The Korkodon (russian: Коркодон; ykg, Коркигэ) is a river in

Magadan Oblast Magadan Oblast ( rus, Магаданская область, r=Magadanskaya oblast, p=məgɐˈdanskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ) is a federal subject (an oblast) of Russia. It is geographically located in the Far East region of the country, and is adminis ...

Russian Far East The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admini ...

. It is a right tributary of the

Kolyma Kolyma (russian: Колыма́, ) is a region located in the Russian Far East. It is bounded to the north by the East Siberian Sea and the Arctic Ocean, and by the Sea of Okhotsk to the south. The region gets its name from the Kolyma River an ...

, with a length of a

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...

of . The upper reaches of the river are in

Omsukchansky District Omsukchansky District (russian: Омсукча́нский райо́н) is an administrativeLaw #1292-OZ district (raion), one of the eight in Magadan Oblast, Russia. As a municipal division, it is incorporated as Omsukchansky Urban Okrug.Law ...

, then it flows across the

Srednekansky District Srednekansky District (russian: Среднека́нский райо́н) is an administrative district (raion), one of the eight in Magadan Oblast, Russia.Law #1292-OZ As a municipal division, it is incorporated as Srednekansky Urban Okrug.La ...

in its lower course.

Google Earth Google Earth is a computer program that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satellite images, aerial photography, and geog ...

The name of the river originated in the

Northern Yukaghir language The Tundra Yukaghir language (also known as Northern Yukaghir; self-designation: Вадул аруу ()) is one of only two extant Yukaghir languages. Last spoken in the tundra belt extending between the lower Indigirka to the lower Kolyma basi ...

. The Korkodon basin is a desolate area; there are no settlements, but since the lower reaches of the river are navigable;

timber rafting Timber rafting is a method of transporting felled tree trunks by tying them together to make rafts, which are then drifted or pulled downriver, or across a lake or other body of water. It is arguably, after log driving, the second cheapest mean ...

was carried out in the 20th century.

Course

The Korkodon is the fifth longest tributary of the Kolyma and the third in basin area. It has its sources in the Korkodon Range of the

Kolyma Mountains The Kolyma Mountains or Kolyma Upland ( rus, Колымское нагорье, r=Kolymskoye Nagorye) is a system of mountain ranges in northeastern Siberia, lying mostly within the Magadan Oblast, along the shores of the Sea of Okhotsk in the Ko ...

. It heads first roughly northwards within a swampy valley between the Korkodon Range to the west and the Molkaty and Kongin ranges to the east. Halfway through its course it bends and flows west and then southwestwards, fringing the

Yukaghir Highlands The Yukaghir Highlands ( rus, Юкагирское нагорье) are a mountainous area in the Sakha Republic and Magadan Oblast, Far Eastern Federal District, Russia. The area is named after the Yukaghir people. Geography The Yukaghir High ...

. In its lower course it meanders and flows through a wide flat valley. Finally the river joins the right bank of the

from its mouth at an elevation of . The Korkodon has some very long tributaries. The most important ones are the long Bulun and the long Bolshoy Yarkodon from the right; and the long Pungali and the long Biliriken from the left. There are over 1,100 lakes in the Korkodon basin, most of them of the

thermokarst Thermokarst is a type of terrain characterised by very irregular surfaces of marshy hollows and small hummocks formed as ice-rich permafrost thaws. The land surface type occurs in Arctic areas, and on a smaller scale in mountainous areas such as ...

type ( alas), as well as

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

s. The river freezes between mid October and mid May, but

polynyas A polynya () is an area of open water surrounded by sea ice. It is now used as a geographical term for an area of unfrozen seawater within otherwise contiguous pack ice or fast ice. It is a loanword from the Russian полынья (), whic ...

may form in the lower reaches.

Fauna

Among the fish species found in the river

Arctic char The Arctic char or Arctic charr (''Salvelinus alpinus'') is a cold-water fish in the family Salmonidae, native to alpine lakes and arctic and subarctic coastal waters. Its distribution is Circumpolar North. It spawns in freshwater and populatio ...

pike Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to: Fish * Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus'' * Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes * ''Esox'', genus of ...

sucker Sucker may refer to: General use * Lollipop or sucker, a type of confection * Sucker (slang), a slang term for a very gullible person * Hard candy ** Cough drop ** Mint (candy) Biology * Sucker (botany), a term for a shoot that arises undergro ...

lenok Lenoks, otherwise known as Asiatic trout or Manchurian trout,James Card: Fly fishing in South Korea.' Retrieved 22 June 2015. are salmonid fish of the genus ''Brachymystax'', native to rivers and lakes in Mongolia, Kazakhstan, wider Siberia (incl ...

and whitefish deserve mention.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Kolyma - Modern Guidebook to Magadan Oblast
Rivers of Magadan Oblast

Course

Fauna

See also

References

External links