Home

Physical Geography
  Tectonics and Geology
  Climatic Change
  Climate at Present and in the Past
  Soils
  Rivers, Lakes, Seas and Wetlands
  Permafrost
  Biodiversity

Biomes & Regions
  Arctic Environments
  Boreal Forests
  Mixed and Deciduous Forests
  Steppe and Forest-steppe
  Arid Environments
  The Mountains of Northern Russia
  The Mountains of Southern Siberia
  The Caucasus
  The Mountains of Central Asia
  Lake Baikal
  The Far East

Environmental Problems
  Radioactive Contamination
  Oil and Gas Development
  Air Pollution
  The Aral Sea Problems
  Deforestation and Degradation of Forests
  Nature Protection and Conservation

Images of Russian Nature
  Geographic Index
  Systematic Index
  Alphabetical Index

Nature Reserves
  Northern Russia
  Central Russia
  Povolzhye (Volga river basin)
  Southern Russia
  Ural Mountains
  Western Siberia
  Eastern Siberia
  Far East


Ôîòîãðàôèè ïðèðîäû Ðîññèè
  Ãåîãðàôè÷åñêèé êàòàëîã
  Ñèñòåìàòè÷åñêèé êàòàëîã
  Àëôàâèòíûé êàòàëîã


Nature Landscapes of the World
  Europe
  Asia
  North America
  South America
  Africa
  Australia
  Antarctic

Field Ecology Education
  Instructive Videos
  Instructive Manuals


Ýêîëîãè÷åñêèé Öåíòð Ýêîñèñòåìà íà Facebook Ýêîëîãè÷åñêèé Öåíòð Ýêîñèñòåìà ÂÊîíòàêòå

Þòóá êàíàë Ýêîñèñòåìà YouTube EcosystemaRu

Ñêà÷àòü íàøè ïðèëîæåíèÿ èç ìàãàçèíà RuStore
Ñêà÷àòü íàøè ïðèëîæåíèÿ èç ìàãàçèíà RuMarket Ñêà÷àòü ïðèëîæåíèÿ Ýêîñèñòåìû èç ìàãàçèíà NashStore
Ñêà÷àòü ïðèëîæåíèÿ Ýêîñèñòåìû èç ìàãàçèíà GetApps Xiaomi
Ñêà÷àòü ïðèëîæåíèÿ Ýêîñèñòåìû ÝêîÃèä èç ìàãàçèíà Google Play / Play Market
Ñêà÷àòü ïðèëîæåíèÿ Ýêîñèñòåìû ÝêîÃèä èç AppStore / iTunes
Âèäåî-360 ïî ýêîëîãèè íà íàøåì Youtube êàíàëå

Bird Decoys for European Birds: Songs, Calls, Sounds, Bird voices - application for Android download from Google Play / Play Market for free



Share this page with your friends:



( ) : : = = + +


Russian Nature

Home | Physical Geography | Biomes & Regions | Environmental Problems | Images of Russian Nature | Nature Reserves

Our Field Ecology Center published more than 180 methodical materials for nature studies. Some of them are in English:
Mobile educational application: Ecological Field Studies Techniques on Play.Google Mobile field guide Birds of North America: Songs and Calls Decoys on Play.Google WILD FLOWERS OF RUSSIA Field Identification Guide on Play.Google Mobile field guide Birds of Russia on Play.Google Mobile field guide Birds of Russia Songs, Calls and Voices on Play.Google Mobile field guide Birds of Europe Songs, Calls and Voices on Play.Google Mobile field guide Birds of Europe Songs, Calls and Voices on Play.Google
Mobile Educational Apps and Field Identification Guides for Russian, European and American Birds
Applications for Android and iOS are available at GooglePlay and AppStore


Please put an active hyperlink to our site (www.rusnature.info) when you copy the materials from this page

Physical Geography of Northern Eurasia

Rivers, Lakes, Inland Seas, and Wetlands

Lakes

<<< The Caspian Sea | Physical Geography Index | The Issyk-Kul >>>

The Balkhash

Lake Balkhash is located in the vast Balkhash-Alakul depression and is a part of the system of faults of the Dzhungarsky Alatau, which also contains many other lakes (e.g., Alakol, Sysyk-Kul, and Lake Ebinur in China). Level fluctuations are typical of the Balkhash and the other lakes. The long-term fluctuations in the Balkhash have an amplitude of 12-14 m, with a minimum between the 5th and the 10th centuries and a maximum between the 13th and the 17th centuries, when water probably overflowed from the Alakol to the Balkhash. At present, levels of all lakes of the region, including the Balkhash, are in a declining phase of the cycle (Shaporenko, 1995). Against the background of these long-term fluctuations, shorter-term variations in the lake level occur in response to natural climatic variability.

Lake Balkhash extends from west to east for 600 km and there are considerable variations in the characteristics of the lake throughout its length. The large Sary-Isek peninsula divides the Balkhash into the western and the eastern sectors which have very different characteristics. About 80 per cent of the lake inflow is carried by the Hi river flowing into the western sector. Water salinity increases eastwards: in the western sector it varies between 1.04 and 1.56 g l-1 within the seasonal cycle, while in the eastern part it changes from 3.65 to 4.42 g l-1 (Shaporenko, 1995). The salt content of the Balkhash varies naturally in time in line with climatic conditions, changes in salt runoff, precipitation of carbonates, and losses in isolated pools. During the period of stable level before the 1960s, the total salt reserve of the Balkhash was falling because an increase in river runoff was accompanied by a decrease in salt runoff. However, the construction of the Kapchagay reservoir on the Hi has affected both the level and salinity of the lake. A rapid decrease in river runoff, caused by the filling of the Kapchagay reservoir and also by water abstractions for irrigation, has resulted in lowering of the lake level by approximately 2 m, a reduction in volume by 30 km3, and the growth of salinity especially in the western, most productive, sector of the lake (Ratkovich, 1993). Analysis of the Balkhash water balance has shown that if the natural regime had continued, the stable phase would have been replaced by a decline in 1975 (Skotselyas, 1989). The Balkhash environment, therefore, is now experiencing the combined effect of unfavourable natural and human factors. Numerous projects have been developed to prevent the decline of the western part of the Balkhash, focusing mainly on the construction of a dam separating the western and the eastern sectors (Shaporenko, 1995). However, the currently poor state of the regional economy does not allow these problems to be addressed.

<<< The Caspian Sea | Physical Geography Index | The Issyk-Kul >>>

 

 

 


Recommend this page to your friends:


* *