moving on, they came out to another mighty stream. They left, probably in the place where the water compressed by the gorges, swirling and foaming, flew along the rapids between the slippery cliffs licked by the waves ... Whiteness The rapids struck the imagination of the nomads, and they called this river, as they used to, the River, but added to this word another, meaning foam, spray, which in Scythian sounded something like "prh". From the combination "Don + prh" the name was born Dnieper.

By the way, the Scythian word sounded differently in different languages. The Gothic (who wrote in Latin) historian Jordan (VI century) - Danaprus... In the Scandinavian sagas of the Edda - Danpar... In the oldest Slavic manuscripts - Dnapr... The Arab historian Ibn Said (X century) - Tanabor... On a medieval map of Munster - Napier... Western European travelers of the XVI century. - Dinper, Dniper, Danambert... The Eastern Slavs - Dnpr, Dnipro.

As you can see, the name Dnieper originated many centuries earlier than on the steep bank of this river opposite the mouth Gums the capital city arose Kiev.

Some scholars believe that the name Dnieper derived from the Scythian Danu-Apara- "back - in relation to the Dniester - the river", thinking that it was given to the Dnieper by the Scythians who lived to the west, already on the Balkan Peninsula. Take him out of Danapras- in Scythian "fast-flowing", "stormy".

On the map of Ukraine, the name of the left tributary of the Dnieper seems strange - Gum: because the word gum means in translation from the Slavic "right". Scientists explain this discrepancy by the fact that our ancestors came to these lands from the south, from the steppes of the North Caucasus, and then Gum was on their right in the direction of movement.

Name Gum confirms the principle of naming rivers according to any of their signs: in one case it is the nature of the flow, in the other - the color or taste of the water, in the third - the size, in the fourth - the features of the bottom, in the fifth - the area where it flows, or coastal vegetation and etc.

For example, the river Ohm, on which there is a large industrial city Omsk, was named so for its smooth and slow flow (in the language of the Baraba Tatars, the word ohm means "quiet"). On the same basis, they gave a name and Cupid, christening Amur thus, referring to its calm flow (in Mongolian Amur means "calm"). And here Bystrica and Hurry(pp of the Western Dvina), on the contrary, was named so for their fast, "hasty" course. For the same restless disposition they were named Proney right tributaries Oki and Eat(cf. Czech. prony - impetuous, violent) and the right tributary of the Dniester Stryi(with the same root as stirrup -"Fast flow" and impetuous).

The bitter taste of water (from salt marshes) was the culprit in the name of the left tributary of the Don - Manych(in Turkic manach means "bitter").

River Yellow he got its name from the color of the water (in Chinese huang means "yellow", and heh -"River"), just like several rivers under the name Belaya and Aksu in Russia and post-Soviet republics (in Turkic ak means "white", and su -"water"). By the way, there are a lot of such "colored" names of rivers. Remember at least the rivers Red(in China and Vietnam) and Colorado(in the USA). The latter name comes from Spanish, where rio colorado means "Red river". Colorado was named so for the water, reddish from clay, washed away by the current of the canyons. Frequent in the European part of Russia Rudny so named for the reddish and brown tint of the water (from clay or marsh ores); Wed dial. ore(ginger).

The river received the characteristic of the black river for the corresponding color of the water Msta in the Novgorod region, flowing into the lake Ilmen(in Western Finno-Ugric languages musta means "dark, black").

It is believed that rivers of milk flow (necessarily in the jelly banks) only in fairy tales. But this is not true. With the river Dairy we meet both in the Azov region and in the Dnieper basin. These rivers received such a name for the "milky", unclear color of the water.

For the curvature and turns are named By chance tributaries Pripyat and Goryni: word occasion derived from the adjective snoop(curved, curved); the same root of the word onion(firing weapon), bend, sly, lukomorye.

It is clear that the rivers got their name for the coastal vegetation. Lipovka, Olshanka, Vyazovka(for lindens, alders and elms along the banks), and a more general name was given to a small Drezna, which flows into the Klyazma near Moscow (cf. dresda and drez-na- "forest"), and one of the largest rivers in the world - Congo(in language Bantu this word means "mountains").

And yet, the most interesting name for the rivers will be the word ... river... This word translates into Russian the names of such rivers as Orinoco, Parana, Ganges, Indus, Zaire.

The name of the picturesque Ural river Chusovaya is a unique multi-storey layer of the concept of "river", which it received at different times from different peoples who inhabited its banks. Each of the syllables in the name of this river means "river". Thus, pronouncing "Chusovaya river", you repeat the same word five times in different languages ​​- river!

A lake is a closed depression in the land, filled with water and not directly connected to the ocean. Unlike rivers, lakes are reservoirs of slow water exchange. The total area of ​​the Earth's lakes is about 2.7 million km 2, or about 1.8% of the land surface. Lakes are ubiquitous, but uneven. The geographical location of lakes is greatly influenced by the climate, which determines their nutrition and evaporation, as well as factors contributing to the formation of lake depressions. In areas with a humid climate, there are many lakes, they are deep, fresh and mostly flowing. In areas with a dry climate, other things being equal, there are fewer lakes, they are often shallow, more often drainless, and therefore often salty.

Thus, the distribution of lakes and their hydrochemical characteristics are due to geographic zoning.

The largest lake is Caspian (area 368 thousand km 2). The largest are also Lakes Superior, Huron and Michigan (North America), Victoria (Africa), Aral (Eurasia). The deepest are Baikal (Eurasia) - 1620 m and Tanganyika (Africa) - 1470 m.

It is customary to classify lakes according to four criteria:

- the origin of the lake basins;
- the origin of the water mass;
- water regime;
- salinity (amount of solutes).

According to the origin of the lake basins, the lakes are divided into five groups.

1 ... Tectonic lake basins are formed as a result of the formation of cracks, faults and subsidence of the earth's crust. They are distinguished by great depth and steepness of slopes (Baikal, Great North American and African Lakes, Winnipeg, Big Slave, Dead Sea, Chad, Eyre, Titicaca, Poopo, etc.).

2 ... Volcanic, which are formed in craters of volcanoes or in depressions of lava fields (Kurilskoye and Kronotskoye in Kamchatka, many lakes of Java and New Zealand).

3 ... Glacial lake basins are formed in connection with the plowing activity of glaciers (erosion) and the accumulation of water in front of glacial landforms, when the glacier, during melting, deposited the transported material, forming hills, ridges, uplands and depressions - site. These lakes are usually narrow and long, oriented along the lines of glacier melting (lakes in Finland, Karelia, Alps, Ural, Caucasus, etc.).

4 ... Karst lakes, the basins of which arose as a result of sinkholes, soil subsidence and erosion of rocks (limestone, gypsum, dolomite). The dissolution of these rocks with water leads to the formation of deep, but insignificant in area, lake basins.

5 ... Dam (dammed, or dam) lakes arise as a result of blocking the channel (valley) of the river with blocks of rocks during collapses in the mountains (Sevan, Tana, many lakes of the Alps, Himalayas and other mountainous countries). From a large mountain collapse in the Pamirs in 1911, the Sarez Lake was formed with a depth of 505 m.

A number of lakes are formed by other reasons:

- estuary lakes are widespread on the shores of the seas - these are coastal areas of the sea, isolated from it by means of coastal spits;
- oxbow lakes - lakes that have arisen in old riverbeds.

By the origin of the water mass, lakes are of two types.

1 . Atmospheric... These are lakes that have never been part of the oceans. Such lakes prevail on Earth.
2 . Relict, or residual, lakes that appeared on the site of the retreating seas (Caspian, Aral, Ladoga, Onega, Ilmen, etc.). In the recent past, the Caspian Sea was connected with the Strait of Azov, which existed on the site of the current valley of the Manych River.

By water regime also distinguish two types of lakes - waste and wasteless.

1 ... Waste lakes are lakes into which rivers flow into and out of which (lakes have a drain). These lakes are most often found in a zone of excessive moisture.
2 ... Endless - into which rivers flow, but none of them flows out (lakes have no flow). Such lakes are located mainly in the zone of insufficient moisture.

By the amount of dissolved substances four types of lakes are distinguished: fresh, salty, brackish and mineral.

1 ... Fresh lakes - salinity of which does not exceed 1 ‰ (one ppm).
2 ... Brackish - the salinity of such lakes is up to 24 ‰.
3 ... Salty - with a content of solutes in the range of 24.7-47 ‰.
4 ... Mineral (47 ‰). These lakes are soda, sulfate, chloride. In mineral lakes, salts can precipitate. For example, the self-deposited lakes Elton and Baskunchak, where salt is mined.

Typically, sewage lakes are fresh, as the water in them is continuously renewed. Lakes without drainage are more often salty, because evaporation predominates in their water flow, and all minerals remain in the reservoir.

Lakes, like rivers, are the most important natural resources; are used by humans for shipping, water supply, fishing, irrigation, obtaining mineral salts and chemical elements. In some places, small lakes are often artificially created by man. Then they are also called reservoirs.

Experts are sounding the alarm about the catastrophic state of the Volga and many other rivers of the Russian Federation.

Economist Valentin Neverov comments:

The Volga, first of all, as well as many other rivers and reservoirs of the European-Ural and North Caucasian regions of the country are catastrophically shallow and polluted. It comes to the point that many coastal cities and towns are forced ... to bring fresh water from other regions, and tourists who are accustomed to cruises on Russian rivers change into buses and trains. Freight traffic on waterways, including the Eurasian route Neva-Ladoga-Volga-Astrakhan (“Volgo-Balt”), is also falling.

This situation was recently announced by the "Hydrometeorological Center", "Rosturizm", "Green Patrol" of the Volga Basin, the Volga Department of Roshydromet. So, in the second quarter of 2015, the inflow of water into the Volga-Kama cascade of hydroelectric power plants is expected to be 15-40% lower than the norm. The inflow of water into the Ivankovskoye reservoir (one of the largest in the Moscow water supply system) will make up only 45% of the required volume. In addition, for the first ten days of June this year. in the largest lakes of the European part of Russia, the water level was recorded, significantly lower than the standard. For example, in Ladoga, this figure was 76 cm below the norm, in Lake Ilmen (Novgorod region) - by 42, in the Pskov and Peipsi lakes (the largest Estonian-Western Russian water basin), respectively, by 30 and 27 cm.

What happens to our bodies of water? The experts can be said to be in solidarity in assessing the main causes of the situation. First, since the late 1980s. in the Russian Federation there is no, and is not yet foreseen, a unified, efficient system of state management of ecology, forestry and water resources. Secondly, the massive and long-term deforestation of coastal forests, as well as the growing scale of coastal dumps and waste dumped into water, have actually destroyed the water supply sources and the self-cleaning structure of rivers, lakes, and reservoirs. And as a result - a sharp deterioration in water quality, erosion of coasts, irreparable damage to aquatic biological resources, flora and fauna not only of water basins, but also of nearby areas. In the last 10 years alone, the total stocks of fish resources in rivers, lakes, reservoirs of the European, Ural and North Caucasian regions of the country have decreased by more than half.

Third, in the same regions, the consequences of the "record" rates of drainage of bogs and other reclamation measures carried out in the 1960s - 1980s continue to affect. with systematic violations of technological and environmental standards. Finally, fourthly: the cleaning of the bottom, coasts and channels of water bodies has been carried out for several years, at most, at a level of 40% of the required volume. Hence - and such a disastrous result for almost all waterways and basins of the European-Ural and North Caucasian regions. Which, of course, has a negative effect on the state of agricultural soils and other components of the local biosphere. At the same time, the level of fines for environmental violations, at best, purely symbolic compensation for the damage caused.

In addition, there are many schemes for avoiding the official statement of environmental violations, respectively, from paying fines. First of all, experts propose to return the state to water and forestry, in general - to the protection of the biosphere. Moreover, with tough measures against violators of technological and environmental standards. But what to do in conditions when the volume of state funding for reforestation, water treatment, waste disposal, reconstruction of reclamation networks, etc. are shrinking? When is there an increasing lack of domestic technologies and personnel? When, finally, there is no state control over the use of money allocated for the solution of environmental protection and related tasks?

Today it is also worth remembering that clear cutting of forests, including coastal, as well as soil-protective forest belts started ... back in the mid-1950s, which already then led to a sharp decline in soil fertility and shallowing of water areas. Strange as it may seem, but precisely such consequences were predetermined by the decree of the Central Committee and the Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 192 of February 7, 1955 "On increasing forest felling in the central, southern and western regions and improving forestry in the USSR." The document permitted, for example, "... logging and logging in the forests of forbidden and protective zones along rivers, lakes, reservoirs, highways and railways."

By the way, such an amazing fact, from our point of view, can testify to the atmosphere that then developed in society around nature protection problems. At the end of August 1954, in the midst of the notorious virgin land epic, the Party Central Committee received a letter from professors-foresters P. Vasiliev, V. Timofeev, corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences N. Baransky and academician-agrarian V. Sukhachev with a proposal to convince the outstanding Russian the writer Leonid Leonov ... to remake his novel "Russian Forest", published during Stalin's lifetime, in January 1953. And, above all, to remove from the novel "bourgeois theories of a certain" constancy "of the forest ...". Say, "... the author exaggerates, especially in the RSFSR, the consequences of expanding logging."

True, this letter was not given a move. But in the context of the post-Stalinist forestry, water management, environmental, and general economic policy, the case is quite remarkable. And how is the situation of those distant years, in fact, very similar to the current one, isn't it?

Especially for the Centenary

With the onset of cold weather and low air temperatures, it was interesting for us to observe the action of rivers and lakes. After all, small puddles immediately freeze at low temperatures. And there are no rivers and lakes, although this is all water. Why does this happen in nature? Why rivers and lakes do not freeze overnight, but gradually. How does the freezing of water occur in lakes and rivers?

Usually the river originates in the mountains. At first it is a small stream, then it merges with other streams and a large stream is obtained. Gradually, the water accumulates and many streams form a full-flowing river.

A large river may have tributaries, that is, other rivers. Rivers not only flow into each other, but can also flow into the sea or ocean.

How does the ice begin to freeze near a river that flows into a lake?

In order to answer this question, we will conduct a little experiment. Pour water into a plate and set in frost. After about thirty minutes, the water begins to freeze. The first ice appears on the water at the edges of the saucer. Further observation shows that the ice cover sets in gradually as the water cools, from the edge of the plate towards the middle. This can be explained by the fact that there is less water at the edges of the plate, so it cools and freezes faster. Closer to the center, the water layer is thicker and takes longer to cool and freeze.

The same thing happens in nature. When subzero temperatures are established on lakes and shallow bodies of water near the coast, where the depth is shallow, shallow ice appears, popularly called rims. As the frost intensifies, the water also cools in deeper places and freezes. This process proceeds in the same way as in our experience from the banks of the reservoir to the center.

The coast is very shallow and in order to freeze, the temperature near the coast is not very low. The river cannot start to freeze from the middle. The middle of the river is too deep, which can be about 50 meters deep.

If the ice begins to freeze from the middle, then it can be crushed by the pressure of the river. At depth, the temperature is much higher than the surrounding air - this delays the freezing of the river

Let's watch the river where it flows into the lake:

For several days of observing this place, we see that the freezing of the river at the place of its confluence is slowed down due to the current, and the ice floe does not have time to catch on to the banks. In this place, the river freezes for a very long time, if the frosts are not stronger. Freezing in this place also occurs from the bank to the middle, but slower than in the upper reaches of the river.

When the river makes an ice bridge across the river, the ice floe will be carried to the place downstream, this ice floe will catch on to the banks. So it will be until the whole river is covered with these ice floes. When the frosts hit, all these ice floes will combine into one strong ice.

In the spring, when the ice begins to melt, ice floes of sweat begin to float along rivers or forest streams. Rivers begin to thaw from the middle, and along the edges of the ice floes will not melt for a long time. But there are times when floating ice floes stumble upon not melted ice. And then the flood begins.

A frozen lake under a layer of snow

To do this, you can conduct an experiment:

We put a plate of water in the cold, we will see that the plate will begin to freeze from the edges, gradually towards the center, because the water is warmer at depth than on the surface.

When all the water has cooled, the ice will cover the entire plate, and freezing also occurs in the lake.

Why are rivers and lakes starting to freeze like this? The water is colder near the coast, and the water is warmer at depth.

Rivers and lakes begin to freeze from the shore and melt from the middle.

Before going out on the ice, you need to know the rules.

Rules of conduct on ice

1. You cannot go out on thin ice - you can fall under the ice.

2. Ice with a thickness of at least 10 centimeters in fresh water and 15 centimeters in salt water is considered safe for humans. At river mouths and tributaries, the ice strength is weakened. Ice is fragile in places of fast currents, gushing springs and runoff waters, as well as in areas where aquatic vegetation grows, near trees, bushes and reeds.

3. Ice strength can be determined visually: blue ice is strong, white ice is 2 times less strong, gray, dull white or yellowish ice is unreliable.

4. While driving along a frozen river, it is necessary to bypass areas covered with a layer of snow