Lake Baikal is very famous not only within our country, but also in foreign countries. Thanks to the fruitful work of specialists and scientists, Baikal was included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Those who are interested in this natural object have many questions, for example, about what origin of Lake Baikal, what is its depth, what inhabitants can be seen in it, etc.
Lake Baikal: general characteristics
The total area of the Baikal territory is about 386 thousand square kilometers, all this far exceeds the area of all other national parks and reserves of our country, as well as a number of other foreign countries. Geographically, the Baikal natural territory is located in the center of Asia. The length of the famous lake is 636 kilometers, and the width is 79.5 kilometers (with the smallest section of 25 kilometers). Lake Baikal is rightfully considered the deepest in the world, since its depth is 1637 meters. The formation of the reservoir supposedly began more than 30 million years ago, and therefore this beauty is considered one of the oldest lakes in the world. Baikal is located among the broken off parts of the earth's crust, which formed a depression. It expands every year by 2 cm.
Characteristic mountain lake
Baikal by its nature belongs to mountain lakes. Its level rises above sea level by 445 meters, and the bottom is below it by 1200 meters. According to most historians and geographers, the precipitation of the lake area contains information about the features of climate change in Asia over the past tens of millions of years.
This Asian lake contains more than twenty percent of the fresh waters of the entire globe, which fully comply with all quality criteria - microbiological, organoleptic, hydrochemical. The water of Lake Baikal is distinguished by its unusual purity, transparency, and freshness. To prove the purity of this lake, the Secchi diagnostic disk is used, which is immersed in water to a level of increased transparency. In Lake Baikal, this level corresponds to 40 meters, and, for example, in Lake Sevan the disk plunges only 20 meters. An amazing fact: Alpine lakes are also inferior to Baikal in water transparency.
Is Baikal a sewage or drainage lake? Features of lake waters
The dimensions of the basin, or hollow, where the lake waters are located, are so large that it can accommodate the entire contents of the Baltic Sea or the five Great Lakes of America. Lake Baikal takes 336 streams and small rivers into its waters. The largest tributaries are the Upper Angara, Turk, Snezhka, Sarma. However, only one river flows from the lake waters - the Angara, which is why many scientists are of the opinion that Lake Baikal is a sewage. Due to the only river flowing from the lake, it has a connection with the oceans.
There are three types of lakes - sewage, drainage, flowing. Sewage lakes - those from which rivers flow, in flowing lakes, water circulate - flow in and out, and in closed water the water is without movement. Since the Angara River flows from Baikal, and a huge number of small rivers come into it, the question of whether Baikal is a sewage or drainless lake always remains a subject of discussion. One of the main evidence in the dispute is the presence of fresh water, which is typical only for flowing and sewage lakes. Inland lakes are often formed in arid climates, where the amount of precipitation is minimal. Also, drying seas, for example, the Caspian, belong to this type.
The main features of Lake Baikal
Based on the above, we can distinguish the following features of the lake:
- Contains 20 percent fresh water from the entire global supply.
- One large river flows out - the Angara.
Thus, the eternal debate about whether Baikal is a sewage or drainage lake can be completed. And to say with confidence that it belongs to the category of sewage.
