Message about Baikal. Lake Baikal

Security measures

During the 20th century, some efforts were made to preserve Baikal: the fight against poaching, illegal logging, laws were adopted to protect the Baikal Territory. Reserves and national parks appeared in the Baikal region. In 1916, the first Barguzinsky Reserve was created. To the best of their ability, scientific research was carried out to protect the Baikal nature.

The turning point in the conservation of the unique lake occurred when on December 5, 1996 it received the status of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Obligations were imposed on Russia to preserve the unique ecosystem. Currently, a lot of work is being done to protect the Baikal nature:

• About 97 organizations deal with the problems of Baikal, 400 dissertations have been written on the topic of protecting the lake;
• 3 institutes are responsible for monitoring the state of Lake Baikal;
• numerous environmental societies and environmental organizations have joined in the most important work to protect a unique corner of nature;
• in 2012, the federal program "Protection of Lake Baikal and socio-economic development of the Baikal natural territory for 2012-2020" was created.

The unique ecosystem of Baikal, the richest sources of resources of the Baikal flora and fauna, the beauty of its vast expanses is vital to preserve and protect.

Great Baikal is extremely important for maintaining the natural balance on planet Earth. And there is hope that with the joint efforts of the state, science and society, this pristinely beautiful natural area will continue to live and develop.

When traveling around Lake Baikal in a kayak, the last thing you think about is that now you have 20% of the world's purest fresh water reserves under you...

On the old Circum-Baikal Railway

This section provides basic information about the lake, and links to the pages of the Magic of Baikal, where you can get more detailed information. In the process of collecting information, I encountered the fact that data from different sources diverge, sometimes significantly. For example, there is still no generally accepted opinion regarding the number of islands on Baikal, the number of rivers flowing into the lake, etc. The origin of the names of capes, islands, bays and other objects is often a mystery shrouded in darkness. I tried to take information from reliable sources and point out the discrepancies and their reasons.

Geography of Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal is located in the south of Eastern Siberia. In the form of a crescent being born, Baikal stretched from southwest to northeast between 55°47" and 51°28" north latitude and 103°43" and 109°58" east longitude. The length of the lake is 636 km, the maximum width in the central part is 81 km, the minimum width opposite the Selenga delta is 27 km (between capes Goly on the western shore of Baikal and Sredny on the eastern shore). Baikal is located at an altitude of 455 m above sea level. The length of the coastline is about 1850 km (excluding part of the coast north of Yarki Island). More than half of the lake's coastline is included in the territory of nature reserves, sanctuaries and national parks.

The area of ​​the water mirror, determined at the water's edge of 454 m above sea level, is 31,470 square kilometers.

336 permanent rivers and streams flow into Baikal, while half of the water entering the lake comes from the Selenga. The only river that flows out of Baikal is the Angara. However, the question of the number of rivers flowing into Baikal is rather controversial, most likely there are fewer than 336. There is no doubt that Baikal is the deepest lake in the world, the closest contender for this title, the African Lake Tanganyika, lags behind by as much as 200 meters. There are 30 islands on Baikal, although, as mentioned above, there is no unanimity on this issue. The largest is Olkhon Island.

Depth of Baikal

The maximum depth of the lake is 1637 m, the average depth is 730 m. Sometimes in the literature there is a statement that the maximum depth of Baikal is 1642 m. Which value is correct? The answer to this question is somewhat paradoxical - both are correct. The point is that the measurement error for such depths is about 2%; 30 meters. Therefore, it is correct to say that the greatest depth of Baikal is 1640 m, but do not forget about a possible error of several tens of meters.

Age of Lake Baikal

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

Sergey Gabdurakhmanov / flickr.com Yuri Samoilov / flickr.com Vera & Jean-Christophe / flickr.com Délirante bestiole / flickr.com Vladislav Bezrukov / flickr.com fennU2 / flickr.com -5m / flickr.com Vladislav Bezrukov / flickr.com Voyages Lambert / flickr.com Vera & Jean-Christophe / flickr.com Sergey Gabdurakhmanov / flickr.com Kyle Taylor / flickr.com Seal on Lake Baikal (Sergey Gabdurakhmanov / flickr.com) Thomas Depenbusch / flickr.com Sergey Gabdurakhmanov / flickr.com Kyle Taylor / flickr.com Sergey Gabdurakhmanov / flickr.com seseg_h / flickr.com Richard Thomas / flickr.com Daniel Beilinson / flickr.com NASA's Earth Observatory / flickr.com Clay Gilliland / flickr.com Aleksandr Zykov / flickr.com Aleksandr Zykov / flickr.com Aleksandr Zykov / flickr.com

This is the deepest lake in the world, its greatest depth reaches 1642 meters. It is also the world's largest natural reservoir of fresh water. The lake basin is of tectonic origin and is a rift.

Lake Baikal is one of the most interesting natural attractions in Russia. Since 1996 it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The size of this reservoir is really impressive. The length of the lake from southwest to northeast is 620 km, and its width varies from 24 to 80 km. The area of ​​the reservoir is 31,722 sq. km, and the length of its coastline is 2100 km.

Baikal is the deepest lake in the world with the greatest depth of 1642 meters. At the same time, the average depth of this unique reservoir reaches 744 meters. The volume of water is 23,615 cubic meters. km, which is approximately 19% of the total volume of fresh lake water in the world. The water mirror is located at absolute elevations of 456-457 m.

More than 300 different streams flow into Lake Baikal, the largest of which are the Selenga, Upper Angara, Barguzin, Turka, etc. The only river flowing out of the lake is the Angara.

Baikal has 27 islands, the largest of which is Olkhon. Its area is 729 sq. km. The length of this island is more than 70 km, and the width is up to 15 km.

The water level in Baikal is subject to fluctuations. The difference between the highest and lowest annual levels usually does not exceed 23 centimeters. However, these seemingly small fluctuations lead to an increase or decrease in the volume of lake water by about 3 cubic kilometers. The level of Lake Baikal depends mainly on the amount of precipitation falling on the territory of its catchment area.

Baikal climate

During the cold period, it is always slightly warmer near the lake, and during the warm period it is cooler than in the surrounding area. In this respect, the Baikal climate is similar to that of the sea.

Mirror Baikal (Yuri Samoilov / flickr.com)

As in the case of the sea, such climate features are due to the fact that in summer the huge volume of lake water accumulates a huge amount of heat, and then, in autumn and winter, it gives this heat back. This is how the softening effect of the lake on the sharply continental climate of Eastern Siberia, which is characterized by strong contrast, is manifested.

The warming effect of the lake extends for about 50 km from its shores. In the cold season, the temperature on the coast of Lake Baikal can be 8-10 degrees higher than away from the lake, and in the warm season it is just as much lower than the temperatures of the surrounding area. Usually, this difference is about 5 degrees. Baikal smooths out not only annual, but also daily temperature fluctuations.

To a large extent, the climate of Lake Baikal is determined by its inland location, as well as the height of the mirror above sea level.

Average annual temperature and precipitation

The average annual temperature varies from 0.7 degrees below zero (in the south) to 3.6 degrees below zero (in the north). The highest average temperature is recorded in Peschanaya Bay in the west of the reservoir. It is 0.4 degrees above zero, which makes this bay the warmest place in all of Eastern Siberia.

The slopes of the mountains on the eastern and southeastern coasts of Lake Baikal (1000–1200 mm) are characterized by the maximum amount of precipitation, and the western shore of the lake, Olkhon Island and the lower course of the Selenga (less than 200 mm) are characterized by the minimum amount of precipitation.

Ice on Baikal

Baikal is under ice for about five months a year. The time of ice cover establishment varies from the last week of October (shallow bays) to the beginning of January (deep water areas).

Winter evening on Lake Baikal, Siberia, Russia (Thomas Depenbusch / flickr.com)

Spring ice drift begins at the end of April, and the lake is completely free of ice only in the first half of June.

Ice thickness by the end of winter is about one meter, in bays - up to two meters. The ice of Lake Baikal is interesting because, in especially severe frosts, it is torn apart by cracks into separate ice fields. The width of such cracks reaches 2-3 m, and their length is many kilometers.

The cracking of the ice cover is accompanied by loud rolling sounds. In addition, Baikal ice is famous for its amazing transparency.

Wind

A characteristic feature of the Baikal climate is its winds, each of which has its own name. The most powerful wind of Lake Baikal is the sarma, the speed of which reaches 40 m/s, and sometimes up to 60 m/s. This is a strong squally wind blowing in the central part of the lake, from the valley of the Sarma River. Other Baikal winds: barguzin, verkhovik, mountain, kultuk and shelonnik.

Another interesting feature of the local climate is a very large number of clear days a year, the number of which is even greater than on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus.

Nature of Baikal: flora and fauna

Baikal flora is very diverse and rich, it includes more than 1000 plant species. The slopes of the mountains located along the shores of the lake are usually covered with taiga.

Baikal cow, Siberia, Russia (Daniel Beilinson / flickr.com)

Siberian cedar and larch are found in abundance in the local forests. Birch, poplar, aspen, currant, etc. grow along the rivers. As for aquatic plants, there are approximately 210 species of algae. The Baikal fauna is represented by more than 2600 species and subspecies, more than a thousand of which are endemic. The 27 species of fish that live in the lake do not live in any other body of water in the world.

There are many kinds of fish in Baikal. Most unusual is the viviparous golomyanka fish, which is endemic to Lake Baikal. The main commercial fish is the Baikal omul. More than 80% of the total zooplankton biomass is another endemic species, the epishura crustacean. This crustacean is engaged in water purification, playing the role of a filter, and also serves as an important part of the diet of the Baikal omul and other organisms.

Nerpa on Baikal (Sergey Gabdurakhmanov / flickr.com)

Another well-known endemic of the lake is the Baikal seal, which is the only freshwater seal in the world. The largest rookeries of this most interesting animal are located on the Ushkany Islands, in the central part of Lake Baikal.

There is still debate among scientists about how the Baikal seal entered the lake, which is located so far from the oceans. It is assumed that it penetrated Baikal from the Arctic Ocean along the Yenisei and Angara during the Ice Age. Of the animals that live in the Baikal forests, one can note the brown bear, wolverine, musk deer, red deer, elk, fox, squirrel, etc.

236 species of birds live on Baikal, of which 29 species are waterfowl. Ducks and gulls are found here in large numbers. Also, you can meet geese, screaming swans, gray heron, black-throated diver, golden eagle, etc.

Ecology

The unique nature of Baikal is notable for its fragility. All local living organisms are very sensitive to the slightest changes in environmental conditions. The process of decomposition of pollutants in the lake is very slow. The ever-increasing anthropogenic load cannot but affect this fragile ecosystem.

Boat on Baikal (-5m / flickr.com)

Of the enterprises located directly on the banks of the reservoir, the most famous is the Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill, founded back in the 1960s.

The bottom runoff of the Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill spreads along the underwater slope of the Baikal depression. The area of ​​the pollution spot covers about 299 sq. km. Due to bottom runoff, the pulp and paper mill degrades the bottom ecosystems of Lake Baikal, and the emissions of this enterprise into the atmosphere negatively affect the adjacent taiga.

Despite many protests by environmentalists and activists, the Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill continued to produce pulp until the end of 2013. Now the plant has stopped its work, however, it will take many more years to eliminate its waste and restore the environment.

The pollution of the nature of this unique reservoir did not end at all with the closure of the pulp and paper mill. A major source of lake pollution is its most important tributary, the Selenga River, in whose basin such large cities as Ulaanbaatar and Ulan-Ude are located, as well as numerous industrial enterprises in Mongolia and Buryatia.

Partial pollutants come even from the territory of the Trans-Baikal Territory, from settlements located along the tributaries of the Selenga. Most of the treatment facilities in small settlements of Buryatia are not fully capable of coping with wastewater treatment.

Serious damage to the flora and fauna of the reservoir is caused by poachers.

Tourism

Lake Baikal is one of the most popular tourist sites in Russia, recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. The starting points of most trips to the deepest lake in the world are Irkutsk (the southwestern part of the reservoir), Ulan-Ude (the east of the lake) and Severobaikalsk (the northern tip). Of these cities, it is most convenient to start your route directly to the lake.

An old motorcycle on the background of Lake Baikal (Vladislav Bezrukov / flickr.com)

To the south of Irkutsk, at the mouth of the Angara, is the village of Listvyanka, which is the most popular resort on Lake Baikal. There is a developed tourist infrastructure, in addition, numerous excursions are organized from here. On the southwestern coast of the reservoir there are also the cities of Slyudyanka and Baikalsk. The recreational zone Baikalskaya Gavan is located on the eastern coast.

Another well-known center of attraction for tourists is Olkhon Island, which is distinguished by a variety of natural landscapes. Olkhon can be reached by ferry from the village of Sakhyurta; the largest settlement of the island is the village of Khuzhir, where there is a fairly developed tourist infrastructure.

Baikal is one of the most famous lakes in the world. There are legends about him. It delights and surprises travelers and tourists. In size, it is a huge sea. The area of ​​the water surface is over 31 thousand km², and the length of the coastline is 2100 km. Therefore, it is one of the seven largest lakes in the world. It is not only the size of the water surface that is striking. Very beautiful and landscapes. The lake in the shape of an elongated crescent is surrounded by rocks, wooded mountains, cliffs. There are bays of extraordinary beauty with sandy beaches. Numerous islands on the lake are impressive, especially the largest Olkhon.

What is Lake Baikal famous for? This is a wonderful lake. It does not age, it is distinguished by its horizontal, as well as impressive vertical dimensions. The composition of the water, the richness and uniqueness of the flora and fauna are surprising. You won't see this anywhere else. About 2600 species and subspecies of animals and about 600 plant species live in the lake. Of these, more than half of the animals are endemic, that is, they cannot live in other waters and will die. This also applies to most aquatic plants. Baikal is included in the World Natural Heritage List.

forever young lake

The lake is 25-35 million years old. So many ordinary lakes do not exist. They can withstand no more than 15 thousand years, and then they fill with silt and die. Baikal never gets old. There is even a hypothesis that the lake is a nascent ocean. It expands by 2 cm per year. Therefore, Baikal is unique as a lake.

The lake is located in a large depression with a relief bottom. It passes through the earth's crust and is immersed in the mantle. Baikal is the deepest lake in the world. Its depth is 1642 m. According to this parameter, it is ahead of two other lakes of outstanding size, including the Caspian Sea. In this basin there are huge volumes of fresh water. This accounts for almost 20% of the world's fresh water resources.

miraculous water

Dozens of rivers and streams flow into Baikal, and only one flows out - the Angara. The main feature of Baikal water is its purity and transparency. The amazing beauty of stones, the natural world can be seen through the huge water column. This is due to the fact that it contains few suspended solids. A pure source of water is not a river. The water is purified by some living organisms in the lake itself. Water is like distilled. It has a lot of oxygen.

On a note! The lake is cold. Even in summer, the water is cool and warms up to about +9 °C, in the lower layers - +4 °C. However, in some bays it is quite comfortable to swim, as the water temperature can reach 23 °C.

In spring, the clean water surface of the lake is especially good. It seems blue, and the transparency is the largest - up to 40 m. This is due to the fact that the inhabitants of the lake in cold water have not yet multiplied enough. By summer, the water will warm up a little, and a lot of living organisms will develop. The water will turn green, and visibility in the water column will decrease by 3-4 times.

Baikal in winter

You can find whole volumes of information about Baikal, both on the Internet and in various magazines and book editions. The lake is not deprived of attention from tourists, researchers and politicians. From year to year, stunning scientific discoveries are associated with Baikal, expeditions are constantly equipped for thorough research. I decided to devote this topic to the most interesting facts and events related to Lake Baikal. I will try to save you from boring geographical terms, only the most interesting will be here. Most of the photos in the topic are clickable (open on click)

- one of the oldest lakes on the planet and the deepest lake in the world. Baikal is one of the ten largest lakes in the world. Its average depth is about 730 meters, the maximum is 1637 meters. In 1996, Baikal was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Scientists disagree about the origin of Lake Baikal, as well as about its age. Scientists traditionally determine the age of the lake at 25-35 million years. This fact also makes Baikal a unique natural object, since most lakes, especially those of glacial origin, live on average 10-15 thousand years, and then they are filled with silt sediments and swamp

There is also a version about the relative youth of Baikal, put forward by Alexander Tatarinov, Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences in 2009, which received indirect confirmation during the second stage of the Worlds expedition to Baikal. In particular, the activity of mud volcanoes at the bottom of Lake Baikal allows scientists to assume that the modern coastline of the lake is only 8 thousand years old, and the deep-water part is 150 thousand years old.

Baikal contains about 19% of the world's fresh water reserves. There is more water in Baikal than in all five Great Lakes taken together and 25 times more than, for example, in Lake Ladoga

The water in the lake is so transparent that individual stones and various objects can be seen at a depth of 40 m. The purest and most transparent water of Baikal contains so few mineral salts (100 mg / l) that it can be used instead of distilled





2,630 species and varieties of plants and animals live in Baikal, 2/3 of which are endemic, that is, they live only in this reservoir. Such an abundance of living organisms is explained by the high oxygen content in the entire thickness of the Baikal water.


Photo of Baikal from space

The most interesting in Baikal is the viviparous golomyanka fish, whose body contains up to 30% fat. She surprises biologists with daily feeding migrations from the depths to shallow water.

The second, after the golomyanka, the miracle of Baikal, to which it owes its exceptional purity, is the epishura crustacean (numbers about 300 species). The Baikal epishura is a copepod, 1 mm long, a representative of plankton, found throughout the depth (it is not found in bays where the water warms up). Baikal would not be Baikal without this copepod, barely noticeable to the eye, surprisingly efficient and numerous, managing to filter all Baikal water ten times a year, or even more

A typical marine mammal lives here - a seal, or a Baikal seal.

Baikal's water reserves would be enough for 40 years for the inhabitants of the whole Earth, and at the same time 46 x 1015 people could quench their thirst

Baikal ice presents scientists with many mysteries. So, in the 1930s, specialists from the Baikal Limnological Station discovered unusual forms of ice cover, typical only for Lake Baikal. For example, “hills” are cone-shaped ice hills up to 6 meters high, hollow inside. In appearance, they resemble ice tents, “open” in the opposite direction from the coast. Hills can be located separately, and sometimes form miniature "mountain ranges"

Satellite images clearly show dark rings 5-7 km in diameter on the ice of Lake Baikal. The origin of the rings is not known. Scientists believe that the rings on the ice of the lake may have already appeared many times, but it was impossible to see them because of their huge size. Now, with the use of the latest technology, this has become possible, and scientists will begin to study this phenomenon. For the first time, such rings were discovered in 1999, then in 2003, 2005. As you can see, rings do not form every year. The rings are also not located in the same place. Scientists were particularly interested in the reason for the displacement of the rings in 2008 to the southwest, compared with 1999, 2003 and 2005. In April 2009, such rings were found again, and again in a different place than last year. Scientists suggest that the rings are formed due to the release of natural gas from the bottom of Lake Baikal. However, the exact causes and mechanisms of the formation of dark rings on the Baikal ice have not yet been studied, and no one knows their exact nature.

The Baikal region (the so-called Baikal rift zone) belongs to areas with high seismicity: earthquakes regularly occur here, the strength of most of which is one or two points on the MSK-64 intensity scale. However, strong ones also happen, so in 1862, during a ten-point Kudarinsky earthquake in the northern part of the Selenga delta, a land area of ​​​​200 km2 went under water? with 6 uluses, in which 1,300 people lived, and the Proval Bay was formed

A unique deep-sea neutrino telescope NT-200, built in 1993-1998, was created and operates on the lake, with the help of which high-energy neutrinos are detected. On its basis, the NT-200+ neutrino telescope with an increased effective volume is being created, the construction of which is expected to be completed no earlier than 2017.

The first dives of manned submersibles on Baikal were made in 1977, when the bottom of the lake was explored on the deep-sea submersible "Pices" of Canadian production. In Listvenichny Bay, a depth of 1,410 meters was reached. In 1991, the Pisis sank to a depth of 1,637 meters from the eastern side of Olkhon.

In the summer of 2008, the Foundation for Assistance to the Preservation of Lake Baikal carried out a research expedition "Mira" on Baikal. "52 deep-sea manned submersibles" Mir "were carried out to the bottom of Lake Baikal. Scientists delivered water samples, soil and microorganisms raised from the bottom of Lake Baikal

In 1966, production began at the Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill (BPPM), as a result of which the adjacent bottom areas of the lake began to degrade. Dust and gas emissions have a negative impact on the taiga around the BPPM, dry tops and drying of the forest are noted. In September 2008, the plant introduced a closed water circulation system designed to reduce the discharge of wash water. According to the source, the system turned out to be inoperable and less than a month after its launch, the plant had to be stopped.

There are many legends associated with. The most fascinating of them is connected with the Angara River:
In the old days, the mighty Baikal was cheerful and kind. He deeply loved his only daughter Angara. She was not more beautiful on earth. During the day it is light - lighter than the sky, at night it is dark - darker than the clouds. And whoever rode past the Angara, everyone admired her, everyone praised her. Even migratory birds: geese, swans, cranes - descended low, but rarely landed on the water of the Angara. They said: “Is it possible to blacken light?”

Old man Baikal took care of his daughter more than his heart. Once, when Baikal fell asleep, Angara rushed to run to the young Yenisei. Father woke up, angrily splashed waves. A fierce storm arose, mountains sobbed, forests fell, the sky turned black from grief, animals fled in fear all over the earth, fish dived to the very bottom, birds flew away to the sun. Only the wind howled, and the heroic sea raged. Mighty Baikal hit the gray-haired mountain, broke off a rock from it and threw it after the fleeing daughter. The rock fell on the very throat of the beauty. The blue-eyed Angara pleaded, panting and sobbing, and began to ask:

- Father, I'm dying of thirst, forgive me and give me at least one drop of water.

Baikal shouted angrily:

“I can only give my tears!”

For thousands of years, the Angara has been flowing into the Yenisei with water-tear, and the gray-haired lonely Baikal has become gloomy and scary. The rock that Baikal threw after his daughter was called by people the Shaman stone. Rich sacrifices were made to Baikal there. People said: “Baikal will be angry, it will tear off the Shaman stone, the water will gush and flood the whole earth.” Currently, the river is blocked by a dam, so only the top of the shaman stone is visible from the water.

There is a legend among the people about the creation of Baikal "The Lord looked: the unkind land came out ... no matter how she began to be offended by him! And, so as not to hold a grudge, he took and waved her not some kind of bedding for her feet, but the very measure of her bounty, which he measured how much to be from him. The measure fell and turned into Baikal.

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