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 ever greater value for mankind, as too much damage is done to the ecology by active economic activity.

Moreover, it becomes clear what a miracle is Baikal - the largest freshwater lake in the world in terms of clean drinking water reserves.

How to evaluate?

By what criteria is it necessary to evaluate a natural object such as a lake in order to give it the title "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 Superior, located on the North American continent, has half the volume. This reservoir, part of the Great American Lakes, is well visible from space, but even all together they contain less water than in Lake Baikal.

Glorious sea

Also well-seen by astronauts, it has long been called the Siberians by the sea. Like 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 stretches for 71 km in length.

Baikal is a unique ecological system created to store 20% of the world fresh water reserve (its volume is 23,600 m ³ ). The giant crescent of about 620 km long has a maximum width of 79 m, and the largest depth, measured with the help of 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.

The volcanic activity that accompanied the formation of the Baikal cavity lifted the entire surrounding area 455 m above sea level, and the bottom of this depression collapsed 1186.5 m below this level, therefore, there are very few of its terrestrial basins among all terrestrial continental depressions.

A finely tuned system

The unique ecological system, which is the 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 epishura, a planktonic crustacean about 1.5 meter 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 clear water filling the largest freshwater lake in the world is the habitat of unique fish species, among which the majority are endemic, ie, 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 the rocks that make up the Baikal bowl did not resolve the scientists' dispute over 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 swamp. 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, substantiates such statements by the fact that in the Baikal region active seismic activity continues.

Local tribes, from which remained the name "bargut", were the first to settle on the Baikal shores. They were replaced by Buryats, from whose language the word came, which now is called the largest freshwater lake in the world. The name Baikal is ennobled by the Russian Cossacks who came to the Siberian sea in the XVII century, the Buryat "baigal". 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 pollution of the great lake began to take on alarming proportions. Built on its bank, the paper mill 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 of more than 330 permanent tributaries of Lake Baikal, such large rivers as Selenga, carrying to Lake Baikal sewage from the major cities of Mongolia and the Baikal region.

The main threat is the habit of extracting all possible immediate benefits from the natural resources that are considered free of charge, 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, presented to Russia and the world, so as not to try to preserve it.