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Lake Baikal

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   Lake Baikal, Russia
   Lake Baikal, Russia - Olchon Island in Lake Baikal

                        Olchon Island in Lake Baikal

   Coordinates 52°45′N 107°15′E
   Lake type Continental rift lake
   Primary sources Selenga
   Chikoy
   Khiloh
   Uda
   Barguzin
   Upper Angara
   Primary outflows Angara River
   Catchment area 560,000 square kilometers (347,968 mi²)
   Basin countries Russia
   Max-length 636 kilometers (395 mi)
   Max-width 80 kilometers (50 mi)
   Surface area 31,494 square kilometers (12,159 mi²)
   Average depth 758 meters (2,487 ft)
   Max-depth 1637 meters (5369 ft)
   Water volume 23,600 cubic kilometers (5,521 mi³)
   Shore length^1 2,100 kilometers (1,305 mi)
   Surface elevation 456 meters (1,496 ft)
   Islands 22
   Settlements Irkutsk
   ^1 Shore length is an imprecise measure which may not be standardized
   for this article.

   Lake Baikal lies in Southern Siberia in Russia between Irkutsk Oblast
   to the northwest and Buryatia to the southeast near the city of
   Irkutsk. In Russian, it is called Байка́л (Ozero Baykal, О́зеро
   literally meaning Lake, pronounced ['ozʲɪrə bʌj'kɑl]), and in the
   Buryat and Mongol languages it is called Dalai-Nor, or "Sacred Sea".
   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.

   Lake Baikal is the deepest and oldest lake in the world as well as the
   largest (by volume) freshwater lake. It contains over 20% of the
   world's liquid fresh surface water and more than 90% of Russia's liquid
   fresh surface water. It is a World Heritage Site. 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).

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 required 200 bridges and 33 tunnels. At the same time the
   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 20% 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. Known as the "Galápagos of Russia", its age and isolation have
   produced one of the world's richest and most unusual freshwater faunas,
   which is of exceptional value to evolutionary science.

   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) down: 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.
   The Yenisei River basin, Lake Baikal, and the cities of Dikson,
   Dudinka, Turukhansk, Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk
   Enlarge
   The Yenisei River basin, Lake Baikal, and the cities of Dikson,
   Dudinka, Turukhansk, Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk

   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. If all the sediment were scoured from the
   lake, the lake would be a further 7km below sea surface (the water from
   above would replace the scoured sediment so the depth of the lake
   itself would not change).

   The lake is completely surrounded by mountains. the Baikal Mountains on
   the north shore and taiga, is technically protected as a national park
   and contains 22 small islands, the largest, Olkhon (also spelled
   'Olchon'), being 72km long. The lake is fed by some 300 inflowing
   rivers, the six main ones being Selenga, the source of some of Baikal's
   pollution, Chikoy, Khiloh, Uda, Barguzin and Upper Angara, and 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 of bodies such as Lake Tanganyika and the Black Sea.

   Despite 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 is studied
   annually by the Tahoe-Baikal Institute, an exchange program between
   U.S., Russian, and Mongolian scientists and university graduate
   students started in 1990.

Wildlife

   Omul Fish on Listvyanka market
   Enlarge
   Omul Fish on Listvyanka market

   The extent of biodiversity present in Lake Baikal is equalled by few
   other lakes. Lake Baikal hosts 1085 species of plants and 1550 species
   and varieties of animals. Over 60% of animals are endemic; e.g., 27 of
   52 species of fish 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 on all 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.

Ecology

Baikalsk Pulp and Paper Mill

   Lake Baikal in the summer, as seen from Bolshoi Koty on the southwest
   shore
   Enlarge
   Lake Baikal in the summer, as seen from Bolshoi Koty on the southwest
   shore

   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 pipeline

   Russian state company Transneft was planning to build a trunk pipeline
   that would have come within 800m (0.5mi) of the lake shore in a zone of
   substantial seismic activity. Environmental activists in Russia,
   Greenpeace Baikal pineline opposition and local citizens were strongly
   opposed to these plans due to the possibility of an accidental oil
   spill that might cause significant damage to the environment. Numerous
   meetings were held recently in Russian cities, especially in Irkutsk.
   However, Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered the company to
   consider an alternative route to the north, to avoid such ecological
   risks. 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.

   Lake Baikal is also home to 12 hundred species of animals and the
   world's only freshwater seal.

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