Baikal is known all over the world as the deepest lake on earth and the largest freshwater body of water. However, Baikal can boast not only titles, but also its incomparable beauty.
In the legends and tales of local residents, this lake, shrouded in secrets, is often mentioned. Scientists are still studying the reservoir and discovering new incredible facts about it.
One fifth of the world's fresh water
The water in Lake Baikal is famous for its impeccable purity and the absence of any harmful impurities. Therefore, its consumption is possible without preliminary processing.
According to recent estimates, Baikal contains 20% of all fresh water on earth. If each person consumes 500 liters a day, then this amount will be enough for all mankind for forty years of life. It will take 383 years for the water in the reservoir to completely change.
The transparency of the water is also surprising: under normal conditions, you can clearly see the bottom at a distance of forty meters.
The lake grows in size
Although there are no active volcanoes on Lake Baikal, about 2000 earthquakes occur in the lake. One of them lowered the bottom of the reservoir by twenty meters. This phenomenon is associated with the movement of tectonic plates, which also affect the surrounding relief. Mountains on the territory of Lake Baikal are constantly moving, rising and falling.
Due to the movements of the earth's plates, the boundaries of the lake are rapidly expanding, which is consistent with the hypothesis that the body of water will soon turn into a new ocean.
Baikal ice
The ice on the lake is crystal clear, which makes it feel fragile. However, in fact, the ice on Lake Baikal can withstand enormous loads, therefore, in the old days, rails were laid along it.
Thanks to the transparent ice on the lake, a unique phenomenon can occur in the form of water bloom in winter. The strong wind blowing off all the snow from the surface allows the sun's rays to pass through the ice unhindered and provide algae at the bottom with food.
Cracks in the ice allow fish to breathe; on Baikal they can reach thirty kilometers in length and several meters in width. Also in the grottoes, which can often be found on the lake, amazing icicles are formed.
Old-timer lake
The age of Lake Baikal is approximately 25-35 million years, which is considered a miracle, since the average age of the lakes does not exceed 15 thousand years. Often, lakes are simply overgrown with silt and disappear, but this does not apply to Lake Baikal.
Silt deposits began to accumulate 65 million years ago, even before its formation. At the moment, the thickness of bottom sediments in the reservoir is 8500 meters. In the absence of these deposits, the depth of the lake could be even deeper.
The sun always shines here
It is known that about eight million years ago a subtropical climate prevailed on Lake Baikal. Now it is quite cool on the territory of the reservoir, but despite this Baikal is called the sunniest lake.
The sun illuminates the lake for 2,524 hours a year, which is quite a high figure. Most often this is associated with the fact that there is rarely cloudy and cloudy weather on Lake Baikal, due to which the sun's rays can freely pass into the water.
Natural resources of the lake
According to one of the interpretations, Baikal means “rich lake”. Every year, springs at the bottom of the lake emit about 4,000 tons of oil, which, without polluting the water, is consumed by algae and microorganisms.
Also, at the bottom, with the help of special devices, a lot of gas hydrates were found, one cubic meter of which, when heated, can give 160-180 cubic meters of natural gas. For this reason, gas hydrates are called the fuel of the future.
All this is hidden at a relatively shallow depth and is a great wealth of Lake Baikal.
Unique fauna
Many animals live not only in the water, but also on the banks, some of them are also listed in the Red Book. Their large number is associated with oxygenated water, which is favorable for life.
A feature of the lake's fauna is that 1455 species living there are endemics:
- seal;
- omul;
- baleen bat;
- crustacean Epishura, etc.
You can meet them only on Baikal and nowhere else in the world.
Well-preserved remains of ancient animals are also often found in the reservoir. For example, allosaurs that lived on the lake from 70 to 250 million years ago.
