The young generation had the opportunity to write a comprehensive work “What is Lake Baikal famous for?” Grade 4 of high school left in our memory not so much information. This is the deepest lake in the world, people say in their forties. But this is not the only indicator that puts Lake Baikal in the category of champions. Well, let's update our information about this pearl of Russia. It is not for nothing that the lake is called the holy sea! It is rightfully considered to be the unique creation of Mother Nature, the pride and national treasure of Russia.
As a natural site, Baikal was included in 1996, at the twentieth session of UNESCO, in the list of World Heritage of Humanity (under number 754). What is the uniqueness of this lake? We will talk about this in our article.
Where is Lake Baikal located and what is famous for (briefly)
This natural unique attraction is located almost in the center of Asia. On the map of our country, the lake is located in Eastern Siberia, in its southernmost part. Administratively, it serves as the border between the Buryat Republic and the Irkutsk region of the Russian Federation. Baikal is so big that it can be seen even from space. With a blue crescent, it stretches from southwest to northeast. Therefore, the local population often calls Lake Baikal not a lake, but the sea. “Baigal Dalai” - the Buryats so respectfully call him. The coordinates at the lake are: 53 ° 13 ′ north latitude and 107 ° 45 ′ east longitude.
What is famous for Lake Baikal? Let's look at its various parameters.
Depth
Let's start with common truths. Baikal is not only the deepest lake on the planet, but also the most impressive mainland trench. This title was confirmed by scientific research conducted in 1983. The deepest place in the lake - 1642 meters from the surface of the water mirror - has coordinates 53 ° 14′59 ″ north latitude and 108 ° 05′11 ″ east longitude. Thus, the lower point of Lake Baikal lies 1187 meters below sea level. And the water surface of the lake has a height of 455 meters above the World Ocean.
The average depth of Lake Baikal is also impressive: seven hundred and forty-four meters. Only two lakes in the world have a kilometer between a water mirror and the bottom. These are the Caspian Sea (1025 m) and Tanganyika (1470 m). The deepest is what Lake Baikal is famous for.
In English in Google, one of the three record holders is a certain East. This lake was found in Antarctica. It has a depth of more than 1200 meters, and another four kilometers of ice rises above the water surface. Thus, we can say that the distance between the surface of the earth and the bottom of the East is more than five thousand meters. But this reservoir is not a lake in the usual sense of the word. Rather, it is an underground (subglacial) reservoir of water.
Dimensions
The area of this reservoir is 31,722 square kilometers. That is, the size of the lake is quite comparable with such European countries as Switzerland, Belgium or the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The length of Baikal is six hundred twenty kilometers, and the width varies between 24-79 km. At the same time, the coastline stretched for two thousand one hundred kilometers. And that's not counting the islands!
Dimensions - this is what Lake Baikal is famous for, although this indicator does not make it the largest, largest on the planet. But the reservoir occupies an honorable eighth place among the giants. Ahead are the Caspian Sea (which is also a lake, although salty), Upper in America, Victoria, Huron, Michigan, the Aral Sea and Tanganyika.
Age of honor
Baikal is a lake of tectonic origin. This explains its record depth. But when did the tectonic fault occur? This question is still considered open among scientists. Traditionally, the age of Lake Baikal is determined at 20-25 million years. This figure seems fantastic. After all, lakes "live" on average about ten, in extreme cases, fifteen thousand years. Then alluvial deposits, silt sediments accumulate and change the entire ecosystem. The lake turns into a swamp, and it, centuries later, into a meadow. But Siberians are famous for their centenarians. And what Lake Baikal is famous for is its venerable age.
It should be said that the Siberian giant is also unique in other parameters - hydrological. Baikal feeds about three hundred rivers, and only one flows out of it - the Angara. And one more uniqueness: seismic activity during the tectonic fault. From time to time, earthquakes occur at the bottom of the lake. In fact, their sensors record about two thousand annually. But sometimes major earthquakes occur. So, in 1959, from the push, the bottom of the lake sank fifteen meters.
The Kudarinsky earthquake of 1862 was most remembered to the local residents, when a huge piece of land (200 sq. Km) with six villages, in which one thousand three hundred people lived, went under water. This place in the Selenga River Delta is now called the Gulf of Failure.
Unique fresh water tank
Despite the fact that the pearl of Siberia occupies only the eighth place in the world in terms of size, in terms of the volume of water it reaches the record. What is famous for Lake Baikal in this regard? Most of the water is in the Caspian. But there it is salty. Thus, Baikal can be called the undisputed leader. It contains 23 615.39 cubic kilometers of water. This is about twenty percent of the total reserve of all the lakes on the planet. To demonstrate the significance of this figure, imagine that we managed to block all three hundred rivers flowing into Lake Baikal. But even then, the Angara would need three hundred eighty-seven years to drain the lake.
Unique fauna and flora
It is also strange that, despite the enormous depth of Lake Baikal, benthic vegetation exists in the lake. This is due to seismic activity under the tectonic basin. Magma heats the bottom layers and enriches them with oxygen. Such warm water rises, and cold water falls. Half of the 2,600 species of animals and plants that inhabit the water area are endemic. Most surprised by biologists Baikal seal. The only mammal in the lake lives over 4 thousand kilometers from its marine counterparts and has adapted well to fresh water.
It is difficult to say which fish Lake Baikal is most famous for. Perhaps this is a golomyanka. She is viviparous. Her body contains up to 30 percent fat. She also surprises scientists with her daily migrations. Shoals of fish rise for food from the dark depths in shallow water. The Baikal sturgeon, omul, whitefish, and grayling also live in the lake. And the bottom is covered with freshwater sponges.
Purity and transparency of water
Given such an area of a water mirror and the presence of industrial enterprises nearby, it would be logical to think that Lake Baikal will be polluted. There it was! The water here is not just drinking, but close to distilled. It can be drunk without fear. And the epishura crustacean helps the lake to cleanse itself. This endemic one and a half millimeters in size serves as a natural filter: it passes water through itself, absorbing all the dirt. As a result, the pebbles at the bottom are visible in the palm of your hand. Water transparency up to forty meters is what Lake Baikal is famous for. A photo of this unique reservoir demonstrates the majestic pristine beauty of nature. It depends on us whether we will keep it for posterity.