'Lake Baikal' (,
pronounced ;
Buryat and
Mongol: ''Dalai-Nor'') lies in Southern
Siberia in
Russia between
Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and
Buryatia to the southeast near the city of
Irkutsk. The origin of the name Baikal comes from ''Baigal'' or Байгал which is translated from the
Mongolian language as "
nature". It is also known as the "Blue Eye of Siberia".
[1][2] Since 1996, it has been listed as a
UNESCO World Heritage Site[3]
At 1637 meters deep (5314 feet) with its body 1285 meters (4215 feet) below sea level, Lake Baikal is the deepest lake in the world.
[4] It is also the largest freshwater lake by volume. It holds approximately 20 percent of the world's total surface fresh water (23,000 cubic kilometers of water).
[5] It contains more than 90% of Russia's fresh surface liquid water and is a
World Heritage Site.
[6] Olkhon, by far the largest island in Lake Baikal, is the second largest lake-bound island in the world (the largest being
Manitoulin Island in
Lake Huron).
[7]
Geography and hydrography
Very little was known about Lake Baikal until the
Trans-Siberian railway was built between 1896 and 1902. The scenic loop encircling Lake Baikal needed 200 bridges and 33 tunnels. As this railway was being built, a large hydrogeographical expedition headed by
F.K. Drizhenko produced the first detailed atlas of the contours of Baikal's depths. The atlas demonstrated that Lake Baikal has as much water as all of
North America's
Great Lakes combined — 23,600 km³, about one fifth of the total fresh water on the earth. However, in surface area, it is exceeded by the much shallower Great Lakes
Superior,
Huron and
Michigan, as well as by the relatively shallow
Lake Victoria in
East Africa.
[8] Known as the "
Galápagos of Russia", its age and isolation have produced some of the world's richest and most unusual
freshwater faunas, which is of exceptional value to
evolutionary science.
[9]
Lake Baikal is in a
rift valley, a gorge where the crust of the earth is pulling apart.
[2]
At 636
kilometres long and 80 km wide, Lake Baikal has the largest surface area of any freshwater lake in
Asia (
31,494 km²) and is the deepest lake in the world (1637 metres, previously measured at 1620 metres). The bottom of the lake is 1285 metres below sea level, but below this lies some 7 km (4 miles) of
sediment, placing the rift floor some 8–9 km (more than 5 miles) below the surface: the deepest continental
rift on
Earth. In geological terms, the rift is young and active — it widens about 2 centimeters per year. The fault zone is also seismically active: there are hot springs in the area and notable earthquakes every few years. It drains into the
Angara tributary of the
Yenisei.
Its age is estimated at
25–30 million years, making it one of the most ancient lakes in
geological history. It is unique among large, high-latitude lakes in that its
sediments have not been scoured by overriding continental ice sheets. US and Russian studies of core sediment in the 1990s provide a detailed record of climatic variation over the past 250,000 years. Longer and deeper sediment cores are expected in the near future.
The lake is completely surrounded by mountains. The
Baikal Mountains on the north shore and the
taiga are technically protected as a national park. It contains 22 islands, the largest,
Olkhon (also spelled 'Olchon'), is 72km long. The lake is fed by as many as 300 inflowing rivers, the six main ones are the
Selenga River (the source of some of Lake Baikal's pollution), the
Chikoy River, the
Khiloh, the
Uda River, the
Barguzin River and the
Upper Angara River. It is drained through a single outlet, the
Angara River.
Despite its great depth, the lake's waters are well-mixed and well-oxygenated throughout the water column compared to the
stratification that occurs in such bodies of water as
Lake Tanganyika and the
Black Sea.
Although there were muted protests, a wood pulp and cellulose processing plant was built at the south end of the lake (at Baikalsk). The plant still pours industrial effluent into Baikal's waters. The overall impacts of watershed pollution on Baikal and similar watersheds are studied annually by the Tahoe-Baikal Institute,
[11] an exchange program between U.S., Russian, and Mongolian scientists and university graduate students started in 1990.
Wildlife
The extent of
biodiversity present in Lake Baikal is equaled by few other lakes. Lake Baikal hosts 1085 species of plants and 1550 species and varieties of animals. Over 80% of animals are
endemic. The
Baikal Seal (''Phoca sibirica''), the only mammal living in the lake, is found throughout the whole area of the lake but nowhere else.
Of note is an endemic subspecies of the
omul fish (''Coregonus autumnalis migratorius''). It is fished,
smoked, and sold in markets around the lake. For many travellers on the
Trans-Siberian railway, purchasing smoked omul is one of the highlights on the long journey.
Bear and
deer are observable and hunted along Baikal coasts.
Some people believe that there is a
lake monster inhabiting the lake.
Tourism
The lake called "''the Pearl of Siberia''" drew investors from the
tourist industry since energy revenues sparked an
economic boom. Viktor Grigorov's Grand Baikal in
Irkutsk, is one of the
investors who planned to build 3
hotels creating 570
jobs. On 2007, the
Russian government declared the
Baikal region a
special economic zone. The popular
resort of Listvianka has a 7-storey Hotel Mayak. Baikal is a
Unesco world heritage site. The
Russian atomic energy firm
Rosatom will build a
laboratory in Baikal, in conjunction with an international
uranium plant and to invest $2.5bn in the region and create 2,000 jobs in the city of
Angarsk. Baikal has
Omul - a unique and tasty species.
[12]
Environmental concerns
Baikalsk Pulp and Paper Mill
Baikalsk Pulp and Paper Mill (BPPM) was constructed in
1966 directly on the shore line. The BPPM
bleaches its paper with
chlorine and discharges the waste into Baikal. Despite numerous
protests, the BPPM is still in production.
Environmental activists are now in a struggle to make the pollution less harmful rather than end BPPM's production since a plant shutdown would be problematic due to local socioeconomic issues.
Planned East Siberia-Pacific Ocean oil pipeline
Main articles: Eastern Siberia – Pacific Ocean oil pipeline
Russian state company
Transneft[13] was planning to build a trunk pipeline that would have come within 800 m (0.5 mi) of the lake shore in a zone of substantial seismic activity. Environmental activists in Russia,
[14] Greenpeace,
[15] Baikal pipeline opposition
[16] and local citizens
[17] were strongly opposed to these plans due to the possibility of an accidental oil spill that might cause significant damage to the environment. According to the Transneft's president, numerous meetings with ordinary citizens were held in towns along the route, especially in
Irkutsk.
[18] However, it was not until Russian president
Vladimir Putin ordered the company to consider an alternative route 40 km (25 mi) to the north to avoid such ecological risks that Transneft agreed to alter its plans.
[19] Transneft has since decided to move the pipeline away from Lake Baikal so that it will not pass through any federal or republic natural reserves.
[20][21]
Notes and references
1. Lake Baikal: the great blue eye of Siberia
2. The Oddities of Lake Baikal
3. http://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=31&id_site=754
4. Deepest Lake in the World
5. U.S. Geological Survey, Fact Sheet: Lake Baikal - A Touchstone for Global Change and Rift Studies, July 1993 (accessed February 10, 2007)
6. Lake Baikal - World Heritage Site
7. Travel to Baikal - Olkhon Island
8. Lake Tahoe and Lake Baikal Watersheds
9. Lake Baikal - A Touchstone for Global Change and Rift Studies
10. The Oddities of Lake Baikal
11. Tahoe-Baikal Institute
12. BBC NEWS, 'Pearl of Siberia' draws investors
13. Transneft
14. Baikal Environmental Wave
15. Greenpeace
16. Baikal pipeline
17. The Right to Know: Irkutsk Citizens Want to be Consulted
18. Тема: [ENWL] Власти Иркутской обл. выступили против прокладки нефтепровода к Тихому океану
19. Putin orders oil pipeline shifted
20. Transneft charged with Siberia-Pacific pipeline construction
21. New route
External links
★
Eawag aquatic research: Lake Baikal Homepage
★
USGS survey fact sheet on Lake Baikal
★
World lakes database entry for Lake Baikal
★
Plants of the Lake Baikal West Coast in English and Russian (download a pdf-photoalbum and descriptions)
★
Save Baikal Greenpeace site
★
Tahoe-Baikal Institute- environmental exchange non-profit site
★
Expeditions "Lake Baikal & the Great Siberian Taiga"
★
Huge map of Lake Baikal region
★
Wellesley College's Lake Baikal homepage
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