Description of the attraction
On the island of Saaremaa, 19 km from the town of Kuressaare, there is the famous Kaali Lake, around which all kinds of rumors and legends have been circulating for a long time. Translated from Estonian "kaali" means "rutabaga".
The famous lake is almost round in shape, about 60 meters in diameter, and the bottom relief resembles a funnel. Several smaller craters are located near the reservoir.
According to one of the legends, Lake Kaali was formed thanks to the giant hero Suur Talu. According to another version, it was formed on the site of the estate where the brother and sister lived. Once they decided to get married, for which their gods punished: during the wedding ceremony, the estate sank underground, and in its place a lake was formed.
Scientists were interested in the mystery of the origin of the reservoir back in the 19th century. The first to become interested in this issue was the German geographer and geologist Lutse, who, however, could not solve this riddle. His compatriot scientist Wangenheim put forward a hypothesis about the volcanic origin of Lake Kaali.
The Russian academician EI Eikhvald believed that the reservoir was not created by nature, but artificially created by human hands.
Later, another interesting hypothesis appeared - karst, from the engineer Reinwald. He believed that the lake owes its origin to underground rivers, which eroded rocks over a long period. And at some point, the earth collapsed, forming a karst depression.
So many versions, it seemed the mystery would never be solved!
In 1927, the Estonian mining engineer Ivan Aleksandrovich Reinwald arrived at the lake for drilling: it was believed that there should be salt deposits in the area of the reservoir. The workers had already reached a depth of 60 m, but they could not find anything and were about to complete the study. However, Reinwald was extremely interested in the lake and its shape. He drew attention to the upturned blocks of dolomite and limestone piling up around. It was as if a terrible force whipped and mixed them in one second.
Studying all kinds of literature, he suggested that Lake Kaali was formed on the site of a crater, a meteorite that fell to the ground a long time ago. There were not very many supporting this hypothesis. For a long time he tried to find pieces of the meteorite, but to no avail. But now, in 1937, the engineer decided to visit the famous lake for the last time. And this time luck smiled at him. Exploring the Sami small crater, sifting through the earth, Reinwald was able to find several dozen twisted pieces of iron. Analysis of these fragments in Tallinn confirmed Ivan Alexandrovich's theory. Finally, the mystery of the lake has been solved!
Already many years later, scientists came to the conclusion that the Kaali craters were formed from 2500 to 7500 years ago. A huge iron meteorite weighing 400 tons, before reaching the Earth, split into several parts. They stuck into the ground at a speed of 20 km / s. Lake Kaale was formed in the largest crater left from the impact.
