Where is Lake Baikal located? Lake Baikal is the cleanest and deepest freshwater lake on our planet. Lake Baikal is also the largest reservoir of fresh, surface water on Earth. Baikal is famous for its crystal clear water. It is home to a wide variety of fauna and flora. This magnificent lake is located in Asia and occupies part of Siberia in Russia. Lake Baikal is located and borders the Republic of Buryatia and the Irkutsk Region, not far from the city of Irkutsk. Baikal is considered one of the seven underwater wonders of the world. Its name Baikal comes from two words of the Turkic language, it is “bai”, which means rich and “kul”, which means lake.

The depth of Lake Baikal and its dimensions?

The width of Baikal, at its widest part, is 79.5 kilometers, and the width in its narrowest part is 25 kilometers. The average width of Lake Baikal is 47.8 kilometers. The lake is located along a tectonic fault, which explains its great depth. The maximum depth of the lake is 1,637 meters, making it the deepest in the world. And its average depth is 758 meters. Baikal covers an area of \u200b\u200b31,722 square kilometers. More than 330 small rivers flow into this lake. There are 22 islands inside the lake. The largest island on the lake is Olkhon Island. Lake Baikal has about

23 615.390 cubic kilometers of the purest fresh water. This is almost 20% of all the world's fresh water resources on Earth, which is located on the surface. It contains more water than all of the North American Great Lakes combined. It is also the oldest lake in the world. Since Lake Baikal has existed for over 25 million years.

Features of Lake Baikal

One of its most important features is that the water on Lake Baikal is so clean that any object at its depth can be seen already at a depth of 40 meters. In addition, Lake Baikal is also the most beautiful lake in the world. It is one of the few sources of fresh water that continues to grow rapidly, growing by an average of 2 centimeters per year.

Flora and fauna on Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal has an impressive and unique flora and fauna. Scientists have determined the existence of about 2,600 species of animals and plants. Among them, about 70 percent of animals and plants are endemic. That is, this means that these animals and plants can be found only here on Lake Baikal. Nerpa is one of the most representative inhabitants of the lake ecosystem. This is a unique freshwater seal that lives in the northern part of Lake Baikal. Another symbol of the Baikal fauna is Omul. This is the most popular salmon species in this lake. And another representative of Lake Baikal is Golomyanka. This fish is also called “Baikal oil fish”. This is a kind of unusual, beautiful fish with a translucent appearance. That lives between 200 and 500 meters deep. This type of fish is famous for its decay, under the influence of sunlight, into separate parts, only bones remain from it. This area is also home to foxes, eagles, deer, bears and many other species of animals and plants.

Nature on Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal itself is a true miracle, but, besides that, it is surrounded by a beautiful landscape. There are beautiful forests and rocky mountains here, so it is one of the most favorite places for Russians. Hiking, camping, kayaking, cycling, fishing and other activities are organized here.

About Lake Baikal, the most famous Russian writer Anton Pavlovich Chekhov said: “Baikal is so amazing, and it's not for nothing that Siberians treat it not as a lake, but as a sea. The water in it is unusually transparent, so you can look into the depths as through air; the color is soft turquoise, the most pleasant for your eyes. And its shores are mountainous and covered with forest; around an impenetrable desert. It is home to bears, sables, wild goats and other wild animals. "

History of Lake Baikal.

Since ancient times, many people have lived near Lake Baikal. Remains of a human presence in this region have been found. This presence dates back to the Stone Age. The inhabitants of the region consider this lake to be the most sacred place. Because of this, Lake Baikal was known as "sacred water" or "holy sea" and people here prayed, believed in the power of the lake. But, on Lake Baikal, the main migration of people took place only after its discovery by the Russians in the 17th century. In 1643 Ivanov Kurbat, who was the first Russian to enter this region of Eastern Siberia. And in 1647, at the head of the expedition, Vasily Kolesnikov, reached the northern part of the Baikal coast.

From the very beginning, the Russian people were engaged in fishing and hunting in Lake Baikal. For this region, the lake is the basis of the economy.

Since the discovery of Lake Baikal, many expeditions have carried out their research. One of the first was a scientific expedition sent in 1723 by Peter I. Most of the scientific works about Lake Bakal have already been published by the Academy of St. Petersburg. However, only in the 19th century, in connection with the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway, were geographical and geological studies carried out. During the 20th century, many other explorations were carried out in the lake, including a full exploration by the Academy of Sciences. In 1976, the first satellite photographs of Lake Baikal were carried out. Nevertheless, despite all these expeditions, there are still many questions and mysteries.

Lake Baikal was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996. Unfortunately, over the past 50 years, many enterprises and settlements have been built on Lake Baikal, which pollute it. They negatively affect and have a dire impact on the sensitive ecosystem of Lake Baikal. Garbage, chemical waste dumped by agricultural production, a growing flow of tourists, all this is causing enormous damage to fresh water supplies in the main body of water on Earth.

Due to the growing pollution of Lake Baikal, the authorities have taken some emergency measures to protect it. They banned the harvesting of timber and their transportation across Lake Baikal. A number of industries in the Republic of Buryatia were transferred to a closed production cycle. To stop pollution and population growth around the lake, emergency measures were taken to protect the natural environment. But, these measures are not enough to fight against the threat that looms over Lake Baikal. Currently, there are two main pollution threats: the city of Ulan - Ude with its wastewaters and the Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill. Although about the second pollutant of the lake water, it was decided to close it.

The future miracle of nature now depends on our decision to preserve it for our descendants. We are responsible and must fight for the safety of this magnificent, wonderful Lake Baikal. If you are in these parts, be sure to visit these places, and especially Lake Baikal, where you can spend your unforgettable.

- the deepest lake. Depth of Baikal about 1700 meters. In the world only one lake can compare with depth with Lake Baikal. it lake Tanganyika in East Africa. Its depth is about 1400 meters. The depth of Lake Baikal comparable to the depth of the Arctic Ocean, the average depth of which is 1220 meters.

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

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

The deepest bay lake Baikal - Barguzinsky. The depth of the Barguzinsky Bay is nearly 1300 meters.

Largest bay lake Baikal - Barguzinsky. The bay area 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 \u200b\u200babout 200 square kilometers went under the water. This earthquake also caused the formation the youngest cape of Baikal - Cape Oblom.

Largest island lake Baikal - Olkhon. The island is located in the middle Baikal and divides lake to the Big and Small seas. The island is 71 kilometers long and 12 kilometers wide.

At Cape Kotelnikovsky there are the most. The water temperature in the mineral springs of the Kotelnikovsky Cape is plus 81 degrees Celsius.

Lake Baikal basin – the deepest continental depression. The bottom of Lake Baikal lies below sea level by about 1200 meters.

Largest inflow lake Baikal - the Selenga river. Selenga is about 1000 kilometers long. About half of all water that goes into lake, brings exactly Selenga.

Largest peninsula lake Baikal - Holy Nose. The peninsula is about 50 kilometers long and about 20 kilometers wide.

The depth of Lake Baikal

Baikal Basin consists of three rather separate parts. The middle basin is the deepest. It is here on the eastern coast of Olkhon Island depth of Lake Baikal reaches almost 1700 meters. Depth southern hollow lake Baikal approximately 1432 meters. The largest measured depth northern part lake Baikal 890 meters. Average depth of the lake also very large - over 700 meters. The biggest depth Maloye More - near the northwestern coast of Olkhon Island. It is approximately equal to 250 meters. The smallest depth in the open Baikal - about 30 meters. Northern and middle basins lake Baikal shares the underwater Academic Ridge. Depth of the lake in these places about 260 meters. Between the middle and southern basins lake Baikal the Selenginskaya jumper is located. The smallest depth here 360 \u200b\u200bmeters.

Where is Baikal located?

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. Not far from lakes the cities of Irkutsk and Ulan-Ude are located.

Length, length, width of 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 stretched from south to northeast: extent or length of Baikal about 640 kilometers. The greatest width of Baikal 80 kilometers. Small earthquakes constantly occur in the vicinity of the lake. Occasionally large ones happen. Shores Baikal move away from each other at a rate of 2 centimeters per year - Baikal growing!

Olkhon Island at 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 are striking in their beauty and uniqueness. Lake Baikal is one of them. This richest reservoir has embodied all the ideas of primordiality. It can be calm when it 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. The peculiarities of the geographical characteristics of the giant reservoir attract tourists from thousands of kilometers.

Lake Baikal (Konstantin Malanchev / flickr.com)

The greatest depth of Lake Baikal is impressive. The maximum depth point of the lake is 1642 meters from the water surface.

This indicator brings Baikal to a leading position among lakes on the planet. The African Tanganyika, following the Russian Baikal, is in a significant separation. The difference between the maximum depths of these majestic bodies of water is about 160 meters.

The average depth over the entire area of \u200b\u200bthe lake deserves attention. Most of Baikal is about 730 meters deep. As for the area of \u200b\u200bthis reservoir, here, for understanding, we can cite as an example the area of \u200b\u200bBelgium or Denmark. Equating the size of the lake to the territory of one of these countries, one can only imagine its limitless 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 deep powerful river streams. Despite the fact that only Angara takes its source at the lake.

It should be noted that Lake Baikal is considered the world's largest natural reservoir of pure fresh water. Its volumes exceed even the famous American Great Lakes. If we add up the volumes of Michigan, Erie, Huron, Ontario and Lake Upper, then their sum will still not reach equality with the capacity of Lake Baikal, which is over 23,600 cubic kilometers.

The immense depth, the impressive expanses of the reservoir, the length and width of the mirror-like surface are the reason that the inhabitants often call Baikal the sea. Located in the southeast of Eurasia, a powerful lake is famous for storms and tides (similar to the sea).

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 version of the origin of the name, according to the conjecture of 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 "the northern sea". In Chinese it sounds like Bei Hai.

Lake Baikal is one of the oldest bodies of water on the earth's surface. This orographic unit went through a rather complicated 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. The latest geological studies prove that Baikal can rightfully be considered the rudiment of another ocean, which, of course, will not appear in the near future, but scientists look at the fact that this will happen almost unambiguously.

The shores of the lake are expanding significantly every year, the water space is increasing before our eyes, therefore, in the place of the lake in a few million years, according to the researchers, there will be an ocean.

Lake exploration

A unique distinguishing feature of the Baikal waters is their amazing transparency. At a depth of up to forty meters, you can easily see every pebble on 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 Lake Baikal pass through crystals of poorly soluble rocks.

Hence the low level of mineralization of Lake Baikal. It is about 100 milligrams per liter of lake water.

Due to the maximum depth of Lake Baikal and the high coastline, which exceeds the ocean surface by 450 meters, the bottom of the reservoir is rightfully considered the deepest depression not only on this continent, but also among other continents.

Due to the fact that scientists have figured 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 Olkhon Island. A modern deep-sea instrument sank to the bottom for more than 1 hour. For some time, scientists filmed and took samples for a detailed study of the bottom composition of the water and the rocks present.

During this experiment, the researchers were able to discover new microorganisms and identify the source of oil pollution of Lake Baikal.

The origin of Lake Baikal described in the legends of the Buryats - the indigenous inhabitants of the Baikal region. They gave the name to Lake Baigal. According to legend, the earth cracked, and fire burst out of it. In horror, people shouted: "Bye, Gaul!" ("Fire, stop!"). The fire went out and the crack filled with water. So, according to legend, the lake and its name arose. There are other beautiful legends about the origin of the lake. According to one of them, old man Baikal mourned his escaped daughter Angara and cried out the whole lake. According to another legend, a golden chariot with a fiery dragon descended from the sky. From the blow of his tail, the earth shook, a crevice was formed, ice melted on the tops of the mountains, and a lake formed. These are all beautiful myths, but what really happened?

Location and dimensions

Baikal is located in the south of Eastern Siberia. The lake looks like a sickle and is elongated in a direction approximately from north to south. The longitudinal dimension is about 640 km. The transverse size ranges from 25 km to 79 km. Coastline contour - 2 thousand km. This is one of the largest lakes on Earth.

The basin of the lake is divided into three separate parts - South, Middle, North. They have different depths. The deepest of them is Sredny - 1642 m. The Akademichesky ridge divides the Northern and Srednaya hollows. Only in some parts of the lake do the ridge tops protrude above the water and form islands. Between the South and Middle depressions there is the Selenginskaya bar. This structure is hidden by the waters of Lake Baikal.

The sides of the basin are asymmetric. The western slope goes sharply down, and the eastern one is more gentle. The relief of the slopes is also different. The eastern coast is with underwater valleys and canyons, and the western one is almost without dissection. The bottom of all the depressions is leveled and has a slight slope towards the western coast. The bottom depth is gradually decreasing due to river sediments.

The lake is surrounded by mountains. They consist of rocks:

• Granite.
• Marble.
• Gneiss.
• Slate.
• Jade.
• Magnetite.
• Quartz.
• Lapis lazuli.

Earthquakes

In the Baikal zone, the seismic background is high, earthquakes are very frequent. Their strength is not great - 1-2 points. But there are catastrophic shocks. So, as a result of an earthquake in the middle of the 19th century. with a force of 10 points Proval Bay was formed. Its depth reaches 6 m, and its area is almost 200 km². Almost 100 years later, as a result of the same event, the bottom of the Middle Basin sank by 15-20 m.

Now there are no active volcanoes, but geologists are still studying their past activities. The origin of Lake Baikal and the current formation is associated with seismic activity in this zone. So, it is known that the shores of this lake diverge by 2 cm per year.

Glaciers

During the Ice Age, the relief of Lake Baikal underwent changes. These traces are visible in rock debris under ice, sediment and bottom sediments. Geologists suggest that the thickness of the descending glaciers was 80-120 m. There may have been no permanent ice cover. There could be no other life in the lake. However, among the inhabitants now living in the lake, there are golomyanka, sponges, amphipods, sculpin goby, flatworms. These organisms originated before this period.

Age

It is believed that Baikal is supposedly 25 million years old. However, this fact causes surprise and controversy about the age of the lake. The fact is that the lake usually does not live that long. This applies especially to those lakes that are of glacial origin. They exist for 10-15 thousand years, then they are filled with silt and disappear. There is speculation that it may be younger. At the same time, it is believed that the deep-water part is 150 thousand years old, and the coastal part is only 8 thousand years old.

Versions

There is no consensus on the formation of Baikal. One thing is clear that it is located in a rift depression. Several versions of the formation of this lake have been put forward:

• As a result of land failure during an earthquake (Pallas hypothesis).
• As a result of the compression of the earth's crust in the horizontal direction (Chersky's hypothesis).
• As a result of land subsidence along the fault surfaces (Obruchev's hypothesis).
• As a consequence of processes in the world rift system, the Baikal rift (fault in the earth's crust).

Which version is closer to you?

Lake formation process

In the south of Eastern Siberia, where the Irkutsk region borders on Buryatia, there is one of the seven wonders of the world - the largest and deepest fresh water body in the world - Lake Baikal. Locals are used to calling it the sea, because the opposite shore is often out of sight. It is the largest fresh water reservoir on the planet with an area of \u200b\u200bmore than 31 thousand km², which would fully fit the Netherlands and Belgium, and the maximum depth of Baikal is 1642 m.

Lake record holder

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 hollow of tectonic origin, therefore 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 above is the depth of Lake Baikal, according to this indicator it is in first place on the planet. The African Tanganyika (1470 m) is the second, and the Caspian (1025 m) - closes the top three. The depth of other reservoirs is less than 1000 m. Baikal is a storage of fresh water, it is 20% of the world's reserves and 90% of Russia. The tonnage of its mass is greater than in the entire system of the five Great Lakes of the United States - Huron, Michigan, Erie, Ontario and Superior. But the largest lake in Europe is still not Baikal (it ranks 7th 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 still 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, and releases only one from its embrace - 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 the sun-penetrated blue and green water splashes. The upper layers of ice are transformed into intricate shapes and blocks, hewn by winds, currents and weather.

The famous Baikal water

The lake water was deified by the ancient tribes, they were treated with it and worshiped. It has been proven that the water of Lake Baikal has unique properties - it is saturated with oxygen and is practically distilled, and due to the presence of various microorganisms it is devoid of minerals. It is renowned 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, the transparency decreases to 10. The waters of Lake Baikal are changeable: they shimmer from deep blue to rich green, these are the smallest forms of life that develop and give the reservoir new shades.

Baikal depth indicators

In 1960, researchers measured the depth near the Izhemey and Khara-Khushun capes with a cable lot and documented the deepest point 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 the method of echo sounding 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 on the creation of a modern bathymetric map of Lake Baikal and confirmed the latest measurements using acoustic sounding of the bottom ...

The unique reservoir has always attracted increased attention of scientists and researchers, who equipped all new expeditions in order to clarify the previous depth measurements in different parts of the reservoir. So, in 2008-2010 expeditions of GOA "Mir" organized about 200 dives throughout the water area of \u200b\u200bthis fresh sea. Prominent politicians and businessmen, journalists, athletes and hydronauts from Western and Eastern Europe and Russia took part in them.

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 is different:

• the deepest breaks in the earth's crust lie on 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 the Elokhin and Pokoiniki capes - 890 m;
• depressions in the Small Sea - up to 259 m, their location at the Big Olkhon Gate;
• the deepest depth of Lake Baikal in the Barguzinsky Bay area reaches 1284 m; this point is located on the southern shores of the Svyatoy Nos Peninsula.

Video: an interesting film about Lake Baikal

The unique ecosystem attracts scientists and researchers from different countries. Thousands of tourists go to the deepest lake in the world to enjoy the splendor of landscapes, landscapes that you will not find anywhere else. The endless variety of flora and fauna of the region, among which are mainly endemics (found only here), complements the richness given to people by nature.