The Amur River. Marc Alhambra Mitchell Hoekstra Joseph Raab

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1 The Amur River Marc Alhambra Mitchell Hoekstra Joseph Raab

2 Amur River Themes Geography Hydrology History Politics Environmental

3 Basic Statistics Length-4444km/2763mi (9 th longest in the world) Peak Discharge-30,700cubic meters/sec Mean Annual Discharge-11,400cubic meters/sec Drainage Basin Area-1.86*10 6 km 2 Current Sediment Load-24*10 6 tons

4 Geography of the Amur

5 Eosnap Geography of the Amur

6 Border Wars The Amur forms over 1000 miles of the China- Russia border Long history of conflict beginning mid-17 th century Disputed river islands Treaties of 2005 and 2008

7 Current Politics Amur having greater importance to Russia and China due to recent population and economic booms. Increases in population and industry creating new concerns. 2 main issues: water sharing and pollution.

China has huge demand for water and has plans to extract more from Amur.

8 Water Sharing Growing water scarcity issues in parts of the river. Mainly due to increased demand for irrigation and factory use. China has huge demand for water and has plans to extract more from Amur. Need better water treaty between the nations, as current one is outdated and too simple.

9 Pollution Pollution in river has long been ignored. Recent influx of Chinese industry has created massive pollution problems. Pollution reached critical level in 2005 with Chinese plant explosion and finally alerted the two governments to the problem.

2005 Jilin Chemical Plant Explosion Nov. 13 2005 Plant explosion released est.

Over 30x the acceptable levels of benzene in the water. Four day ban on taking water from the river.

10 2005 Jilin Chemical Plant Explosion Nov Plant explosion released est. 100 tons of benzene into the Songhua river, a tributary of the Amur River. Over 30x the acceptable levels of benzene in the water. Four day ban on taking water from the river. Supplies of fresh water and activated carbon to purify water sent to affected areas. Benzene exposure linked to cancer and affects the liver and immune system.

2005 Jilin Chemical Plant Explosion (cont.

Just added more spices to cover up the smell.

Not just a one time event, hundreds of thousands of tons of

11 2005 Jilin Chemical Plant Explosion (cont.) Spill occurred during the winter, ice cover melt during spring caused secondary wave of pollution. Residents still ate fish from the river despite chemical smell. Just added more spices to cover up the smell. Low water levels during winter increased chemical concentration. Not just a one time event, hundreds of thousands of tons of untreated sewage enters the Amur every day. City of Khabarovsk, downstream, drilled new deep wells, and was prepared to shutoff central water system completely.

13 Wildlife Along the Amur River Amur Leopard Oriental White Stork Kaluga Sturgeon Siberian Tiger (aka Amur Tiger) All endangered species, due to overfishing, habitat destruction, pollution.

Enormous need for better water and environmental treaties between Russia and

14 Conclusion Problems in Amur will only become larger in future, as the population of the region increases, while the water supply continues to diminish. Enormous need for better water and environmental treaties between Russia and China. Without new treaties, disputes will only grow larger and could eventually result in war.

Sources Bazarkin, Efimov, and Levshina. Assessment of the Amur River Ecosystem Pollution with Benzene and Its Derivatives Caused by an Accident at the Chemical Plant in Jilin City, China.

23, Issue 4 Garnett, Sherman, Limited Partnership. Russia-China Relations in a Changing Asia, Russian and Eurasian Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Washington, 1998, p.17.

15 Sources Bazarkin, Efimov, and Levshina. Assessment of the Amur River Ecosystem Pollution with Benzene and Its Derivatives Caused by an Accident at the Chemical Plant in Jilin City, China." Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology. Web. 12 Apr Federman, Adam. Border Lands. Earth Island Journal, , Winter2009, Vol. 23, Issue 4 Garnett, Sherman, Limited Partnership. Russia-China Relations in a Changing Asia, Russian and Eurasian Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Washington, 1998, p.17. Itterbeeck, J. Van, et al. "Stratigraphy, sedimentology and palaeoecology of the dinosaurbearing Kundur section (Zeya-Bureya Basin, Amur Region, Far Eastern Russia)." Geological Magazine (2005): Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 14 Apr Lasserre, Frédéric. The Amur River border. Once a symbol of conflict, could it turn into a water resource stake?, Cybergeo, Environment, Nature, Paysage, article 242, 30 July 2003 Maxwell, Neville. "How the Sino-Russian boundary conflict was finally settled." Critical Asian Studies 39.2 (2007): Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 12 Apr Winchester, Simon. Black Dragon River. National Geographic, , Feb2000, Vol. 197, Issue 2

DYNAMICS OF WATER TURBIDITY

DYNAMICS OF WATER TURBIDITY IN THE AMUR LOWER REACHES AND THE AMUR LIMAN KIM V. I. 1, KOZLOVSKY V. B. 2, MAKHINOV A. N. 1, SHESERKIN V. P. 1, KUZNETSOV A. М. 1, RYZHOV D. А. 1, NAGAO S. 3, SEKI O. 4 AND