#taz river

[mostly-history]

Artifacts from Mangazeya in Moscow's State Historical Museum (Russia).

Mangazeya was founded in 1601 by Cossacks as a fort near the Taz Estuary, and after Russian mariners discovered the northern sea route to there from Arkhangel, it grew into a properous town.  Wealthy merchant engaged in illicit trade of valuable goods, including walrus and mammoth ivory; sable, ermine and fox skins; silk and other expensive fabrics; and porcelain.  They had trade links as far away as China, and Mangazeya was once described as “a virtual Baghdad of Siberia”.

Reports of Siberia's vast wealth in furs spread far and wide, and the Moscow government became concerned at the attention the region was getting.  They worried that other European countries might try to trade directly with the natives, or even launch an armed invasion to seize north-western Siberia.  Meanwhile, inland merchants in other Siberian cities were jealous of Mangazeya, as it siphoned off commerce that would otherwise have come to them.

In 1619, the Russian government closed the sea route to Mangazeya, and forbade even Russians to use it, in case foreigners found it out from them.  Navigational markings were torn up, surveillance posts established along the coast, and a coastal fort built on the Yamal Peninsula.  Anyone who tried to get through would be killed.  Maps of the region were falsified, to the detriment of later mariners who tried to use them.

Gradually, Mangazeya declined, and its rich merchants left.  In 1678, the town was burned to the ground, without any official explanation. The local Samoyedic peoples called it Tagarevyhard, which means “destroyed town”.  Its ruins wouldn't be discovered for another three hundred years.

[terra-mater]

Taz river, Russia

Change is often elusive to see, visible only in the contrast between before and after. But on June 18, 2013, the Operational Land Imager on the Landsat 8 satellite captured Russia’s Taz River in transition (middle image). Ice was breaking up on the river, while sediment-laden spring floods piled up behind the unmoving mass. The wetlands and tributaries surrounding the river were similarly suspended in a half-frozen, half-thawed state. The area had been frozen a little more than a week earlier (June 9), when Landsat 8 acquired the top image, and was entirely ice free just over two weeks later (July 4), when the lower image was acquired.

The Taz River is one of many that drain into the Arctic Ocean and its surrounding seas. But as Arctic rivers go, the Taz is relatively minor. About 33 cubic kilometers of water flow from the river into the Kara Sea every year. The Taz’s strongest flow usually occurs in June. By contrast, the largest contributor to the Arctic Ocean, the neighboring Yenisey River, discharges 580 cubic kilometers annually.

The spring thaw sends an annual gush of fresh water into the Arctic Ocean, which is the most dominated by fresh water of all the world’s oceans. This fresh outflow plays a role in sustaining Arctic sea ice. Because it is less dense than salty water, the fresh water sits near the surface and forms a layer that insulates sea ice from deeper, warmer seawater. Contact with the warmer water would cause the sea ice to melt at a faster rate.

Image credit: NASA Earth Observatory images by Jesse Allen and Robert Simmon, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey