Lakes of Eurasia


In Eurasia there are many lakes. The largest in terms of area lakes in the world include Baikal, Balkhash and Ladoga. However, the unconditional world leader is the Caspian Lake, which because of its considerable size is even called the sea. In Eurasia, along with giant lakes, there are thousands of small ones that resemble blue lace on the map. Lakes of the continent are different in origin of the basins.

The world’s largest lake, the Caspian Sea, is of relict origin. This is the remnant of an ancient sea basin, which in the past was connected with the World Ocean through the Black Sea. It is deep and lies 28.5 m below the level of the World Ocean. In the Caspian Sea there is so much water that all the rivers of the world could fill it only in two years. The lake carries water over 130 rivers, but none of them flows, that is, it is a drainless lake. The water in it is salty, although the salinity level is three times lower than in the ocean. In the Caspian Sea, there are

many oil fields. Because of its intensive production, the water is polluted, and the commercial fish species suffer from this.

To the relict lakes of Eurasia is also the Aral Sea-Lake. Now it dries up, as the waters of the Syr Darya and Amudarya rivers flowing into it are actively used for irrigation of cotton fields. This is an area of ​​ecological disaster. The bottom of the former sea turned into a salt desert. Tons of salt crosses the wind. It’s impossible to breathe with such air. People leave these places.

The basin of relic origin has a unique lake Balkhash. The long scythe is divided into two halves. The western part, into which the Ili River flows, is fresh and muddy, the eastern part is salty and transparent.

The deepest lake in the world is Baikal. Its maximum depth is 1620 m. Like the lakes of East Africa. The Baikal originated in the tectonic hollow. The lake is flowing, so the water in it is fresh. Due to the extreme depth in Baikal, 20% of the world’s fresh water reserves of the planet are contained. The same is found in the five Great Lakes of North America. In the past,

it is extremely transparent and clean, today the Baikal water is polluted. The pulp and paper mills built on its shores are dumped in the lake.

The Dead sea-lake is also tectonic, the most saline lake in the world. The salinity of its water reaches 270-310 </s>. The basin of the lake is the deepest depression on land, which lies 400 m below the level of the waters of the World Ocean. In addition to some bacteria, there are no living organisms in the lake, hence the name of the reservoir.

In Europe tectonic origin has several small lakes. The most picturesque of them is Lake Geneva in the Alps.

In the north of Europe, many lakes of glacial origin, the basins of which arose after the retreat of the ancient glacier. The largest among them is the Ladoga Lake in the north of the East European Plain. The lake is relatively shallow: the average depth is 51 m. There are numerous islands on Lake Ladoga, the surface of which is turned by a glacier. With a strong wind on the lake there are storms, therefore, according to the terms of navigation, Ladoga is compared to the sea.


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Lakes of Eurasia