Chirkuo

Chirkuo Чиркуо
Chirkuo confluence and inner Vilyuy Reservoir Sentinel-2 image
Mouth location in the Sakha Republic, Russia
Location
Federal Subject	Yakutia
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Vilyuy Plateau
• elevation	468 m (1,535 ft)
Mouth	Vilyuy
• coordinates	63°29′48″N 109°27′39″E / 63.49667°N 109.46083°E / 63.49667; 109.46083
Length	206 km (128 mi)
Basin size	7,710 km2 (2,980 sq mi)
Basin features
Progression	Vilyuy→ Lena→ Laptev Sea

The Chirkuo (Russian: Чиркуо) is a river in Yakutia (Sakha Republic), Russia. It is a right hand tributary of the Vilyuy, and is 118 kilometres (73 mi) long —206 kilometres (128 mi) including the Duikhta at its head, with a drainage basin of 7,710 square kilometres (2,980 sq mi).^[1]

In the Ust-Chirkuo Site (Yakut: Чиркуо төрдө, romanized: Çirkuo tördö) there are remains of ancient settlements by the river.^[2] Currently there are no permanent inhabited places in the river area.^[3]

The Chirkuo lies in the upper stretch of the Vilyuy basin. It begins at the confluence of the Duikhta and the Kucchuchi-Chuurka (Куччучи-Чуурка) in the Vilyuy Plateau. The river flows roughly northwards across the plateau along the border with Irkutsk Oblast to the west. Finally it meets the right bank of the Vilyuy 1,712 km (1,064 mi) from its mouth in the Lena. The river freezes between mid October and late May.^[4]

The main tributaries of the Chirkuo are the 120 kilometres (75 mi) long Golusakh and the 88 kilometres (55 mi) long Dulisma from the left. The last stretch and mouth area of the Chirkuo are part of the backwater of the Vilyuy Reservoir.^[5]

The waters of the Chirkuo provide a habitat for the critically endangered Siberian sturgeon.^[6]

• List of rivers of Russia
• Vilyuy Dam

• Ancient Cultures and Migrations in Northeastern Siberia
• Species structure, contemporary distribution and status of the Siberian sturgeon Acipenser baerii