About Lake Baikal
- details from the Encyclopedia

 

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Winter view of Baikal from space

Interesting facts

Lake Baikal's beauty is exceptional, and so is the beauty of the area surrounding it.

Scientists are still debating the lake's origin. Some are trying to prove that it emerged as a result of tectonic processes of orogenesis, while others consider it as having been formed as a result of the earth's crust gradually subsiding. So far nobody has been proved right.

It would take all the rivers of the world - Volga, Don, Dneper and Yenisei, Ural and Ob, Ganges and Orinoko, Amazon and Thames, Seine and Oder - nearly one year to fill lake Baikal's basin. It would take four hundred years for all the rivers, streams and brooks now flowing into the Siberian lake-sea to perform the task.
The Baikal area is a veritable treasure trove of mineral resources. Sables thrive in the region's taiga; valuable fur animals live in the surrounding mountains and valleys; and birds and fish abound in the forests and rivers of the area. The nearby Dauro-Mongolian steppes are very fertile. There are hot springs in the vicinity of Lake Baikal, the water of which is of excellent quality. The lake acts as a powerful generator and biofilter producing this water.

Collecton of the articles in  Russian

The map of the lake Baikal Map of Lake Baikal ( 230Kb )

 

South part

Click here for a detailed map of the south part of Baikal to download and print. (1.7 Mb )

small.jpg (40466 bytes)

Satellite photo of related area (150 kb).


The map from the June 1992 issue of National Geographic magazine (418 kb)

 

Compared to the surrounding area, winter is milder and summer cooler on Lake Baikal. The average air temperature is about -19 C in January and February and about +11 C in August. The surface-water temperature on the open part of the lake in August is +9 to 12 C, and near the shore it is sometimes as high as +20 C.

   An ancient map of Baikal.

 

Comparison

Lake Baikal usually freezes in January and the ice breaks in May. The ice is 70-115 cm. thick. The average annual precipitation in the middle and the north of Baikal is 200-350 mm.; it is 500-900 mm. in the south.

Related links

Baikal Currents-From local media and official sources
The Baikal Center for Ecological and Citizen Initiatives
Specialty Travel Index: Baikal Lake
Baikal Currents - Regional NGO's Projects
Baikal lazurite
Comet Hyakutake
About Baikal in French

Related URL links are welcome!

 

Home Books Ecology Latest info from space Encyclopedia Animals Plants Climat Research The world beneath Baikal Geology Circumbaikal railroad Photogallery # 1 Photogallery # 2 Photogallery # 3 Listvyanka Natives In German Word of poet Olkhon island Earthwatch Shopping Travel agences Guestbook

realvideo

Transsiberian railway.Inside the train at Transsiberian railway,download .mov 468kbCircumbaikal railwayLake Baikal beautyYachts at BaikalBrown bears at lake Baikal shores in springAqualangist under Baikal iceAt lake Baikal beneathBaikal nerpasHistory of Trans-Siberian railway


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03.02.2006