Eastern Khandyga


The Eastern Khandyga is a river in Tompo District, Yakutia, Russian Federation, a right tributary of the Aldan, part of the Lena basin. It has a length of and a drainage basin area of.
Tyoply Klyuch village is located by the banks of the river. The nearest relatively larger inhabited place in the area is Khandyga, to the north of the river's mouth. There is a long bridge of the R504 Kolyma Highway across the Eastern Khandyga.

Course

The Eastern Khandyga has its sources in the western section of the Suntar-Khayata Range. The river heads roughly westwards and cuts across the Skalisty Range and the Sette Daban. After the river exits the mountain area it enters a wide floodplain, dividing into many channels and flowing roughly southwestwards. Finally if meets the right bank of the Aldan River a little downstream from the mouth of the Tyry, from the confluence of the Aldan with the Lena River.

Tributaries

The main tributaries of the Eastern Khandyga are the long Onyollo and the long Sakkyryr on the left. The river freezes before mid October and stays frozen until mid May. There are about 300 lakes in the river basin, as well as 30 icings with a total area of.

Paleontology

Fossils of ammonites of the genus Otoceras were found in the Induan deposits in the upper reaches of this river.

Fauna

The slopes of the ranges in the upper reaches of the river provide a habitat for the Siberian Apollo butterfly, endemic to the mountains of the YanaKolyma watershed.