Otkos (Volzhsky, Oksky Otkos) — a scenic, tree- and soft-grass-covered slope that encircles the Upper Town of Nizhny Novgorod.
The section of the Otkos running along the Oka bears the additional name Dyatlov Hills.
Nature of the Feature
The Oka–Volga slope of the Volga Upland borders the upper part of Nizhny Novgorod in a narrow strip from the southwest, west, north, and east. The complex landslide slopes of the Oka–Volga hillside have a concave shape. The gradient is variable along the profile. The steepest section is the upper part of the slope — from 25° to 48°. In the lower part the gradient is considerably gentler owing to the accumulation of landslide material at the foot. Numerous terraces (of denudational, erosional, and landslide origin) can be observed along the length of the slope.
In Classic Works of Literature
- The bank "threw its rocky cliffs up to the sky, overgrown with forest, and froze in stern repose" (Gorky, Foma Gordeyev).
- "— A countess?! — Prokhor gasped, and his heart sank. In a flash he saw: Nizhny Novgorod, the yarmarka, the green slope of the kremlin, a gang of thieves. — Zamoyskaya?" (V. Shishkov, Ugryum-River)
Geology
The Volga Upland area forms an extensive stepped plateau cut through by a large number of ravines and bounded to the north and east by the valley of the Volga River, to the west and southwest by the valley of the Oka, and to the south and southeast by the valleys of the Kova and Rakhma rivers. The watershed separating the Kova and Rakhma river basins from the Oka and Volga valleys runs along Gagarin Avenue and the streets of Bolshaya Pokrovskaya, Bolshaya Pecherskaya, and Kazanskoye Highway.
In the northern part of the Volga Upland, elevations of 200–220 metres are recorded. The river valleys cutting through the plateau are well developed and asymmetrical. Several above-floodplain terraces are identified within them.
Along the foot of the Oka–Volga slope, on the section from Malinovaya Gryada to Lagerny Ravine and from the Koshelevka settlement to the eastern outskirts of Pechery, a narrow strip of towpath (bichevnik) extends, separating the bedrock slope from the river. On the section from Lagerny Ravine to the ski jump, the towpath is covered by an artificially built-up and hydraulically filled terrace up to 22 m wide, which has been built over with structures.
Loess-like loams are intensively eroded by surface water, which is why the coastal slope area is characterized by a dense network of gullies and ravines. The depth of erosional incision reaches 100–150 metres. The ravines of the upper town are deep, characterized by relatively steep thalweg gradients and a V-shaped, nearly canyon-like form, and are in a phase of vertical incision. Their mouths are, as a rule, hanging and situated several metres above the river water level. In cross-section the ravines are asymmetrical — the right banks (sun-facing aspects) are steeper than the left (shade-facing aspects). The spacing between ravines ranges from 200 to 600 m. Some of the ravines (in the central part of the city) have been filled in; many are used for descents (Zelensky, Komsomolsky, Postal, Lagerny, and others).