In sunny Kazakhstan there are more than forty thousand lakes. More than 4,000 artificial reservoirs have been built there, collecting huge reserves of fresh water.
The quality and quantity of water in lakes differs independing on natural zones: in forest-steppe zones there are about 740 lakes, in the steppe zones - more than 1870, in semi-deserts - 216, in desert territories - 142. The total water surface area of all lakes reaches 45 thousand square meters. kilometers The largest of them are Zaisan, Alakol, Balkhash, Sasykkol and Seletyteniz. These include the bitter-salty Lake Tengiz, which will be discussed in this article.
Most of the lakes stretch to Turanskaya andCaspian lowlands, on the plain of the West-Siberian, in the mountainous regions of the south-east of the state and in the lowlands of Saryarka. Almost all of them are drainless, therefore they contain salt water. In many waters, salt is mined.
Closed lake: location, size
The lake is located on the territory of the StateKurgalzhinsky reserve, in a tectonic depression, in the heart of Sary-Arka (small hill maker). The Tengiz Lake, which has many small islands, flow into the Kulanutpes and Nura rivers.
The area of a natural reservoir is 1590 square meters. kilometers, its length in length is 75 km, depth reaches 8 meters in some places, and its width is 40 kilometers.
Description
The bottom of the reservoir is even, sometimes folded from black sludge, suitable for therapeutic use. The water is salty.
Lake Tengiz in Kazakhstan is quite largeits dimensions are three times larger than the lake of Constance. The shores of the reservoir are mostly low. The lake feeds mainly on the waters of melting snow. In the most arid years, a significant part of the lake dries out. In December, Tengiz freezes, and in April it opens. The composition of the water includes mirabilite (salinity in the lake ranges from 3 to 12.7 grams per m³, and in the bay - 18.2 grams per m³).
Tengiz is notable for the fact that for the first time in the history of Soviet space exploration a successful landing of the crew of the Soyuz-23 space mission took place.
Lake feature
The uniqueness of Lake Tengiz is that it is one of several habitats of an amazingly beautiful fairytale bird - the northernmost nesting population of pink flamingos in the world.
This is a very cautious feathered, choosing fornesting places difficult for people. It is not surprising that they settled on the islands of this lake: some parts of it are covered with salt crust. At the same time, up to 14 thousand pairs nest here, and the number of individuals in total can reach 60,000.
Quite rare black storks, red-breasted geese and whooper swans live here. In the endless steppe sky over the lake soar proud steppe eagles. Only fish is not here.
Shared ecosystem
Since 1968, most of the territoryaround Lake Tengiz is a conservation area and is part of the Kurgaldzhinsky reserve hunting. In general, the lake is not attractive for waterfowl hunting birds such as geese and ducks, but is an excellent place for nesting gulls, sandpipers and terns. Reed beds provide shelter to many species of waterfowl, not only during their nesting, but also during the molting period (end of summer) and during the autumn and spring migrations.
In this unique conservation area, scientistscounted 50 species of mammals, 318 species of birds and 340 species of plants. Of particular note are animals such as steppe wolves and saigas. On the numerous islands of the drainless Lake Tengiz nest, except for the aforementioned flamingos, and the curly pelicans (500 pairs in total) are listed in the Red Book. In the steppes can be found and Numidian Crane.
On the value of the reserve
Preservation of the ecosystem around the lakesIt is very important not only for Kazakhstan, because in these places two significant migration routes of birds intersect - Siberian-South European and Central Asian. Geographical (center of the Eurasian continent) unique location of the reserve is of great importance. The presence of such a lake system within such an area (areas with a semi-arid climate — steppes and semi-deserts) is very important.
Traces of human impact on the nature of these placesminimal, so the territory has retained its natural natural appearance. Today, without exaggeration, we can say that this unique territory is entirely owned by nature, which has created such wealth.
Conclusion
Lake Tengiz enters history as the venue of the most important event for today. In the future, an annual festival called "Flamingo" is planned in the Korgalzhyn Reserve.
This event, which aims todrawing attention to the conservation of rare bird species and not only supports the Biodiversity Conservation Fund of Kazakhstan and the EIMRC (Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation). This corner of Kazakhstan with its numerous lakes is unique and beautiful.
