What is the deepest lake in Belarus? Before answering this question, let's get acquainted with general information about the country's water resources. In total, there are about 11 thousand lakes on its territory. Many of them formed over 12,000 years ago due to the melting of the Valdai Glacier. The largest accumulation of water bodies is in the north and north-west of the country. This area is called the Belarusian Lakeland.
Types of hollows of the deepest lakes in Belarus
The deepest lakes are of glacial origin. In turn, the basins are divided into several types:
- Evozion;
- damned;
- with complex basins;
- hollow;
- thermokarst.
Those that formed in places of glacial exacration (hollow) have a great depth - from 30 to 55 m. Their coastline is mostly steep. The shape is elongated. The area of water bodies is not very large, it does not exceed 10 km 2 . An exception is Lake Richie. It is located in a basin, the surface area of which reaches almost 13 km 2 .
Top 5 deepest lakes
On the territory of the country there are 25 lakes, the depth of which exceeds 30 m. Most of them are located in the Vitebsk region, and only two reservoirs are in Minsk. This article will describe the five deepest lakes in Belarus, these are:
- Long (Glubokoe district).
- Richie (Braslavsky district).
- Ginkovo (Glubokoe district).
- Voloso South (Braslav district).
- Balduk (Myadelsky district).
Long
The deepest lake in Belarus is Long. Its depth is almost 54 m. It belongs to the river basin. Shoshi. In its shape, the pond is quite elongated. Its length is significantly greater than the width, almost twice. The area of the lake is almost 3 km 2 , and the volume is more than 43 million m 3 .
The shores are high, in places they reach 35 m, sheer. From a distance it seems that they rise directly from the water. Meadowland is located only on the northwestern and southeastern sides. Throughout the coastline, you can find small sand and pebble beaches. Such areas are quite narrow. They are surrounded by shrubbery. You can also find spruces and oaks here.
The water in the lake is running. The reservoir is supplied with groundwater and small streams. Svyadovo and Sho channels flow from the lake. Typical hollow basin. The bottom is uneven, there are many pits, steep cliffs and rises, they are covered with silt. In some places there are deposits of ore, clay and lime. Closer to the shore, the bottom is sandy, the water is clear.
Richie
Richie is the deepest lake in Belarus. It is inferior to the championship in depth (about 52 m) only Lake. A long time. The reservoir is part of the group of Braslav lakes. Located on the border of two countries: Latvia and Belarus. It has a glacial origin.
The basin is quite complex in shape. The coastline is heavily indented by bays. The height of the slopes varies. For example, on the eastern side, steep banks reach a height of up to 30 m. It decreases only closer to the south. Here the slopes do not exceed 10 m.
In the north and west, there is an alternation of gently sloping shores with rolling hills. Such inconstancy is also characteristic of the bottom. Under the water surface you can observe deep holes, slopes, shallow water. Depth distribution is uneven. Thanks to this, islands formed on the lake.
If we compare the five deepest reservoirs of Belarus, then Richie occupies a fairly large area, which is almost uncharacteristic of this type of water area. The surface area is about 13 km 2 . The lake is flowing, the water is clean, practically does not bloom. Transparency is almost 6 m.
Ginkovo
Another deepest lake in Belarus is Ginkovo. It is located in the Glubokoe district. Its depth is 43.3 m. This indicator allows the reservoir to occupy third place in the country.
Its area is quite small - only 0.51 km 2 . The shape of the lake resembles a sickle. The hollow is part of a large hollow that stretches for almost 10 km. Ginkovo Lake is located in the northwest. There are two more reservoirs in this hollow - Dolgoe and Svyadovo.
The coastline is practically not indented, it is rocky cliffs that hang over the water. The depth is unevenly distributed - there are both shallow water and large pits.
Voloso South
Voloso South is not only the deepest lake in Belarus, but also one of the most popular. The length of the reservoir is 2.5 km, the width is small - only 0.7 km. Its area is 1.21 km 2 . But the depth is quite impressive - more than 40 m.
The lake was formed in the basin of the Evorazion type. The banks surrounding the pond are gentle and low. Around the water surface grow dense coniferous forests. The transparency indicator is high, although Voloso Yuzhne refers to low-flowing water bodies. It is well protected from the winds; therefore, water at a depth of up to 7 m warms up quickly, but already at 10 m the temperature drops sharply and does not exceed +5 ° .
The coastline is clean, reeds and reeds are quite rare. Due to the low water temperature, there is very little vegetation in the lake.
Balduk
In Belarus there is a group of Black Lakes. Balduk is the largest and deepest. The type of basin is hollow. She crashed deep into the moraine ridges. Lozhbina has a trough-like shape - an elongated length (about 2 km), a small width (0.7 km). The depth is large, which is characteristic of all reservoirs of this type. She is almost 40 m.
Slopes up to 30 m high predominate on the coastline, only on the southeast side are low marshy areas found. Depth increase is uneven. There are large pits and rocks covered with silty sediments throughout the lake. They alternate with shallow areas. The water is clear, transparency is 4 m.