The shores of Lake Baikal diverge by 2 centimeters annually
Features of the lake
The lake is located in a seismological zone; several hundred earthquakes occur in its vicinity every year. Mostly with an intensity of 1–2 on the MSK-64 scale. The predominant part of tremors can be detected only by highly sensitive equipment. The transformation of Baikal continues to this day.
The Baikal winds give the local climate distinct features. They often whip up a storm on the lake and have memorable names: barguzin, sarma, verkhovik and kultuk. Water mass affects the atmosphere of coastal areas. Spring here comes 10–15 days later than in neighboring areas. Autumn lasts for a long time. Summers are usually cool, and winters are not very frosty.
Two large lakes and many streams create the main stream flowing into Baikal. The Selenga River, originating in Mongolia, provides most of the inflow from the southeast side. The second large influx is from eastern shore, from the Barguzin River. The Angara is the only river flowing from Lake Baikal.
The purest waters of Lake Baikal make up 19% of the world's fresh water reserves
Water contains minimal amount mineral salts and abundantly saturated with oxygen to the very bottom. It happens in winter and spring of blue color and becomes the most transparent. In summer and autumn it acquires a blue-green hue and is maximally heated by the sun. In warm water, many plant and animal species form, so its transparency decreases to 8–10 m.
In winter, the surface of the lake is covered with a thick layer of ice, dotted with multiple, many-kilometer-long cracks. Explosions occur with a piercing crack, similar to gun salvos or thunderclaps. They divide the ice surface into separate fields. The cracks help fish avoid dying due to lack of oxygen under the ice. The sun's rays penetrate through the transparent ice. This promotes the development of planktonic algae that produce oxygen. Baikal freezes almost completely, not counting the area at the headwaters of the Angara.
Baikal as an ecosystem
More than 3,500 species of animals and plants live in water and on land. Numerous studies often discover new species, and the list of inhabitants continues to grow. About 80% of the fauna are endemic, found exclusively in Lake Baikal and nowhere else on earth.
The banks are mountainous and covered with forests; All around there is impenetrable, hopeless game. An abundance of bears, sables, wild goats and all sorts of wild things...
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
Baikal has a large amount of valuable fish: sturgeon, burbot, pike, grayling, taimen, whitefish, omul and others. 80% of the lake's zooplankton biomass is the epishura crustacean, which is endemic. It passes through itself and filters water. The golomyanka, a viviparous fish that lives on the bottom, looks unusual and contains more than 30% fat. Biologists are surprised by its constant movements from the depths to the shallows. Freshwater sponges grow at the bottom.
According to the stories of local residents, until the 12th–13th centuries the Baikal region was inhabited by the Mongol-speaking Bargut people. Then the Buryats began to actively settle on the western coast of the lake and in Transbaikalia. The Russian discoverer of Baikal was the Cossack Kurbat Ivanov. The first Russian-speaking settlements appeared at the end of the 17th – beginning of the 18th century.
Mysteries of Lake Baikal
The crystal waters of Lake Baikal are fraught with many mysteries. Often legends and stories about the lake maneuver on the verge of mysticism and real stories. Researchers have discovered a lot of meteorite debris and inexplicable linear arrangements of underwater rocks at the bottom of Lake Baikal. Some believe that the waters of the lake contain Pandora's casket and the magic crystal of Kali-Ma. Others claim that Kolchak’s gold reserves and Genghis Khan’s gold reserves are hidden here. There are witnesses who claim that a UFO route passes over the lake.
The ice cover hides many secrets, forcing scientists to make speculative conclusions. Unique forms of ice cover, unique to Lake Baikal, were found by specialists from the Baikal Limnological Station. Among them: “juice”, “kolobovnik”, “autumn”. The ice hills are shaped like tents and have an opening on the back side of the shore. Dark rings were discovered on satellite imagery. Scientists believe that they are formed due to the rise of deep waters and an increase in the temperature of the water surface.
There is still scientific debate about the origin of Baikal. According to one version put forward by Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences A.V. Tatarinov in 2009, after the second stage of the “Mirov” expedition, the lake is considered young. Scientists have studied the activity of mud volcanoes on the bottom surface. After this, they made an assumption: the age of the deep-sea part is 150 thousand years, and the modern coastline- only 8 thousand years. The oldest lake on earth does not show any signs of aging, like other similar reservoirs. According to the results of recent research, some experts are inclined to conclude that Baikal can become a new ocean.
Recreation and tourism on Baikal
Favorable time for a holiday on Lake Baikal is from mid-July to mid-August. At other times, it becomes cold on the coastal area, and the conditions are more suitable for fans of extreme recreation. But even in the summer, sometimes a cyclone comes with a cold wind and sharp temperature changes between day and night. An important condition A safe holiday is a detailed study of the travel route.
The most visited vacation spots are the Circum-Baikal Railway, Sandy Bay, the village of Listvyanka, the coast of the Small Sea, Sandy Bay, the western coast of Olkhon, the coast near the city of Severobaikalsk. Other places that can be reached by SUV are also popular.
Baikal, it would seem, should suppress a person with its grandeur and size - everything in it is large, everything is wide, free and mysterious - but on the contrary, it elevates him. You experience a rare feeling of elation and spirituality on Baikal, as if in view of eternity and perfection you were touched by the secret seal of these magical concepts, and you were enveloped in the close breath of an omnipotent presence, and a share of the magical secret of all things entered into you. You are already, it seems, marked and highlighted by the fact that you stand on this shore, breathe this air and drink this water. Nowhere else will you have such a complete and so desired feeling of unity with nature and penetration into it: you will be intoxicated by this air, whirled and carried away over this water so quickly that you will not have time to come to your senses; you will visit such protected areas that we never dreamed of; and you will return with tenfold hope: there, ahead, is the promised life...
Valentin Grigorievich Rasputin
Baikal(Bur. Baigal Dalai, Baigal Nuur) - a lake of tectonic origin in the southern part Eastern Siberia, the world's deepest lake and largest (by volume) reservoir of aqueous fresh water. It contains about 19% of global freshwater supplies. 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 Selenga, Upper Angara, Barguzin, etc., and one river flows out - the Angara.
Data about Baikal:
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 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 lake on earth that is so deep. The bottom of Lake Baikal is 1167 meters below the level of the World Ocean, and the surface of its waters is 453 meters higher.
The water surface area is 31,722 km² (excluding islands), which is approximately equal to the area of such countries as Belgium, the Netherlands or Denmark. In terms of surface area, Baikal ranks sixth among the largest lakes in the world.
The lake is located in a specific basin, surrounded on all sides by mountain ranges and hills. With all this, the western coast is rocky and steep, the relief of the eastern coast is flatter (in some places the mountains recede from the coast by 10 km).
Depth
Baikal is the deepest lake on planet Earth. Modern meaning 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 State University of Universities and Oceanography of the USSR Ministry of Defense at a point with coordinates 53°14"59"N. 108°05"11"E
The greatest depth was plotted on maps in 1992 and proven in 2002 as a result of a joint Belgian-Spanish-Russian project to create the latest bathymetric map of Lake Baikal, when depths were digitized at 1,312,788 points in 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 surface of the lake is located at an altitude of 453 m above sea level, then the lowest point of the basin lies 1186.5 m below the level of the world ocean, which makes the bowl of Baikal also one of the deepest continental depressions.
The average depth of the lake is also very great - 744.4 m. It exceeds the greatest depths of many very deep lakes.
Apart from Lake 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 we must take into account that this subglacial “lake” is not a lake in the sense to which we are accustomed, because there are four kilometers of ice above the water and it is some kind of closed container, where the water is under tremendous pressure, and the “surface” or “level” of the water in different parts of this “lake” differs by more than 400 meters. Consequently, the concept of “depth” for subglacial Lake Vostok is radically different from the depth of “ordinary” lakes.
Water volume
The water reserves in Baikal are huge - 23,615.39 km³ (about 19% of global fresh water reserves - all fresh lakes in the world contain 123 thousand km³ of water). In terms of the volume of water reserves, Baikal ranks second in the world among lakes, second only to the Caspian Sea, but in the Caspian Sea the water 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 drainage
336 rivers and streams flow into Baikal, but this number only takes into account 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 clear. The main characteristics of Baikal water can be briefly described as follows: it contains very little dissolved and suspended minerals, very little 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 Lake Baikal rise to a record 22-23°C.
The water in the lake is so clear that individual pebbles and various objects can be seen at a depth of 40 m. At this time, Baikal water is blue. In summer and autumn, when a mass of plant and animal organisms develop in sun-warmed water, 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 (96.7 mg/l) that it can be used instead of distilled water.
The average freeze-up period is January 9 - May 4; Baikal freezes completely, not counting a small, 15-20 km long section located at the source of the Angara. The shipping period for passenger and cargo ships is usually from June to September; research vessels begin navigation right after the lake breaks up from ice and ends with the freezing of Lake Baikal, in other words, from May to January.
By the end of winter, the ice thickness on Lake Baikal reaches 1 m, and in the bays - 1.5-2 m. severe frost cracks, locally called “stanova cracks,” tear 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 crackling sound, reminiscent of thunder or cannon shots. To a person standing on the ice, it seems that the ice cover is bursting just under his feet and he this moment will fall into the abyss. Thanks to the cracks in the ice, the fish on 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 aquatic plants that produce oxygen rapidly develop in the water. Along the shores of Lake Baikal it is possible to observe 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 Lake Baikal. For example, “hills” are cone-shaped ice mounds up to 6 m high, hollow inside. In appearance, they resemble ice tents, “open” in the direction opposite to the shore. The hills can be located separately, and from time to time they form small “mountain ranges”. There are also a number of other types of ice on Baikal: “sokui”, “kolobovnik”, “osenets”.
In addition, in the spring of 2009, satellite images various areas of Lake Baikal where dark rings were discovered. 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 reaches the highest speeds, 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 more or less developed; the bed of the 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 - Academic 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. The thickness of bottom sediments in Baikal reaches about 6 thousand m, and as established by gravimetric survey, some of the lakes in Baikal are flooded highest mountains on Earth, at an altitude 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, area - 729 km², by 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, most of which are one or two points on the MSK-64 intensity scale. But strong ones also happen; So, in 1862, during the ten-magnitude Kudarin 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 noted in 1903 (Baikal), 1950 (Mondinskoye), 1957 (Muyskoye), 1959 (Middle Baikal). The epicenter of the Central Baikal earthquake was at the bottom of Lake Baikal near the village of Sukhaya (southeast coast). Its strength reached 9 points. In Ulan-Ude and Irkutsk, the strength of the head shock reached 5-6 points, cracks and minor destruction were observed in buildings and structures. The last strong earthquakes on Lake Baikal occurred in August 2008 (9 points) and February 2010 (6.1 points).
Climate
Baikal winds often raise a storm on the lake. The water mass of Lake Baikal influences the climate of the coastal area. Winters here are milder and summers are cooler. The arrival of spring on Baikal is delayed by 10-15 days compared to adjacent areas, and autumn is often quite long.
The Baikal region is characterized by a long total duration of sunshine. For example, in the village of Gromnoye Goloustnoye it reaches 2524 hours, which is more than at the Black Sea resorts and is a record for the Russian Federation. There are only 37 days in the year without sun in the same populated area, and 48 on the Olkhon Peninsula.
The special features of the climate are due to the Baikal winds, which have proper names- barguzin, sarma, verkhovik, kultuk.
Origin of the lake
The origin of Baikal still causes scientific controversy. Scientists usually estimate the age of the lake at 25-35 million years. This fact also makes Baikal unique natural object, because most lakes, some of glacial origin, live on average 10-15 thousand years, and later fill with silty sediments and become swampy.
But there is also a version about the youth of Baikal, put forward by the physician of geological and mineralogical sciences A.V. Tatarinov in 2009, which received indirect evidence during the second step of the “Worlds” expedition on Lake Baikal. Namely, the activity of mud volcanoes at the bottom of Baikal allows scientists to believe that the modern shoreline 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 the Hindustan. Be that as it may, the transformation of Lake Baikal continues to this day - earthquakes constantly occur in the districts of the lake. There are speculations that the subsidence of the depression is associated with the formation of vacuum centers due to the outpouring of basalts onto the surface (Quaternary period).
Additionally on the site about lakes:
Lake Baikal is one of the most beautiful and picturesque places not only in the Asian part of our country, but on the entire planet. This ancient lake (its age is approximately 25-35 million years), lying in a rift basin, is located in the southern part of Eastern Siberia. It is the largest reservoir of fresh water on Earth; 22% of all fresh, clean and clear water in the world and 85% of Russia are concentrated here. The volume of water is 23 thousand km 3 (these are the five Great Lakes in the USA combined). In addition to the value of huge reserves of fresh water, which, thanks to its low mineralization (100 g/l), can be safely equated to distilled water, it should also be noted that Baikal is the deepest lake in the world and has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1996.
Geographical position
Lake Baikal, having the shape of a crescent elongated from southwest to northeast, is located almost in the very center of the Eurasian continent, in Central Asia, in the southern part of Eastern Siberia. The ancient rift basin of glacial origin, in which the lake basin is located, lies in the Baikal mountain region, surrounded by high peaks of mountain ranges and hills covered with dense forests (the border of the Irkutsk region and the Republic of Buryatia in the Russian Federation).
Characteristics of Lake Baikal
The area of the lake is 31.7 thousand km 2, this is the seventh largest in the world after the Caspian Sea-lake, lakes Victoria, Taganika, Huron, Michigan, Superior or the area of the countries of Belgium or the Netherlands. The length of the lake is 636 km, it is widest in the center (81 km), the narrowest is near the Serenga River delta (27 km).
The lake's average depth of 744.4 m is higher than the maximum depths of many lakes in the world; its maximum depth, measured by Soviet scientists Kolotilo and Sulimov in 1983, was 1640 m, making Baikal the deepest lake in the world.
The lake lies in a glacial rift depression, surrounded on all sides by mountain ranges and hills. The length of the coastline is 2 thousand km, the western coast is rocky and steep, the eastern coast is flatter, the mountains are located tens of kilometers from the coast. The water area of the lake includes six bays (Barguzinsky, Chivyrkuisky, Proval, Posolsky, Cherkalov, Mukhor), two dozen bays (Listvennaya, Peschanaya, Aya, many closed shallow bays called sors. The only river flows out of the lake - the Angara, more than 336 rivers flow into and rivers, the largest ones include Selenga, Upper Angara, Barguzin, Snezhnaya, Kichera, etc.
Water temperature
The water, due to its low mineralization, is characterized by amazing purity, transparency (visible to a depth of 40 meters), and oxygen saturation. In spring, the water is especially transparent and has a rich blue-blue color; in summer, as a result of the development of organic matter, the transparency decreases and the water acquires a blue-green tint. The average annual water surface temperature is about +4°C; in the summer, the water is +16, +17°C, in the litter it reaches +22, +23°C.
Baikal is almost completely covered with ice (1-2 meters) from January to May (with the exception of a small area of 15-20 km at the source of the Angara). One of the amazing mysteries of Lake Baikal is the appearance in winter of huge dark rings on the ice, which are visible only from above. Presumably they are formed as a result of the release of methane from the depths of the lake, which contributes to the formation of huge steam holes hundreds of meters in diameter with a very thin layer of ice.
Winds on Baikal
Distinctive features of the Baikal climate are its winds, they almost always blow, their maximum speed wind - 40 m/s. There are more than 30 names for the winds blowing there: the north-west wind is mountain, the north-east wind is Barguzin, Verkhovik), the south-east is shelonnik, the south-west is kultuk, sarma is the wind blowing in the center of Baikal. They blow mainly along the coast, where there are practically no places to hide from such a piercing and strong wind.
Nature of Lake Baikal
The flora and fauna of the lake is diverse and unique. Oxygen-saturated water allows life here a large number living organisms, more than 2,600 species and subspecies of aquatic inhabitants live here, most of them are endemic. More than 58 species of fish live in the water column, such as omul, grayling, whitefish, taimen, Baikal sturgeon, lenok, golomyanka (a unique fish consisting of 30% fat).
The coast is covered with more than 2,000 species of plants, about 2,000 species of birds nest here, a unique marine mammal lives here - the Baikal seal, in the mountainous part of the Baikal region - the smallest deer in the world - the musk deer.
(Olkhon - the largest island of Lake Baikal)
The northeastern coast of the lake is part of the protected area of the Barguzin State Natural Biosphere Reserve; since 1996, Baikal has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Settlements and cities
Large cities located several tens of kilometers from the lake are Irkutsk, Ulan-Ude (130 km east of the lake) and Severobaikalsk (in the northern part of the lake coast). From Irkutsk (70 km from Baikal), closest to the oldest Baikal village at the source of the Angara - Listvyanka, it is more than three hundred years old. The tourist infrastructure is well developed here and there is a Lake Museum dedicated to the history of Baikal, its flora and fauna. Also in the village there is a seal garden, where they show an exciting water show with the participation of Baikal seals and the legendary Shaman Stone, a protected rock at the source of the Angara, where ancient shamanic rituals were held in ancient times.
Climate and seasons
(Transparent water of Lake Baikal in summer)
Eastern Siberia lies in a temperate sharply continental climate zone, however, the huge masses of water contained in Lake Baikal in a special way influence the climate of the coast and due to this, unusual microclimate conditions are formed with warm, mild winters and cool summers. The water masses of the lake act as a huge natural stabilizer and make winters warmer and summers cooler than, for example, in Irkutsk, located a short distance from the lake (70 km). The air temperature in summer can reach +35°C.
(Transparent ice on Lake Baikal in winter)
In winter, the waters of Lake Baikal are incredibly clear and smooth ice. The temperature above the surface of the lake in mid-winter is about -21°C, and on the coasts it is 5-10 degrees higher, on average -10°C - 17°C. Due to slight evaporation cold water from the surface of the lake, clouds very rarely form here, so the area of Lake Baikal is characterized by a high total duration of sunshine; cloudy and cloudy days are rare.
In the south of Eastern Siberia, where the Irkutsk region borders Buryatia, lies one of the seven wonders of the world - the largest and deepest freshwater body of water in the world - Lake Baikal. Locals They are used to calling it the sea, because the opposite shore is often out of sight. This is the largest fresh water reservoir on the planet with an area of more than 31 thousand km², which would completely fit the Netherlands and Belgium, and the maximum depth of Lake Baikal is 1642 m.
Record-breaking lake
The crescent-shaped reservoir has a record length of 620 km, and the width in different places ranges from 24-79 km. The lake lies in a basin of tectonic origin, so its relief bottom is very deep - 1176 m below the level of the World Ocean, and the water surface rises 456 m above it. The average depth is 745 m. The bottom is extremely picturesque - various banks, in other words, ancient shallows, terraces, caves, reefs and canyons, plumes, ridges and plains. It consists of a wide variety of natural materials, including limestone and marble.
The depth of Lake Baikal is indicated above; according to this indicator, it is in first place on the planet. The African Tanganyika (1470 m) ranks second, and the Caspian (1025 m) closes the top three. The depth of the remaining reservoirs is less than 1000 m. Baikal is a reservoir of fresh water, this is 20% of the world's reserves and 90% of Russia's. Its tonnage is greater than that of the entire system of the five Great Lakes of the United States - Huron, Michigan, Erie, Ontario and Superior. But largest lake In Europe, after all, it is not Lake Baikal (it is in 7th place in the world ranking), but Ladoga, which occupies 17,100 km². Some people try to compare the famous fresh water bodies in Russia and are interested in which lake is deeper - Baikal or Ladoga, although there is nothing to think about, since the average depth of Ladoga is only 50 m.
Interesting fact: Baikal receives 336 large and small rivers, but releases only one - the beautiful Angara.
In winter, the lake freezes to a depth of about a meter, and many tourists come to admire the exceptional spectacle - a transparent ice “floor”, under which blue and green water pierced by the sun splashes. The upper layers of ice are transformed into intricate figures and blocks, carved by winds, currents and weather.
Famous Baikal water
Lake water was deified by ancient tribes, they were treated with it and idolized it. It has been proven that Baikal water has unique properties - it is saturated with oxygen and practically distilled, and due to the presence of various microorganisms it is devoid of minerals. It is famous for its exceptional transparency, especially in spring, when stones lying at a depth of 40 meters are visible from the surface. But in the summer, during the “blooming” period, transparency decreases to 10. The waters of Lake Baikal are changeable: they shimmer from deep blue to rich green; these are the smallest life forms that develop and give the reservoir new shades.
Baikal depth indicators
In 1960, researchers measured the depth near capes Izhemey and Khara-Khushun with a cable line and documented the deepest place of Lake Baikal - 1620 m. Two decades later, in 1983, the expedition of A. Sulimanov and L. Kolotilo corrected the indicators in this area using echo sounding measurements and recorded new data - the deepest point was at a depth of 1642 m. Another 20 years later, in 2002, an international expedition under the auspices of a joint project of Russia, Spain and Belgium worked to create a modern bathymetric map of Baikal and confirmed the latest measurements using acoustic sounding of the bottom .
The unique reservoir has always attracted increased attention from scientists and researchers, who have organized new expeditions in order to clarify previous depth measurements in different parts reservoir Thus, in 2008-2010, expeditions of the GOA “Mir” organized about 200 dives throughout the entire water area of this fresh sea. Prominent politicians and businessmen, journalists, athletes and hydronauts from Western and of Eastern Europe and Russia.
Where are the deepest places of Baikal
Since the bottom of the reservoir is dotted with faults, the depth of the lake in different parts of the water area differs:
- the deepest breaks in the earth's crust lie along the western shores;
- in the southern part, the record depth of the depression between the mouths of the Peremnaya and Mishikha rivers was recorded at 1432 m;
- in the north, the deepest place is located between capes Elokhin and Pokoiniki - 890 m;
- depressions in the Small Sea - up to 259 m, their location is at the Great Olkhon Gate;
- The greatest depth of Lake Baikal in the Barguzin Bay area reaches 1284 m, this point is located off the southern shores of the Svyatoy Nos Peninsula.
Video: interesting film about Lake Baikal
The unique ecosystem attracts scientists, researchers from different countries. Thousands of tourists go to the most deep lake in the world to enjoy the splendor of landscapes, landscapes that cannot be found anywhere else. The limitless variety of flora and fauna of the region, among which are mainly endemic (found only here), complements the wealth given to people by nature.
On the world map, the Baikal “comma” is right in the center of Eurasia. Either it “smiles” at a person’s curiosity, or it means a secret, an understatement. That’s right – the special aura of these places opens up immediately and never lets go. Here Asia and the East are intertwined, wedged European civilization, but there are still more untrodden places here than inhabited ones.
Geographical location and history of the origin of the lake
When asked where Lake Baikal is located, the most common answer is - in Siberia. The lake of tectonic origin lies in a rift cavity - like, for example, the Dead Sea. On the map of Russia, a fresh body of water is divided Irkutsk region and Buryatia. The length from the north to the southwest is almost 640 km, relatively narrow in width - from 25 to 80 km.
Satellite images show the thickness of the water - the maximum depth is 1637 meters: on the map of the planet’s hemispheres there are only 6 lakes deeper than one and a half kilometers, and Baikal takes precedence.
Curious! There are many versions of the origin of the name of the lake, the advantages are in expressions that are consonant with the current pronunciation:
Beihai (Chinese) – northern sea;
Baikol (Turkic) – rich lake;
Baigal-dalai (Mongolian) – rich flame.
Road to the lake
Airports and railway stations are located in Irkutsk and Ulan-Ude. The regularity of flights and express trains is high, prices are suitable for any budget thanks to the active development of the tourism cluster. Depending on the city in which the journey begins - the coast is from 70 to 140 km, regular buses run around the clock.
Features and mysteries of Baikal
Basin
Geologists cannot determine the exact age of the reservoir. Amazing location: Baikal lies as if in a stone vessel, and this makes diagnostics difficult - there is no bottom soil for archaeologists and biologists. So 30 million years or “only” 150 thousand? No answer.
Dark rings
For many years now, the lake surface has been spontaneously covered with huge rings several kilometers in diameter. Observers notice this every spring on the satellite map. Researchers from the Russian Academy of Sciences have put forward a hypothesis that this is how bottom water with gases rises. But ufologists insist on the extraterrestrial origin of this geometry.
Deep space
An unexpected location was chosen for a new super-powerful telescope at the end of the 20th century: Baikal, the bottom pillow. It turned out that it is easier for astrophysicists to pick up signals from space through water. The mystery gave rise to belief in the existence of a deep port for aliens - after winter, traces of “active” flights emerge in the famous “rings”.
Baikal Stonehenge
Bizarre man-made structures are located in a remote area of the Baikal-Lena Nature Reserve. On Cape Rytom, someone in ancient times built a stone fence 333 meters long. Inside there are pyramids made of flat slabs. Eyewitnesses admit: there are no burials there, but the energy is incredible. However, it is almost impossible for neophytes to get here.
Underwater riddles
In the great depths of Lake Baikal, they are looking for secrets and treasures, scrupulously calculating coordinates: Baikal is historically associated with the Supreme Ruler Kolchak and the missing tons of gold reserves. Suddenly hidden at the bottom?.. Great director J. Cameron equipped an entire expedition to the bottom of Lake Baikal. What discoveries he made remained a secret.
Living water
Environmentalists praise the life-giving composition of the lake cocktail. Despite active industrial intervention, the purity of the lake is unique: mineralized, saturated with oxygen. Even under meters of ice bottom stones are clearly visible. The recipes are known - crustaceans and sponges can do it. Using these properties in cities is a challenge.
Flora and fauna of Lake Baikal
Flora of Baikal
No other region has such a unique combination of natural and climatic zones. All around the perimeter Siberian Sea a marvelous variety of vegetation - from arctic to subtropical species. Hundreds of rare shrubs and conifers grow here, rhododendrons and edelweiss bloom. The favorites are:
Relic forest– living “fossils” have been preserved on Olkhon since Paleolithic times.
Oaks and hornbeams– the groves on the southeastern coast are like an oasis in the center of Siberia.
Blue spruce– an unusual decorative shade is created by the waxy “cover” of the needles; the region of origin of the species is unknown.
Fauna of Baikal
The water area and shores of Lake Baikal are famous for their biodiversity. Scientists are surprised - what a rich region: more than 1,500 species - ancient deep ciliates, a host of insects, fish, birds. The coastal zones, abundant in food, are favored by predators and herbivores: bears, wolverines, and deer. The fresh sea also has its own legendary inhabitants:
– the fur-bearing animal lives in cedar trees along the entire eastern coast along the Barguzinsky ridge. Omnivorous, due to the value of fur it was on the verge of extinction, until physical map the area did not become the first nature reserve in Russia - it already has a 100-year history.
– Baikal seal, protected by the state. There are many versions of how a marine mammal found its way deep into the continent into a fresh lake. Some are sure that from the Arctic along the Yenisei and Angara, others believe in more exotic versions. Good-natured longhorned beetles weighing up to 170 kg stoically endure hordes of tourists.
– a fish from the whitefish family, considered a signature delicacy, weighing from 0.5 kg to 5 kg. Commercial mining is underway.
Curious! The crustaceans Epishura baikalensis, copepods of cleaners, have been working for millions of years: they have successfully coped with biopollutants. But modern chemical runoff threatens this population and the lake’s ecosystem.
Sights of Baikal
Lake Baikal on the world map is an object of attraction in itself. Pagan myths are still alive here - and every cape, bay, and rock is covered with them. The legends of the Golden Horde are revered, the Old Believer villages of the first Russian settlers and ancient Buddhist datsans stand as a source of wisdom. Hundreds of natural and historical monuments. First of all, you should look at:
Circum-Baikal Railway– built as part of the Trans-Siberian Railway; now 89 km along the coast, through tunnels and stone galleries with amazing views.
Shaman-rock on Cape Khuzhir - the ridge of the sacred mountain crashes into the water: rituals have been performed here for thousands of years, and as a sign of continuity there are 13 ritual serges, visible from afar.
Cave Dream– we didn’t exactly count how many kilometers in length – but it is the deepest, with golden stalactites, it impresses with a fabulous view and a special musicality of sounds.
Olkhon- an island in the middle of the water, with a spruce forest of prehistoric times and the stunning beauty of the panoramas.
Taltsy– ethno-village-museum of life of the indigenous population of the Baikal region: authentic and impressive.