Shagan
Shagan
(also Chagan), a river in Semipalatinsk Oblast, Kazakh SSR; a left tributary of the Irtysh. The Shagan is 295 km long and drains an area of 25,400 sq km. It flows within the Kazakh Melkosopochnik. Fed primarily by snow, the river has a mean flow rate of approximately 1.02 cu m per sec. The upper course of the Shagan is dried up most of the year; it flows only during May and June. The lower course flows intermittently and sometimes divides into separate reaches. The Shagan freezes over in November, and the ice breaks up in early April. The Ashchisu is a right tributary of the Shagan.