Khatyrka (river)

For the village, see Khatyrka.

Khatyrka Хатырка (Russian) Ватыркан (Chukot)
Location
Country	Russia
Federal subject	Chukotka Autonomous Okrug
District	Anadyr District
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Koryak Highlands
• coordinates	62°18′03″N 171°29′06″E
• elevation	ca 600 metres (2,000 ft)
Mouth	Bering Sea
• coordinates	62°02′35″N 175°16′40″E
• elevation	0 metres (0 ft)
Length	367 km (228 mi)
Basin size	13,400 km2 (5,200 sq mi)
Discharge
• average	174 m3/s (6,100 cu ft/s)

The Khatyrka (/xəˈtɪərkə/; Russian: Хатырка, IPA: [xɐˈtɨrkə]; Chukchi: Ватыркан, romanized: Watyrkan) is a river in Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia. The length of the river is 367 kilometres (228 mi) and the area of its drainage basin is 13,400 square kilometres (5,200 mi²).

The name of the river comes from the Chukot watyrkan (ватыркан), meaning 'a dry, depleted place'.

Course

The Khatyrka has its source in the Koryak Highlands. It first flows in an ENE direction along the northern slopes of the Komeutyuyam Range as a mountain river within a narrow valley. It bends to the SSE at the northeastern end of the range and the valley expands, the river dividing into channels. In its lower course it flows along a marshy floodplain. A stretch of the river forms the border with the Olyutorsky District of Kamchatka Krai. Its mouth is in an estuary that is separated by a narrow landspit from the Bering Sea. Khatyrka village lies at the mouth of the estuary.

Tributaries

The main tributary of the Khatyrka is the 103 km (64 mi) long Iomrautvaam (Иомраутваам), joining it from the right. A unique-type of meteorite fell in the area of the Iomrautvaam river basin and was buried in a 7,000-year-old layer of dirt. It was found during an expedition to Chukotka in the summer of 2011.

Flora and fauna

The river basin is characterized by tundra vegetation, including mosses, lichens, dwarf shrubs, and sedges.

The inhabitants of the area are engaged in reindeer herding. River Khatyrka is a good place for fishing. Among the fish species found in the waters of the river the pink salmon, chum salmon, sockeye salmon and Chinook salmon deserve mention.

See also

• Khatyrkite
• List of rivers of Russia

External links

• Astronomy.com - An old meteor yields a new surprise: a never-before-seen material
• Collisions in outer space produced an icosahedral phase in the Khatyrka meteorite never observed previously in the laboratory
• Khatyrka meteorite found to have third quasicrystal
• The Penzhina-West Kamchatka folded zone and the Ukelayat-Sredinnyi block in the structure of the Koryak Highland and Kamchatka