Lake Tengiz in Kazakhstan: photo, description

In solar Kazakhstan there are more than forty thousand lakes. More than 4,000 artificial reservoirs have been built there, which accumulate huge reserves of fresh water.

The quality and quantity of lake water differs depending on the natural zones: in the forest-steppe zones there are about 740 lakes, in the steppe zones - more than 1870, in the semi-deserts - 216, in the desert territories - 142. The total water surface of all lakes reaches 45 thousand square meters. Kilometers. The largest of them are Zaisan, Alakol, Balkhash, Sasykkol and Seletenitiz. This includes the bitter-salty lake Tengiz, which will be discussed in this article.

Most of the lakes stretch on the Turan and Caspian lowlands, on the plains of the West Siberian, in the mountain regions of the southeast of the state and in the lowlands of Saryarka. Virtually all of them are drainless, therefore they contain salt water. In many reservoirs, salt is extracted.

Bottomless lake: location, dimensions

The lake is located on the territory of the State Kurgalzhinsky Reserve, in the tectonic hollow, in the very center of Sary-Arka (melkosopochnik). In the Tengiz Lake, which has many small islets, the rivers Kulanutpes and Nura flow.

The area of the natural reservoir is 1590 square meters. Kilometers, its length along the length is 75 km, the depth reaches places of 8 meters, and the width is 40 kilometers.

Description

The bottom of the reservoir is even, in places folded from black silt, suitable for use for medicinal purposes. The water is salty.

Lake Tengiz in Kazakhstan is quite large, its size is three times larger than the Lake of Bodensky. The shores of the reservoir are mostly low-lying. The lake feeds mainly on the waters of thawed snows. In the most arid years, a significant part of the lake dries up. In December, Tengiz freezes, and in April is opened. The composition of water includes mirabilite (salinity in the lake ranges from 3 to 12.7 grams per m³, and in the Gulf - 18.2 grams per m³).

Tengiz is significant because it was the first time in the history of Soviet cosmonautics that the crew of the Soyuz-23 space expedition successfully fired.

Lake feature

The uniqueness of Lake Tengiz is that it is one of several habitats of an amazingly beautiful fairy bird - the northernmost nesting population of pink flamingos.

These are very cautious birds, choosing places for nests that are difficult to reach for people. It is not surprising that they settled on the islands of this lake: some parts of it are covered with a salt crust. At the same time, up to 14 thousand pairs nest here, and the number of individuals in total can reach 60,000.

Inhabit here and quite rare black storks, red-breasted goose and swan-swans. In the endless steppe sky, proud steppe eagles hover above the lake. Only the fish are not here.

Common ecosystem

Since 1968, most of the territory around the lake Tengiz is a nature conservation zone and is part of the Kurgaldzhinsky reserve hunting reserve. In general, the lake is unattractive for waterfowl hunting birds such as geese and ducks, but is an excellent place for nesting gulls, waders and terns. The reed beds provide shelter for many types of waterfowl not only during their nesting, but also during the moult (late summer) and during the autumn and spring migrations.

In this unique nature conservation zone, scientists counted 50 mammal species, 318 species of birds and 340 plant species. It should be especially noted such animals as steppe wolves and saigas. On numerous islands of the drainless lake Tengiz nest, besides the aforementioned flamingos, and the curly pelicans listed in the Red Book (total 500 pairs). In the steppes, one can also find the Numidian crane.

On the importance of the reserve

Preservation of the ecosystem around the lakes is very important not only for Kazakhstan, because in these places two important migratory routes of birds - Siberian-South European and Central Asian - intersect. Geographical (the center of the Eurasian continent) the unique location of the reserve is of great importance. The presence of such a lake system inside such a region (a territory with a semi-arid climate - steppes and semi-deserts) is very important.

Traces of human impact on the nature of these places are minimal, so the territory has preserved its natural natural appearance. Today, without exaggeration, we can say that this unique territory belongs entirely to nature, which created such riches.

Conclusion

Lake Tengiz enters the history as the venue for the most important event for today. In the future in the Korgalzhynsky Reserve an annual festival called "Flamingo" is planned.

This event, whose goal is to attract attention to the conservation of rare bird species and beyond, is supported by the Kazakhstan Biodiversity Conservation Fund and EIMRC (Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation). This corner of Kazakhstan with numerous lakes is unique and beautiful.