Baikal

Lake Baikal
Administration
Country	Russia
Geography
Latitude Longitude	53 N 108 E / 53, 108
Type	Freshwater lake
Area	31 500 km 2
Length	636 km
Width	80 km
Altitude	455 m
Depth Max Medium	1637 m 758 m
Volume	23 600 km 3
Hydrography
Watershed	560 000 km 2
Food	Selenga , Snejnaa , Barguzin , upper Angara
Outfall (s)	Angara
Islands
Number of islands	22
Island (s) principal (s)	Olkhon
Geolocation on the map of Irkutsk Oblast Geolocation on the map Russia
change

Located in southern Siberia in Russia, Eastern Lake Baikal (in Russian : ), Sea of freshwater sacred to its original inhabitants, the Buryat original Mongolian , is the largest freshwater reserve liquid surface in the world (23,400 km ^3). Its transparency is unique and perfect visibility to 40 meters deep. It is sometimes nicknamed "Pearl of Siberia".

Summary 1 Geography 1.1 Dimensions 1.2 Location 2 Hydrology 3 Main tributaries 4 Climate 5 History 5.1 Geological Origin 5.2 Human History 6 The Lake Baikal and the man 6.1 Economy 6.2 World Heritage of Humanity 6.3 Other activities 7 Bibliography 8 Gallery 9 External links 10 Notes and references

Geography

Dimensions

Oriented from NNE to SSW, extends over a length of 636 km with an average width of 48 km and an area of 31,500 km ^2, making him ^the 8th lake in the world .

Location

Surrounded by the mountains Iablonovy and Barguzin East and Baikal Mountains to the west, it lies at an altitude of 455 meters. At its southwestern end is the main town in the region, Irkutsk , and that Ulan-Ude is the capital of the republic of Buryatia. It has a large island 730 km ^2, the Olkhon , and a peninsula Svyatoy Our literally "the Holy Nose" (on the east bank reserve and natural park).

Hydrology

It receives input from 336 rivers and permanent streams .

Main tributaries

• the Golooustnaa
• the Bougouldeka
• the Tya
• the Kholodnaa
• the upper Angara
• the Barguzin
• the Turki
• the Kika
• the Selenga
• the Snejnaa
• the Khara-Mourin
• The Outoulik

Climate

The thermal inertia of the huge amounts of water in this lake moderates the climate of this region of Siberia, very continental elsewhere. The average winter temperature is -15 C instead of -26 C in January and average summer temperature of +13 C instead of 19 C in July .

History

Geological Origin

Lake Baikal is home tectonics ; collapse of the lake is subsiding. The old base on which the lake lies in contact with one hand the Siberian platform, the other with the mountains of Central Asia, has a network fault management general NNE-SSW. These faults were active since the Tertiary, which makes Lake Baikal is the oldest existing lake in the world (twenty-five million years ). These faults were active during the Quaternary to the present day (more than 30 earthquakes strong enough to be felt by the populations were recorded in the 20th century). Tectonic movements led to a depression of the lake bottom, which has accumulated a great thickness of sediments, and a slight Raised mountainous borders several times (which is visible to the north-east of the lake where ancient lake terraces, witnesses in the level of water in the past, amounted to 300 m) .

The network of faults define three compartments more or less collapsed, which follow along the lake ^{, Human History}

The Lake Baikal and the man

Economy

Fifty thousand people live near the lake in difficult conditions. The soils are poor. Fish and potatoes are the basis for daily food. An influx of population has been caused by the construction of the railway Baikal Amur Mainline.

Fishing is practiced throughout the year, even in winter after drilling a hole in the ice. The waters of the lake, highly oxygenated, are rich. The omoul is highly prized for its tasty flesh and sturgeon for its caviar.

The lake is, by its elongated shape, excellent waterway in this mountainous region and difficult to access, but taking the ice for nearly half of the year . In winter, after the ice jam (ice making) which takes place in October-November, all fishing vessels, scientific exploration and tourism are paralyzed by the cold ports established on the Baikal. Traffic resumes with the debacle in May-June In addition, the navigation on this inland sea is rendered dangerous by sometimes violent winds are gusty.

The "Blue Eye of Siberia", an immense sea of frozen fresh water for half the year, was threatened by industrial pollution of a pulp mill, paper, Baikal , which provided at the time of Cold War , cellulose for aircraft tires of the Soviet Army until it closed in October 2008 .

World Heritage of Humanity

Country Russia Subdivision Irkutsk Oblast
Republic of Buryatia Type Natural Criteria (Vii) (viii) (ix) (x) Area 88 000.00 km ² Number
Identification 754 Region Europe and North America ** Year Registration 1996 ^(20thSession )