Lake Baikal is the deepest. lake baikal

Address: Russia, Republic of Buryatia, Irkutsk region
Square: 31,722 km²
Maximum depth: 1642 m
Transparency: 40 m
Coordinates: 53°43"36.9"N 108°27"32.4"E

The cleanest and, without a doubt, the most beautiful Lake Baikal, rightfully took its place in the list of 7 wonders of Russia, according to a vote held in 2008.

bewitching pristine nature and the mysteriousness of the lake, is located almost in the very center of Asia on the border of Buryatia and the Irkutsk region. The water surface, which shimmers with mystical light, stretches for 620 (!) Kilometers from the northeast to the southwest.

If we consider pictures of Lake Baikal taken from space, we can note that it looks like a crescent. The width of the lake in its various places ranges from 24 to 79 kilometers.. These dimensions allow local residents and many tourists call Baikal not a lake, but a sea.

Whatever you want to call this majestic reservoir fresh water by the sea, yet it is a lake, which is surrounded on almost all sides by picturesque mountains and hills of extinct volcanoes. By the way, the supply of fresh water in Lake Baikal is 90% of the total supply. drinking water Russia and almost 20% of the total supply of the purest and, according to the results of many scientific experiments, healing water in the world. Speaking about Lake Baikal, one cannot but say that it is considered the deepest in the world: the mirror of the lake is located 453 meters above the level of the World Ocean, and its bottom is almost 1170 meters lower. True, many researchers are skeptical that Baikal is the deepest lake on our planet. When calculating the depth of lakes, many scientists forget about those reservoirs of fresh water that are under eternal ice Antarctica, one of which is called Vostok. True, it is hidden by an almost 4-kilometer layer of ice, and the calculation of the depth of lakes and the ocean in glacier conditions should be carried out using completely different parameters.

Unique Ecosystem

Alas, modern science cannot yet accurately answer the question of how old Baikal is, however, as well as other questions that this phenomenon constantly poses to scientists. amazing lake. At the moment, it is generally accepted that Baikal, whose area is almost 32,000 square kilometers, originated at least 25 million years ago. There are more bold assumptions, some scientists believe that the age of the lake exceeds 35 million years. This is a long period of time, even by the standards of the existence of our planet. True, it is these figures that put new task: how has the lake remained practically intact for so many years? The thing is that any lake does not “live” for more than 15, maximum 20,000 years. Its bottom is covered with silt and with the passage of time it turns into an ordinary swamp. This is not observed in Lake Baikal. Perhaps it is worth paying special attention to the point of view of the authoritative scientist Tatarinov, who in 2009 put forward the idea that Baikal has existed “for now” for “only” 8,000 years.

Which theory is considered reliable, everyone decides for himself: the conclusions of most experts suggest that the whole point is in the unique ecosystem of the lake in its tributaries and the only outflow, as well as in constant earthquakes, as a result of which a vacuum arises at the depths, filled with "fresh » groundwater.

Due to its purity, Lake Baikal and its environs are a favorite habitat for a huge number of species of birds and mammals. Many of the animals, birds and fish are endemic, meaning that they only live in this ecosystem and are not found anywhere else in the world. The golomyanka fish, which belongs to the family of viviparous, attracts special attention of ichthyologists. And this fish is another mystery of Lake Baikal. Firstly, the entire body of this fish is more than 30% fat, and secondly, this fish lives at very great depths, and goes to shallow water for food. This is not at all typical for deep sea fish, because sudden pressure drops in almost all species lead to death. Another representative of the ichthyofauna - the smallest crustacean called epishura. It is also endemic to the lake. Without it, life in Baikal would surely perish, because it is the main food for many fish, and it is he, who breeds in incredible quantities, that filters the Baikal water, purifying it of organic matter. Maybe it is in this crustacean that the secret of such a long “life” of the lake lies ...

Lake Baikal water

Even elementary school students know about the purity of the water of Lake Baikal. Teachers who talk about the nature of our planet often emphasize that you can drink water from Baikal without even boiling it. By the way, the opinion is quite controversial. Naturally, there are many places where the water in the lake not only does not pose a threat to human health, but is also considered healing. The tourism infrastructure, which is constantly developing and thousands of tourists who want to see the great Baikal, like many other lakes around the world, is getting bigger and bigger. Only an experienced guide living near the lake can indicate where it is safe to drink from Baikal. Surprisingly, despite the presence of stone deposits and tributaries at the bottom, which include the Selenga River, which is constantly polluted on the territory of Mongolia, the water in Baikal practically does not contain dissolved salts and minerals. Simply put, it is almost identical to distilled water, which undergoes multi-level purification in special laboratories.

The lake is so transparent that, according to some researchers, in some parts of the lake the bottom can be seen from a boat in great detail at a depth of 40 meters.

Such transparency of water can be observed after the ice has melted: usually in early spring Baikal water becomes bright of blue color. In summer and autumn, when the water warms up, microplankton and algae begin to develop in it in small quantities: naturally, at this moment it is already quite difficult to distinguish pitfalls at a depth of 40 meters, but the transparency is amazing even at these times of the year. True, its color changes: it does not turn into muddy green, on the contrary, it becomes soft turquoise.

Immerse yourself in affectionate and the purest waters Baikal ... - a dream! True, a dream only for those who know very little about this lake. The thing is that the water here does not warm up even in summer above +9 degrees Celsius. Only in small and shallow bays can one expect that the water will warm up to +16 under the sun. Therefore, swim in Baikal and see undersea world through the crystal-clear water is possible only in a wetsuit. In winter, the water mirror is almost completely covered with thick ice, so thick that in the 19th century sleepers were installed on the ice and steam locomotives were transported across Lake Baikal with the help of horses. The ice on the lake is an amazing sight: during severe frosts, cracks pass through it, the length of which is sometimes 30 (!) Kilometers, and their width is 3 meters.

During the formation of such a crack, a strong sound is heard throughout all the surroundings of Lake Baikal, which can only be compared with a howitzer shot or a thunderclap from lightning that hit the ground a few meters from a person. Such a phenomenon was foreseen by nature itself, thanks to the formation of such cracks, the water is constantly saturated with oxygen and the flora and fauna of Baikal do not die in severe frosts.

Origin of the name of the lake

Just as with the age of Lake Baikal, confusion arose with its name in scientific circles. In any case, some historians agree that the name "Baikal" comes from one of the Asian languages: Mongolian, Yakut, or Turkic. However, there are versions that the lake was first seen and named ... by the Chinese. The Chinese word, which sounds like "Bei-Hai", is translated literally - "North Sea". This opinion also deserves attention: after all, doesn’t the majestic lake look like the North Sea? Most experts trying to unravel the mystery of the origin of the name of the deepest lake in the world believe that it came from the Buryat language.

The Buryats called the endless expanse of water "Baigal", but the members of the Russian expedition, who participated in the campaign to the lake back in the 17th century, could hardly cope with the letter "g" and, without thinking twice, replaced it with "k". This is how the name of Lake Baikal came to be. Although, as mentioned above, none of the listed versions is recognized by the scientific world as reliable and proven.

On Baikal

No matter how many legends and myths are associated with this lake, no matter how many scientific disputes about its name and origin, all this instantly loses its meaning when you find yourself in front of the amazing mirror of Baikal. He is calm, then suddenly rears up in waves. Surrounding nature defies description, here on a calm day, despite the singing of birds and a barely audible breath of the wind, comes the realization of what real silence, peace and tranquility is. It seems that Baikal communicates on a subconscious level with everyone who comes to see this majestic lake. No wonder many travelers who have explored Baikal are looking forward to the moment when they can return to this wonderful world, which is over 25 million years old.

Almost in the center of the huge continent of Eurasia is a narrow blue crescent - Lake Baikal. In the Baikal mountain region, surrounded on all sides high ridges, it stretches for 636 kilometers in length and up to 80 km in width. In terms of area, 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. Flows out of Baikal the only river- Angara.

The area of ​​the water surface of the lake is 31470 square kilometers. The maximum depth reaches 1637 m, the average - 730 m.

In order to realize the immensity of the Baikal water body, imagine that the Angara, which annually takes out 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 the deepest lake in the world. Not everyone knows that the world's second contender for this title, African lake Tanganyika, 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 Baikal should be considered open. Usually, the literature gives a figure of 20-25 million years. However, the use of various methods for determining the age 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 is unusually
clear, pure and oxygenated. In not so ancient times, it was considered healing, with its help, diseases were treated.

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

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

RESIDENTS OF BAIKAL

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

The lake is inhabited by 52 species of fish of several families:

• sturgeons (Baikal sturgeon),
• salmon (davatchan, taimen, lenok, Baikal omul - endemic fish, whitefish),
• grayling (Siberian grayling),
• pike,
• carp,
• loach,
• catfish,
• cod,
• perch,
• sculpins,
• golomyanki.

The food pyramid of the lake ecosystem is crowned by a typical marine mammal- seal,
or Baikal seal. Baikal seal- the only representative of mammals in the lake. For almost the entire year
it lives in the water, and in autumn 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. Seagulls, mergansers, goldeneyes, scoters, shelducks, white-tailed eagles, ospreys and many other bird species nest on the shores of the lake and on its islands.

Remarkable is such an integral part of the life of the great lake as a mass exit to the shores brown bears, entirely due to the peculiarities of the nature of Baikal.

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

Diversity organic world Baikal staggers the imagination, but no less phenomenal and its originality. Many animals and plants living in the lake are not found in any other body of water the globe. There are 848 species of endemic animals (about 60%) and 133 species of endemic plants (15%) in Baikal.

BAIKAL FOR TOURISTS

Today, everything connected with Baikal arouses genuine interest not only in our country, but also abroad. Over the past decade, Baikal has become a magnet for many tourists. Relatively well-preserved nature
lake-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 that almost mystical
energy that gives the sacred sea to everyone who comes to its shore.

Based on the article "The Unique Baikal", prepared by Valentina Ivanovna Galkina, Honored Worker of Culture of Russia, head of the exposition of the Baikal Museum of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences.

Olkhon Island on Lake Baikal (Jason Rogers / flickr.com) Olkhon Island, Baikal (Jason Rogers / flickr.com) Olkhon Island (Jason Rogers / flickr.com) Jason Rogers / flickr.com Sergey Gabdurakhmanov / flickr.com Martin Lopatka / flickr .com Konstantin Malanchev / flickr.com Lake Baikal (Konstantin Malanchev / flickr.com) Sergey Gabdurakhmanov / flickr.com Khoboy Cape, Olkhon (Konstantin Malanchev / flickr.com) Konstantin Malanchev / flickr.com White Sturgeon (Heaven Ice Day / flickr.com) Heaven Ice Day / flickr.com LA638 / flickr.com

There are many places on earth that amaze with their beauty and uniqueness. Lake Baikal is one of them. This richest reservoir embodied all ideas about primevalness. It can be calm when there is calm on its surface, or it can be ferocious and cruel when a storm breaks out.

Asking the question of what attracts the attention of Baikal, it is quite simple to answer it. Peculiarities geographical characteristics giant reservoir attract tourists thousands of kilometers away.

Lake Baikal (Konstantin Malanchev / flickr.com)

The greatest depth of Baikal is impressive. The maximum depth of the lake is from the surface of the water at a distance of 1642 meters.

This indicator brings Baikal to a leading position among the lakes on the planet. Following after Russian Baikal African Tanganyika is in a significant margin. The difference between the maximum depths of these majestic reservoirs is about 160 meters.

deserves attention and average depth throughout the lake. Most of Baikal has a depth of about 730 meters. As for the area of ​​this reservoir, here, for understanding, we can cite the area of ​​Belgium or Denmark as an example. Equating the size of the lake to the territory of one of these countries, one can only imagine its boundless expanses.

Olkhon Island (Jason Rogers / flickr.com)

The reason for the incredible depth and length of Lake Baikal is the countless number of rivers and streams flowing into it. There are more than 300 of them: large and small streams and full-flowing powerful river flows. Despite the fact that only the Angara takes its source from the lake.

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

The huge depth, impressive expanses of the reservoir, the length and width of the mirror surface caused the inhabitants to often call Baikal the sea. Located in the southeast of Eurasia, a powerful lake is famous for its storms and tides (similar to sea ones).

Why is the lake called Baikal?

The history of the name of the lake is associated with several legends known to the local people. According to the first version, in translation from Turkic it means "rich lake", and in the original language it sounds like Bai-Kul.

Khoboy Cape, Olkhon (Konstantin Malanchev / flickr.com)

The second variant of the origin of the name, according to historians, is associated with the Mongols - in their language, the reservoir was called Baigal (rich fire) or Baigal dalai (big sea). There is also a third version of the name, according to which the neighboring Chinese called the lake the "North Sea". In Chinese, it sounds like Bei-Hai.

Lake Baikal is one of the most ancient reservoirs earth's surface. This orographic unit went through a rather complex and long process of formation in the earth's crust.

More than 25 million years ago, the reservoir began its formation, which continues to this day. Recent geological studies prove that Baikal can rightfully be considered the beginning of another ocean, which, of course, will not appear in the near future, but scientists look almost unequivocally that it will happen.

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

Lake research

unique hallmark Baikal waters is their amazing transparency. At a depth of up to forty meters, you can easily see every pebble at the bottom.

Olkhon Island, Baikal (Jason Rogers / flickr.com)

This is explained by simple chemical laws. The fact is that almost all rivers flowing into Baikal pass through crystals of sparingly soluble rocks.

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

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

Due to the fact that scientists found out the exact location of the maximum depth of the lake, a dive was made to this point several years ago.

It is located within the island of Olkhon. A modern deep-sea instrument sank to the bottom for more than 1 hour. For some time, scientists have filmed and taken samples for a detailed study of the bottom composition of the water and the rocks present.

During this experiment, the researchers managed to discover new microorganisms and identify the source of Baikal pollution with oil.

The younger generation had a chance to write a comprehensive work “What is Lake Baikal famous for?” 4th grade high school left in our memory not so much information. This is the most in the world, - people over forty will say. But this is not the only indicator that brings Lake Baikal into the category of champions. Well, let's update our information about this gem of Russia. It is not for nothing that the lake is called the sacred sea! It is rightfully considered unique creation mother nature, 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 the uniqueness of this lake? We will talk about this in our article.

Where is Lake Baikal located and what is famous for (briefly)

This natural unique 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 Irkutsk region Russian Federation. Baikal is so big that it can be seen even from space. It stretches like a blue crescent from the southwest to the 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 at the lake are: 53°13′ northern latitude and 107°45′ east longitude.

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

Depth

Let's start with common truths. Baikal is not only the deepest lake on the planet, but also the most impressive continental depression. This title has been confirmed. scientific research held in 1983. The deepest place in the lake - 1642 meters from the surface of the water surface - has the coordinates of 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 oceans.

The average depth of Baikal is also impressive: seven hundred and forty-four meters. Only two lakes in the world have an indicator of 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, in Google, a certain East 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 rises 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 with such European countries like Switzerland, Belgium or the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The length of Lake Baikal is six hundred and twenty kilometers, and the width varies between 24-79 km. At the same time, the coastline stretched for two thousand one hundred kilometers. And that's not counting the islands!

Dimensions - this is what Lake Baikal is famous for, although this indicator does not make it the largest on the planet. But the reservoir takes an honorable eighth place among the giants. Ahead are the Caspian (which is also a lake, although salty), the Upper 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 number seems fantastic. After all, lakes “live” on average about ten, in extreme cases, fifteen thousand years. Then alluvial deposits, silty sediments accumulate and change everything turns into a swamp, and it, after centuries, into a meadow. But Siberians are famous for their centenarians. And what Lake Baikal is famous for is its venerable age.

It should be said that the Siberian giant is also unique in other respects - hydrological. Baikal feeds about three hundred rivers, and only one flows out of it - the Angara. And one more uniqueness: seismic activity during a tectonic fault. From time to time, earthquakes occur at the bottom of the lake. In fact, the sensors record about two thousand of them annually. But sometimes there are large earthquakes. So, in 1959, from the shock, the bottom of the lake sank fifteen meters.

The Kudara earthquake of 1862 was the most memorable for the local residents, when a huge piece of land (200 sq. km) with six villages, in which one thousand three hundred people lived, went under water. This place in the delta is now called Proval Bay.

Unique fresh water tank

Despite the fact that the pearl of Siberia occupies only the eighth place in the world in terms of size, in terms of the volume of water it reaches the record. What is Lake Baikal famous for in this regard? Most of the water is in the Caspian. But it's salty in 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 take Angara three hundred and eighty-seven years to drain the lake.

Unique fauna and flora

It is also strange that, despite the enormous depth of Baikal, there is benthic vegetation in the lake. This is due to seismic activity under the tectonic depression. Magma heats the bottom layers and enriches them with oxygen. Such warm water rises, and cold - falls. Half of the 2600 species of animals and plants inhabiting the water area are endemic. Biologists are most surprised by the only mammal of the lake that 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. Maybe it's a golomlyanka. She is viviparous. Her body contains up to 30 percent fat. She also surprises scientists with her daily migrations. Schools of fish rise for food from the dark depths to shallow water. The Baikal sturgeon, omul, whitefish, and grayling also live in the lake. And the bottom is covered with freshwater sponges.

Purity and transparency of water

With such an area of ​​​​the water surface and the presence of nearby industrial enterprises it would be logical to think that Lake Baikal would become polluted. It wasn't there! The water here is not only drinkable, 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 acts as a natural filter: it passes water through itself, assimilating 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. The photo of this unique reservoir demonstrates the majestic pristine beauty of nature. It depends on us whether we save it for posterity.

Baikal- a lake of tectonic origin located in the southern part of Eastern Siberia, on the border of the Republic of Buryatia and the Irkutsk region

Baikal itself

Lake Baikal stretches from southwest to north for 636 kilometers. The width of the lake varies from 25 to 80 km. The water surface area is 31,722 km. sq. The length of the coastline is 2100 km. Baikal is the deepest lake in the world - its maximum depth is 1642 meters. The lake has huge reserves of fresh water - 23,615 km. cubic meters, which is 20% of all world reserves.

The area around

Lake Baikal is surrounded on all sides by hills and mountain ranges. At the same time, the western coast is steep and rocky, while the eastern coast is more gentle. 336 streams and rivers flow into the Lake. Most major tributaries: Upper Angara, Selenga, Turk, Barguzin, Sarma, Snezhnaya. Only one river flows out of the lake - the Angara. There are 27 islands on Baikal, the largest of the islands is Olkhon, which is 71 km long and 12 wide, the largest peninsula is Svyatoy Nos

Climate

Huge water mass Lake Baikal has a strong influence on the climate of the coastal area. Summers are cooler here, while winters are milder. Spring comes later by 10-15 days compared to the surrounding areas, and sometimes longer. The peculiarities of the climate are determined by the Baikal winds, which even have their own names - Sarma, Barguzin, Kultuk, Verkhovik.

When to go to Baikal

Characteristics

Briefly the main characteristics of Baikal

• Length - 363 km.
• Width - 79.5 km.
• Area -31722 sq. km.
• Volume - 23615 cubic meters. km.
• The average depth is 744 meters.
• The maximum depth is 1637 meters.
• There are 27 islands on Baikal.
• 29 fish species are endemic

Depth

Lake Baikal is the deepest in the world - 1637 meters, the depth was established in 1983. At the same time, the average depth is also very large - 744 meters. In 2002, these data were confirmed and a depth map was compiled.

• the area of ​​Baikal is equal to the area three countries— Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands.
• Baikal is the deepest lake on earth
• The lake contains 19% of the world's fresh water