The vast expanses of Russia are famous for their natural wealth. The eighth wonder of the world is called the amazing Lake Baikal. Locals respectfully call it the sea, believe in its special energy. Interesting facts about Lake Baikal make the lake-sea truly unique: it is the oldest, deepest and most crystal clear fresh water body. He is the main reservoir of drinking water on the planet.
Lake map
Listing all the interesting facts about Baikal, first of all, it is necessary to pay attention to its area. Baikal is located in the south of Eastern Siberia, between the Irkutsk region and Buryatia. It has the shape of a crescent. Its length is 630 km, the average width is 50 km. The total area of ββthe reservoir is approximately 32 thousand square meters. km, that is, on its surface countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium or Denmark would easily be located. Imagine, only one lake in vast Russia is comparable to the territory of an entire European country!
The reservoir reservoir is a huge hollow, the maximum depth of which, according to the latest data, reaches 1642 m. This is another record. Baikal is the deepest lake on the planet. Tanganyika and the Caspian Sea stand after it only in second and third places. In order to find out the maximum depth of Lake Baikal, scientists made more than 1.3 million measurements!
The eastern slopes of its hollow are gentle hills, while the western shores are rocky, steep.
Interesting facts about Lake Baikal relate to its age. Most scientists define this lake as the oldest on Earth, noting that it was formed 25-30 million years ago. A record figure, given that other similar reservoirs on our planet live up to 20 thousand years, gradually fading and swamping.
Water reserves
Lake Baikal, interesting facts about which are amazing, is the most significant reservoir of fresh water in the world. According to rough estimates, its volume is 23.6 thousand cubic meters. km, which equals 20% of all world reserves of drinking water. This is more than the total fluid volume of the five famous Great Lakes of North America - Ontario, Erie, Upper, Michigan and Huron. This is 25 times more than in Lake Ladoga.
For greater clarity, we can imagine that if you pour all the Baikal water into tanks, then every Russian would get 3,000 tank cars! The famous scientist Kolotilo L.G. estimated the utilitarian value of Baikal reserves at 236 trillion dollars.
All the listed interesting facts about Baikal in importance for humanity cannot be compared with the fact that the water of this reservoir is clean, suitable for drinking even without boiling and preliminary treatment. In the 21st century, oil and gas pipelines, factories and plants, landfills and nuclear energy, this record belongs exclusively to Lake Baikal. The water in it is so clean that its transparency reaches a depth of 40 m.
This factor became decisive for inclusion in 1996 of Lake Baikal in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Flora and fauna
What else is Lake Baikal famous for? Interesting facts (especially for children) relate primarily to its surprisingly diverse fauna and flora. More than 2500 species of animals and plants inhabit the water depths. Most living organisms are endemic, i.e. anywhere in the world no longer found. These are whitefish, grayling, yolkrylka, Baikal sturgeon, which reaches a weight of 100 kg, burbot, taimen, omul, unique viviparous fish golomyanka, which is 40% fat, and others. At great depths live very ancient animals - sponges. The lake is famous for seals - Baikal seals. Scientists still have not given a clear answer as to how they got here. Presumably - came along the Angara and Yenisei from the Arctic Ocean.
Studies have confirmed that dinosaurs, mammoths and woolly rhinos once walked the territory of modern Baikal. Now there are bears, red deer and valuable Barguzin sables. The Asian godworm, musk deer, Olkhon vole and many other birds attract the attention of bird watchers around the world.
The coastal zone is rich in unique trees. Relict spruces, mighty Siberian cedars, stilted trees grow along the coast. Scientists have found larch, whose age is over 700 years.
Other interesting facts about Baikal
What else is attractive to this lake? You can list for a long time.
- 350 rivers flow into the lake (from the end of the 19th century this figure was not specified). The largest of them are Upper Angara, Turk, Sarma, Snezhnaya, the Barguzin and Selenga rivers . From Baikal flows only 1 river - the Angara.
- The reservoir lies in a seismically active zone. Here earthquakes with a magnitude of 6-7 points were repeatedly recorded, and in August 2008 the earth shook with a force of 9.1 points.
- The purity of water is monitored by a microscopic crustacean-endemic - the Baikal epishura, which is an essential element of the well-being of the lakeβs ecosystem.
- The water in the lake is cold, on the surface it warms up on average only up to + 10 ... + 12 degrees, in some sunny bays - up to +15 degrees, at the bottom the temperature is only + 2 ... + 4 degrees.
Lake Baikal, interesting facts about which are listed above, asks scientists many questions. Such unusual phenomena as:
- huge ice hills, hollow inside, characteristic only for Baikal;
- large dark rings of unknown etymology, migrating under the thickness of ice;
- Optical illusions and bright mirages periodically arising above the surface.