The largest freshwater lake in the world in terms of water supply - Lake Baikal
Natural reservoirs filled with fresh water, in the course of time, acquire increasing value for mankind, as too much damage is done to the ecology by active economic activity.
How to evaluate?
By what criteria should you assess such aA natural object, like a lake, to give him the title of "The Biggest"? The main is the volume of fresh water that it contains. This is the meaning of the natural reservoir, formed as a result of powerful forces that change the surface of the planet. In this aspect, Baikal is definitely the largest freshwater lake in the world. In terms of the area of the mirror, it is inferior to six reservoirs located in various regions of the planet, but even the largest of them, Lake Verkhnee, located on the North American continent, has half the volume. This reservoir, part of the Great American Lakes, is clearly visible from space, but even all together they contain less water than in Lake Baikal.
Glorious sea
Also well-seen by astronauts, he has long beenis called Siberians by the sea. As in the case of the normal sea, Baikal has bays, straits and reef zones, peninsulas and island archipelagoes (all islands 27), and the largest island - Olkhon - with a width of 12 km extends 71 km in length.
Baikal is a unique ecological system created to store 20% of the world's fresh water reserve (its volume is 23,600 m3). A giant crescent of about 620 km long has a maximum width of 79 m, and the largest depth, measured with the help of the most modern hydrological tools, is 1642 m. This is the largest freshwater lake in the world in depth. Even the average depth of Lake Baikal is about 740 meters - more than the maximum for all the largest freshwater reservoirs of natural origin.
Volcanic activity that accompaniedthe formation of the Baikal basin, elevated the entire surrounding area to 455 m above sea level, and the bottom of this depression collapsed 1186.5 m below this level, therefore, among all the terrestrial continental depressions there are very few of its superior.
A finely tuned system
A unique ecological system, which isthe largest freshwater lake in the world, is a well thought out and balanced composition of several elements, nowhere else found. The main one is Epischura baicalensis, the Baikal epicure, a planktonic crustacean about 1.5 millimeters in size that passes Baikal water through itself, removes organic matter, makes it exceptionally clean and rich in oxygen.
Especially transparent water in the spring, when it contains a minimum of algae, and then to discern a coin at a 30-meter depth can only prevent poor eyesight.
Cold and clean water filling the largesta freshwater lake in the world, is a habitat for unique fish species, among which the majority are endemic, that is, they live only in Baikal, the most famous of them is the legendary omul. Endemics constitute the majority and among numerous birds and mammals.
History
Studies of rocks that make upBaikal bowl, did not resolve the dispute of scientists about the time of Baikal's birth. Some argue that the largest freshwater lake in the world was formed about 20 million years ago, others say that for so long the lakes do not live - after tens of thousands of years they inevitably become filled with silty sediments and turn into a marsh. Opponents see this as another reason to talk about the exclusivity of this natural object.
No less actively put forward version about the "adolescent" age of Baikal in 5-8 thousand years, substantiate such statements by the fact that in the Baikal area active seismic activity continues.
Local tribes, from which there was a name"bargut", the first to settle on the Baikal shores. They were replaced by the Buryats, from whose language the word came, which is now called the largest freshwater lake in the world. The name Baikal is a Russian "Baihal", ennobled by the Russian Cossacks, who came to the Siberian sea in the 17th century. Among the many meanings of this word are "mighty standing water," "rich fire," "divine, supreme reservoir," etc.
The main thing is to save
Even in Soviet times the problem of pollutionThe great lake began to take on an alarming scale. The boom complex built on its shore became not only a source of waste polluting the cleanest Baikal water, but also the cause of deforestation on its shores of cedar forests, which entailed more severe problems for the vegetation and animals of the Baikal region.
Another problem is the presence among more than 330 permanent tributaries of Lake Baikal of such large rivers as Selenga, which carry the waste waters of the large cities of Mongolia and the Baikal region to Lake Baikal.
The main threat is the habit of extracting fromconsidered as free natural resources all sorts of immediate benefits, without thinking about the future. Without winning this attitude to the environment, it is impossible to hope for a better future. Baikal is a too pure precious diamond, given to Russia and the world, so as not to try to preserve it.
