What is the origin of Lake Baikal briefly. Glows and mirages over the water surface. Characteristics of Lake Baikal

How was Lake Baikal formed? Lake Baikal is a real natural mystery, as scientists are still putting forward hypotheses regarding the method of its formation. Everyone knows that Baikal is the deepest lake on the planet, which contains approximately 23 thousand cubic meters of water, its depth reaches 1642 meters, and the length of the lake is 620 km. In fact, the lake is located in a kind of pit, since it is surrounded on all sides by mountain ranges and hills. The uniqueness of this lake also lies in the fact that it is almost the oldest on the planet, because its estimated age is 25-30 million years, which is a very respectable age for a lake, since they usually live no more than 15 thousand years.

Many scientists have tried to understand how Lake Baikal was formed and the reasons for its longevity, but currently two theories of the formation of the lake are scientifically substantiated - tectonic and glacial, and both are confirmed by some facts discovered by scientists at the bottom of the lake during a detailed study . The first theory of the origin of the great lake is tectonic, which is that the lake was formed due to the displacement of tectonic plates about 25 thousand years ago. At that time, a huge pit arose on the site of the lake, which subsequently filled with water and became a full-fledged lake. Lake Baikal receives its recharge both from underground sources and from surface waters flowing into it.

Baikal receives its largest influx of surface water from the Selenga River, and scientists believe that since the river flows out of the lake, water is constantly being replaced in it. It was the great fluidity of water that allowed Baikal to exist for so long. You can give a lot of examples of how Lake Baikal is used by people, but the lake does not receive anything good from coexistence with people, since currently there is severe pollution of Lake Baikal waters by industry.

The second theory of the origin of the lake is glacial. This version has been heavily criticized recently, although there is some evidence of glacial movement in this area, judging by the available rocks that are not typical for this area, which were most likely brought along by the movement of the ice. Natural miracle, as Baikal is called, is now more than ever subject to careful study, since it is home to species of organisms and fish that are not found anywhere else, and with the death of the lake they will also disappear. It would seem that since Lake Baikal is protected by humans, nothing should threaten it, and therefore the species living in it too, but over the past few years there has been severe pollution of the waters of Baikal and the Selenga River.

The history of Lake Baikal has its own characteristics, which are associated with its origin and location.

Scientists have found that the lake system is part of a rift zone, which is part of the global one created by the Andean, Himalayan mountains, reefs of Africa and the Mediterranean Sea.

Lake Baikal. History of origin: how the reservoir came to be

The history of Lake Baikal began in the Paleozoic period of the development of our planet, when the deepening and expansion of bays began in this region of the world. There were plains and hills here, which began to rise under the influence of rivers coming down from the mountains.

The convergence of the waters of the Angara, Irkut, Goloustnaya, and others caused the formation of a huge reservoir, which gradually increased in volume.

Lake Baikal history of origin is inextricably linked with troughs earth's crust and the emergence of mountains and mountain ranges in the Baikal region. Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions constantly occurred in this place.

Scientists have discovered that at the very bottom of the lake (under the earth's crust) there are many crystals that could not reach the surface. It was the earthquakes that determined the features of the lake bottom and the relief around the reservoir.

The history of Baikal became known thanks to its detailed study, which began in the 17th and 18th centuries. Geologists and hydrologists have established that the lake was replenished due to the melting and convergence of glaciers.

History of the discovery of Lake Baikal

The first people in the Baikal region appeared in the mid-17th century, thanks to the active work of Russian explorers. The most famous discoverers are M. Stadukhin and K. Ivanov.

According to numerous documents, Lake Baikal opened gradually, which history has preserved details. These lands were actively studied by explorers who developed Yakutia.
Already in the early 1640s. Stadukhin conducted a study of the Yakut rivers - Moma and Indigirka, which were also unknown at that time. Stadukhin, sailing on a ship along the Northern Arctic Ocean, believed that the northern regions of the land were located beyond the ocean.

This belief prevailed for several years, although the explorer continued his voyages. He founded several settlements where Russians remained to live, gradually establishing contacts with the Buryats.

In 1640, another explorer, K. Massine, came almost close to the lake. He only had one more to overcome mountain range. In 1642, K. Ivanov came to the lake itself, whose detachment had to fight the local population.

For several years, the entire coast of Lake Baikal was studied, cities and towns were founded in the nearest regions.

Ivanov managed to study more than six hundred kilometers of the lake, which allowed him to establish that a very large freshwater lake. Ivanov died in a battle with the Buryats, leaving behind detailed map Baikal.

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Lake Baikal is the deepest on planet Earth, as well as the richest fresh water(slightly less than 20% of the world's reserves are concentrated in this body of water). Let's get acquainted with the origin of the Lake Baikal basin and learn some interesting facts about it.

Description of the reservoir

This amazing lake is located in Eastern Siberia, on the border of the Buryat Republic and Irkutsk region. The features of the reservoir are:

Area - more than 31 thousand square meters. km.
Volume - more than 23,615 cubic meters. km.
Length coastline- 2.1 thousand km.
The length of Lake Baikal is more than 630 km.
The deepest section is 1.6 km.
Average depth - 740 m.
More than 330 rivers flow into it, the largest of which are Barguzin, Selenga, Turka, and Upper Angara.

The reservoir has the shape of a crescent, the width of which ranges from 25 to almost 80 km. Interestingly, the size of the giant lake is equal to the area of states such as Denmark or Belgium. Located on the territory of the Asian part of the Russian Federation, Baikal is surrounded on all sides by mountains and hills; in the west its coast is steep, but towards the east it becomes flat.

Briefly about depth

This unusual body of water is a true leader, since the greatest depth of Lake Baikal is 1637 meters. This value was discovered during hydrographic surveys in 1983. The data was later confirmed in 2002, during a joint study by several countries:

Russia;
Belgium;
Spain.

Interestingly, the surface of the lake is located at an altitude of just over 450 m above the level of the World Ocean, while the lowest point is located at a depth of more than 1180 m below sea level. Therefore the cup deepest lake The planet becomes the deepest among continental depressions.

The average depth is also amazing, more than 744 meters. It is known that there are only two lakes on the planet with places more than a kilometer deep:

Tanganyika.
Caspian Sea (despite the name, this is also a lake).

But the deepest section of Lake Baikal is almost 200 meters superior to a similar place in Tanganyika.

Origin theories

Let's consider the origin of Lake Baikal, which is this moment has not yet been fully studied and is controversial in the scientific world. First we give scientific facts, which are recognized by all researchers:

The reservoir is located in a rift basin.
Its structure is in many ways reminiscent of the Dead Sea.

But what caused the formation of this fault? Further, the opinions of scientists differ:

According to the first theory, Lake Baikal, whose area is more than 31 thousand km 2, is located in the area of the transform fault. That's why it became so deep.
It is believed that there is a mantle plume under the reservoir.
Another version is that the collision of the Eurasian plate and Hindustan (which in those eras was an independent continent) led to changes in the surface of the Earth, and it was then that the highest Mountain peaks Himalayas and Baikal depression. However, later this hypothesis was criticized, since scientists were able to prove that by the period of formation of the Himalayas, the platforms of the earth’s crust, on the border of which the depression is located, had already been formed and colossal changes did not affect them.
The outpouring of basalt onto the surface led to the appearance of vacuum pockets and subsidence of the depression.

How do researchers explain the origin of the Lake Baikal basin? It is believed to be the central part of the Baikal Rift Zone. Under the depression, processes of heating the subsoil occur, the substance of which, spreading, creates horizontal tension. In turn, they contribute to the formation of new faults and the opening of ancient ones, the lowering of entire blocks and the formation of depressions.

Detailed description of the process

We will describe in detail the origin of Lake Baikal, which is essentially a rift. In this case, the word “rift” refers to a fracture in the earth’s crust, shaped like a crack or ditch. The Baikal rift is very long, its length is more than 2.5 thousand km, stretches in the central part of Asia from Yakutia to Mongolia. And the lake is located in the central part of the fault, in its deepest region.

The maximum rift depth was calculated: the most deep place lakes (1637 m) + rock fragments, dead animals and plant organisms (approximately 8 km) = 9637 meters.

How did the formation of the fault itself take place?

Under influence high temperatures The earth's crust became thinner and became covered with cracks.
This process was accompanied by earthquakes and the appearance of faults.
The completion of the process was the appearance of the rift zone.

It is possible that the collision of Hindustan and Eurasia somehow affected the process and corrected it, but it could not be the root cause.

The lake continues to form

The lake basin is surrounded on almost all sides by tectonic depressions:

Verkhne-Angarskaya - in the north;
Barguzinskaya - in the northeast;
Onotskaya and Malomorsko-Buguldeiskaya - in the west;
Khuvsgulskaya and Tunkinskaya - in the southwest.

It is interesting that the formation of the reservoir cannot be considered a completely completed process; regular earthquakes continue to modify the relief of Lake Baikal. Minor earthquakes are a constant occurrence here, but sometimes real disasters occur here:

In 1862, as a result of a shaking of the earth's crust with a force of about 10 points, an entire section of land went under water, forming Proval Bay (its depth is about 6 meters).
In 1959, a magnitude 9.5 earthquake caused the bottom of the lake to drop by 20 meters.

Researchers have found that the shores of the lake move away from each other by about 2 cm annually. This also happens due to seismic activity. This fact allowed some scientists to make a bold assumption that Baikal is not a lake, but an ocean at the stage of its inception. In 100 million years, according to this version, Asia will split, and a new ocean will appear in place of the reservoir.

Now on the lake active volcanoes no, but traces of their activity in past eras continue to be studied by scientists.

Ice influence

Despite tectonic origin Lake Baikal, the features of its relief were seriously influenced by the Ice Age. Evidence that the lake collided with glaciers can be found by analyzing rock fragments located on its bottom. In the scientific literature they are called bottom moraines. Bottom sediments and sediments are also traces of the Ice Age. They allow us to conclude that the thickness of the glaciers moving across the lake was at least 80 meters, but not more than 120 m.

Scientists have found that a permanent ice cover most likely did not constrain the Baikal waters, otherwise life in the lake would have been impossible. Meanwhile, researchers were able to discover life forms that formed long before the glaciers:

Sponges.
Flatworms.
Amphipods.

They indicate that there was no permanent ice cover on the lake.

Age

The age of Lake Baikal also causes no less controversy. There are several positions:

It is traditionally believed that the reservoir is unique: it is believed to be from 25 to 35 million years old, which is not typical for glacial reservoirs; as a rule, they exist for no more than 15 thousand years, after which they become covered with sediment, silt or become swamped.
In 2009, Doctor of Sciences Tatarinov expressed the idea that the deepest parts of the reservoir are no more than 150 thousand years old, and the coastline is much younger - about 8 thousand years old. This hypothesis even has a number of indirect evidence that were obtained during the study, namely the analysis of the activity of bottom mud volcanoes.

There is also a hypothesis that the outlines of the great lake were laid at the end of the Mesozoic period, that is, when the planet acquired its modern appearance and continents were formed. This process took place 60 million years ago. However, a fact was previously indicated that refutes this version.

Properties of water

Having considered the origin of Lake Baikal, we learn the properties of its water:

It is transparent. Objects can be seen even at a distance of 40 meters.
The color depends on the season: in spring it is blue, in summer and autumn it is densely covered with vegetation, acquiring a blue-green hue.
Rich in oxygen.
Contains a very meager amount of dissolved minerals and salts, so it can be used as distilled water.
Very cold, average temperature on the surface in summer time rarely exceeds +9 °C, only in some bays it reaches +15 °C. In depth the temperature is up to +3...+4 °C.

Ice on the lake appears in the second week of January and lasts until the beginning of May, covering the entire reservoir, with the exception of a small area at the source of the Angara (no more than 20 km in length). Interestingly, the ice is also very transparent, allowing sunlight to pass through its thickness, which is why plankton actively develops in the depths of the lake.

Bottom Features

We have looked at the origin of Lake Baikal, now let's see what is specific about its bottom. First of all, this is a pronounced relief:

Shelves and underwater slopes are scattered along the coast.
There are three basins (Southern, Middle, Northern).
One can note the presence of underwater ridges (Academichesky, Selenginsky).
Underwater banks are also present.

These are the features of the bottom of Lake Baikal. Thanks to modern research it was possible to establish that in this amazing body of water there were flooded highest mountains planets whose altitude is more than 7 km. The thickness of bottom sediments is more than 6 km.

Let's get acquainted with a selection of interesting educational facts about the amazing reservoir - the pearl of Siberia:

In Lake Baikal, whose area is 31,722 km, it is prohibited to catch sturgeon. A total There are more than 2 thousand species of fish that live here.
Despite the fact that the reservoir is a lake and not a sea, waves up to 5 m high and even storms are periodically observed here.
On the coast amazing lake There are larches growing that are over 700 years old.
The length of Lake Baikal is 636 km.
In the waters of Lake Baikal there are 60-year-old long-lived sturgeons.
The most unusual inhabitant of the lake is a transparent fish, almost entirely consisting of adipose tissue, the viviparous golomyanka.

We examined the origin of Lake Baikal and learned that, despite numerous studies, this unusual body of water has not yet revealed all its secrets to humanity.

Lake Baikal
There are places on Earth whose pristine beauty, grandeur and amazing harmony seem to demonstrate the unlimited possibilities of the creative power of nature. It is still not clear how Baikal arose - as a result of inevitable transformations or because of a monstrous catastrophe and failure in the earth's crust. This is the Siberian Lake Baikal - a unique creation of nature, a national treasure and the pride of Russia.
The mystery of the origin of Baikal has long haunted people. Where did this sea of pure water come from, surrounded picturesque mountains And pristine nature? The first explanation can be found in the Buryat legend, the essence of which was that at first there was continuous fire, then the earth collapsed and the sea became. The hypothesis of the creation of all these miracles in seven days is well known, which easily explains everything and even more, but experiences significant chronological difficulties and does not correspond well to archaeological data.
Baikal is one of the oldest lakes on the planet; scientists estimate its age at 25-30 million years. Most lakes, especially those of glacial and ancient origin, live for 10-15 thousand years, and then fill with sediment and disappear from the face of the Earth. Baikal shows no signs of aging, like many lakes in the world. On the contrary, research recent years allowed geophysicists to hypothesize that Baikal is an incipient ocean. This is confirmed by the fact that its shores diverge at a rate of 2 cm per year, just as the continents of Africa and South America.
The depressions that appeared during stretching and fractures of the earth's crust began to quickly fill with water. The oldest of them is considered to be the middle one. Later, a southern basin arose, merging with the middle one. About 1 million years ago there were two lakes, one that included the modern southern and middle basins and the northern one, separated from it by the modern Olkhon Island and the now underwater Academic Range. About 500,000 years ago, these lakes connected, forming almost modern Baikal. Baikal was then connected to the World Ocean not through the Yenisei basin, but through the Lena. It was through the Lena, as researchers believe, that the seal and omul entered the lake. The ancient channel along which water left Baikal is the current Manzurka River.
About 100 thousand years ago, as a result of a strong earthquake, a section of the shore of Lake Baikal sank in the area of the modern village of Listvennichnoe. The waters of Lake Baikal poured into the resulting passage, forming the modern Angara. It is possible that it was this catastrophe (and it could not have been a catastrophe) that inspired our ancient ancestors to create the legend about the flight of the beautiful daughter Angara from the formidable father Baikal to the handsome Yenisei. By the way, the Yenisei was a rather unenviable groom - to the confluence of the Yenisei and Angara, the latter brings much more water...
In the distant past, the peoples inhabiting the shores of Baikal each named the lake in their own way. The Chinese in ancient chronicles called it “Tengis”, “Tengis-dalai”, the Buryat-Mongols called it “Baigaal-dalai” - a large reservoir. The origin of the name Baikal is not precisely established.
The most common version is that “Baikal” is a Turkic word, derived from “bai” - rich, “kul” - lake, which means “rich lake”. The first Russian explorers of Siberia used the Evenki name “Lama”. After Kurbat Ivanov’s detachment reached the shore of the lake, the Russians switched to the Buryat name “Baigaal”. At the same time, they linguistically adapted it to their language, replacing the “g” characteristic of the Buryats with the more familiar “k” for the Russian language - “Baikal”.
Indigenous people consider Baikal sacred, and many treat it not as a lake, but as a living, intelligent and wise creature. There are many legends and beliefs associated with it. The indigenous Buryat will not allow himself to unnecessarily throw a coastal stone into the lake: “Baikal laid it in this place with a wave, which means it should lie here!” The sacredness of the lake-sea was unconditionally recognized (or perhaps felt) by the Russian pioneers.

The origin of Lake Baikal is tectonic. It is located in Siberia; is the deepest in the world. The lake and all adjacent areas are inhabited by quite diverse and unique species of animals and plants. An interesting fact is that in Russian Federation Baikal is called the sea.

At the moment, there is debate about how old the reservoir actually is. As a rule, everyone adheres to the framework: 25-35 million years. However, it is precisely over the exact calculations that discussions are ongoing. Such a “life expectancy” for a lake is very uncharacteristic; as a rule, all lakes become swamped after 10-15 thousand years of existence.

General geographical information

Lake Baikal is located in the center of Asia, it stretches from southwest to northeast. Its length is 620 km, its minimum width is 24 km, and its maximum is 79 km. The coastline stretches for 2 thousand km. The lake basin is surrounded by hills and mountain ranges. In the west the coast is steep and rocky. In the east the coastline is flat.

This reservoir is the deepest in the world. total area Lake Baikal is 31 thousand km 2. The average depth of the reservoir is 744 meters. Due to the fact that the basin lies 1 thousand m below the level of the World Ocean, the depression of this lake is one of the deepest.

The fresh water reserve is 23 thousand km 3. Among lakes, Baikal ranks second in this figure. It is inferior, however, the difference is that the latter has salty waters. An interesting fact is that the reservoir has big amount water than the entire system

In the 19th century it was established that 336 water streams flow into Baikal. At the moment there is no exact figure, and scientists constantly give different data: from 544 to 1120.

Climate and waters of Lake Baikal

The description of Lake Baikal makes it possible to understand that the water of the reservoir contains a lot of oxygen, few minerals (suspended and dissolved) and organic impurities.

Due to the climate, the waters here are quite cold. In summer, the temperature of the layers does not exceed 9 degrees, less often - 15 degrees. The highest temperature was +23 degrees in some bays.

When the water is blue (as a rule, it becomes so in the spring), the bottom of the lake is visible, if its depth in this place does not exceed 40 meters. In summer and autumn, the pigment that colors the water disappears, transparency becomes minimal (no more than 10 m). There are also few salts, so you can use distilled water.

Freeze-up

Freeze-up lasts from the beginning of January to the first ten days of March. The entire surface of the reservoir is covered with ice, except for that which is located in the Hangar. From June to September Baikal is open to navigation.

The thickness of the ice, as a rule, does not exceed 2 meters. When severe frosts occur, cracks split the ice into several large pieces. As a rule, ruptures occur in the same areas. At the same time, they are accompanied by a very loud sound that resembles gunshots or thunder. The problems of Lake Baikal are not entirely obvious, but this is the main one. Thanks to the cracks, fish do not die, as the water is enriched with oxygen. Because ice allows sunlight to pass through, algae grow well in the water.

Origin of Lake Baikal

Questions about the origin of Baikal still do not have an exact answer, and scientists are discussing this matter. Now there is evidence that the current coastline is no more than 8 thousand years old, while the reservoir itself has existed much longer.

Some researchers assume that the origin of Lake Baikal is associated with the presence of a mantle plume, others - with a transform fault zone, and still others - with the collision of the Eurasian plate. At the same time, the reservoir is still changing due to constant earthquakes.

What is known for sure is that the depression in which Baikal is located is a rift. Its structure is similar to that of the Dead Sea basin.

The origin of the Lake Baikal basin occurred in the Mesozoic period. However, some are of the opinion that this happened 25 million years ago. Since the reservoir has several basins, they all differ in both the time of formation and structure. Currently, the emergence of new ones continues. Thanks to a strong earthquake, part of the island went under water and a small bay was formed. In 1959, due to the same natural disaster, the bottom of the reservoir sank several meters down.

The subsoil is constantly heated underground, this greatly influences the origin of the Lake Baikal basin. It is precisely such areas of land that are capable of lifting the earth’s crust, breaking it, and deforming it. Most likely, it was a similar process that became decisive in the formation of the ridges that surround the entire reservoir. At the moment, tectonic depressions surround Baikal on almost all sides.

Many people know the fact that every year the shores of the lake move away from each other by 2-3 cm. The origin of Lake Baikal influenced the seismic activity in this area. Now there is not a single volcano in the reservoir area, but volcanic activity is still present.

The relief of the lake developed under the influence of the Ice Age. In some moraines their influence is observed. Blocks up to 120 meters in size were dropped into the reservoir. It is also possible that the origin of Lake Baikal was associated with the melting of ice floes. But what is known for sure is that the reservoir is not covered with ice for a long time, thanks to which life is preserved in it.

Flora and fauna

Baikal is rich in fish and plants. 2 thousand species of marine animals live here. Most of Of these, they are endemic, that is, they can live only in a given body of water. This a large number of The inhabitants of the lake depend on the fact that there is sufficient oxygen in the water. They are often found. They play an important role in the life of the entire Baikal, as they perform a filtering function.

Stages of studying and settling the lake

According to documents that were found as a result of an inspection of Baikal, until the 12th century the adjacent territories were inhabited by Buryats. They first mastered the western coast, and later reached Transbaikalia. Russian settlements appeared only in the 18th century.

Ecological situation

Baikal has a unique ecology. In 1999, official regulations were adopted that protect the reservoir. A regime has been established that controls all human activities. The problems of Lake Baikal are related to the cutting down of trees, which has a strong impact on the environment. People who do such things are prosecuted by law.

origin of name

This issue is still unclear, and the data provided by scientists varies greatly. At the moment, there are more than ten explanations and guesses. Some are based on the version that the name originates from the Turkic language (Bai-Kul), others - from Mongolian (Bagal, also Baigal Dalai). Those people who lived on the shore of the lake itself called it completely differently: Lamu, Beihai, Beigal-Nuur.

Baikal can be reached from any direction. As a rule, tourists visit it in Severobaikalsk, Irkutsk or Ulan-Ude.

A few kilometers from Irkutsk is Listvyanka, a village near the reservoir itself. It is he who leads in the number of tourists. Here you can spend your holiday quite actively and admire the beauty of the lake.

On the northern shore of Lake Baikal is the resort of Khakusy. In addition, you can find