The length of the Baikal coastline. Geographical location and history of the origin of the lake
Baikal(bur. Baigal dalai, Baigal nuur) - a lake of tectonic origin in the southern part of Eastern Siberia, the deepest lake in the world and the largest (by volume) reservoir of watery fresh water. It contains about 19% of the global supply of fresh water. The lake is located in the rift plain in Eastern Siberia on the border of the Irkutsk region and the Republic of Buryatia. 336 rivers flow into it, many of which are the Selenga, Upper Angara, Barguzin and others, and one river flows out - the Angara.
Information about Baikal:
Geographical position and dimensions of the basin
Baikal is located in the center of Asia, in Russia, on the border of the Irkutsk region and the Republic of Buryatia. The lake stretches from northeast to southwest for 620 km in the form of a huge crescent. The width of Lake Baikal ranges from 24 to 79 km. There is no other deepest lake on earth. The bottom of Baikal is 1167 meters below the level of the World Ocean, and the mirror of its waters is 453 meters higher.
The area of the aquatic surface is 31,722 km² (excluding islands), which is approximately equal to the area of \u200b\u200bsuch states as Belgium, the Netherlands or Denmark. Baikal ranks sixth among the largest lakes in the world in terms of the area of its water surface.
The lake is located in a specific basin, surrounded on all sides by mountain ranges and hills. With all this West Coast- rocky and steep, relief east coast- more gentle (in some places the mountains recede from the coast for 10 km).
Depth
Baikal is the deepest lake on the planet Earth. The modern value of the greatest depth of the lake - 1637 m - was established in 1983 by L.G. Kolotilo and A.I. Sulimov during the performance of hydrographic work by the expedition of the GUNiO of the USSR Ministry of Defense at the point with coordinates 53 ° 14 "59" N. latitude. 108°05"11" E
The greatest depth was mapped in 1992 and proved in 2002 as a result of a joint Belgian-Spanish-Russian project to create the latest bathymetric map of Baikal, when the depths were digitized at 1,312,788 points of the lake’s water area (the depth values were obtained as a result of recalculation acoustic sounding data combined with additional bathymetric information, including echolocation and seismic profiling; one of the creators of the discovery of the greatest depth, L.G. Kolotilo, was a participant in this project).
If we take into account that the water surface of the lake is located at an altitude of 453 m above sea level, then the lower point of the basin lies 1186.5 m below the level of the world ocean, which makes the Baikal bowl also one of the deepest continental depressions.
The average depth of the lake is also very large - 744.4 m. It exceeds the greatest depths of many very deep lakes.
Apart from Baikal, only two lakes on Earth have a depth of more than 1000 meters: Tanganyika (1470 m) and the Caspian Sea (1025 m). According to some data, the subglacial Lake Vostok in Antarctica has a depth of more than 1200 m, but it must be taken into account that this subglacial "lake" is not a lake in the sense that we are used to, because there are four kilometers of ice above the water and it is a kind of closed container, where the water is under tremendous pressure, and the "surface" or "level" of water in different parts of this "lake" differs by more than 400 meters. Consequently, the concept of "depth" for the subglacial Lake Vostok is fundamentally different from the depth of "ordinary" lakes.
Water volume
The water reserves in Baikal are huge - 23,615.39 km³ (about 19% of the global fresh water reserves - all fresh lakes in the world contain 123 thousand km³ of water). In terms of water reserves, Baikal occupies the 2nd place in the world among lakes, second only to the Caspian Sea, but the water in the Caspian Sea is salty. There is more water in Baikal than in all 5 Great Lakes taken together, and 25 times more than in Lake Ladoga.
Tributaries and runoff
336 rivers and streams flow into Baikal, but this number takes into account only constant tributaries. The largest of them are Selenga, Upper Angara, Barguzin, Turka, Snezhnaya, Sarma. One river flows out of the lake - the Angara.
Water characteristics
Baikal water is very transparent. The main characteristics of Baikal water can be briefly described as follows: it contains very few dissolved and suspended mineral substances, negligibly insufficient organic impurities, and a lot of oxygen.
The water in Baikal is cool. The temperature of the surface layers even in summer does not exceed +8…+9°C, in some bays - +15°C. The temperature of the deep layers is about +4°C. Only in the summer of 1986 did the surface water temperature in the northern part of Baikal rise to a record 22-23°C.
The water in the lake is so transparent that individual pebbles and various objects can be seen at a depth of 40 m. At this time, the Baikal water is blue. In summer and autumn, when a lot of plant and animal organisms develop in the water warmed by the sun, its transparency drops to 8-10 m, and the color becomes blue-green and green. The purest and most transparent water of Lake Baikal contains so few mineral salts (96.7 mg/l) that it can be used instead of distilled water.
The freezing period is on average January 9 - May 4; Baikal freezes completely, not counting a small, 15-20 km long section located at the source of the Angara. The sailing period for passenger and cargo ships is usually from June to September; research vessels begin navigation right after the ice breaks up the lake and complete it with the freezing of Lake Baikal, in other words, from May to January.
By the end of winter, the thickness of ice on Baikal reaches 1 m, and in the bays - 1.5-2 m. In severe frost, cracks, which have the local name "stanovo cracks", break the ice into separate fields. The length of such cracks is 10-30 km, and the width is 2-3 m. Breaks occur once a year in approximately the same areas of the lake. They are accompanied by a sonorous crack, reminiscent of thunder or cannon shots. It seems to a person standing on the ice that the ice cover is bursting just under his feet and he this moment fall into the abyss. Thanks to the cracks in the ice, the fish in the lake do not die from a lack of oxygen. Baikal ice, in addition, is very transparent, and the sun's rays fall through it, so planktonic aquatic plants that produce oxygen rapidly develop in the water. Along the shores of Lake Baikal, it is possible to watch ice grottoes and splashes in winter.
Baikal ice presents scientists with many mysteries. So, in the 1930s, specialists from the Baikal Limnological Station found unusual forms of ice cover, corresponding only to Baikal. For example, “hills” are cone-shaped ice mounds up to 6 m high, hollow inside. Outwardly, they resemble ice tents, “open” in the opposite direction from the coast. The hills can be placed separately, and from time to time they form small "mountain ranges". There are also a number of other types of ice on Baikal: “sokuy”, “kolobovnik”, “autumn”.
In addition, in the spring of 2009, satellite images of various parts of Lake Baikal were widely distributed on the Internet, on which dark rings were found. According to scientists, these rings appear due to the rise of deep waters and an increase in the temperature of the surface layer of water in the central part of the ring structure. As a result of this process, an anticyclonic (clockwise) direction appears. In the zone where the direction achieves the highest velocities, the vertical water exchange increases, which leads to accelerated destruction of the ice cover.
Bottom relief
The bottom of Lake Baikal has a pronounced relief. Along the entire coast of Baikal, coastal shallow waters (shelves) and underwater slopes are developed to a greater or lesser extent; the bed of 3 main basins of the lake is expressed; there are underwater banks and even underwater ridges.
The Baikal basin is divided into three basins: Southern, Middle and Northern, separated from each other by 2 ridges - Akademichesky and Selenginsky.
More expressive is the Academic Ridge, which stretches along the bottom of Lake Baikal from Olkhon Island to the Ushkany Islands (which are its highest part). Its length is about 100 km, the highest height above the bottom of Baikal is 1848 m. highest mountains on Earth, with a height of more than 7000 m.
Islands and peninsulas
There are 27 islands on Baikal (Ushkany Islands, Olkhon Peninsula, Yarki Peninsula and others), the largest of them is Olkhon (71 km long and 12 km wide, located almost in the center of the lake near its western coast, the area is 729 km², according to according to other sources - 700 km²), the largest peninsula is Svyatoy Nos.
seismic activity
The Baikal region (the so-called Baikal rift zone) is one of the areas with the highest seismicity: earthquakes constantly occur here, the strength of most of which is one or two points on the MSK-64 intensity scale. But there are also strong ones; So, in 1862, during the ten-point Kudarinsky earthquake in the northern part of the Selenga delta, a land area of 200 km² with 6 uluses, in which 1300 people lived, went under water, and Proval Bay was formed. Strong earthquakes were also recorded in 1903 (Baikal), 1950 (Mondinskoe), 1957 (Muiskoe), 1959 (Middle Baikal). The epicenter of the Middle Baikal earthquake was located at the bottom of Baikal near the village of Sukhaya (southeast coast). His strength reached 9 points. In Ulan-Ude and Irkutsk, the force of the head shock reached 5-6 points, cracks and minor damage were observed in buildings and structures. The last strong earthquakes on Baikal occurred in August 2008 (9 points) and in February 2010 (6.1 points).
Climate
Baikal winds often raise a storm on the lake. The water mass of Baikal influences the climate of the coastal area. Winters are milder here, and summers are cooler. The arrival of spring on Baikal is delayed by 10-15 days compared to the surrounding areas, and autumn is often quite long.
The Baikal region is distinguished by a large total duration of sunshine. For example, in the village of Huge Goloustnoye, it reaches 2524 hours, which is more than in the Black Sea resorts, and is a record for Russia. There are only 37 days in the absence of the sun in the same inhabited Friday, and 48 on the Olkhon Peninsula.
The special features of the climate are justified by the Baikal winds, which have their own names - barguzin, sarma, verkhovik, kultuk.
Origin of the lake
The origin of Baikal still causes scientific controversy. Scientists usually determine the age of the lake at 25-35 million years. This fact also makes Baikal a unique natural object, because most of the lakes, separately of glacial origin, live on average 10-15 thousand years, and later they are filled with silty sediments and become waterlogged.
But there is also a version about the youth of Baikal, put forward by A.V. Tatarinov in 2009, which received circumstantial evidence during the second step of the Mirs expedition to Baikal. Namely, the activity of mud volcanoes at the bottom of Lake Baikal allows scientists to believe that the modern coastal strip of the lake is only 8 thousand years old, and the deep-water part is 150 thousand years old.
Of course, only that the lake is located in a rift basin and is similar in structure, for example, to the Dead Sea basin. Some researchers explain the formation of Baikal by its location in the transform fault zone, others imply the presence of a mantle plume under Baikal, and others explain the formation of the basin by passive rifting as a result of the collision of the Eurasian plate and Hindustan. Be that as it may, the transformation of Baikal continues to this day - earthquakes constantly occur in the lake districts. There are speculations that the subsidence of the basin is associated with the formation of vacuum chambers due to the outpouring of basalts on the surface (Quaternary period).
Additional information on the site about lakes:
Baikal is one of the most famous lakes in the world. There are legends about him. It delights and surprises travelers and tourists. In size, it is a huge sea. The area of the water surface is over 31 thousand km², and the length of the coastline is 2100 km. Therefore, it is one of the seven largest lakes in the world. It is not only the size of the water surface that is striking. Very beautiful and landscapes. The lake in the shape of an elongated crescent is surrounded by rocks, wooded mountains, cliffs. There are bays of extraordinary beauty with sandy beaches. Numerous islands on the lake are impressive, especially the largest Olkhon.
What is Lake Baikal famous for? This is a wonderful lake. It does not age, it is distinguished by its horizontal, as well as impressive vertical dimensions. The composition of the water, the richness and uniqueness of the flora and fauna are surprising. You won't see this anywhere else. About 2600 species and subspecies of animals and about 600 plant species live in the lake. Of these, more than half of the animals are endemic, that is, they cannot live in other waters and will die. This also applies to most aquatic plants. Baikal is included in the World Natural Heritage List.
forever young lake
The lake is 25-35 million years old. So many ordinary lakes do not exist. They can withstand no more than 15 thousand years, and then they fill with silt and die. Baikal never gets old. There is even a hypothesis that the lake is a nascent ocean. It expands by 2 cm per year. Therefore, Baikal is unique as a lake.
The lake is located in a large depression with a relief bottom. It passes through the earth's crust and is immersed in the mantle. Baikal is the deepest lake in the world. Its depth is 1642 m. According to this parameter, it is ahead of two other lakes of outstanding size, including the Caspian Sea. In this basin there are huge volumes of fresh water. This accounts for almost 20% of the world's fresh water resources.
miraculous water
Dozens of rivers and streams flow into Baikal, and only one flows out - the Angara. The main feature of Baikal water is its purity and transparency. amazing beauty stones, natural world can be seen through the huge water column. This is due to the fact that it contains few suspended solids. A pure source of water is not a river. The water is purified by some living organisms in the lake itself. Water is like distilled. It has a lot of oxygen.
On a note! The lake is cold. Even in summer, the water is cool and warms up to about +9 °C, in the lower layers - +4 °C. However, in some bays it is quite comfortable to swim, as the water temperature can reach 23 °C.
In spring, the clean water surface of the lake is especially good. It seems blue, and the transparency is the largest - up to 40 m. This is due to the fact that the inhabitants of the lake in cold water have not yet multiplied enough. By summer, the water will warm up a little, and a lot of living organisms will develop. The water will turn green, and visibility in the water column will decrease by 3-4 times.
Olkhon Island on Lake Baikal (Jason Rogers / flickr.com) Olkhon Island, Baikal (Jason Rogers / flickr.com) Olkhon Island (Jason Rogers / flickr.com) Jason Rogers / flickr.com Sergey Gabdurakhmanov / flickr.com Martin Lopatka / flickr .com Konstantin Malanchev / flickr.com Lake Baikal (Konstantin Malanchev / flickr.com) Sergey Gabdurakhmanov / flickr.com Khoboy Cape, Olkhon (Konstantin Malanchev / flickr.com) Konstantin Malanchev / flickr.com White Sturgeon (Heaven Ice Day / flickr.com) Heaven Ice Day / flickr.com LA638 / flickr.com
There are many places on earth that amaze with their beauty and uniqueness. Lake Baikal is one of them. This richest reservoir embodied all ideas about primevalness. It can be calm when there is calm on its surface, or it can be ferocious and cruel when a storm breaks out.
Asking the question of what attracts the attention of Baikal, it is quite simple to answer it. Peculiarities geographical characteristics giant reservoir attract tourists thousands of kilometers away.
Lake Baikal (Konstantin Malanchev / flickr.com)
The greatest depth of Baikal is impressive. The maximum depth of the lake is from the surface of the water at a distance of 1642 meters.
This indicator brings Baikal to a leading position among the lakes on the planet. Following after Russian Baikal African Tanganyika is in a significant margin. The difference between the maximum depths of these majestic reservoirs is about 160 meters.
The average depth over the entire area of the lake also deserves attention. Most of Baikal has a depth of about 730 meters. As for the area of this reservoir, here, for understanding, we can cite the area of Belgium or Denmark as an example. Equating the size of the lake to the territory of one of these countries, one can only imagine its boundless expanses.
Olkhon Island (Jason Rogers / flickr.com)
The reason for the incredible depth and length of Lake Baikal is the countless number of rivers and streams flowing into it. There are more than 300 of them: large and small streams and full-flowing powerful river flows. Despite the fact that only the Angara takes its source from the lake.
It is worth noting that Lake Baikal is considered the world's largest natural reservoir of clean fresh water. Its volumes exceed even the famous American Great Lakes. If you add up the volumes of Michigan, Erie, Huron, Ontario and Upper Lake, then their sum will still not reach equality with the capacity of Baikal, which is over 23,600 cubic kilometers.
The huge depth, impressive expanses of the reservoir, the length and width of the mirror surface caused the inhabitants to often call Baikal the sea. Located in the southeast of Eurasia, a powerful lake is famous for its storms and tides (similar to sea ones).
Why is the lake called Baikal?
The history of the name of the lake is associated with several legends known to the local people. According to the first version, in translation from Turkic it means "rich lake", and in the original language it sounds like Bai-Kul.
Khoboy Cape, Olkhon (Konstantin Malanchev / flickr.com)
The second variant of the origin of the name, according to historians, is associated with the Mongols - in their language, the reservoir was called Baigal (rich fire) or Baigal dalai (big sea). There is also a third version of the name, according to which the neighboring Chinese called the lake " north sea". In Chinese, it sounds like Bei-Hai.
Lake Baikal is one of the oldest water bodies on the earth's surface. This orographic unit went through a rather complex and long process of formation in the earth's crust.
More than 25 million years ago, the reservoir began its formation, which continues to this day. Recent geological studies prove that Baikal can rightly be considered the beginning of another ocean, which, of course, will not appear in the near future, but scientists look at the fact that it will happen, almost unequivocally.
The shores of the lake are expanding significantly every year, the body of water is growing before our eyes, so in the place of the lake in a few million years, according to researchers, there will be an ocean.
Lake research
unique hallmark Baikal waters is their amazing transparency. At a depth of up to forty meters, you can easily see every pebble at the bottom.
Olkhon Island, Baikal (Jason Rogers / flickr.com)
This is explained by simple chemical laws. The fact is that almost all rivers flowing into Baikal pass through crystals of sparingly soluble rocks.
Hence the low level of Baikal mineralization. It is about 100 milligrams per liter of lake water.
Due to the maximum depth of Baikal and the high coastline, exceeding the surface of the ocean by 450 meters, the bottom of the reservoir is rightfully considered the most deep depression not only on this continent, but also among other continents.
Due to the fact that scientists found out the exact location of the maximum depth of the lake, a dive was made to this point several years ago.
It is located within the island of Olkhon. A modern deep-sea instrument sank to the bottom for more than 1 hour. For some time, scientists have filmed and taken samples for a detailed study of the bottom composition of the water and the rocks present.
During this experiment, the researchers managed to discover new microorganisms and identify the source of Baikal pollution with oil.
Baikal is not only the largest, but also the most mysterious and mysterious lake planets. With its appearance, and there are 35 million years old, many legends and traditions are associated. As soon as it is not called - the pearl of Siberia, mighty water, great fire, the sea. Where is Lake Baikal located? The oldest body of water spreads freely in the southern part of Eastern Siberia.
Geography
The length of the lake, located at an altitude of 450 meters above sea level, is 636 kilometers, and the coastline stretches for almost 2,000 kilometers. Most of it is nature reserves and parks under state protection. The width of Lake Baikal, due to its unusual shape in the form of a crescent, reaches 81 km in the central part and 27 km at its narrowest point.
The northwestern part of the huge reservoir is located in the Irkutsk region, the southeastern part is in Buryatia. Assessing the depth of Lake Baikal, which ranks first in the world, experts call an indicator of 1640 meters with an allowable error of 2%. The second deepest is Lake Tanganyika on the African continent, which loses to the leader as much as two hundred meters. More than three hundred rivers and streams replenish the supply of fresh water in the lake, a good half of the total volume comes from the Selenga. But only one follows from it, Angara. There are twenty-two islands on the lake, the largest of them is Olkhon.
Map can be enlarged by clicking on it with the left mouse button.
Why Baikal is called Baikal
According to an ancient legend, the "oldest" lake on the planet appeared as a result of a volcanic eruption. But researchers are still arguing about the origin of its name. Several guesses:
- Bai-Kul - translated from Turkic means "rich lake";
- Baigal - from the Mongolian "rich fire";
- Baigal Dalai - in the same Mongolian means "big lake";
- Beihai - in Chinese means "North Sea";
- Baigal-Nuur is a Buryat name;
- Lamu is the name of the Evenki lake.
It is believed that the first explorers who appeared here in the seventeenth century called Baikal an Evenk name. Later, switching to the Buryat name, they softened the letter "g", giving the name its current form.
Waters of Lake Baikal
The purity of lake water is amazing. Its transparency is 40 meters, and its oxygen saturation and unique composition, slightly mineralized and close to those of distilled water, make it extremely healing.
At the time of algae bloom, the transparency decreases slightly, but remains quite high. Of great interest to tourists is the observation of the immersion of a coin thrown into the waters of the lake, which can be seen for quite a long time. Visit famous lake- the dream of almost every Russian. Where Lake Baikal is located is already known, but what kind of weather prevails there?
Climate
If you look at where Baikal is located on the map of Russia, it can be noted that Irkutsk is only 70 kilometers from it. However, it is rash to assume that the climate is the same there and there. Typical for these places, it is sharply continental, it is significantly softened in the lake area by the abundance of water and dense forests. The air temperature on Lake Baikal is warmer in winter, and almost 10 degrees colder in summer. In addition, rainy weather here can be considered a rarity. A slight evaporation of water does not contribute to the formation of clouds, and their counterparts coming from behind the mountains heat up and dissipate.
Sometimes, of course, you can get caught in the rain, but the amount sunny days on the island of Olkhon, for example, much more than on the Riga coast or in the Caucasian Abastumani. The rather cold water of Lake Baikal warms up to 16-17 degrees in summer, but only close to the shore. At a depth, the water temperature in summer is only 4-5 degrees. The period from June 15 to August 15 is considered the most successful for a trip to Baikal - warm and sunny.
Fauna and flora
vegetable and animal world Baikal are unique. The lake serves as a safe haven for almost three thousand species of animals and thousands of plants, many of which are found only here. And this despite the fact that, as scientists suggest, more than 20% of the living organisms living in it, from the surface to the maximum depths, are still unknown to science. Grayling, whitefish, taimen, sturgeon, omul, lenok, golomyanka - far from complete list fish species that inhabit the lake. There are about sixty of them in total, which makes fishing in a pond an extremely exciting and productive activity. Until now, there are heated debates about how the Baikal seal, a purely marine mammal, got to Baikal and comfortably settled down here. It is assumed that she got here in the distant times of the Ice Age, moving from Arctic Ocean along the Angara and the Yenisei. Now tens of thousands of animals live here.
How to get to Baikal?
Relaxing on the lake is interesting and attractive all year round, each season has its own positive sides. At first, many people are a little afraid of a long journey, but after learning how to get to Baikal, they are determined to set off. Every day, flights to Ulan-Ude and Irkutsk depart from Moscow's Vnukovo and Domodedovo airports. The flight time is almost the same - the liner flies six hours to the first destination, twenty minutes less to the second. Irkutsk airport is located six kilometers from the center.
Road by railway takes a little longer, the distance of 5192 km train Moscow - Irkutsk will overcome in 3 and a half days. However, magnificent landscapes and decent service will help brighten up the travel time. It is not difficult to get to Baikal from the regional center - from the central bus station fixed-route taxis and buses from railway station- electric trains and trains, from the pier "Rocket" in the summer you can go on a yacht or boat. A short distance of 70 kilometers will not seem too long and boring.
Listvyanka
At the source of the Angara is the oldest Baikal village of Listvyanka, which is about three hundred years old. Previously, local residents hunted and, now it is quite developed here. tourism infrastructure with comfortable hotels, inns, cozy restaurants and entertainment venues, saunas and baths with Baikal water. From this settlement begins acquaintance with the region, here is the only one in Russian Federation Lake Museum. It is invariably visited by domestic and Foreign tourists getting acquainted with the history of the famous reservoir, its flora and fauna, the results of numerous scientific studies.
The village has many attractions worth visiting:
- "mini-zoo" with bears and foxes,
- nerpinary,
- picture gallery,
- shaman stone,
- observatory.
Dive centers operating in the village offer tourists an unforgettable experience - diving into clear waters. unique lake Baikal to a depth of three to forty meters. This is possible at any time of the year, as the water temperature at the dive sites is from 3 to 12 degrees. In the summer, a lot of tourists depart from Listvyanka water excursions- to the nearby village of Bolshie Koty, to Peschanaya Bay, to the port of Baikal. You can take the opportunity to ride on the water surface of Lake Baikal on your own, on a rented boat.
seasonal holiday
The flow of tourists to Baikal does not weaken, but grows every year. If you look at where Lake Baikal is located on the map of Russia, you can clearly see that it is located in a cozy environment of mountain ranges and forests. The unique beauty of these places is beautiful in its own way at any time of the year.
In winter, lovers of ice fishing, ski trips and travel on iceboats and bicycle races on the thick ice of the reservoir come here. The majestic awakening from winter hibernation and the rescue of Baikal from ice captivity can be seen by those who came here at the end of spring. At this time, there are not very many tourists and you can enjoy unity with nature without interference. In spring, you can even meet clubfoot inhabitants of the Baikal-Lensky and Barguzinsky reserves that go to the water. colorful and riot of colors close to the lake forests. However, the end of October and November are characterized by inhospitable weather and possible mudslides.
Interesting and mysterious sights of Lake Baikal
- Shaman stone - according to legend, it has miraculous powers. The owner of the Angara, Ama Sagaan noyon, lived here, magical shamanic rites were performed and criminals were left overnight to repent of their deeds and admit their guilt.
- Cape Khoboy on the island of Olkhon is a petrified Buryat woman punished for her envy. Many legends are associated with the cape. In winter, a real delight is a visit to the grottoes located here, exquisitely decorated with transparent icicles.
- Rock Shamanka, located on Cape Burkhan, is made of granite, quartz and snow-white marble. The through cave located in it was the center of cult worship of the Buryats, who considered it the place of residence of the owner of Baikal. The entrance here was closed to mere mortals, and women bypassed the rock by the farthest path. Various rituals and ceremonies were held in the cave, which caused sacred awe among the local population. Pagan priests removed family curses here, relieved ailments and predicted the future, falling into a trance.
What city is Baikal in?
Having firmly decided the next one and a trip to Baikal, a potential tourist begins to develop a route and asks a completely understandable question - where is the lake
- Babushkino;
- Listvyanka;
- Big Cats;
- Pankovka;
- Nizhneangarsk;
- Baikalsk;
- Severobaikalsk and many others.
You can stay with a tent in a campsite, use the services of a well-equipped tourist base rent a room in a cozy house local residents. And also, if all family members are completely independent and are not afraid of hiking difficulties, you can go hiking with backpacks and a tent. independent travel, stopping for the night and rest in the most picturesque places Baikal. Such a vacation will surely become the most memorable and significant event in family life.
Location
south of Eastern Siberia
Height num
23,615.390 km³
coastline length
Greatest depth
Average depth
Transparency
40 m, at a depth of up to 60 m
catchment area
560 thousand km²
Inflowing rivers
Selenga, Upper Angara, Barguzin, etc.
Total 336
flowing river
Geography
Water volume
Tributaries and runoff
Water properties
Islands and peninsulas
seismic activity
Origin of the lake
Flora and fauna
Settlement of the lake shore
Limnological research
deep sea drilling
Neutrino telescope
Pisis on Baikal
"Worlds" on Baikal
Ecology
Pulp and paper mill
Eastern oil pipeline
Attractions
Interesting Facts
Myths and legends about Baikal
Baikal in philately
Baikal- a lake of tectonic origin in the southern part of Eastern Siberia, the deepest lake on the planet Earth, the largest natural reservoir of fresh water. More than half of the year the lake is ice-bound, the freezing period is January 15 - May 1, navigation is carried out from June to September. Since 1956, the lake has become an integral part of the Irkutsk reservoir, as a result of which the water level has risen by 1.5 m.
The lake and coastal areas are distinguished by a unique diversity of flora and fauna, most of the species are endemic. Locals and many in Russia traditionally call Baikal the sea.
Geography
Geographical location and dimensions of the basin
Baikal is located in the center of Asia, in Russia, on the border of the Irkutsk region and the Republic of Buryatia. The lake stretches from north to southwest for 636 km in the form of a giant crescent. The width of Baikal ranges from 25 to 80 km.
The water surface area is 31,722 km² (excluding islands), which is approximately equal to the area of countries such as Belgium, the Netherlands or Denmark. In terms of the area of the water surface, Baikal ranks sixth among the largest lakes in the world.
The length of the coastline is 2,100 km.
Depths
Maximum lake depth- 1,642 meters was discovered in 1983 by L. G. Kolotilo and A. I. Sulimov during hydrographic work by the expedition of the GUNiO MO USSR at a point with coordinates 53 ° 14? sh. 108°05′11′ E / 53.249722° N. sh. 108.086389° E what makes it the most deep lake planet Earth.
The maximum depth was charted in 1992. and confirmed in 2002 as a result of a joint Belgian-Spanish-Russian project to create a new bathymetric map of Lake Baikal, when depths were digitized at 1,312,788 points of the lake’s water area (depth values were obtained as a result of recalculation of acoustic sounding data combined with additional bathymetric information , including echolocation and seismic profiling, one of the authors of the discovery of maximum depth - L.G.Kolotilo, was a participant in this project).
If we take into account that the water surface of the lake is located at an altitude of 455.5 m above sea level, then the lower point of the basin lies 1,186.5 m below the level of the world ocean, which makes the Baikal bowl also the deepest continental depression.
Average lake depth also very large - 744.4 meters. It exceeds maximum depths many very deep lakes.
Water volume
The water reserves in Baikal are gigantic - 23615.390 km² (about 19% of the world's fresh water reserves - all fresh lakes in the world contain 123 thousand km² of water). In terms of water reserves, Baikal ranks second in the world among lakes, second only to the Caspian Sea, but the water in the Caspian Sea is salty. There is more water in Baikal than in all five Great Lakes taken together and 25 times more than in Lake Ladoga.
Tributaries and runoff
336 rivers and streams flow into Baikal, but this number takes into account only permanent tributaries. The largest of them are Selenga, Upper Angara, Barguzin, Turka, Snezhnaya, Sarma. One river flows out of the lake - the Angara.
Water properties
The main properties of Baikal water can be briefly described as follows: it contains very few dissolved and suspended mineral substances, negligibly few organic impurities, and a lot of oxygen.
The temperature of the surface layers of water in Baikal in summer is +8…+9 °C, and in some bays - +15 °C. The temperature of the deep layers is about +4 °C. The water in the lake is so transparent that individual stones and various items are visible at a depth of 40 m. At this time, the Baikal water is blue. In summer and autumn, when a mass of plant and animal organisms develop in the water warmed by the sun, its transparency decreases to 8–10 m and the color becomes blue-green and green. The purest and most transparent water of Lake Baikal contains so few mineral salts (100 mg/l) that it can be used instead of distilled water.
Ice
By the end of winter, the ice thickness on Lake Baikal reaches 1 m, and in the bays - 1.5-2 m. In severe frost, cracks, locally called "stanovo cracks", break the ice into separate fields. The length of such fissures is 10–30 km, and the width is 2–3 m. Fractures occur annually in approximately the same areas of the lake. They are accompanied by a loud crack, reminiscent of thunder or cannon shots. It seems to a person standing on the ice that the ice cover is bursting just under his feet and he will now fall into the abyss. Thanks to cracks in the ice, fish in the lake do not die from lack of oxygen. Baikal ice is also very transparent, and the sun's rays penetrate through it, so planktonic algae, which release oxygen, flourish in the water. Along the shores of Lake Baikal, one can observe ice grottoes and splashes in winter.
Baikal ice presents scientists with many mysteries. So, in the 1930s, specialists from the Baikal Limnological Station discovered unusual forms of ice cover, typical only for Lake Baikal. For example, “hills” are cone-shaped ice hills up to 6 meters high, hollow inside. Appearance they resemble ice tents, "open" in the opposite direction from the coast. Hills can be located separately, and sometimes form miniature "mountain ranges". Also on Baikal there is another type of ice called "sokuy".
In addition, in the spring of 2009, satellite images of different parts of Lake Baikal were distributed on the Internet, on which dark rings were found. According to scientists, these rings are formed due to the rise of deep waters and an increase in the temperature of the surface layer of water in the central part of the ring structure. As a result of this process, an anticyclonic (clockwise) current is formed. In the zone where the current reaches maximum speeds, the vertical water exchange intensifies, which leads to accelerated destruction of the ice cover.
Islands and peninsulas
There are 27 islands on Baikal (Ushkany Islands, Yarki Island and others), the largest of them is Olkhon (730 km²); the largest peninsula is Svyatoy Nos.
The lake is located in a kind of basin, surrounded on all sides by mountain ranges and hills. At the same time, the western coast is rocky and steep, the relief of the eastern coast is more gentle (in some places the mountains recede from the coast for tens of kilometers).
seismic activity
The Baikal region (the so-called Baikal rift zone) belongs to areas with high seismicity: earthquakes regularly occur here, the strength of most of which is one or two points on the MSK-64 intensity scale. However, strong ones also happen, so in 1862, during the ten-point Kudarinsky earthquake in the northern part of the Selenga delta, a land area of 200 km² with 6 uluses, in which 1,300 people lived, went under water, and Proval Bay was formed. Strong earthquakes were also recorded in 1903 (Baikal), 1950 (Mondinskoe), 1957 (Muiskoe), 1959 (Middle Baikal). The epicenter of the Middle Baikal earthquake was located at the bottom of Lake Baikal near the village of Sukhaya (southeast coast). His strength reached 9 points. In Ulan-Ude and Irkutsk, the strength of the main shock reached 5-6 points, cracks and minor damage were observed in buildings and structures.
Climate
The water mass of Lake Baikal influences the climate of the coastal area. Winters are milder here, and summers are cooler. The onset of spring on Baikal is delayed by 10-15 days compared to the surrounding areas, and autumn is often quite long.
The Baikal region is distinguished by a large total duration of sunshine. For example, in the village of Bolshoe Goloustnoye it reaches 2,524 hours and is a record for Russia. Days without sun in the same year locality there are only 37, and on the island of Olkhon - 48.
The special features of the climate are due to the Baikal winds, which have their own names - barguzin, sarma, verkhovik, kultuk.
Origin of the lake
The origin of Baikal still causes scientific controversy. Scientists traditionally determine the age of the lake at 25–35 Ma. This fact also makes Baikal a unique natural object, since most of the lakes, especially of glacial origin, live on average 10-15 thousand years, and then they are filled with silty sediments and become swampy.
However, there is also a version about the youth of Baikal, put forward by Alexander Tatarinov, Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences in 2009, which received indirect confirmation during the second stage of the Worlds expedition to Baikal. In particular, the activity of mud volcanoes at the bottom of Lake Baikal allows scientists to assume that the modern coastline of the lake is only 8 thousand years old, and the deep-water part is 150 thousand years old.
What is certain is that the lake is located in a rift basin and is similar in structure, for example, to the Dead Sea basin. Some researchers explain the formation of Baikal by its location in the zone of a transform fault, others suggest the presence of a mantle plume under Baikal, and others explain the formation of the basin by passive rifting as a result of the collision of Eurasia and Hindustan. Be that as it may, the transformation of Baikal continues to this day - earthquakes constantly occur in the vicinity of the lake. There are suggestions that the subsidence of the basin is associated with the formation of vacuum chambers due to the outpouring of basalts on the surface (Quaternary period).
Flora and fauna
According to the Limnological Institute of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2,630 species and varieties of plants and animals live in Baikal, 2/3 of which are endemic, that is, they live only in this reservoir. Such an abundance of living organisms is explained by the high oxygen content in the entire thickness of the Baikal water.
The epishura crustacean, endemic to Baikal, makes up to 80% of the zooplankton biomass of the lake and is the most important link in the food chain of the reservoir. It performs the function of a filter: it passes water through itself, purifying it.
The most interesting in Baikal is the viviparous golomyanka fish, whose body contains up to 30% fat. It surprises biologists with daily feeding migrations from the depths to shallow waters. Of the fish in Baikal, there are omul, grayling, whitefish, sturgeon, burbot, taimen, pike and others. Baikal is unique among lakes in that freshwater sponges grow here at great depths.
History of settlement and study of Baikal
Settlement of the lake shore
According to local residents recorded in the 1930s, until the 12th-13th centuries, the Baikal region was inhabited by the people of the Barguts. They were replaced from the west by the Buryats, who began to actively populate first the western coast of the lake, and then Transbaikalia. The first Russian settlements on the shores of Lake Baikal appeared at the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th centuries. The first Russian discoverer of Baikal was the Cossack Kurbat Ivanov.
The origin of the toponym "Baikal"
The origin of the name of the lake is not exactly established. Below are the most common versions of the origin of the toponym "Baikal":
- Bai-Kul (Turk.) - a rich lake
- Baigaal-Dalai (Mong.) - rich fire
- Bei-Hai (Chinese) - North Sea
The first Russian explorers of Siberia used the Evenki name "Lamu" (sea). From the second half of the 17th century, the Russians switched to the name adopted by the Buryats - "Baigaal" (pronounced "Beigkhel"). At the same time, they linguistically adapted it to their language, replacing the “g” characteristic of the Buryats with the more familiar “k” for the Russian language, as a result of which the modern name was finally formed.
Outstanding researchers, travelers and writers of Baikal
See related articles:
Limnological research
The branch of science that studies lakes is called limnology. In the Irkutsk Academic City there is a limnological institute that studies Baikal. Baikal is also studied by independent scientific organizations, such as the Baikal Research Center (ANO).
deep sea drilling
In the 1990s, Russian, American and Japanese scientists jointly implemented an international project for deep-sea drilling of Lake Baikal on Lake Baikal. Drilling was carried out in winter, from a research vessel frozen into the ice. Drilling made it possible to study the section of the sedimentary strata at the bottom of the lake, to detail its history. The results of drilling are especially valuable for the reconstruction of climatic changes in the territory of Eurasia.
Neutrino telescope
A unique deep-sea neutrino telescope NT-200, built in 1993-1998, was created and operates on the lake, with the help of which high-energy neutrinos are detected. On its basis, the NT-200+ neutrino telescope with an increased effective volume is being created, the construction of which is expected to be completed no earlier than 2017.
Pisis on Baikal
The first dives of manned submersibles on Baikal were made in 1977, when the bottom of the lake was explored on the deep-sea submersible "Pices" of Canadian production. In Listvenichny Bay, a depth of 1,410 meters was reached. In 1991, the Pisis sank to a depth of 1,637 meters from the eastern side of Olkhon.
"Worlds" on Baikal
In the summer of 2008, the Foundation for Assistance to the Preservation of Lake Baikal carried out a research expedition "Worlds on Baikal". 52 deep-sea manned submersibles "Mir" were immersed to the bottom of Lake Baikal.
Scientists delivered samples of water, soil and microorganisms taken from the bottom of Lake Baikal to the Research Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences named after P.P. Shirshov. The expedition continued in 2009.
Ecology
Pulp and paper mill
In 1966, production began at the Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill (BPPM), as a result of which the adjacent bottom areas of the lake began to degrade. Dust and gas emissions have a negative impact on the taiga around the BPPM, dry tops and drying of the forest are noted. In September 2008, the plant introduced a closed water circulation system designed to reduce the discharge of wash water. According to the source, the system turned out to be inoperable and less than a month after its launch, the plant had to be stopped.
Eastern oil pipeline
Transneft is building the Eastern Siberia - Pacific Ocean”, taking place in the Baikal region. Initially, it was planned that the pipeline route would pass in close proximity to the shore of the lake, and then, in the event of an oil spill, Baikal would be under the threat of an environmental disaster. Numerous protests by environmentalists and simply caring people, including a protest rally held in Irkutsk on March 18, 2006, and mainly by a direct order from Russian President V.V. Putin, forced the country's leadership and Transneft to abandon the original plan and postpone the route of the oil pipeline outside the catchment area of Baikal so that its line runs no closer than 350–400 km from the lake.
Baikal - World Natural Heritage Site
In 1996, Baikal was included in the list world heritage UNESCO.
Resumption of activity of the pulp and paper mill
According to the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated January 13, 2010, the ban on “the production of pulp, paper, cardboard and products from them without the use of drainless water use systems for production needs” was eliminated without any restrictions on the timing, volumes or concentrations of substances. It also drastically changes two more points regarding the storage, disposal and incineration of hazardous waste on the shores of Lake Baikal, which is inscribed on the World Natural Heritage List.
Organizations studying and protecting Baikal
- Baikal national park
- Baikal ecological wave
- Baikal Research Center (ANO)
- Greenpeace Russia
Tourism
There are many ways to get to Baikal. As a rule, those wishing to visit it first go to one of the nearest major cities: Irkutsk, Ulan-Ude or Severobaikalsk, in order to plan your route in more detail from there. Driving along the Trans-Siberian Railway between Irkutsk and Ulan-Ude, you can admire the views of the lake for hours, stretching right outside the train window.
70 km from Irkutsk, on the shore of Lake Baikal near the source of the Angara, there is the village of Listvyanka, one of the most popular tourist destinations on Lake Baikal. You can get here from the regional center by bus or boat in just over an hour.
The Great Baikal Trail passes through various sections around the lake - a system of ecological trails and one of the most beautiful ways for tourists to see unique nature and enjoy breathtaking views and panoramas of Lake Baikal. Most popular routes pass from the village of Listvyanka to Bolshiye Koty, on the Svyatoy Nos peninsula and in most other places where tourists can get. On the eastern coast, Barguzinsky Bay is especially popular, where the construction of a tourist and recreational zone continues. In the village of Maksimikha, you can take a tour with a visit to the Svyatoy Nos peninsula (peninsula). Horse riding and hiking available. To the south are the settlements of Enkhaluk, Sukhaya. In these villages, private individuals organized the reception of guests, including in yurts. Thirty kilometers south of the mouth of the Selenga River there is a bay where two tourist camps- Kultushnaya and Baikal surf. Several camp sites provide tourist services there. Almost in the very north of the lake there is a Khakusy resort.
Attractions
On Baikal and around it there are many monuments of nature, culture, as well as historical and archaeological sites. Listed below are just a few of them.
- Rock Shaman-stone
- Chivyrkuisky Bay and Ushkany Islands
- Chersky Peak - 2090 m above sea level
- Cape Burkhan on Olkhon Island
- Northern Baikal
- Sandy Bay
- Cape Ryty
- Cape Ludar
- Circum-Baikal Railway
Famous sayings about Baikal
Here are quotes about Baikal from various sources.
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Those who have seen Baikal will forever keep in their memory the majestic pictures of this lake, framed by high ridges. The many-faced Baikal is presented differently to those passing by. Some remember it as quiet and calm, with a blue mirror-like surface of the waters; others - furiously rushing to the granite rocks with white from the foam shafts of waves; still others see Baikal subdued from storms and unrest, bound by heavy, noisily cracking ice from frost... In calm weather, Baikal is completely different. In summer there are days when there is not a single wrinkle of ripples on the water surface. Then, as in a giant mirror, the far pale blue sky is reflected in it, which makes the crystal clear Baikal water even more transparent and brighter. S. G. Sargsyan |
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Baikal, it would seem, should suppress a person with its grandeur and size - everything in it is large, everything is wide, free and mysterious - on the contrary, it elevates him. You experience a rare feeling of elation and spirituality on Baikal, as if in the mind of eternity and perfection, the secret seal of these magical concepts touched you, and you were enveloped in the close breath of an omnipotent presence, and a share of the magical secret of everything that exists entered you. You already seem to be marked and distinguished by the fact that you are standing on this shore, breathing this air and drinking this water. Nowhere else will you have the feeling of such a complete and so desired fusion with nature and penetration into it: you will be intoxicated by this air, swirled and carried away over this water so soon that you will not even have time to come to your senses; you will visit such protected areas that we never dreamed of; and you will return with a tenfold hope: there, ahead, is the promised life... V. G. Rasputin |
If all the water contained in Baikal is divided among all citizens of Russia, then each will have ~2700 railway tanks of 60 tons each.
Myths and legends about Baikal
- There is a legend that the father of Baikal had 335 rivers-sons and one daughter-Angara, they all flowed into her father in order to replenish his waters, but his daughter fell in love with the Yenisei River and began to carry her father’s waters to her beloved, in response to this Father Baikal threw a huge piece of rock at his daughter and cursed her.
Films
- In 1969, the film studio. M. Gorky's film "By the Lake" was released.
- In 1992, the film studio "Lennauchfilm" released the popular science film "Baikal Legends" (directed by cameraman V. Petrov). The film tells about the geographical and natural features of the lake, as well as the history of the people living on its shores.
