BAIKAL

•Lake Baikal is located in the south of Eastern Siberia , in the Buryat Autonomous Republic and the Region of Irkutsk, Russia.

• It covers 31,500 sq. km and is 636 km. long, an average of 48 km wide , and 79.4 km at its widest point.

• Its water basin occupies about 557,000 sq. km. and contains about 23,000 cu. km. of water, that is, about one fifth of the world's reserves of fresh surface-water and over 80 per cent of the fresh water in the former Soviet Union.

• The average water level in the lake is never higher than 456 m.

• The Baikal is the deepest lake in the world.

• Its average depth is 730 m . and its maximum depth in the middle - 1,637 m.

     Baikal is the unique phenomenon on our planet. There is nothing like this lake in age, depth, volume and properties of fresh water, variety of organic life. Baikal is known by its unique, surprising beauty of the nature which is not leaving anybody indifferent.

     A huge amount of legends, songs, fairy tales is connected to this lake and each of them reflects a part of Baikal's live, its nature, peoples living on coast of this lake. Baikal is also called as "the Sacred sea", "the Pearl of Siberia", "Glorious, gray-haired, terrible Baikal" - but all names are full of genuine respect, admiration and trembling before this mighty force.

      Baikal is in the south of Eastern Siberia . Its extent is 636 kms, and width in various parts of the lake changes from 27 up to 80 kms. The length of the coastal line is 2000 kms. The Baikal coast is cut up by numerous capes. Within the limits of capes gulfs are located. The biggest gulfs of Baikal are Barguzinsky (725 sq. km), Tchivyrkuysky (270 sq. km) and Proval (197 sq. km). On the area which is equal 31500 sq. km, Baikal takes the eighth place in the world among lakes.

      Baikal is one of the most ancient lakes on the Earth. Scientists determine Its age as 25 - 30 million years, and there is no process of "ageing" in Baikal. The coast of the lake misses with the speed of 2 cm a year, with the same speed continents Africa and South America move.

     On all sides the Baikal hollow is surrounded by mountains:

on the western shore the lake is closely rimmed by the Primorsky and Baikalsky Ranges, with their maximum height of 2,678 metres.

      On the eastern side, Baikal is fringed by the Barguzinsky and Ulan-Burgasy Ranges , and in the south and south-east by the Khamar-Daban Range , with its summit named Munku-Sardyk (eternally snowy) reaching 3,491 metres above sea level. The tops of the ranges and the valleys of the rivers flowing down the Baikalsky, Barguzinsky, Khamar-Daban Ranges , evince rather distinct traces of local mountain-valley glaciating. The last 250 thousand years witnessed not less than 5 serious cold spells, and the last one only 10-15 thousand years ago.

      The northern part of Lake Baikal is the shallowest, with a maximum depth of 890 metres. Baikal and the mountains surrounding it came into existence due to fracturing and movement of the earth's crust, resulting from tension inside the Earth itself. The major geologic feature of the Baikal Territory is that it incorporates the borderline of the great tectonic structures - the Siberian platform and its framing and the Sayano-Baikalsky folded belt. Tectonic movements along this border never cease and are manifested by earthquakes and by fluctuations of separate parts of the shores. Annually, the ground seismic stations register up to 2,000 earthquake tremors; the most sensitive seismographs, installed at various depths of the lake, identify them more frequently. In 1862, north of the Selenga 's delta, an area of land of about 200 square kilometres sank under water to a depth of 2 metres as the result of an earthquake whose magnitude, as A. Voznesensky stated, reached magnitude 11. (This compares to the magnitude 10 quake in Ashkhabad in1948, and the magnitude 7 in Tashkent in 1967). The new bay formed on Baikal by the 1862 earthquake was called Proval (gap), and the new water-ways that broke through, the Cape - Oblom (Break-On).

      On the 29th of August 1959 , during an earthquake of magnitude 9, the Baikal bottom was displaced for 12-20 metres

      Baikal is the largest water basin of fresh water on the planet It takes the second place among the lakes of the globe. On volume of water weight (23000 cube. Km), conceding only to Caspian sea . Baikal contains 1/5 world reserves and more than 4/5 volume of fresh waters of the country.
Annually Baikal reproduces about 60 cubic Km of fine and unique quality water. Rare cleanliness of water is due to unique flora and fauna of the lake.

      The transparency of water depends on its cleanliness. Baikal is not only extremely clean, but also the most transparent lake in the world. In the spring after clearing from ice the transparency of its water reaches 40 meters - tens times more, than in many other lakes.

      The water-modular area of Baikal is 590000 sq. km. 336 rivers run into the lake. The largest inflow of Baikal is the river Selenga . Only a single river - the Angara flows from the lake. there are 22 islands whithin the territory of Baikal . The largest and most interesting of them is the island of Olkhon . Also the nature of four Ushkanyi islands is surprising and unique.

     The climate of Baikal and the Baikal Territory is unique. The lake's huge water mass gives it certain features of a seashore climate. Rather significant are the temperature differences between the Baikal hollow and surrounding territories of Eastern Siberia . Thus, in Kachug the average temperature in December is -27 to -39°C, in Irkutsk -25 to -27°C, on the shores of Baikal - 12 to -27°C. In summer, when it is +25°C and more in Irkutsk , it is +15 - +18°C on Baikal. This difference diminishes slightly after the lake freezes, but still remains quite noticeable. Baikal is often called a museum of climates because of the variations that result from differences in distance from the lake, the shape of the coastline, the relief and surface of the shores, the steepness of slopes, their orientations, etc.

June:
Irkutsk +25... +30 o Ń
Baikal +15... +18 o Ń
December:
Irkutsk -20 ...-25 o Ń
Baikal -12 ...-15 o Ń

      Baikal is a stormy lake; in autumn there can be 18 stormy days a month, while there are only three on the Black Sea , and four on the Azov Sea . The Baikal's winds blow in various directions. The longitudinal winds - the verkhovik (coming from above) and the kultuk blow along the Baikal hollow. Verhovik blows from the north of Baikal, mostly in autumn. With this wind, the weather may be bright and sunny, with blue sky and green and dark-blue waves rimmed with white caps. When the verkhovik gets stronger, Baikal turns black, with white crests of waves upheaving. This wind blows up great waves in the southern part of the lake.

      Baikal has plenty of hours of solar light. For example, it reaches up to 2524 in Bolshoye Goloustnoye settlement which is a record for Russia .
The temperature of the top layers of water in Baikal reaches in different gulfs +16 o Ń in summer. The warmest water is in Mukhor, Tchivyrkujski and Posolsky Sor gulfs. On shoal-water lines at coast the highest water temperature in August is +23 o Ń.

      Lake Baikal freezes annually. At the end of October shallow gulfs become covered with ice, and only June 9 - 14 the northern part of the lake releases from it. Average thickness of ice on Baikal is equal to 70 sm, but can reach 113 sm.

      An amazing thing is the extraordinary variety of flora and fauna of Baikal. In this case it does not have the equal among the world's fresh water reservoirs. Almost 2/3 of all kinds of animals and plants of Baikal are endemic, i.e. have arisen in it and can not be met anywhere else in the world. The most known inhabitant of the lake are golomyanka fish which body contains up to 30 % of fat, Baikal omul fish , the Baikal nerpa - a seal, and also little crayfish, providing unique cleanliness of the Baikal water.

      Rest at Baikal is very popular. Annually a lot of tourists go to the lake coast from all parts of Russia and abroad. And nobody remains indifferent to the beauty of Baikal, its emerald transparent water, set of beautiful bays and beaches, fast rivers, crystal water- falls, the cleanest springs, vast spaces of woods and mountains, pure mountain air and many other things. More often tourists have a rest in warm bays and gulfs of the lake. Also fishing on Baikal - both summer, and winter - is very popular. Many tourists make excursions by boats and steam-ships. The Krugobaikalskaya (Round Baikal) railway with its surprising tunnels and stone galleries, the architectural - ethnographic museum "Taltsy", the Baikal museum and many other things are interesting to people.

      Baikal keeps many secrets, a lot of mysterious, new, interesting things, and people, trying to penetrate into the world of the lake, each time discovering something new. Baikal is an invaluable gift of the nature which needs to be used reasonably and preserved in every way.

      The Russians came to Baikal in the summer of 1643, headed by a Tobolsk Cossack, Kurbat Ivanov, who had gathered 75 'hunting, serving and idling people' and came out to the lake at the Maloye (Small) Sea region.

O.K.Yelina Director of the Departament of Nature
The source is CD "The Planet of Baikal. Photo-album (Summer)"
The source is - "CD Encyclopedia of Baikal”