Water Tower

Relaxing Lake Baikal in Russia

Free video about Lake Baikal. This free video was created for you by and can be used for free under the creative commons license with the attribution of epSos.de as the original author of this Lake Baikal video.

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The Lake Baikal (Озеро Байкал) is a lake of tectonic origin, located in the southern region of Siberia, Russia, between Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and Buryatia to the southeast, near the city of Irkutsk. Lake Baikal was named a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 1996. With 31 494 km², 636 km long, 80 km wide and 1,680 m deep (known so far), Lake Baikal is the largest of the lakes of fresh water and the deepest in the world. It contains 23,600 cubic kilometers of water, equivalent to 20% of unfrozen freshwater around the planet. In the Russian tradition, the lake is called sea, and in the languages ​​Buryat and Mongolian is called Dalai-Nor, the Sacred Sea.

It is estimated that the formation of Lake Baikal dates from 25-30 million years ago, one of the oldest lakes in terms of geological history. The lake is completely surrounded by mountains. The Baikal mountains on the north shore and the taiga are technically protected as a national park. Lake Baikal is a young crack. The rift widens about two centimeters per year. The fault zone is seismically active: there are hot springs in the area.

There are few lakes that can compete with Lake Baikal in terms of biodiversity. As many as 852 species and 233 varieties of algae, plus some 1,550 species and varieties of animals living around the lake, many species endemic, including the famous Baikal seal, the only mammal that lives in the lake.

Baikal is known for the unique clarity of its waters. The establishment of a processing plant and pulp wood pulp in the south end of the lake, originally planned in 1957, generated silent protests that, in turn, caused an ecological awakening among the educated people of Russia, but not in the bureaucracy Soviet. Still, the plant continues to pour waste into the waters of Baikal.

Very little was known of Lake Baikal until it began the construction of Trans-Siberian Railway. Only in July 2008, the expedition of two Russian submersibles Mir-1 and Mir-2 managed to reach the bottom of the lake for the first time in history. Lake Baikal is home to 1085 species of plants and 1550 species and varieties of animals. Over 80% of animals are endemic ; 52 fish species, 27 are endemic.

Baikal is also the only habitat of the Nerpa or Baikal seal. Bears and deer are also spotted and hunted on the shores of Lake Baikal. The main points of departure to Lake Baikal are the cities Irkutsk, Ulan-Ude and Severobaikalsk. A major tourist center is the urban-type settlement Listvyanka. In various places around the lake is the path Great Baikal Trail, a system of nature trails that provide access to nature and landscape views.

Since 1993, they have sought neutrinos in Lake Baikal through Underwater Neutrino Telescope Baikal. The telescope NT-200 is installed at 3.6 km from the coast at a depth of 1.1 km and consists of 192 optical modules. Lake Baikal is the largest freshwater lake in Eurasia. Measured area is Lake Superior (on the border of the United States and Canada ) larger. The content of the Baikal is greater than the contents of all the Great Lakes 'America together. Calculated that the lake contains so much fresh water that it could meet the drinking water needs of the entire world for a period of 30 years. It is fed by over 300 rivers, including the Selenga to the south is the most important. The only outlet is the Angara, along Lake Baikal through the Yenisey River drains into the Arctic Ocean.

The lake is rich in flora and fauna and is home to unique species such as the Baikal seal (a freshwater seal), the omoel, a whitefish species ( salmonids ) and a range of endemic amphipods. The Baikal is the largest freshwater reservoir liquid earth with one-fifth of liquid fresh water. The lake has a volume of 23,615.39 cubic kilometers, which is thus greater than that of the Baltic Sea and about 480 times the water content of the Lake Constance equivalent. The catchment area of the lake covers km² and its tributaries about 571,000.

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The Children of Baikal

Movie dedicated to our trip from Vilnius to Baikal.

В отпуск на Байкал. Часть 1. Аршан, Листвянка, Ольхон

На этот раз я отправляюсь на Байкал вместе с туристической компанией Байкал Топ. Посмотрим, что на Байкале интересного.

Оборудование: Nebula 4000lite, Panasonic LUMIX GH4, Olympus M.Zuiko 17mm.