All salt lakes. The largest salt lakes in the world. Or is it the sea? Salt lake of Antarctica

May 23, 2016 Salt lakes are more correctly called mineral lakes, such are lakes with a mineralization of more than 1 ppm (thousandth). Most often, salt lakes are endorheic reservoirs located in an arid zone.

We will briefly talk here about the seven largest salt lakes on our planet:

Former salt lake on the border of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. It is called “former” because from the beginning of the 1960s the lake began to become catastrophically shallow due to the increased intake of fresh water for the development of cotton growing from the large rivers flowing into it - the Syr-Darya and Amu-Darya. At present, the Aral Sea has split into two isolated lakes - the Northern Aral and the Southern Aral.

Dead Sea

The coast of this salt lake on the border of Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Jordan is the lowest piece of land on Earth. The water in the Dead Sea is mineralized to a very high degree; this property has been used for medicinal purposes since ancient times and today attracts a large number of tourists.

Great Salt Lake

Great Salt Lake is the largest (5 thousand km²) salt lake in the Western Hemisphere located in the southwestern United States, in a desert area. Common table salt and Glauber's salt, a valuable chemical reagent and medicinal product, are actively mined here.

Elton

The largest in Europe and one of the most mineralized salt lakes in the world. It is located in Russia, in the Volgograd region, not far from the border with Kazakhstan. The industrial extraction of salt from Lake Elton was carried out until the end of the 19th century, then it stopped. Now here is a balneological and mud resort.

Baskunchak

The main "salt mill" of Russia, about 80% of the salt production in the country is concentrated here. The lake is located in the Caspian lowland, in the Astrakhan region. The deposits of therapeutic clays on the coast of Baskunchak made it possible to organize a mud resort here. Tourists are also attracted by the opportunity to visit the picturesque and the only mountain in the Caspian Sea, Bogdo, which, together with Lake Baskunchak, has been declared a protected area.

This is a collection of objects located in the Gulf of Mexico, in the Arctic and some other places in the oceans. Due to the difference in salinity and, as a result, density, the flows of oceanic waters in some cases do not mix, but form clear boundaries and form the so-called "shores" of the underwater salt reservoir.

In our vast Russia there are many salt lakes, beauty and uniqueness, which are incomparable with anything. The Dead Sea in Israel, in terms of mineral content, is currently compared with Lake Elton in the Volgograd region (140-200 ‰), Lake Baskunchak in the Astrakhan region (300 ‰), Lake Medvezhye in the Kurgan region (350-360) and Lake Razval in the Orenburg region area (300 ‰).

You can find a healing lake in almost any region of the country. Here is the whole list.

Stavropol Territory - Tambukan, Salt Lake - Petrovsky District x. Salt Lake, Salt Lake is located between the villages of Krasnogvardeyskoye and Ladovskaya Balka, 9 km southeast of the farm Medvezhensky Krasnogvardeysky District.

Astrakhan region - Baskunchak Lake, Akhtubinsk city, Tinaki, FBU Rehabilitation Center of the FSS RF "Tinaki".

Volgograd region - Lake Elton, Lake Bulukhta, Botkul (Salt mud of Botkaly-Sor).

Krasnodar Territory - Salt Lake (Veselovka village), Khanskoye Lake, Yeysk, Mud-healing Ubezhinsky salt lakes.

Khakassia - Lake Tus, Lake Shira.

Rostov region - Lake Pelekino.

Novosibirsk region - Salt Lake (Novoklyuchi), Plakhino Lake, Krasnozersky Sanatorium, Krasnozerskoye miracle - lake.

Republic of Tuva - Medicinal lake Dus-Khol (Svatikovo) Kyzyl, Lake Kok-Khol, Lake Khadyn, Resort Cheder, Hot springs Ush-Beldir and Tarys.

Omsk region - Ebeity, Lake Ulzhay.

Altai Territory - Big Yarovoe, Salt Lake (village Zavyalovo), Gorkoe Lake, Crimson Lake.

Kurgan region - Bear Lake, Lake Gorkoe (Zverinogolovskoye), Gorkoe-Victoria (Shchuchansky district)

Chelyabinsk region - Lake Gorkoe (village of Khomutino)

Orenburg region - Lake Razval, lake Zhetykol pos. Ozerny.

Tyumen Region - Salt Lake is located 1 km. from the village of Okunevo, Berdyugsky district.

Buryatia - Lake Kiran.

I managed to visit the Salt Lake near the village of Veselovka on the Taman Peninsula and the Tizdar mud volcano. Mud, in addition to sources, can also be found on the coastal strip, if you dig a hole in the hills, gentle slopes. The mud and water of the Sea of ​​Azov have healing properties.

Medicinal lakes of Russia (mineral lakes) contain unique sets of microelements, water has natural antiseptic properties, mud is a natural health complex. Treatment of diseases on a salt lake occurs due to several factors: ultraviolet, brine, silt mud. After swimming, when you come out of the lake and dry off, you are immediately covered with a thin white layer of salt that crumbles off.

I would like to focus on several of the country's most popular resorts on the Lakes and tell you a little about them.

This is Lake Tambukan, located near Pyatigorsk. Tambukan mud belongs to the group of silt highly mineralized, medium sulfide muds. Mineralization of mud ranges from 30 to 100 grams per liter. It also contains calcium, magnesium, selenium, silver, strontium, manganese, and some organic compounds. Tambukan mud is an amazing natural antioxidant that can have a rejuvenating and cleansing effect, improves skin microcirculation and blood circulation, simultaneously activates skin immunity and metabolism, stimulates regenerative processes, which allows for the removal of toxins and toxins, normalizes skin balance by breaking down fats and adsorbing excess skin fat, moisturizing and toning the skin.

Buryatia, Lake Kiran. The bottom of the lake is composed of healing silt. Salts contain sodium chlorides, sulfates and carbonates. The therapeutic mud of Lake Kiran is used not only by local medical institutions, but is also exported outside the Kyakhta region. Indications for treatment at Kiran essentially do not differ from the indications for most mud resorts, namely: chronic diseases of the joints, bones, muscles of various etiologies, diseases of the peripheral nervous system (neuralgia, neuritis, neurositis, plexitis, polyneuritis), chronic inflammatory diseases female genital area, pelvic tissue and peritoneum and some types of chronic eczema, as well as diseases of the male reproductive apparatus. Mud is also used in cosmetology.

Lake Shira in Khakassia. The healing properties of lake water have become widely known since the second half of the 19th century. An active participant in the establishment of a resort here was the Tomsk gold merchant Z. M. Tsibulsky. According to legend, Cybulsky drew attention to the fact that his dog, accidentally wounded by him while hunting near a lake and left to a local resident to die, swimming in the lake, healed his wounds and ran home completely healthy. Deciding to check how healing the lake water is, Cybulsky tried to treat his chronic sciatica with baths and, indeed, got rid of the disease. On the shore of the lake, a number of resort and medical institutions arose, united under the name "Resort "Lake Shira"". Mineral lake water is similar to the Batalinsky water of the Caucasus and contains a salt concentration of 17-20 g / liter. Also, silt mud extracted from the bottom of the reservoir is used for treatment.

And, of course, the healing nature of the Altai Territory has preserved many healing lakes for us. Lake Big Yarovoe. Therapeutic mud of Lake Bolshoye Yarovoye is used for arthrosis, arthritis, joint deformities, adhesive processes in the abdominal cavity, and in the small pelvis. In gynecology, mud is used to treat chronic endometritis, menstrual irregularities, infertility, recurrent miscarriage. In andrology, the mud of the lake is used to treat chronic prostatitis and sexual disorders. Mud in Lake Bolshoye Yarovoe has indicators that are not inferior to the mud resorts of the Crimea and the Caucasus (Saki, Staraya Russa). The effect of treatment on Lake Yarovoe is 90%.

Raspberry lake. History of the lake. Foreigners who were lucky enough to share a meal with the great Empress Catherine II were surprised at the unusual pinkish-crimson salt served at the table. They have not seen such a curiosity anywhere else. And the Russians knew that it was brought from the far, far Kulunda steppe, located at the foot of the Altai Mountains. But few people could visit those distant places - it was so hard to get there. There were only legends that a huge pink lake was splashing there, having bathed in it, non-native women would soon bring babies, and the pockmarked ones would become prettier.

The bitter-salty water in it is pink-crimson in color, this shade gives it a special phytoplankton. Another feature of this lake is the supply of therapeutic mud. At the same time, the unique natural object is not protected in any way: it does not have the status of a specially protected natural area, even at the local level. Meanwhile, together with the pine forest and the vegetation of salt marshes, Raspberry Lake is a unique natural complex that needs protection.

According to research conducted by the Research Institute of Balneology and Physiotherapy, employees of the Altai State Medical University, the most promising for therapeutic use in resort and non-resort conditions are brine, mud and clay of the lakes: Big and Small Yarovoye, Salty, Krivoe, Belenky, Krivaya Pucha, Kulundinskoye, Kuchuk, Syropyatovskoe, Kharkovskoe, Guseletovskoe, Gorky-Melnikovskoe, Cormorant, Baklanenok, Medical, Raspberry, Big Mormyshanskoe, Bitter, Gorky-Peresheechnoe, Shchekulduk.

The beauty of Russian nature must be used by us rationally and preserved for posterity. Good luck with your trip, stay healthy!

Deposits of minerals dissolved in water are one of the main wealth of our country. They are the material for water treatment. Such a geological asset is valuable due to the composition and regime of seasonal temperatures (both of which are associated with medicinal properties). Visiting the salt lakes of Russia, in addition to contemplating the "cosmic" landscapes (what the shores of such reservoirs look like), you will heal skin and respiratory tract diseases.

The most famous salt lakes in Russia – Vats, and Disintegration.

This is the largest salt lake in Russia by area. Its size during the spill reaches 2,000 square kilometers! This is a system of reaches, which are connected by dozens of channels. They were formed on the territory of today's Novosibirsk region, on land adjacent to the settlement of Novoyablonovka. A dirt road leads from this small village to Chany, disappearing during the thaw. The large open space allows organizing seasonal navigation in the main water area of ​​the lake. The vats are dangerous in bad weather - the waves can turn over a small ship. The nearest railway station to this location is Chistoozernoe. This lake has no medicinal value.

Almost all salt lakes in Russia are located in its most arid (arid) zone - at the point where the borders of our state and the Republic of Kazakhstan converge.

As already mentioned, the salty medicinal lakes of Russia are located at the junction of the Central Asian country closest to us.

The Elton lowland is, in fact, a neutral zone with Kazakhstan, although the lake itself belongs entirely to the Russian Federation, namely, the Volgograd region. This reservoir has the glory of the lowest of the salt lakes. After all, Elton is several tens of meters below sea level. From the Mongolian language, its name is translated as "golden". It is this shade of water that gives the local algae. The surface here is so saline that it is impossible to drown on it ... You can get here through the railway junction of the same name. There is a road from Bykovo and Pallasovka. Read our full review about this amazing lake:

The water of this natural reservoir is called "bitter-salty". Thanks to this, he was in the presented rating. The unique taste of the lake is given by the springs that flow here. Therefore, from the Kalmyk language, the indicated hydronym is translated as "spring". In the list of the most mineralized lakes, it comes next. Bulukhta is located in the same place - in the Volgograd region, in the depths of the Pallasovsky district. Its territory is a semi-desert, equal in area to Israel ... The banks of the "spring" drainless bowl are heavily swamped. You can go to the snow-white surface only along two paths.

"Liquid salt marsh" is popular because only here (out of all the objects on the list) you can find a sandy beach. This is the former edge of a mud volcano. True, grains of quartz in a picturesque desert tract are strongly mixed with salt crystals. However, the locals use the reaches as a river resort. The location of the lake is the southeastern outskirts of the town of Sol-Iletsk (Orenburg region on the border with Kazakhstan). The location is part of an active rock salt deposit. Its concentration here is almost 200 grams per liter of water. Mud baths operate on the coast, exploiting the beneficial properties of the local brine and bottom sediments.

Salt lakes in Russia far exceed the usefulness of the Dead Sea (which we choose when thinking about where to go on vacation in March). Their water contains more chloride-sulfide and magnesium-sodium compounds, and the lipid complex of silt mud is more active. And brine reflects ultraviolet radiation more strongly (which, in moderate doses, is also recognized as healing).

Terrestrial reservoirs arose for various reasons. Their creators are water, wind, glaciers, tectonic forces. The water washed out the hollow on the surface of the earth, the wind blew out a depression, plowed and polished the glacier depression, the mountain landslide dammed the river valley - and the bed of the future reservoir is ready. The depressions will be filled with water - a lake will appear.

The lakes of the globe are divided into two large groups - fresh and salt water. If less than one gram of salts is dissolved in one liter of water, the water is considered fresh, if there are more salts, then salty.

The lakes have the most varied salinity - from fractions of a gram to several tens and hundreds of grams per liter of water. There are, for example, reservoirs in which the water is so saturated with salts that it surpasses the ocean in this respect (35 grams of salts per liter of water); such lakes are called mineral. It all depends on what kind of tribute the rivers bring to them. If the climate is humid and the rivers are full of water, then the rocks in the catchment area are well washed, and therefore the river and lake waters are poorly mineralized.

In a drier climate, where precipitation is scarce and rivers are shallow, their waters contain significantly more salts. Therefore, in the deserts, salt (mineral) lakes are the most widespread. A vivid example of this is Central Kazakhstan, where there are few freshwater lakes, and salty ones are found almost at every step. And yet, among the greatest lakes in the world, freshwater reservoirs predominate.

They are flowing, water does not stagnate in them, salts brought by rivers are discharged into the ocean or sea. And it is worth making such a reservoir drainless - and after some time it will become salty. Take, for example, the Caspian Sea. This huge body of water became largely saline because it had no outlet to the ocean. There were many similar cases on Earth.

The most saline lakes on our planet can be considered lakes in which the salt content per liter of water is more than 25 grams. Such lakes, in addition to Lake Tuz in Turkey, include Lake Eyre in Australia, the Dead Sea on the Arabian Peninsula, Molla-Kara in Turkmenistan, Lake Dus-Khol in Tuva and others.

In the center of Turkey, south of Ankara, at an altitude of 900 meters above sea level, there is a lake on which you can walk on foot in summer. This drainless lake Tuz has a length of 80 kilometers, a width of about forty-five kilometers and an average depth of two meters. It is not only small, but also very salty - up to three hundred and twenty-two kilograms of salt per ton of water. In spring, due to winter and spring precipitation, the lake overflows and increases almost seven times, occupying a huge area of ​​​​25,000 square kilometers. In the summer, when the water evaporates, the lake becomes very small, and a dense crust of salt forms on its surface from several centimeters to two meters thick.

The Dead Sea is the deepest and saltiest of the salt lakes. Its greatest depth is over 400 meters, and it is located 395 meters below the level of the oceans. One liter of Dead Sea water contains 437 grams of salt.

Some of the lakes are brackish-fresh. The most amazing of them is Lake Balkhash. Its western part is fresh, and the eastern part is brackish. The reason for this peculiarity lies in the fact that the Ili River flows into the western part of the lake, and the eastern part lies surrounded by deserts, where water evaporates very strongly. Therefore, on geographical maps, the western part of Balkhash is shown blue, and the eastern part is lilac.

The huge Lake Chad, located on the outskirts of the Sahara, is fresh on top and brackish at the bottom. Fresh river and rain water, falling into the lake, does not mix with brackish water, but rather floats on it. Freshwater fish live in the upper layer, and marine fish that got into the lake in ancient times stay at the bottom.

The lake is very shallow (from 2 to 4 meters deep). Its shores are flat and swampy, and from the north the desert comes close to them. The hot sun dried up all the northern and eastern tributaries of Chad, turning them into waterless channels - wadis. And only the Shari and Lagoni rivers flowing into it from the south feed the "Sahara Sea" with their waters. For a long time, Lake Chad, or Ngi-Bul, as the locals call it, was considered drainless, which was its main mystery. Usually in large, shallow and endorheic lakes on Earth, the water is completely salty, and the upper layer of Lake Chad is fresh. The riddle turned out to be simple.

Approximately 900 kilometers northeast of Chad is the vast Bodele Basin, lying approximately 80 meters below lake level. A water stream hidden under the ground stretched to it from the lake. So, through underground runoff, Lake Chad slowly but constantly renews its waters, preventing them from becoming salty.

Even more surprising is Lake Mogilnoye. It is located on Kildin Island, not far from the northern coast of the Kola Peninsula, and has a depth of 17 meters. The lake consists, as it were, of several layers - "floors". The first "floor" at the bottom of the lake, almost lifeless, consists of liquid silt and is saturated with hydrogen sulfide. The second "floor" stands out in cherry color - this color is given to it by purple bacteria. They are, as it were, a filter that traps hydrogen sulfide rising from the bottom. The "third" floor is a "piece of the sea", hidden in the depths of the lake. This is ordinary sea water, and its salinity here is the same as in the sea. This layer is filled with life, jellyfish, crustaceans, stars, sea anemones, sea bass, cod live here. Only they look much smaller than their counterparts at sea. The fourth "floor" is intermediate: the water in it is no longer sea, but not fresh either, but slightly brackish. The fifth "floor" is a six-meter layer of pure spring water suitable for drinking. The fauna here is typical for freshwater lakes.

The unusual structure is explained by the history of the lake. It is very ancient and was formed on the site of the sea bay. Mogilnoye Lake is separated from the sea only by a small bridge. At high tide, sea water seeps through it in the place where the "marine" layer is located. And the distribution of water in the lake by layers is due to the fact that salt water, as heavier, is at the bottom, and lighter fresh water is at the top. That's why they don't mix. Oxygen does not enter the depths of the lake, and the bottom becomes contaminated with hydrogen sulfide.

An unusual lake called Drutso is located in Tibet. The locals consider it magical. Every 12 years, the water in the lake changes: it becomes either fresh or salty.

The Dead Sea is famous for its unusually high salt content, although in fact this body of water ranks only fourth among the most salty seas and lakes in the world.

The seas and oceans are traditionally considered to be the most saline water bodies. And this is mostly true. Water covers more than two-thirds of our planet's surface, and 96% of it is in the oceans. Ocean waters contain thousands of billions of tons of dissolved salt.

The salinity of the water at different points in the oceans varies. Around the poles, the constant presence of snow and ice reduces salt levels, while closer to the equator more water evaporates from the surface of the seas, which means a higher salt content in the water.

But there are reservoirs on our planet, where there is much more salt than in the seas and oceans.

Dead Sea

The most famous such body of water is the Dead Sea, located on the border of Jordan and Israel. The water here is 10 times saltier than the average sea. However, the Dead Sea is far from the most salty sea. It ranks only fifth among the most saline bodies of water on Earth.

Besides, the Dead Sea is not a sea at all. Although the term "sea" is loosely used, it essentially refers to a large body of salt water that is partly surrounded by land. The Dead Sea is completely surrounded by land and has no access to the ocean or the open sea. In fact, this is a lake, but large and salty, which causes confusion.

The shore stones of the lake sparkle with crystallized table salt in places where the sun makes the water evaporate quickly. In addition, the Dead Sea is the deepest hypersaline body of water in the world. Its depth reaches 330 meters.

In recent years, this reservoir has been rapidly decreasing in size, to the point that rumors have appeared about its complete disappearance. Today, however, Israeli geologists claim that it will stabilize at current levels in the near future.

Lake Don Juan

Despite its celebrity status, the Dead Sea is not able to take away the laurels of the most salty body of water from a tiny lake called Don Juan. This crumb does not exceed 300 meters in length and 100 meters in width, and its depth is 10 centimeters. However, the percentage of salt in the lake is 44%, which is 10% more than in the Dead Sea, and 40% more than in the ocean.

The lake is located in Antarctica, in the McMurdo Dry Valley, famous for being the driest place on the planet - there is no precipitation there, and strong winds do not allow glaciers to form on the inside of the mountains surrounding the valley.

salt source

Scientists do not know the exact reason for such a high salt content in the water of the lake. Perhaps this is due to the fact that it is completely cut off from other bodies of water and is not diluted with fresh water coming from precipitation and due to the melting of glaciers. All the salt contained in the waters of Don Juan cannot leave them in any way. She can only freeze or evaporate.

With such a high percentage of salinity, the lake almost never freezes - this requires a temperature below -53 degrees Celsius. All that remains is evaporation. The water evaporates, which leads to an even higher percentage of salinity.

While other salty waters of Antarctica get fresh water from snow and ice, Don Juan always remains undiluted. Scientists are still trying to find a source of salt in the waters of the lake.

Salt on land

It is noteworthy that reservoirs are far from the most saline places on the planet. Record accumulations of this mineral are found on land.

The Uyuni salt marsh is the largest in the world, its area exceeds ten thousand square kilometers. It is located in Bolivia and is actually the bottom of a dried up prehistoric salt lake.

The basin of this lake is unusually flat, geologists have noticed a difference in height of only one meter. Today, this huge flat valley is covered in sparkling salt crystals.

During the rainy season, tourists flock to Uyuni to see the world's largest mirror surface, and flamingos fly here to lay their eggs, perched on large salt marshes.

For several centuries, salt has been mined in the vastness of Uyuni, but there is still so much that it will last for a long time.

Underground springs

Despite the fact that the largest salt deposit is in Bolivia, the largest exporters of this mineral are Australia and China. There are the most productive salt mines.

However, the largest salt mine is in Canada. Its depth reaches 550 meters, and the area is seven square kilometers. Seven million tons of salt are extracted from the mine annually. This place is located near the Great Lakes, and geologists suggest that the salt deposits there are very rich and lie at a relatively great depth, covering a huge area. This wealth is left over from a prehistoric sea that dried up about 420 million years ago.

The fact that it is difficult for scientists to name the only saltiest place on Earth tells us that much of the history and bowels of our amazing planet has not been studied and is kept secret. It is quite possible that there is another reservoir in the wilds of Siberian forests, which will turn out to be saltier than Lake Don Juan.