To the younger generation I had the opportunity to write a complex work “What is Lake Baikal famous for?” 4th grade high school left not much information in our memory. This is the best thing in the world, people over forty will say. But this is not the only indicator that makes Lake Baikal a record holder. Well, let's update our information about this pearl of Russia. It’s not for nothing that the lake is called the sacred sea! It is rightfully considered a unique creation of Mother Nature, the pride and national treasure of Russia.

How natural object Baikal was included in 1996, at the twentieth session of UNESCO, in the list World Heritage humanity (numbered 754). What is unique about this lake? We will talk about this in our article.

Where is Lake Baikal located and why is it famous (briefly)

This unique natural attraction is located almost in the center of Asia. On the map of our country the lake is located in Eastern Siberia, in its southernmost part. Administratively, it serves as the border between the Buryat Republic and the Irkutsk region Russian Federation. Baikal is so big that it can be seen even from space. It stretches like a blue crescent from southwest to northeast. Therefore, the local population often calls Baikal not a lake, but a sea. “Baigal Dalai” is how the Buryats respectfully call it. The coordinates of the lake are: 53°13′ north latitude and 107°45′ east longitude.

What is Lake Baikal famous for? Let's look at its different parameters.

Depth

Let's start with the basic truths. Baikal is not only the deepest lake on the planet, but also the most impressive continental depression. This title was confirmed by scientific research conducted in 1983. The deepest place in the lake - 1642 meters from the surface of the water surface - has coordinates 53°14′59″ north latitude and 108°05′11″ east longitude. Thus, the lowest point of Baikal lies 1187 meters below sea level. And the lake has a height of 455 meters above the World Ocean.

The average depth of Baikal is also impressive: seven hundred and forty-four meters. Only two lakes in the world have a kilometer between the water surface and the bottom. These are (1025 m) and Tanganyika (1470 m). The deepest - that's what Lake Baikal is famous for.

In English on Google, a certain Vostok is among the top three record holders. This lake was found in Antarctica. It has a depth of more than 1200 meters, and another four kilometers of ice rise above the water surface. Thus, we can say that the distance between the surface of the earth and the bottom of the East is more than five thousand meters. But this body of water is not a lake in the usual sense of the word. Rather, it is an underground (subglacial) reservoir of water.

Dimensions

The area of ​​this reservoir is 31,722 square kilometers. That is, the size of the lake is quite comparable to such European countries, like Switzerland, Belgium or the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The length of Lake Baikal is six hundred and twenty kilometers, and its width varies between 24-79 km. Wherein coastline stretches for two thousand one hundred kilometers. And that's not counting the islands!

Size is what Lake Baikal is famous for, although this indicator does not make it the largest on the planet. But the reservoir occupies an honorable eighth place among the giants. Ahead are the Caspian (which is also a lake, although salty), Superior in America, Victoria, Huron, Michigan, the Aral “Sea” and Tanganyika.

Honorable age

Baikal is a lake of tectonic origin. This explains its record depth. But when did the tectonic fault occur? This question is still considered open among scientists. Traditionally, the age of Baikal is determined at 20-25 million years. This figure seems fantastic. After all, lakes “live” on average about ten, in extreme cases, fifteen thousand years. Then alluvial deposits and silty sediments accumulate and change the whole thing into a swamp, and it, after centuries, into a meadow. But Siberians are famous for their longevity. And what Lake Baikal is famous for is its venerable age.

It should be said that the Siberian giant is also unique in other parameters - hydrological. Baikal feeds about three hundred rivers, and only one flows out of it - the Angara. And one more unique thing: seismic activity during a tectonic fault. From time to time, earthquakes occur at the bottom of the lake. In fact, sensors record about two thousand of them every year. But sometimes it happens major earthquakes. So, in 1959, the bottom of the lake dropped by fifteen meters due to a shock.

What was most remembered by the surrounding residents was the Kudarino earthquake of 1862, when a huge piece of land (200 sq. km) with six villages inhabited by one thousand three hundred people went under water. This place in the delta is now called Proval Bay.

Unique fresh water reservoir

Despite the fact that the pearl of Siberia ranks only eighth in the world in size, in terms of water volume it holds the record. What is Lake Baikal famous for in this regard? Most of the water is in the Caspian Sea. But it's salty there. Thus, Baikal can be called the undisputed leader. It contains 23,615.39 cubic kilometers of water. This is about twenty percent of the total reserve of all lakes on the planet. To demonstrate the significance of this figure, let’s imagine that we managed to block all three hundred rivers flowing into Baikal. But even then it would have taken the Angara three hundred and eighty-seven years to drain the lake.

Unique fauna and flora

Another strange thing is that, despite the enormous depth of Baikal, bottom vegetation exists in the lake. This is explained by seismic activity under the tectonic basin. Magma heats the bottom layers and enriches them with oxygen. Such warm water rises, and cold water sinks. Half of the 2,600 species of animals and plants inhabiting the water area are endemic. What surprises biologists most of all is the lake’s only mammal, which lives 4 thousand kilometers from its marine counterparts and has adapted well to fresh water.

It is difficult to say which fish Lake Baikal is most famous for. Perhaps this is a golomlyanka. She is viviparous. Her body contains up to 30 percent fat. She also surprises scientists with her daily migrations. They rise to feed from the dark depths of shallow water. The lake is also home to Baikal sturgeon, omul, whitefish, and grayling. And the bottom is covered with freshwater sponges.

Purity and transparency of water

With such an area of ​​water surface and the presence of nearby industrial enterprises It would be logical to think that Lake Baikal will become polluted. Not so! The water here is not only potable, but close to distilled. You can drink it without fear. And it helps the lake to cleanse itself. This endemic one and a half millimeters in size performs the function of a natural filter: it passes water through itself, absorbing all the dirt. As a result, the pebbles at the bottom are clearly visible. Water transparency up to forty meters is what Lake Baikal is famous for. A photo of this unique reservoir demonstrates the majestic, pristine beauty of nature. It depends on us whether we preserve it for posterity.

Lake Baikal - what is it like?

In outline, Baikal resembles a narrow crescent, so easy to remember that even those who are not particularly good at geography can easily find it on a map of Russia. Stretching from southwest to northeast for as much as 636 kilometers, Baikal seems to squeeze between mountain ranges, and its water surface is located at an altitude of more than 450 meters above sea level, which gives every reason to consider it a mountain lake. The Baikal and Primorsky ranges adjoin it from the west, and the Ulan-Burgasy, Khamar-Daban and Barguzin massifs from the east and southeast. And all this natural landscape so harmonious that it is difficult to imagine one without the other.

Also Oleg Kirillovich Gusev (1930-2012), candidate of biological sciences, professional game warden, Chief Editor Russia's oldest magazine "Hunting and Game Management" and the author of several books on conservation issues unique nature of this lake, wrote: “Baikal gives us great joy and great pleasure.” And he added: “It amazes with its monumental style and the beautiful, eternal and powerful that lies in its very nature,” emphasizing that the more you get closer to it, the more tempting it becomes, and the clearer you understand that Baikal is unique and enchantingly inimitable. Anyone who visits here at least once can be convinced of the veracity of these words.

Lake depth

The depth of the lake is truly impressive - 1637 meters. In this indicator, Baikal surpasses such largest reservoirs as Tanganyika (1470 m), Caspian Sea (1025 m), San Martin (836 m), Nyasa (706 m), Issyk-Kul (702 m) and Great Slave Lake (614 m). m). The rest of the deepest lakes in the world, twenty-two in total, have a depth of less than 600 meters. A climatic conditions on Baikal, as they say, to match it unique features: here the sun mercilessly scorches and cold winds blow, then storms rage and the quietest weather sets in, conducive to a beach holiday.

Features and mysteries of Baikal

The length of the coastline of the Siberian “crescent” is 2100 km, there are 27 islands on it, the largest of which is Olkhon. The lake is located in a kind of basin, which, as mentioned above, is surrounded on all sides by mountain ranges and hills. This gives reason to assume that the shoreline of the reservoir is the same throughout its entire length. In fact, only the western coast of Lake Baikal is rocky and steep. The relief of the east is flatter: in some places the mountain peaks are 10 or more kilometers away from the coast.

Lake Baikal water

23,615.39 km³ - this fantastic figure measures the reserves of Baikal water. According to this indicator, the lake is second only to the Caspian Sea. Considering that in the latter it is salty, it is Baikal that ranks first in the world ranking in terms of reserves of fresh water, that is, suitable for drinking. In addition, it is extremely transparent, and all thanks to a very small amount of suspended and dissolved minerals, not to mention organic impurities - there are generally negligible amounts of them. At a depth of 35-40 meters, you can even distinguish individual stones, especially in spring, when the water turns blue. It is also distinguished by its huge reserves of oxygen. It is not for nothing that Baikal, for its combination of such unique properties and qualities, is called the national treasure of Russia.

The water in Baikal is very clean. Previously, you could drink it straight from the lake and not even boil it. But now crowds of tourists have flocked to Baikal, who still pollute this area, so now, before drinking Baikal water, you should ask local residents, in what place this can be done.

Ice of Baikal

The freeze-up period on the lake lasts on average from early January to early May. During this period it freezes almost completely. The only exception is a small 15-20 km section located at the source of the Angara. At the end of winter, the thickness of the ice can reach 1 meter, and in the bays even more - one and a half to two meters. At severe frosts Huge cracks form on the ice, which are called “stagnant cracks.” They are so impressive that they can reach from 10 to 30 km in length. The width, however, is small: only 2-3 m. Such “cracks” literally tear the ice blanket into separate fields. If it were not for the cracks, the formation of which is accompanied by a loud sound, like a cannon shot, then the lake fish would die en masse from lack of oxygen.

The ice of Lake Baikal also has a number of other features that are unique to it, and truly mysterious, which scientists have never been able to explain. Back in the middle of the last century, specialists from the local limnological station discovered the so-called “hills” - hollow ice hills in the shape of a cone, reaching a height of 5-6 meters. Being “open” in the direction opposite to the shore, they even somewhat resemble tents. Sometimes there are “single hills”, that is, located separately from each other. In some cases, they are grouped, forming “mountain ranges” in miniature.

Dark rings on the lake

Another mystery - dark rings, whose diameter is 5-7 km (and the width of the lake itself is 80 km). They have nothing in common with the “Saturn belt”, although they were also discovered through space photography. Satellite photographs of amazing formations, taken back in 2009 in different parts of Lake Baikal, went around the entire Internet. Scientists have been scratching their heads for a long time: what could it be? And they came to the conclusion that the rings arise due to the rise of deep waters and an increase in the temperature of the upper layer in the center of the ring structure. And as a result, a clockwise flow occurs, reaching maximum speeds in certain zones. As a result, vertical water exchange increases, provoking the destruction of the ice cover at an accelerated rate.

Bottom of Baikal

It is impossible not to say about the bottom of the amazing reservoir. It also differs from others, primarily in that it has a very pronounced relief - there are even underwater mountain ranges here. The three main basins of the lake - northern, southern and middle, separated by the Academic and Selenginsky ridges - are distinguished by a pronounced bed. The first ridge (its maximum height above the bottom is 1848 meters) is especially expressive: it stretches for as much as 100 km from Olkhon Island to the Ushkany Islands.

Earthquakes

Another feature of these places is high seismic activity. Oscillations earth's crust occur here regularly, but the strength of most earthquakes does not exceed one or two points. But there have been powerful ones in the past. For example, in 1862, when a ten-point “shake” led to the sinking of an entire section of land in the northern part of the Selenga delta, one of the many tributaries of Lake Baikal. Its area was 200 km, about 1,500 people lived on this territory. Later, a bay was formed here, which is called Proval. Strong earthquakes also occurred in 1903, 1950, 1957 and 1959. The epicenter of the latter, magnitude 9, was at the bottom of the lake in the area of ​​the rural settlement of Sukhaya. The tremors were then also felt in Irkutsk and Ulan-Ude - about 5-6 points. In our time, the region shook in 2008 and 2010: the strength of the tremors was 9 and 6.1 points, respectively.

Origin of Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal still hides the secret of its origin. Researchers often argue about its age, coming to the conclusion that it is at least 25-35 million years old. The indicator is impressive, especially considering that the life cycle of most lakes, primarily those of glacial origin, does not exceed 10-15 thousand years. After this period, they either become swamped or filled with silty sediments. Nothing like this has happened and is not happening with Baikal. And, according to scientists, it is unlikely to happen in the future. The lack of signs of aging is explained by the fact that the lake is... an emerging ocean. The hypothesis did not arise out of the blue: as it turned out, its banks move away from each other by 2 cm every year.

Flora and fauna

An interesting fact: the purity of Baikal water - by the way, very cold (the temperature of the surface layers even in the warm season does not exceed + 8-9 ° C on average) - is maintained by the microscopic crustacean epishura, one of the most famous local endemics. During its life, this 1.5-mm crustacean consumes organic matter (algae), passing water through its small body. The role of epishura in the lake’s ecosystem can hardly be overestimated: it forms 90 percent or more of its biomass, serving in turn as food for the Baikal omul and predatory invertebrates. Oligochaetes or oligochaete worms, 84.5 percent of which are endemic, also play a significant role in the self-purification processes of Baikal.

Of the 2,600 species and subspecies of the local fauna, more than half of the aquatic animals are endemic, that is, living exclusively in this lake. Other fish include grayling, Baikal sturgeon, whitefish, taimen, pike, burbot and others. Of particular interest is the golomyanka, which from a human point of view “suffers” from obesity: its body contains about 30% fat. She loves to eat so much that in search of food every day she makes a “journey” from the depths to shallow water, which greatly surprises researchers. This underwater resident is also unique in that it is a viviparous fish. Distant “neighbors” of golomyankas can be called freshwater sponges that grow on great depth. Their presence here is an exclusive phenomenon: they are not found in any other lake.

If the biosphere of the lake is imagined in the form of a pyramid, then it will be crowned by the Baikal seal or seal, which is the only mammal in this reservoir. Almost all the time he lives in water. The only exception is autumn, when seals lie en masse on rocky shores, forming a kind of “settlement”. The coast and islands are also inhabited by many other inhabitants of Lake Baikal, for example, seagulls, goldeneyes, razorbills, mergansers, white-tailed eagles and other birds. Characteristic of these places is the phenomenon of brown bears coming onto the shores in large numbers. And in the mountainous Baikal taiga you can find musk deer - the smallest deer on Earth.

Sights of Baikal

Lake Baikal is so majestic that it is often called the Siberian Sea. In 1996, it was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. But not only thanks to the unique ecosystem that requires careful attitude– there are also many historical and architectural attractions concentrated here, not to mention natural and cultural monuments.

One of them is a protected rock called the Shaman Stone, located near the lake, at the source of the Angara. It can be seen in the middle of the river, between capes Rogatka and Ustyansky. If you focus on the Port-Baikal ferry line, the rock will be 800 meters lower. Since ancient times, the Shaman Stone was endowed by the inhabitants of the Angara region with unusual powers; people prayed near it and performed various shamanic rituals.

Between the mainland and the Svyatoy Nos peninsula there is perhaps the most famous bay on Lake Baikal - Chivyrkuisky. Its area is approximately 300 km², it is the second largest on the lake, and is also shallow (depth about 10 m). Thanks to the latter circumstance, the water in the bay warms up well, on average up to +24 degrees. On the southwestern coast there are settlements such as Kurbulik, Katun and Monakhovo. The main wealth of the bay is its fish resources. Here you can find pike, perch, and sorog, the weight of which can reach tens of kilograms. However, fishing on an industrial scale is prohibited - only amateur fishing. Chivyrkuisky Bay is also famous for its thermal spring, one of the hottest: the temperature of the water used to treat diseases of the musculoskeletal system ranges from 38.5-45.5 °C. The source is located in Zmeinaya Bay, on the western side.

On the northeastern coast of Lake Baikal there is a tract belonging to the natural-geographical region of Podlemorye. It is called Frolikha and includes the river of the same name, which flows into the Baikal Bay of Frolikha and flows out of the lake of the same name. In the river valley - its bed, by the way, is crossed by the famous a tourist route 95 km long - the Frolikhinsky reserve is located. Together with the Trans-Baikal National Park and the Barguzinsky Nature Reserve, it is subordinate to the federal budgetary state institution “Reserve Podlemorye”.

Other attractions:

• Northern Baikal is the last area on the great lake, the nature of which, due to its remoteness and lack of roads, remains pristine,
• Barguzin Bay is the largest and deepest on Lake Baikal,
• Ushkany Islands are a small archipelago with rocky shores in the Barguzin region of Buryatia,
• Peschanaya Bay, known for its unique picturesqueness,
• Cape Ryty is the northernmost point of the coast, where there are vast pastures, and one of the most anomalous places,
• Cape Ludar, located near the old village of Zabaikalskoye,
• Chersky Peak - from its slopes the Slyudanka and Bezymyannaya rivers begin, flowing into Baikal,
• The Circum-Baikal Railway, which has historical significance.

Holidays on Baikal

It is along the Circum-Baikal railway in the 80s of the 20th century, the Bureau of International Youth Tourism “Sputnik” (Irkutsk) developed the first ecological tour. Since that time, ecotourism on Lake Baikal has been actively developing, despite the fact that the tourism infrastructure here is not well developed and there are some transport difficulties. There are also problems associated with pollution environment emissions from the Baikal pulp and paper mill. But all of them are to some extent compensated for by activities to create and equip excursion trails, regularly carried out by tourism organizations in the region.

The most favorable time for relaxing on the lake is from May to October. You can swim in July and August, since these months are the hottest - the air warms up to +30° C, the shallow waters - up to +25° C. A vacation on Lake Baikal will satisfy the needs of even the most demanding tourists. Beach holiday, bicycle and car excursions, hiking along the coast, rafting on catamarans and kayaks, quad biking and even helicopter excursions - this is not a complete list of what travel agencies offer their clients. Climbing coastal cliffs and descending into caves are popular.

Fishing

Fishing should be mentioned separately. Many amateurs fish from the rocks adjacent to the lake. The most passionate fishermen prefer to settle in specialized bases, of which there are many here, and which differ in different levels of comfort. They go fishing on rented vessels. The most popular places for fishing on Lake Baikal are the already mentioned Chivyrkuisky Bay, Mukhor Bay, shallow bays of the Small Sea and, of course, the rivers flowing into it. The largest of them (besides Selenga) are Upper Angara, Snezhnaya, Barguzin, Kichera, Turka, Buguldeika and Goloustnaya. And only one river flows out of the lake - the Angara.

Fishing, only ice fishing, also finds its fans in the winter season, which here lasts from late December to mid-May. Fans of the “second Russian hunt” are helped by professional instructors: without them, it is difficult for inexperienced fishermen to make the right hole in the unusually transparent ice. They willingly share their secrets on how to organize a comfortable holiday in conditions of 40-degree frosts, which are not uncommon for Lake Baikal. And those who don’t want to test their health with extreme cold, go underwater fishing in March and April. At this time, the ice is still strong, and the air temperature begins to reach positive levels.

Winter sports

From winter activities Tourists are also offered dog sledding (routes vary in complexity and length), snowmobile rides (excursion programs are also different and depend on the level of preparedness of those skiing), alpine skiing, sledding and snowboarding (you can rent ski equipment at numerous rental shops along the coast). In winter, as well as in summer, helicopter excursions are held in high esteem among vacationers, giving unforgettable experience for life.

Children and youth tourism

Children's tourism is also quite developed on Lake Baikal, involving recreation in summer camps. We will immediately please parents: your children will not be bored here. Staying in a children's institution involves an intense excursion and creative programs, including holding sanatorium and health-improving events at specialized bases. One of the most convenient places On Lake Baikal, Mandarkhan Bay is ideal for families with small children. It’s as if it was specially created by nature for this very purpose: it’s very shallow, and in the summer the water here is perhaps the warmest and children don’t risk catching a cold.

Young people are not left behind either. For her, interregional public organization The “Great Baikal Trail”, created in 2003, implements various international programs taking into account the specifics and needs of people under 30. For example, the arrangement and reconstruction of ecological trails, holding educational lectures on the topic of nature conservation. Schoolchildren are also actively involved as listeners of the latter.

Video: The underwater world of Lake Baikal

Hotels and recreation centers on Lake Baikal

Many tourists come to relax on Lake Baikal, as they say, as savages, traveling in their own cars. They choose a place they like on the coast and stop there, spending the night in tents. There are very few campsites on the lake specially equipped for car travelers. Having planned to stay at such a site, you should take into account that in this place there may not be wood for a fire and basic amenities (for example, a toilet). Therefore, think in advance about how you will “survive”.

Those who prefer to travel in comfort, even minimal, will be spared such experiences. At their service are many hotels, recreation centers and guest houses scattered along the entire coast of Lake Baikal. Moreover, each tourist will be able to find the most suitable accommodation option for him - taking into account, of course, individual preferences and financial opportunities. We have to disappoint the bohemian public: there are no five-star hotels with the highest level of service here. She, like “mere mortals,” will have to be content with ordinary rooms with all amenities. Another note: some recreation centers accept vacationers only in the summer.

Tourists traveling independently run the risk of running into unscrupulous intermediaries when booking a hotel room or recreation center. To prevent this from happening, reserve a hotel room only through proven and reliable services, which will not only save you from scammers, but will also allow you to rent a room at a minimal cost, without unnecessary markups. We recommend Booking.com, one of the first and most popular online hotel booking systems.

How to get there

You can get to Baikal in various ways. The starting point is usually nearby big cities: Irkutsk, Ulan-Ude, Severobaikalsk. Tourists first come to one of these settlements and there they plan their future route in detail. The trip on the section of the Trans-Siberian Railway between Ulan-Ude and Irkutsk is especially memorable: the lake stretches right outside the train windows and you can admire its magical panorama for hours.

One of the most popular tourism destinations on the Siberian Sea is the village of Listvyanka, located at the source of the Angara River, 65 km from Irkutsk. You can get here from the regional center by bus or boat, the journey time is just over an hour. All routes start in Irkutsk water transport, plying not only along Lake Baikal, but also on the Angara.

- the most deep lake . Depth of Baikal about 1700 meters. In the world only one lake can be compared in depth with Lake Baikal. This lake Tanganyika in East Africa. Its depth is about 1400 meters. Depth of Lake Baikal comparable to the depth of the Arctic Ocean, whose average depth is 1220 meters.

Baikal - the most big lake in Asia. Water surface area Lake Baikal more than 30 thousand square kilometers.

Lake Baikal water- his main value. Lake Baikal – the most large fresh water storage facility in the world. Baikal contains approximately one-fifth of the world's reserves.

Deepest Bay Lake Baikal- Barguzinsky. The depth of the Barguzinsky Bay is almost 1300 meters.

The largest bay Lake Baikal- Barguzinsky. The area of ​​the bay is 725 square kilometers.

The youngest bay of Baikal– Proval Bay. Proval Bay was formed after a powerful earthquake in 1862. A part of the Selenga delta with an area of ​​about 200 square kilometers went under water. This earthquake also caused the formation the youngest cape of Baikal- Cape Oblom.

Most big Island Lake Baikal- Olkhon. The island is located in the middle part Baikal and divides lake to the Big and Small Seas. The length of the island is 71 kilometers, the width reaches 12 kilometers.

At Cape Kotelnikovsky there are the most. Water temperature in mineral springs Cape Kotelnikovsky plus 81 degrees Celsius.

Basin of Lake Baikal – deepest continental depression. Bottom of Lake Baikal lies approximately 1200 meters below sea level.

Biggest influx Lake Baikal- Selenga River. The Selenga has a length of about 1000 kilometers. About half of all water that flows into lake, it is Selenga that brings.

The largest peninsula Lake Baikal- Holy Nose. The peninsula measures about 50 kilometers long and about 20 kilometers wide.

Depth of Lake Baikal

Baikal basin consists of three rather separate parts. The middle basin is the deepest. It is here that eastern shore Olkhon Islands depth of Lake Baikal reaches almost 1700 meters. Depth southern basin Lake Baikal approximately 1432 meters. Largest measured depth northern part Lake Baikal 890 meters. Average lake depth is also very large - more than 700 meters. The biggest depth Small Sea - near the northwestern coast of Olkhon Island. It is approximately 250 meters. The smallest depth in the open Baikal- about 30 meters. Northern and middle basins Lake Baikal divides the underwater Academic Ridge. Lake depth in these places it is about 260 meters. Between the middle and southern basins Lake Baikal The Selenginskaya jumper is located. The smallest depth here 360 ​​meters.

Where is Baikal?

Baikal is located in the middle of Asia in the south of Eastern Siberia between the Republic of Buryatia and the Irkutsk region of the Russian Federation. Close to lakes The cities of Irkutsk and Ulan-Ude are located.

Length, extent, width of Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal is a fracture in the earth's crust filled with water. Water in lake carry several hundred large and small streams. Lake Baikal stretches from south to northeast: length or length of Baikal about 640 kilometers. Greatest width of Baikal 80 kilometers. Small earthquakes constantly occur in the vicinity of the lake. Large ones happen occasionally. Shores Baikal moving away from each other at a rate of 2 centimeters per year – Baikal growing!

Almost in the center of the huge continent of Eurasia there is a narrow blue crescent - Lake Baikal. In the Baikal mountain region, surrounded on all sides by high ridges, it stretches over 636 kilometers in length and up to 80 kilometers in width. The area of ​​Baikal is equal to Belgium with its almost 10 million population, many cities and industrial centers, highways and railways.

IN Baikal 336 permanent rivers and streams flow into the lake, while half of the volume of water entering the lake comes from the Selenga. The only river that flows out of Baikal is the Angara.

The area of ​​the lake's water surface is 31,470 square kilometers. The maximum depth reaches 1637 m, the average - 730 m.

In order to understand the enormity of Baikal’s water body, imagine that the Angara, which annually removes 60.9 km3 of water from the lake, would need 387 years of continuous work to drain its bowl. Provided, of course, that during this time not a liter of water gets into it and not a drop evaporates from its surface.

Undoubtedly, Baikal - deepest lake in the world. Not everyone knows that the second contender in the world for this title, the African Lake Tanganyika, lags behind the leader by as much as 200 meters. There are 30 islands on Baikal, the largest is Olkhon Island.

The question of the age of Lake Baikal should be considered open. Usually the literature gives a figure of 20-25 million years. However, the use of various age determination methods gives values ​​from 20-30 million to several tens of thousands of years. But, if we assume that the traditional point of view is correct, then Baikal can be considered the oldest lake on Earth.

BAIKAL WATER

Baikal water unique and amazing, like Baikal itself. She's extraordinary
transparent, clean and oxygenated. In not so long ago, it was considered healing, and diseases were treated with its help.

In spring, the transparency of Baikal water is as much as 40 meters! This is explained by the fact that Baikal water, thanks to the activity of living organisms living in it, is very
slightly mineralized and close to distilled.

The volume of water in Baikal reaches about 23 thousand cubic kilometers, which is 20% of the world's and 90% of Russian fresh water reserves. There is more water in Baikal than in all five Great American Lakes combined - they only reached a total of 22,725 km3. Every year, the Baikal ecosystem reproduces about 60 cubic kilometers of clear, oxygenated water.

INHABITANTS OF BAIKAL

The exclusivity of many physical and geographical features of the lake was the reason
the extraordinary diversity of its flora and fauna. And in this regard, it has no equal among the fresh water bodies of the world.

The lake is home to 52 species of fish of several families.:

• sturgeon (Baikal sturgeon),
• salmon (Davatchan, taimen, lenok, Baikal omul - endemic fish, whitefish),
• grayling (Siberian grayling),
• pike,
• carp,
• loaches,
• catfish,
• cod,
• perch,
• sculpin gobies,
• Golomyanka

The food pyramid of the lake ecosystem is crowned by a typical marine mammal - the seal,
or Baikal seal. The Baikal seal is the only representative of mammals in the lake. For almost the whole year
it lives in water, and in the fall it forms mass haulouts on the rocky shores of the lake.

The life of many animals characteristic of Baikal is inextricably linked not only with the lake itself, but also with its coast. Gulls, mergansers, goldeneyes, scoters, scorches, white-tailed eagles, ospreys and many other bird species nest on the shores of the lake and on its islands.

Also remarkable is such an integral part of the life of the great lake as the mass emergence of brown bears on the shores, entirely due to the peculiarities of the nature of Lake Baikal.

In the mountain taiga of the Baikal region there is a musk deer - the smallest deer on the globe.

The diversity of the organic world of Baikal is amazing, but its originality is no less phenomenal. Many of the animals and plants living in the lake are not found anywhere else in the world. Baikal has 848 species of endemic animals (about 60%) and 133 species of endemic plants (15%).

BAIKAL FOR TOURISTS

Today, everything connected with Baikal arouses genuine interest not only in our country, but also abroad. Behind last decade Baikal has become a magnet for many tourists. Relatively well preserved nature
lakes and seas, rapidly developing infrastructure - hotels, roads, proximity to transport interchanges - give reason to believe that in the future the tourist flow to the shores of Lake Baikal will only increase.

Come to Lake Baikal! Admire its beauty and purity of water, feel the almost mystical
the energy that the sacred sea gives to everyone who comes to its shore.

Based on materials from the article “Unique Baikal”, prepared by Valentina Ivanovna Galkina, Honored Worker of Culture of Russia, head of the exhibition of the Baikal Museum of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences.

Numerous scientific studies have been devoted to the problem of the origin of the word “Baikal”, which indicates a lack of clarity in this issue. There are about a dozen possible explanations for the origin of the name. Among them, the most probable version is the origin of the name of the lake from the Turkic-speaking Bai-Kul - rich lake.

Of the other versions, two more can be noted: from the Mongolian Baigal - rich fire and Baigal Dalai - large lake. The peoples who lived on the shores of the lake called Baikal in their own way. Evenks, for example, - Lamu, Buryats - Baigal-Nuur, even the Chinese had a name for Baikal - Beihai - North Sea.

The Evenki name Lamu - Sea was used for several years by the first Russian explorers in the 17th century, then they switched to the Buryat Baigal, slightly softening the letter “g” by phonetic replacement. Quite often Baikal is called the sea, simply out of respect, for its violent temper, because the distant opposite shore is often hidden somewhere in the haze... At the same time, a distinction is made between the Small Sea and the Big Sea. The Small Sea is what is located between the northern coast of Olkhon and the mainland, everything else is the Big Sea.

Baikal water

Baikal water is unique and amazing, like Baikal itself. It is unusually transparent, clean and saturated with oxygen. In not so ancient times, it was considered healing, and diseases were treated with its help. In spring, the transparency of Baikal water, measured using a Secchi disk (a white disk with a diameter of 30 cm), is 40 m (for comparison, in the Sargasso Sea, which is considered the standard of transparency, this value is 65 m). Later, when massive algae blooms begin, the transparency of the water decreases, but in calm weather the bottom can be seen from a boat at a fairly decent depth. Such high transparency is explained by the fact that Baikal water, thanks to the activity of living organisms living in it, is very weakly mineralized and close to distilled.

The volume of water in Baikal is about 23 thousand cubic kilometers, which is 20% of the world's and 90% of Russian fresh water reserves. Every year, the Baikal ecosystem reproduces about 60 cubic kilometers of clear, oxygenated water.

Age of Lake Baikal

Usually in the literature the age of the lake is given as 20-25 million years. In fact, the question of the age of Baikal should be considered open, since the use of various methods for determining age gives values ​​from 20-30 million to several tens of thousands of years. Apparently, the first assessment is closer to the truth - Baikal is indeed a very ancient lake. If we assume that Baikal is actually several tens of millions of years old, then it is the oldest lake on Earth.

It is believed that Baikal arose as a result of tectonic forces. Tectonic processes are still ongoing, which is manifested in increased seismicity in the Baikal region.

Climate in the area of ​​Lake Baikal.

The climate in Eastern Siberia is sharply continental, but the huge mass of water contained in Baikal and its mountainous surroundings create an extraordinary microclimate. Baikal works as a large thermal stabilizer - in winter it is warmer on Baikal, and in summer it is a little cooler than, for example, in Irkutsk, which is located 70 km from the lake. The temperature difference is usually about 10 degrees. A significant contribution to this effect is made by forests growing almost along the entire coast of Lake Baikal.

The influence of Baikal is not limited to temperature regulation. Due to the fact that the evaporation of cold water from the surface of the lake is very small, clouds cannot form over Baikal. In addition, the air masses that bring clouds from land heat up when they pass over the coastal mountains, and the clouds dissipate. As a result, the sky over Lake Baikal is clear most of the time. The numbers also speak to this: the number of hours of sunshine in the area of ​​Olkhon Island is 2277 hours (for comparison - on the Riga seaside 1839, in Abastumani (Caucasus) - 1994). You should not think that the sun always shines over the lake - if you are unlucky, you can end up with one or even two weeks of disgusting rainy weather even in the sunniest place of Lake Baikal - on Olkhon, but this happens extremely rarely.

The average annual water temperature on the surface of the lake is +4°C. Near the coast in summer the temperature reaches +16-17°C, in shallow bays up to +22-23°C.

Wind and waves on Lake Baikal.

The wind almost always blows on Lake Baikal. More than thirty local names of winds are known. This does not mean that there are so many different winds on Baikal, just that many of them have several names. The peculiarity of the Baikal winds is that they almost always blow along the coast and there are not as many shelters from them as we would like.

Prevailing winds: north-west, often called mountain, north-east (Barguzin and Verkhovik, also known as Angara), south-west (kultuk), south-east (shelonnik). Maximum speed wind recorded on Lake Baikal is 40 m/s. In the literature there are also large values- up to 60 m/s, but there is no reliable evidence of this.

Where there is wind, there are, as you know, waves. Let me immediately note that the opposite is not true - a wave can occur even with complete calm. Waves on Baikal can reach a height of 4 meters. Sometimes values ​​of 5 and even 6 meters are given, but this is most likely an estimate “by eye”, which has a large error, usually towards overestimation. The height of 4 meters was obtained using instrumental measurements in the open sea. The excitement is strongest in autumn and spring. In summer, strong waves on Lake Baikal are rare, and calm often occurs.

Ichthyofauna of Baikal.

Depending on their habitat conditions, fish can be divided into several groups. Sturgeon, pike, burbot, ide, roach, dace, perch, and minnow occupy the coastal shallows and river deltas of Lake Baikal. Fish of Siberian mountain rivers: grayling, taimen, lenok inhabit small tributaries of the lake and its coastal zone. Omul, since ancient times considered a symbol of Baikal, inhabits its open and coastal part, whitefish, another famous resident of Baikal, inhabits only the coastal part.

The most remarkable group of Baikal fish are gobies, of which there are 25 species. The most interesting of them are the golomyankas. This miracle of Baikal is not found anywhere else in the world. Golomyanka is incredibly beautiful, shimmers blue and pink in the light, and if you leave it in the sun it will melt, leaving only bones and a greasy stain. She is the main and most numerous inhabitant of Baikal, but she rarely gets caught in fishermen’s nets. Its only enemy is the seal, for which it is the main food.

To preserve rare and endangered animals, there is a strict and complete ban on hunting, maximum conservation of habitat, the creation of special nurseries, national parks, nature reserves and sanctuaries.