What lake is bigger than Baikal. How deep is Lake Baikal? Maximum and average depth of Baikal. Characteristics of Lake Baikal

Location

south Eastern Siberia

Height num

23,615.390 km³

Length coastline

Nai great depth

Average depth

Transparency

40 m, at a depth of up to 60 m

catchment area

560 thousand km²

Inflowing rivers

Selenga, Upper Angara, Barguzin, etc.
Total 336

flowing river

Geography

Water volume

Tributaries and runoff

Water properties

Islands and peninsulas

seismic activity

Origin of the lake

Flora and fauna

Settlement of the lake shore

Limnological research

deep sea drilling

Neutrino telescope

Pisis on Baikal

"Worlds" on Baikal

Ecology

Pulp and paper mill

Eastern oil pipeline

Attractions

Interesting Facts

Myths and legends about Baikal

Baikal in philately

Baikal- lake tectonic origin in the southern part of Eastern Siberia, the deepest lake on the planet Earth, the largest natural reservoir fresh water. More than half of the year the lake is ice-bound, the freezing period is January 15 - May 1, navigation is carried out from June to September. Since 1956 the lake has become integral part Irkutsk reservoir, as a result of which the water level rose by 1.5 m.

The lake and coastal areas are distinguished by a unique diversity of flora and fauna, most of the species are endemic. Locals and many in Russia traditionally call Baikal the sea.

Geography

Geographical location and dimensions of the basin

Baikal is located in the center of Asia, in Russia, on the border of the Irkutsk region and the Republic of Buryatia. The lake stretches from north to southwest for 636 km in the form of a giant crescent. The width of Baikal ranges from 25 to 80 km.

The water surface area is 31,722 km² (excluding islands), which is approximately equal to the area of ​​countries such as Belgium, the Netherlands or Denmark. In terms of the area of ​​the water surface, Baikal ranks sixth among the largest lakes in the world.

The length of the coastline is 2,100 km.

Depths

Maximum lake depth- 1,642 meters was discovered in 1983 by L. G. Kolotilo and A. I. Sulimov during hydrographic work by the expedition of the GUNiO MO USSR at a point with coordinates 53 ° 14? sh. 108°05′11′ E / 53.249722° N. sh. 108.086389° E making it the deepest lake on planet Earth.

The maximum depth was charted in 1992. and confirmed in 2002 as a result of a joint Belgian-Spanish-Russian project to create a new bathymetric map of Lake Baikal, when depths were digitized at 1,312,788 points of the lake water area (depth values ​​were obtained as a result of recalculation of acoustic sounding data combined with additional bathymetric information , including echolocation and seismic profiling, one of the authors of the discovery of maximum depth - L.G.Kolotilo, was a participant in this project).

If we take into account that the water surface of the lake is located at an altitude of 455.5 m above sea level, then the lower point of the basin lies 1,186.5 m below the level of the world ocean, which makes the Baikal bowl also the deepest continental depression.

Average lake depth also very large - 744.4 meters. It exceeds the maximum depths of many very deep lakes.

Water volume

The water reserves in Baikal are gigantic - 23615.390 km² (about 19% of the world's fresh water reserves - in all fresh lakes the world contains 123 thousand km² of water). In terms of water reserves, Baikal ranks second in the world among lakes, second only to the Caspian Sea, but the water in the Caspian Sea is salty. There is more water in Baikal than in all five Great Lakes taken together and 25 times more than in Lake Ladoga.

Tributaries and runoff

336 rivers and streams flow into Baikal, but this number takes into account only permanent tributaries. The largest of them are Selenga, Upper Angara, Barguzin, Turka, Snezhnaya, Sarma. One river flows out of the lake - the Angara.

Water properties

The main properties of Baikal water can be briefly described as follows: it contains very few dissolved and suspended mineral substances, negligibly few organic impurities, and a lot of oxygen.

Temperature surface layers water in Baikal in summer is +8…+9 °C, and in some bays - +15 °C. The temperature of the deep layers is about +4 °C. The water in the lake is so transparent that individual stones and various objects can be seen at a depth of 40 m. At this time, the Baikal water is blue. In summer and autumn, when a mass of plant and animal organisms develop in the water warmed by the sun, its transparency decreases to 8–10 m and the color becomes blue-green and green. The purest and most transparent water of Lake Baikal contains so few mineral salts (100 mg/l) that it can be used instead of distilled water.

Ice

By the end of winter, the ice thickness on Lake Baikal reaches 1 m, and in the bays - 1.5-2 m. In severe frost, cracks, locally called "stanovo cracks", break the ice into separate fields. The length of such fissures is 10–30 km, and the width is 2–3 m. Fractures occur annually in approximately the same areas of the lake. They are accompanied by a loud crack, reminiscent of thunder or cannon shots. It seems to a person standing on the ice that the ice cover is bursting just under his feet and he will now fall into the abyss. Thanks to cracks in the ice, fish in the lake do not die from lack of oxygen. Baikal ice is also very transparent, and the sun's rays penetrate through it, so planktonic algae, which release oxygen, flourish in the water. On the shores of Lake Baikal can be observed in winter ice grottoes and splashes.

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. Appearance they resemble ice tents, "open" in the opposite direction from the coast. Hills can be located separately, and sometimes form miniature "mountain ranges". Also on Baikal there is another type of ice called "sokuy".

In addition, in the spring of 2009, Internet satellite imagery different parts of Baikal where they were found dark rings. According to scientists, these rings are formed due to the rise of deep waters and an increase in the temperature of the surface layer of water in the central part of the ring structure. As a result of this process, an anticyclonic (clockwise) current is formed. In the zone where the current reaches maximum speeds, the vertical water exchange intensifies, which leads to accelerated destruction of the ice cover.

Islands and peninsulas

There are 27 islands on Baikal (Ushkany Islands, Yarki Island and others), the largest of them is Olkhon (730 km²); largest peninsula- Holy Nose.

The lake is located in a kind of basin, surrounded on all sides by mountain ranges and hills. Wherein West Coast- rocky and steep, the relief of the eastern coast is more gentle (in some places the mountains recede from the coast for tens of kilometers).

seismic activity

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 with 6 uluses, in which 1,300 people lived, went under water, and Proval Bay was formed. Strong earthquakes were also recorded in 1903 (Baikal), 1950 (Mondinskoe), 1957 (Muiskoe), 1959 (Middle Baikal). The epicenter of the Middle Baikal earthquake was located at the bottom of Lake Baikal near the village of Sukhaya ( southeast coast). His strength reached 9 points. In Ulan-Ude and Irkutsk, the strength of the main shock reached 5-6 points, cracks and minor damage were observed in buildings and structures.

Climate

The water mass of Lake Baikal influences the climate of the coastal area. Winters are milder here, and summers are cooler. The onset of spring on Baikal is delayed by 10-15 days compared to the surrounding areas, and autumn is often quite long.

The Baikal region is distinguished by a large total duration of sunshine. For example, in the village of Bolshoe Goloustnoye it reaches 2,524 hours and is a record for Russia. There are only 37 days without sun per year in the same settlement, and 48 on Olkhon Island.

The special features of the climate are due to the Baikal winds, which have their own names - barguzin, sarma, verkhovik, kultuk.

Origin of the lake

The origin of Baikal still causes scientific controversy. Scientists traditionally determine the age of the lake at 25–35 Ma. This fact also makes Baikal unique. natural object, since most lakes, especially glacial origin, live an average of 10-15 thousand years, and then they are filled with silty sediments and become swampy.

However, there is also a version about the 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.

What is certain is that the lake is located in a rift basin and is similar in structure, for example, to the Dead Sea basin. Some researchers explain the formation of Baikal by its location in the zone of a transform fault, others suggest the presence of a mantle plume under Baikal, and others explain the formation of the basin by passive rifting as a result of the collision of Eurasia and Hindustan. Be that as it may, the transformation of Baikal continues to this day - earthquakes constantly occur in the vicinity of the lake. There are suggestions that the subsidence of the basin is associated with the formation of vacuum chambers due to the outpouring of basalts on the surface (Quaternary period).

Flora and fauna

According to the Limnological Institute of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 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.

The epishura crustacean, endemic to Baikal, makes up to 80% of the zooplankton biomass of the lake and is the most important link in the food chain of the reservoir. It performs the function of a filter: it passes water through itself, purifying it.

The most interesting in Baikal is the viviparous golomyanka fish, whose body contains up to 30% fat. It surprises biologists with daily feeding migrations from the depths to shallow waters. Of the fish in Baikal, there are omul, grayling, whitefish, sturgeon, burbot, taimen, pike and others. Baikal is unique among lakes in that freshwater sponges grow here at great depths.

History of settlement and study of Baikal

Settlement of the lake shore

According to local residents recorded in the 1930s, until the 12th-13th centuries, the Baikal region was inhabited by the people of the Barguts. They were replaced from the west by the Buryats, who began to actively populate first the western coast of the lake, and then Transbaikalia. The first Russian settlements on the shores of Lake Baikal appeared at the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th centuries. The first Russian discoverer of Baikal was the Cossack Kurbat Ivanov.

The origin of the toponym "Baikal"

The origin of the name of the lake is not exactly established. Below are the most common versions of the origin of the toponym "Baikal":

• Bai-Kul (Turk.) - a rich lake
• Baigaal-Dalai (Mong.) - rich fire
• Bei-Hai (Chinese) - North Sea

The first Russian explorers of Siberia used the Evenki name "Lamu" (sea). From the second half of the 17th century, the Russians switched to the name adopted by the Buryats - "Baigaal" (pronounced "Beigkhel"). At the same time, they linguistically adapted it to their language, replacing the “g” characteristic of the Buryats with the more familiar “k” for the Russian language, as a result of which the modern name was finally formed.

Outstanding researchers, travelers and writers of Baikal

See related articles:

Limnological research

The branch of science that studies lakes is called limnology. In the Irkutsk Academic City there is a limnological institute that studies Baikal. Baikal is also studied by independent scientific organizations, such as the Baikal Research Center (ANO).

deep sea drilling

In the 1990s, Russian, American and Japanese scientists jointly implemented an international project for deep-sea drilling of Lake Baikal on Lake Baikal. Drilling was carried out in winter, from a research vessel frozen into the ice. Drilling made it possible to study the section of the sedimentary strata at the bottom of the lake, to detail its history. The results of drilling are especially valuable for the reconstruction of climatic changes in the territory of Eurasia.

Neutrino telescope

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.

Pisis on Baikal

The first dives of manned vehicles on Baikal were made in 1977, when the bottom of the lake was explored on deep-sea vehicle Pice made in Canada. 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.

"Worlds" on Baikal

In the summer of 2008, the Foundation for Assistance to the Preservation of Lake Baikal carried out a research expedition "Worlds on Baikal". 52 deep-sea manned submersibles "Mir" were immersed to the bottom of Lake Baikal.

Scientists delivered samples of water, soil and microorganisms taken from the bottom of Lake Baikal to the Research Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences named after P.P. Shirshov. The expedition continued in 2009.

Ecology

Pulp and paper mill

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.

Eastern oil pipeline

Transneft is building the Eastern Siberia - Pacific Ocean”, taking place in the Baikal region. Initially, it was planned that the pipeline route would pass in close proximity to the shore of the lake, and then, in the event of an oil spill, Baikal would be under the threat of an environmental disaster. Numerous protest actions of environmentalists and just caring people, including a protest rally of many thousands held in Irkutsk on March 18, 2006, and mainly a direct order from Russian President V.V. so that its thread runs no closer than 350–400 km from the lake.

Baikal - World Natural Heritage Site

In 1996, Baikal was included in the list world heritage UNESCO.

Resumption of activity of the pulp and paper mill

By Government Decree Russian Federation dated January 13, 2010, the ban on "production of cellulose, paper, cardboard and products from them without the use of drainless water use systems for production needs" was eliminated without any restrictions on the timing, volumes or concentrations of substances. It also drastically changes two more points regarding the storage, disposal and incineration of hazardous waste on the shores of Lake Baikal, which is included in the List of World natural heritage.

Organizations studying and protecting Baikal

• Baikal national park
• Baikal ecological wave
• Baikal Research Center (ANO)
• Greenpeace Russia

Tourism

There are many ways to get to Baikal. As a rule, those wishing to visit it first go to one of the nearest major cities: Irkutsk, Ulan-Ude or Severobaikalsk, in order to plan your route in more detail from there. Driving along the Trans-Siberian Railway between Irkutsk and Ulan-Ude, you can admire the views of the lake for hours, stretching right outside the train window.

Listvyanka village, one of the most popular places tourism on Baikal. Get here from regional center You can by bus or boat in just over an hour.

In various areas around the lake, the Great Baikal Trail passes - a system of ecological trails and one of the finest ways for tourists to see unique nature and enjoy breathtaking views and panoramas of Lake Baikal. Most popular routes pass from Listvyanka village to Big Cats, on the Svyatoi Nos peninsula and in most other places where tourists can reach. On the eastern coast, Barguzinsky Bay is especially popular, where the construction of a tourist and recreational zone continues. In the village of Maksimikha, you can take a tour with a visit to the Svyatoy Nos peninsula (peninsula). Available horse and hiking. To the south are the settlements of Enkhaluk, Sukhaya. In these villages, private individuals organized the reception of guests, including in yurts. Thirty kilometers south of the mouth of the Selenga River there is a bay where two tourist camps have settled - Kultushnaya and Baikal surf. Several camp sites provide tourist services there. Almost in the very north of the lake there is a Khakusy resort.

Attractions

On Baikal and around it there are many monuments of nature, culture, as well as historical and archaeological sites. Listed below are just a few of them.

• Rock Shaman-stone
• Chivyrkuisky Bay and Ushkany Islands
• Chersky Peak - 2090 m above sea level
• Cape Burkhan on Olkhon Island
• Northern Baikal
• Sandy Bay
• Cape Ryty
• Cape Ludar
• Circum-Baikal Railway

Famous sayings about Baikal

Here are quotes about Baikal from various sources.

If all the water contained in Baikal is divided among all citizens of Russia, then each will have ~2700 railway tanks of 60 tons each.

Myths and legends about Baikal

• There is a legend that the father of Baikal had 335 rivers-sons and one daughter-Angara, they all flowed into her father in order to replenish his waters, but his daughter fell in love with the Yenisei River and began to carry her father’s waters to her beloved, in response to this Father Baikal threw a huge piece of rock at his daughter and cursed her.

Movies

• In 1969, the film studio. M. Gorky's film "By the Lake" was released.
• In 1992, the film studio "Lennauchfilm" released the popular science film "Baikal Legends" (directed by cameraman V. Petrov). The film tells about the geographical and natural features lakes, as well as the history of the habitation of peoples on its shores.

In the south of Eastern Siberia, where Irkutsk region borders with Buryatia, one of the seven wonders of the world is spread - the largest and deepest fresh water reservoir in the world - Lake Baikal. The locals used to call it the sea, because the opposite shore is often out of sight. This is the largest fresh water reservoir on the planet with an area of ​​​​more than 31 thousand km², which would completely fit the Netherlands and Belgium, and the maximum depth of Baikal is 1642 m.

Lake-record holder

The crescent-shaped reservoir has a record length of 620 km, and the width in different places varies between 24-79 km. The lake lies in a basin of tectonic origin, so its relief bottom is very deep - 1176 m below the level of the World Ocean, and the water surface rises 456 m above it. The average depth is 745 m. The bottom is extremely picturesque - various banks, in other words, ancient shallows, terraces, caves, reefs and canyons, plumes, ridges and plains. It consists of great variety natural materials including limestone and marble.

Above is the depth of Lake Baikal, according to this indicator, it is in first place on the planet. The African Tanganyika (1470 m) ranks second, and the Caspian (1025 m) closes the top three. The depth of other reservoirs is less than 1000 m. Baikal is a reservoir of fresh water, it is 20% of the world's reserves and 90% of Russia's. 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 largest lake Europe is still considered not Baikal (it is in 7th place in the world ranking), but Ladoga, which occupies 17,100 km². Some people are trying to compare the famous fresh water bodies in Russia and are wondering which lake is deeper - Baikal or Ladoga, although there is nothing to think about, since average depth Ladoga is only 50 m.

An interesting fact: Baikal takes in 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 an exceptional sight - a transparent ice “floor”, under which blue and green water pierced by the sun splashes. The upper layers of ice are transformed into intricate shapes and blocks, carved by winds, currents and weather.

The famous Baikal water

Lake water was deified by the ancient tribes, they were treated with it and idolized. It has been proven that Baikal water has unique properties - it is saturated with oxygen and practically distilled, and due to the presence of various microorganisms, it is devoid of minerals. It is famous for its exceptional transparency, especially in spring, when stones lying at a depth of 40 meters are visible from the surface. But in 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 Capes Izhemei and Khara-Khushun with a cable lot and documented the most deep place Lake Baikal - 1620 m. Two decades later, in 1983, the expedition of A. Sulimanov and L. Kolotilo corrected the indicators in this area using echo sounding measurements and recorded new data - the deepest point was at a depth of 1642 m. Another 20 years later, in 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 the increased attention of scientists and researchers, who equipped more and more new expeditions in order to clarify the previous depth measurements in different parts of the reservoir. So, in 2008-2010, the Mir submersible expeditions organized about 200 dives throughout the entire water area of ​​this fresh sea. They were attended by prominent politicians and businessmen, journalists, athletes and hydronauts from Western and of Eastern Europe and Russia.

Where are the deepest places of Baikal

Since the bottom of the reservoir is dotted with faults, the depth of the lake in different parts of the water area differs:

• near the western shores lie the deepest breaks in the earth's crust;
• in the southern part, the record depth of the depression between the mouths of the rivers Pereemnaya and Mishikhi was recorded at 1432 m;
• in the north, the deepest place is located between capes Elokhin and Pokoiniki - 890 m;
• depressions in the Small Sea - up to 259 m, their location at the Big Olkhon Gates;
• the greatest depth of Baikal in the region of the Barguzinsky Bay reaches 1284 m, this point is located at southern shores peninsula Svyatoy Nos.

Video: an interesting film about Lake Baikal

The unique ecosystem attracts scientists, researchers from different countries. Thousands of tourists go to the most deep lake in the world to enjoy the splendor of landscapes, landscapes that you will not find anywhere else. The boundless diversity of flora and fauna of the region, among which are mostly endemics (found only here), complements the wealth that nature has given to people.

Numerous scientific studies have been devoted to the problem of the origin of the word "Baikal", which indicates a lack of clarity in this matter. There are about a dozen possible explanations for the origin of the name. Among them, the most probable is the version of the origin of the name of the lake from the Turkic-speaking Bai-Kul - a rich lake.

Of the other versions, two more can be noted: from the Mongolian Baigal - a rich fire and Baigal Dalai - a large lake. The peoples who lived on the shores of the lake called Baikal in their own way. Evenks, for example, - Lamu, Buryats - Baigal-Nuur, even the Chinese had a name for Baikal - Beihai - the North Sea.

The Evenk name Lamu - the Sea was used for several years by the first Russian explorers in the 17th century, then they switched to the Buryat Baigal, slightly softening the letter "g" by phonetic replacement. Quite often, Baikal is called the sea, simply out of respect, for its violent temper, for the fact that the far opposite shore is often hidden somewhere in the haze... At the same time, the Small Sea and the Big Sea are distinguished. The Small Sea is what is located between the northern coast of Olkhon and the mainland, everything else is the Big Sea.

Baikal water

Baikal water is unique and amazing, like Baikal itself. It is unusually transparent, pure and saturated with oxygen. In not so ancient times, it was considered healing, with its help, diseases were treated. In spring, the transparency of Baikal water, measured using the Secchi disk (a white disk with a diameter of 30 cm), is 40 m (for comparison, in the Sargasso Sea, which is considered the standard of transparency, this value is 65 m). Later, when a massive algae bloom begins, the transparency of the water decreases, but in calm weather, the bottom can be seen from a boat at a fairly decent depth. Such a high transparency is due to 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 is about 23 thousand cubic kilometers, which is 20% of the world and 90% of Russian fresh water reserves. Every year, the Baikal ecosystem reproduces about 60 cubic kilometers of clear, oxygenated water.

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 really 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.

It is believed that Baikal arose as a result of the action of tectonic forces. Tectonic processes are also taking place in present time, which is manifested in the increased seismicity of the Baikal region.

Climate in the area of ​​Lake Baikal.

The climate in Eastern Siberia is sharply continental, but the huge mass of water contained in Baikal and its mountainous surroundings create an unusual microclimate. Baikal works like a big thermal stabilizer - in winter it is warmer in Baikal, and in summer a little cooler than, for example, in Irkutsk, located at a distance of 70 km from the lake. The temperature difference is usually around 10 degrees. A significant contribution to this effect is made by forests growing on almost the entire coast of Lake Baikal.

The influence of Lake Baikal is not limited to the regulation of the temperature regime. Due to the fact that evaporation cold water from the surface of the lake is very insignificant, clouds cannot form over Baikal. In addition, the air masses that bring clouds from the land heat up when passing the coastal mountains, and the clouds dissipate. As a result, the sky over Baikal is clear most of the time. This is also evidenced by the numbers: the number of hours of sunshine in the region of Olkhon Island is 2277 hours (for comparison - on the Riga seashore 1839, in Abastumani (Caucasus) - 1994). You should not think that the sun always shines over the lake - if you are not lucky, then you can get one or even two weeks of disgusting rainy weather even in the sunny place Baikal - on Olkhon, but this is extremely rare.

Average annual temperature water on the surface of the lake +4°С. Near the coast in summer the temperature reaches +16-17°C, in shallow bays up to +22-23°C.

Wind and waves on Baikal.

The wind on Baikal blows almost always. More than thirty local names of winds are known. This does not mean at all that there are so many different winds on Baikal, just that many of them have several names. Peculiarity Baikal winds in that almost all of them almost always blow along the coast and there are not as many shelters from them as we would like.

Prevailing winds: northwest, often called mountain winds, northeast (barguzin and verkhovik, also known as angara), southwest (kultuk), southeast (shelonnik). Max speed wind, registered on Baikal, 40 m/s. Large values ​​are also found in the literature - up to 60 m/s, but there is no reliable evidence for this.

Where there is wind, there, as you know, there are waves. I note right away that the opposite is not true - the wave can be even with complete calm. Waves on Lake Baikal can reach a height of 4 meters. Sometimes values ​​​​of 5 and even 6 meters are given, but this is most likely an estimate “by eye”, which has a large error, as a rule, in the direction of overestimation. The height of 4 meters was obtained using instrumental measurements in the open sea. The excitement is strongest in autumn and spring. In the summer on Lake Baikal, strong excitement is rare, and calm often occurs.

Ichthyofauna of Baikal.

Depending on the habitat conditions, fish can be divided into several groups. Sturgeon, pike, burbot, ide, roach, dace, perch, minnow occupy coastal shallow waters and river deltas in Baikal. Siberian fish mountain rivers: grayling, taimen, lenok inhabit small tributaries of the lake and its coastal zone. Omul, since ancient times considered a symbol of Baikal, inhabits its open and coastal part, whitefish, another well-known inhabitant of Baikal, inhabits only the coastal part.

The most remarkable group of Baikal fish are gobies, of which there are 25 species. Most Interest of them are golomyanka. This miracle of Baikal is not found anywhere else in the world. Golomyanka is unusually beautiful, shimmers in the light blue and pink, and if it is left in the sun it will melt, leaving only bones and a greasy stain. She is the main and most numerous inhabitant of Baikal, but rarely gets into the nets of fishermen. Her only enemy is the seal, for which she is the main food.

In order to preserve rare and endangered animals, the strictest and complete ban on hunting, the maximum preservation of the habitat, the creation of special nurseries, national parks, nature reserves and sanctuaries

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. The largest tributaries: Upper Angara, Selenga, Turka, 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

The huge water mass of 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

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. Features of the geographical characteristics of the 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.

The average depth over the entire area of ​​the lake also deserves attention. 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 " north sea". In Chinese, it sounds like Bei-Hai.

Lake Baikal is one of the oldest water bodies on the 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 rightly 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 distinguishing feature 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 the low level of Baikal mineralization. It is about 100 milligrams per liter of lake water.

Due to the maximum depth of Baikal and the high coastline, exceeding the surface of the ocean by 450 meters, the bottom of the reservoir is rightfully considered the most deep depression not only on this continent, 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.