Vasyugan swamps: where they are, description, interesting facts. Swamp - types, conditions of formation and distribution, interesting facts Interesting facts about swamp animals

Glows in the swamps.

warm summer night in especially dark hours, you can witness an amazing phenomenon - the glow of faintly flickering bluish lights. They do not stand still, but seem to be spinning and dancing, writing out a complex trajectory, now moving away from the observer, then approaching him again.

Since ancient times, there have been many traditions and legends trying to explain the essence of this phenomenon. Basically, our superstitious ancestors associated their appearance with the souls of people drowned in the swamp.

Nowadays, of course, no one believes in the otherworldly nature of this phenomenon. But, nevertheless, an unequivocal answer about the origin of marsh lights has not yet been given. There are several theories: the ignition of methane released from the swamp, the light of rotting plants, phosphorescent organisms, radioactive mineral precipitation, the result of the interaction of hydrogen phosphide and methane, etc.

However, attempts in artificial conditions to recreate wandering lights ended in complete failure. So, while scientists are struggling to unravel the mystery of the swamp glows, we will probably believe in the restless spirits of the swamps.

Mummifying effect of swamps.

The swamp water contains a high percentage of peat acids. In this environment, the growth of bacteria slows down, contributing to the decomposition of organic bodies drowned in the swamp. This fact combined with a lack of oxygen and low temperatures has a tannic effect on the skin, giving it a dark brown tint. Also, thanks to the acid of peat, which is a powerful preservative, and the lack of oxygen in the bowels of the swamp, the bodies of people and animals that have fallen into the bog are perfectly preserved.

Over the past 300 years, a lot of bodies of ancient people dating back to the 1st century BC have been found in the swamps of Europe. BC e. - IV century. n. e. The most famous and well-preserved mummy is the Tollund Man. His head is so well preserved that the smallest network of wrinkles on the face is visible.

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It was an article Interesting properties of swamps. Secrets of the swamps. "Read more: Myths and legends about swamps.

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16.06.2016

Among the people, swamps are not as popular as meadows, mountains, lakes and rivers; many see in them only damp places with rusty water squelching under their feet, unsteady ground, annoying mosquitoes and snakes successfully hiding in the vegetation. This place is not suitable for rest and walking. "Yes, you go to the swamp!" (where there is nowhere worse), they say when all the arguments in the dispute have already been exhausted. Using the example of interesting facts about swamps, let's take a closer look at these misunderstood waterlogged land areas.

1. Areas with excessive moisture and a layer of peat less than 30 centimeters thick or without it at all are only wetlands, not swamps. In swamps, the peat layer is determined by a value of 30 centimeters or more.
2. Bogs appear both on land with excessive moisture and some other reasons, and when water bodies are overgrown.
3. Peat bogs occupy 2 percent of the Earth's land area. They contain 0.02 percent of the world's purest fresh water. Swamps of all types occupy more extensive areas of land. The most swampy continent is South America. It is 70 percent occupied by swamps. The second place in this indicator is occupied by Eurasia.
4. 37% of all swampy areas of the world are concentrated in Russia. Western Siberia stands out especially here.
5. Due to the antiseptic properties of peat, swamps are natural water filters, here it is the purest. Because of this, they conserve those that have fallen into them organic matter. Therefore, in the swamp, the bodies of animals and people do not decompose.
6. The bubbles that appear on the surface of the swamps are the outlet of swamp gas, which mainly includes methane.
7. Wetlands are one of the main regulators of carbon dioxide. Due to the incomplete decomposition of organic matter, which leads to an open circulation of substances, they help fight against greenhouse effect planets.
8. The Volga and Dnieper, like many other rivers of the Earth, originate from swamps.
9. The largest swamp in the world is located in South America in the deltas of the Paraguay and Cuiaba rivers. The area of ​​the Pantanal is 230,000 km².
10. The deepest peat bog in the world is in Northern Greece. It's called Philippi. The thickness of its peat layer is 70 meters or more, it is located in a tectonic depression with a depth of more than 250 m.
11. Vasyuganskoye is recognized as the largest peat bog in the world in terms of area, which in Western Siberia. Previously, there were 19 separate swamp formations on its territory, which have now merged into one swamp.
12. Frogs and toads don't live in swamps.

Wetlands are not like other ecosystems. Swamps have their own color, their own smell and their own sound. Plants and animals also live here - this is an integral and necessary part of the nature of the world.

In the state of Louisiana in the USA there is one creepy place - the Manchak swamps.

People go missing here all the time. locals as well as tourists. Hurricanes often appear in the areas surrounding Manchak, the origin of which is difficult to explain - because the area is located on a plain.

Birds are not heard here at all, animals are not found, and living trees are practically invisible - only dry remains.

There are several dark legends associated with the Manchak swamps. Firstly, from time to time facts emerge that centuries-old corpses are found in this area.

Secondly, strange and terrible sounds are constantly heard in the swamps. These howls and groans are not like the sounds made by any creature known on Earth, and the locals speak of a werewolf living in the swamp.

And thirdly, many who visited these places saw incomprehensible shadows, the appearance of which still has no explanation. These are some ghostly creatures, sometimes resembling people, sometimes animals.

Also in the swamps they see strange light reflections - wandering lights that carry inexperienced tourists into the very jungle. According to some reports, it was here that once the locals imprisoned a priestess of the voodoo clan, who cursed the swamps, which became her prison. And it was from this moment that the swamps acquired their notoriety. In fact, any swamps have always been quite dangerous. shaky lands, strange looking trees, constant fog - all this adds to their strangeness.

The myths about the Manchak swamps became the embodiment of mystical ideas in the movie "Interview with the Vampire", because it was here that Louis and Claudia drowned the remains of the most important vampire Lestat. Of course, any swamps are associated with danger - people often die in the bog.

Characters passed from mouth to mouth legends and stories about treasures hidden in mud. Belarus can be safely considered a tourist attraction of the country. The most ancient are Polessye (age - about 11,000 years), and the deepest Vitebsk - up to 9 meters. On archaeologists often find the sites of the first people. So in the Vitebsk region, near the village of Osovets, a village was discovered primitive people Mesolithic era.

Swamp under the Obol. Photo by Evgenia Moskvina

1. What swamp did Tsmok live in?

According to legend, somewhere in the swamp under the stone with which the angry god Perun killed Tsmok is kept.

The beauty of Novolukoml lake. Photo by Anastasia Veresk

Tsmok has long been considered a symbol of Belarus, such an analogue of the Russian Serpent Gorynych. He lived in the swamp and guarded the treasures. When people lived in Belarus who sacrificed their compatriots to Tsmok - one person a day. And when the turn came to the daughter of the prince (or king), the snake was killed. In one legend, Perun coped with him, in another - St. George.

2. Where do mermaids live

In the Gorodok region in the Vitebsk region, there are still eyewitnesses who claim that they live somewhere in the forest more often in lost swamps and lakes. Their eyes are blue and tender, and their hair is blond. see mermaids more often on the holy lake , the bottom of which, according to legend, is in the underworld. After all, it was in it that Lucifer drowned the church!

Not only mermaids and devils live in Belarusian swamps. On the peat bogs, Bagnik is in charge, in the impenetrable swamp - Kaduk. A playful but harmless Lozovik is hiding in the vine. Even in Belarusian folklore, you can find a mention of Loimy - creepy creatures females living in the swamps and in the vine, who steal human children and put their own in their place.

Forest swamps are fraught with danger. Photo by Evgenia Moskvina

3. In what swamps were the icons found, and where do the holy springs flow

Swamp Saint Pyatenka near the village of Sloboda Shumilinsky district known for being shown to people here, which was once in the house of local landowners. Since they treated the holy image with disrespect, the icon disappeared. And appeared in the swamp.

And in the village of Ugli Polotsk region near the bog there is a holy healing one, near which there used to be both a cross and a chapel.

4. Where was the unique tank "Klim Voroshilov" found?

Not only people perished in the swamp. During the war, whole planes and planes disappeared here. So, in November last year, employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations raised from the quagmire near the village of Tesishche Senno district tank KV-1, a sample of armored vehicles used in initial period war. It was sent for refurbishment.

5. Where the devils drown and people wander

Near the village of Mateyki in Postavy region located on a hill a small forest. Contrary to the laws of nature, there is a swamp in the forest. According to legend, the devil once settled in these parts. And he got into the habit of spoiling the life of the villagers: either he drives horses to death, or he poisons the wheat. And at last only one man, named Matei, remained in the village. He made an agreement with the devil: if the unclean one makes a swamp on the hill, Matei will leave the village. And if he can't, then the devil will have to leave Postavyshchyna. And the unclean began to spin in place to make a swamp. As a result, his head began to spin, and he drowned in a quagmire.

Since then, if a person goes to that, Damn swamp, by all means. It will circle in one place and suffer.

Here it is, a quiet pool where the devils are found. Photo by Evgenia Moskvina

6. In which swamp do they nest rare species birds

IN there is a unique landscape reserve Yelnya, on the territory of which one of the largest lake-bog complexes in Europe is located. Here, on an area of ​​4.84 hectares, 117 species nest, among which you can meet the white-tailed eagle, gray heron, black stork, black-throated diver listed in the Red Book.

Beautiful Yelnya. Photo by Anastasia Veresk

7. What swamp is called Zhidovsky

Near the village of Drysvyaty in the Braslav region there is a swamp called Zhidovsky. According to legend, once upon a time there lived a large Jewish family. A girl named Khanka fell in love with a Polish guy. However, her brothers were against it. They drowned the unfortunate Khanka in the swamp.

8. Where is the Pearl of the Lake District

Raised bogs were awarded the noble title "Pearl of the Lakeland" the edges with an area of ​​1096 hectares. Here you can see really beautiful landscapes! And it seems that these quiet whirlpools are safe ...

Evening on the Obolsk swamp. Photo by Evgenia Moskvina

9. What swamp is Yuriev Island

Among Osipovsky swampson the there is the famous Yuryev Island. According to legend, once upon a time, an evil pan lived in these parts. He decided to punish his peasant Yuri. He ordered to be tied to a horse and sent through the swamps. The rope untied, and Yuri managed to escape. He found an island among the endless bog and settled there. When the evil pan found out about the miraculous salvation of the peasant, he gave chase, but drowned in the swamp. And Yuryev Island has survived to this day.

10. Where can you find a real cranberry paradise

Belarusian swamps are rich. However, most of the healing berries can be collected in the biological reserve. Chistik in Vitebsk region created in the Zhukovsky swamp in 1979 to protect places of mass growth of cranberries. The territory of the reserve is about 300 hectares.

The swamps of Belarus are called the lungs of Europe. They occupy 14% of the country's area or 2.5 million hectares. Many berries and grow here. The swamps of Belarus are included in international list Ramsar Convention for the Protection of Wetlands.

They take over swamps.

In is the largest swamp in Europe. The swamp is located in the Ust-Tsilemsky district of Komi. Average depth the swamp is 1.6 meters, and the area is almost 200,000 hectares. This is not just a swamp, but a huge forest-bog system, including big number rivers and lakes.

Vasyugan swamps formed about 10,000 years ago and are constantly growing. Researchers believe that 3/4 of the area of ​​modern Vasyugan swamps was swampy less than 500 years ago. It turns out that this swamp system is the main source of fresh water in the region, there are about 800 thousand small lakes, and many rivers originate from swamps. The area of ​​the Vasyugan swamps is 53 thousand km². This is more than territory , or . Vasyugan swamps are located within the boundaries of Omsk, as well as the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug.

One of the largest swamp systems in Africa is located in. Marshes can be found in the White Nile Valley. The area of ​​swamps is extremely variable - from 30,000 km² (on average), to 150,000 km² in the rainy season.