Drainage network

Subject / Topography
HYDROGRAPHIC NETWORK. Over 19500 rivers and 1800 lakes (Ladoga and Onega being the largest ones) form the H. N. of the Leningrad Oblast. The river network is dense and ramified. One exception is the Izhora Hills where the river network density is the lowest in the North-Wes and North of Russia (0.07 km/sq. km) The influence of the Baltic Sea and many inland reservoirs determined the climate of the Oblast, which is transitional from continental to marine (milder in the western areas.) The Oblast territory belongs to the Baltic Sea basin, except for reservoirs on the south-eastern slope of the northern ridges of the Valdai Hills relating to the Volga Basin (the Chagoda, Lid, and Kolp rivers.) The average river slope is 20-40 cm per 1 km of way. Rivers with rapids can be found in the south-west and east of the Oblast in the way of intersection of limestone depositions of the Ordovician and carboniferous plateaus (e.g. the Tosna or the Sablinka.) Typical for most rivers is high spring tide, since snow precipitation makes 50% of their supply, rains - 30% of their supply, and ground/subsurface waters, 20% of their supply. However, the five largest rivers ( the Neva, the Volkhov, the Svir, the Narova, the Vuoksa) flow out of lakes, which determines a low variability of their drainage during the year. On the Valdai Hills where rivers flow in readily soluble rocks, river going underground into sinkholes and re-occurring on the surface after few hundred meters may be observed (the Ragusha and Bolshaya Pyalyitsa rivers etc.) The lakes (w/o Lake Ladoga) occupy abt. 14% of the Oblast area (the Karelian Isthmus is especially abundant in lakes.) Most of the lakes in the Oblast are of glacial origin; there are also kame, lagoon, floodplain, and karst lakes. There are some artificial reservoirs (the largest ones are Narvskoye on the Narova River and Ivinskoye on the Svir.) The predominant marsh type is upper moss moors (75% of the marsh area) formed in flat watersheds and interfluves (e.g. Sinyavinskoye Marsh at the watershed of the Tosna and the Mga, Verestinsky Mokh at the watershed of the Tosna and the Tigoda, and Lar’yanskoye Marsh at the watershed of the Tikhvinka and the Volozhba.) The Izhora Hills and the Karelian Isthmus are the least waterlogged. The river system has long favored the development of trade (see “Trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks.”) Canals construction began in the 18th century, although the Swedish administration had made such efforts as early as in the 16th and 17th centuries in the Karelian Isthmus (see Ladoga Canals, Syas Canals, White Sea-Baltic Waterway, Volgo-Baltic Waterway, Tikhvin Canal System.). The canals supported the economic and cultural development of several remote districts of the Oblast. Flour mills and sawmills were built on the rivers. In the 20th century, the rivers became a source of electric energy. In 1926, the largest Volkhov Hydroelectric Power Station was built on the Volkhov River; the Lower Svir Hydroelectric Power Station (1933) and the Upper Svir Hydroelectric Power Station (1952) were built on the Svir . For the most part, the Oblast is sufficiently provided with fresh ground water. It has over 3000 artesian wells. In the western areas, the Gostilitsi, Ropsha, Kipen, Duderhof, Taitsy, Pudost, and Khrevitsi springs are the most important , and in the east, the Valdai Ledge springs formed by the Veps Hills and the Tikhvin ridge are the important as well (e.g. Gugoya Spring in Lukino village, Tikhvin District.) Spring water was also used in the construction of the Peterhof fountains (see Ropsha Canal.) The mineral waters include hydrocarbon calcium and magnesium (Duderhof Heights, environs of Mga settlement), sulfate sodium (Volkhov and Kirishi Districts, Podborovye on the Syas River), hydrosulfide (left bank of the Mga River, valleys of the Pasha and the Kolp), radon (the Slavyanka River estuary, environs of Lopukhinka village, Vyborg City), chalybeate (the Tosna valley.)
The rivers and lakes are places or recreation for residents of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Oblast. Located on the banks of reservoirs are numerous tourist centers; sporting events related to water sports are arranged also (such as “Vuoksa” water tourist festival in Losevo.) Chistyakov, Anton Yuryevich
Topographical landmarks/Baltic Sea, the
Topographical landmarks/Bolshaya Pyal'itsa River, the
Topographical landmarks/Chagoda River, the
Topographical landmarks/Duderhof Heights, the
Topographical landmarks/Duderhof Springs
Topographical landmarks/Gostilitsi Springs
Topographical landmarks/Gugoya Spring
Topographical landmarks/Ivinskoye Reservoir, the
Topographical landmarks/Izhora Hills, the
Topographical landmarks/Karelian Isthmus, the
Topographical landmarks/Khrevitsi Springs
Leningrad Oblast, the/Kirishi District
Topographical landmarks/Kolp River, the
Topographical landmarks/Ladoga Canals, the
Topographical landmarks/Ladoga Lake
Topographical landmarks/Lar'yanskoye Marsh
Topographical landmarks/Lid River, the
Leningrad Oblast, the/Lomonosov District/Lopukhinka Village
Leningrad Oblast, the/Priozersk District/Losevo Settlement, Railway Station
Leningrad Oblast, the/Tikhvin District/Lukino Village
Topographical landmarks/Mga River, the
Leningrad Oblast, the/Kirovsk District/Mga Urban Settlement
Topographical landmarks/Narova River, the
Topographical landmarks/Narva Reservoir, the
Topographical landmarks/Neva River, the
Topographical landmarks/Onega Lake
Topographical landmarks/Pasha River, the
Leningrad Oblast, the/Boksitogorsk District/Podborovye Settlement
Topographical landmarks/Pudost Springs
Topographical landmarks/Ragusha River, the
Topographical landmarks/Ropsha Springs
Topographical landmarks/Sablinka River, the
Topographical landmarks/Sestra River, the
Topographical landmarks/Sinyavinskoye Marsh
Topographical landmarks/Slavyanka River, the
Topographical landmarks/Slavyanka River, the
Topographical landmarks/Svir River, the
Topographical landmarks/Syas canals, the
Topographical landmarks/Syas River, the
Topographical landmarks/Taytsi Springs
Topographical landmarks/Tigoda River, the
Topographical landmarks/Tikhvin Ridge, the
Topographical landmarks/Tikhvinka River, the
Topographical landmarks/Tosna River, the
Topographical landmarks/Valdai Hills, the
Topographical landmarks/Valdai Ledge
Topographical landmarks/Veps Hills, the
Topographical landmarks/Verestinsky Mokh Marsh (Verestino Moss Marsh)
Leningrad Oblast, the/Volkhov District
Topographical landmarks/Volkhov River, the
Topographical landmarks/Volozhba River, the
Topographical landmarks/Vuoksa River, the
Leningrad Oblast, the/Vyborg District/Vyborg Town
Евгеньев Г. По рекам и озерам Ленинградской области. Л.: Лениздат, 1962.
Ильина Л.Л., Грахов А.Н. Бесценное богатство: Рассказ о реках и озерах Ленинградской области Л.: Гидрометеоиздат, 1978. 144 с.: ил.
Исаченко Г. А. «Окно в Европу»: История и ландшафты. СПб., 1998, С. 255-311
Кириллова В.А., Распопов И.М. Озера Ленинградской области Л.: Лениздат, 1971. 152 с.: ил., С. 255-311
Ladoga Canals, the
Syas Canals , the
Tikhvin Canal System
Volgo-Baltic Waterway, the
White Sea-Baltic Sea Waterway, the