Lake Baikal is one of the most beautiful and picturesque places not only in the Asian part of our country, and on the entire planet. This oldest lake (its age is approximately 25-35 million years), which lies in the rift basin, is located in the southern part of Eastern Siberia. It is the largest reservoir of fresh water on Earth; 22% of all fresh, cleanest and most transparent water in the world and 85% of Russia are concentrated here. The volume of water is 23 thousand km 3 (these are five Great Lakes combined in the USA). In addition to the value of huge reserves of fresh water, which due to its low salinity (100 g / l) can be safely equated to distilled, it should also be noted that Lake Baikal is the deepest lake in the world and has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1996.

Geographical position

Lake Baikal, having the shape of a crescent elongated from southwest to northeast, is located almost in the very center of Eurasia, in Central Asia, in the southern part of Eastern Siberia. The ancient rift basin of glacial origin, in which the basin of the lake is located, lies in the Baikal mountain region, surrounded by high peaks of mountain ranges and overgrown with thick forests of hills (the border of the Irkutsk region and the Republic of Buryatia in the Russian Federation).

Characteristics of Lake Baikal

The area of \u200b\u200bthe lake is 31.7 thousand km 2, it is the seventh place in the world after the Caspian Sea-lake, lakes Victoria, Taganyika, Huron, Michigan, Upper or the area of \u200b\u200bBelgium or the Netherlands. The lake is 636 km long, the widest in the center (81 km), the narrowest - near the Serenga River Delta (27 km).

The average depth of the lake is 744.4 m above the maximum depths of many lakes in the world, its maximum depth, measured by Soviet scientists Kolotilo and Sulimov in 1983, was 1640 m, making Baikal the deepest lake in the world.

The lake lies in a glacial rift basin, on all sides it is surrounded by mountain ranges and hills. The coastline is 2 thousand km long, the western coast is rocky and steep, the eastern one is more gentle, the mountains are tens of kilometers from the coast. The water area of \u200b\u200bthe lake has six bays (Barguzinsky, Chivyrkuisky, Dip, Posolsky, Cherkalov, Mukhor), two dozen bays (Listvennaya, Peschanaya, Aya, many closed shallow bays called sory. The only river flows from the lake - the Angara, flows more than 336 rivers and rivulets, of which large ones can be called Selenga, Upper Angara, Barguzin, Snezhnaya, Kichera, etc.

Water temperature

Water, due to its low mineralization, is remarkable for its amazing purity, transparency (visible to a depth of 40 meters), and oxygen saturation. In spring, water is especially transparent and has a rich blue-blue color, in summer, as a result of the development of organics, transparency decreases and the waters acquire a blue-green hue. The average annual temperature of the water surface is about + 4 ° C, in the summer water is +16, + 17 ° C, in the litter reaches + 22, + 23 ° C.

Baikal is almost completely covered by a layer of ice (1-2 meters) from January to May (with the exception of a small area of \u200b\u200b15-20 km in the source of the Angara). One of the amazing mysteries of Lake Baikal is the appearance in the winter of huge dark rings on ice, which are visible only from a height. Presumably they are formed as a result of methane emission from the depths of the lake, and this contributes to the formation of huge proparins hundreds of meters in diameter with a very thin layer of ice.

Winds on Baikal

Distinctive features of the Baikal climate are its winds, they blow almost always, their maximum wind speed is 40 m / s. There are more than 30 names of winds blowing there: the north-west wind is mountain, the north-east wind is barguzin, Verkhovik), the south-east is shelonnik, the south-west is kultuk, and sarma is the wind blowing in the center of Lake Baikal. They blow mainly along the coast, on which there are practically no places to hide from such a piercing and strong wind.

The nature of Lake Baikal

The flora and fauna of the lake is diverse and unique. Water saturated with oxygen allows a large number of living organisms to live here, more than 2600 species and subspecies of aquatic inhabitants live here, most of them are endemic. Over 58 species of fish live in the water column, such as omul, grayling, whitefish, taimen, Baikal sturgeon, lenok, golomyanka (a unique fish consisting of 30% fat).

The coast covers more than 2,000 species of plants, about 2,000 species of birds nest here, a unique marine mammal lives here - the Baikal seal, in the mountainous part of Baikal region - the smallest deer in the world - musk deer.

(Olkhon - the largest island of Lake Baikal)

The northeastern coast of the lake is part of the protected areas of the Barguzinsky State Natural Biosphere Reserve; since 1996, Lake Baikal has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Settlements and cities

Large cities located several tens of kilometers from the lake are Irkutsk, Ulan-Ude (130 km east of the lake) and Severobaikalsk (in the northern part of the lake coast). From Irkutsk (70 km from Baikal), closest to the oldest Baikal village at the headwaters of the Angara - Listvyanka, it is more than three hundred years old. It has a well-developed tourist infrastructure and the Museum of the Lake, dedicated to the history of Lake Baikal, its flora and fauna. Also in the village there is a nerpinaria, where they show an exciting water show with the participation of Baikal seals and the legendary Shaman-stone, a reserved rock at the source of the Angara, ancient shamanistic rites were held here in antiquity.

Climate and seasons

(The clear water of Baikal in the summer)

Eastern Siberia lies in a temperate sharply continental climatic zone, but the enormous masses of water contained in Lake Baikal have a special effect on the coastal climate and due to this, unusual microclimate conditions form with warm mild winters and cool summers. The water masses of the lake act as a huge natural stabilizer and make the winter warmer and the summer cooler than, for example, in the same Irkutsk, located a short distance from the lake (70 km). The air temperature in summer can reach + 35 ° C.

(Transparent ice on Baikal in winter)

In winter, the waters of Lake Baikal are bound by incredibly transparent and smooth ice. The temperature above the surface of the lake in the middle of winter is about -21 ° C, and on the coasts it is 5-10 degrees higher, on average -10 ° C - 17 ° C. Due to the insignificant evaporation of cold water from the surface of the lake, clouds are very rarely formed here, therefore, the area of \u200b\u200bLake Baikal is characterized by a high total duration of sunshine, cloudy and cloudy days are rare.

One of the oldest lakes on the planet, its age is 25 - 30 million years. On Baikal, unlike many of the oldest lakes in the world, there are no signs of aging. On the contrary, scientists suggest that Baikal is an emerging ocean. This is confirmed by the fact that its shores diverge at a speed of up to 2 cm per year, similar to how the continents of Africa and South America diverge.

Located in the south of Eastern Siberia. It is the deepest lake in the world with unique features and the largest freshwater reservoir on the planet. He has no equal in the world in age, depth, reserves and properties of fresh water, the diversity and endemism of organic life. Since ancient times, it has been called the holy sea, glorious, gray-haired and formidable. Among the many epithets, one can distinguish such as: “world source of drinking water”, “blue eye of Siberia”, “oasis of the pristine nature of the Earth”, “sacred center of North Asia”, “god-made creation”, “sacred gift of nature”, “natural monument with unique landscapes, "" the priceless treasury of the genetic wealth of the Earth, "" the miracle of limnology, the center of unique natural values. " Due to its unique features, Baikal was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1996.

Baikal is one of the oldest lakes on the planet, scientists determine its age at 25 - 30 million years. Most of the lakes, especially of glacial and old origin, live 10-15 thousand years, and then are filled with sediments and disappear from the face of the Earth. There are no signs of aging on Lake Baikal, like many lakes in the world. On the contrary, recent studies have allowed geophysicists to hypothesize that Lake Baikal is an emerging ocean. This is confirmed by the fact that its shores diverge at a speed of up to 2 cm per year, similar to how the continents of Africa and South America diverge.
  Among the lakes of the globe, Lake Baikal takes first place in depth (1637 m). On Earth, only 6 lakes have a depth of more than 500 m. The basin of Lake Baikal in morphological terms represents three independent basins - the South with the highest depth mark of 1430 m, the Middle (1637 m) and the North (920 m). The Baikal Basin is asymmetric. Its western side is characterized by a steep underwater slope (40-50 ° steepness), the eastern side - more than a canopy. Quite often in the literature on Lake Baikal there is still a mark of the depth of the lake 1620 m. This depth was recorded in 1959 as a result of measurements with a cable lot. Echo-sounding measurements of 1974 recorded the depth of the lake 1637 m.
At present, the Baikal Basin is considered as the central link of the Baikal Rift Zone, which arose and is developing simultaneously with the world rift system (Florensov, 1978). Geophysicists have hypothesized that the shores of Lake Baikal diverge at a speed of 2 cm per year. The Baikal depression is slightly wider than the modern lake, but much deeper. The depth of the depression is determined by the height of the mountains above it, the depth of the lake and the thickness of the bottom sediment lining it. The deepest point of the bottom sediments of the lake is at a depth of about 6 - 8 thousand meters below sea level. The "roots" of the depression cut through the entire earth's crust and go into the upper mantle to a depth of 50-60 km. Studies indicate an abnormally high heating of the bowels near Baikal. This is the deepest hollow of the earth's land.

The Baikal region has high seismicity - this is one of the most seismically active inland areas of the planet. Strong earthquakes occur with a frequency of 7 points - 1-2 years, 8 points - 5 years. In 1862, during a ten-magnitude earthquake in the northern part of the Selenga delta, a land area of \u200b\u200b200 square meters went under water. km with 6 uluses, in which 1300 people lived, and a new Gulf of failure was formed. Weak earthquakes are recorded almost daily. Every year their number reaches 2 thousand or more. Scientists call Baikal "the ancient Tiechka of Asia"

Lake Baikal is surrounded by mountains on all sides. Throughout the western coast, mountain ranges come close to Lake Baikal and almost vertically break into the water. The highest peaks of the mountain ranges: Primorsky ridge - Three-headed char (1728 m), Baikal ridge - Mount Chersky (2572 m), Barguzinsky ridge - the highest mark (2840 m), Khamar-Daban - Mount Khan-Ula (2371 m).
  By area, Baikal (31,500 sq. Km) takes the eighth place in the world among lakes and is approximately equal to the area of \u200b\u200bsuch a country as Belgium.

Baikal is the largest storage of fresh water on the planet (23 thousand cubic km), which exceeds the volume of water contained in the five Great Lakes of North America - Upper, Michigan, Huron, Erie, Ontario combined, or 2 times more than in the lake of Tanganyika. About 20% of the world's reserves of fresh lake water are concentrated in the Baikal basin (excluding glaciers, snowfields and ice, where the water is in solid state).

In spring, after the lake is free of ice, the transparency of the water reaches 40 m, which is ten times more than in other lakes. For example, in the Caspian, the transparency of water is 25 m, in Issyk-Kul - 20 m. In Baikal, a silver coin thrown into the water can be traced to a depth of 30-40 m.
  The climate of Lake Baikal and its coast has the features of a marine climate and is significantly different from the climate of the surrounding area. The huge water masses of the lake in the summer period warm up to a depth of 200-250 m and, like a battery, accumulate a large amount of heat. Therefore, winter on Lake Baikal is milder, and summer is cooler than in the rest of Siberia. The difference in air temperature between Irkutsk and the coast of Lake Baikal in the daytime can reach 8-10 ° C. The absolute maximum for the period of meteorological observations in Irkutsk reached + 36 ° С, the absolute minimum -50 ° С. The remoteness of Irkutsk from the seas and the location in the center of the Asian continent give the climate a sharply continental character. The maximum daily temperature differences may exceed 30 ° C.

World Heritage Site

With the adoption of the Convention for the Protection of the Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Planet, in 1972, the United Nations (Department of Education, Science and Culture) began compiling a UNESCO World Heritage List, which includes the most significant natural, historical and cultural sites, territories with outstanding global values \u200b\u200bof natural resources and which require respect, safety for posterity.

To get into this list, you must meet at least one of the four criteria:

The object presents outstanding examples illustrating the most important stages in the history of the Earth and remarkable geological processes;

The object provides exceptional examples to illustrate the most important environmental and biological processes of evolution and development of ecosystems and communities of living organisms;

The object includes outstanding natural phenomena or territories of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic value;

The site includes the most important and significant natural habitats for the conservation of biodiversity, as well as species of outstanding universal value in terms of science or nature conservation.

Baikal in this sense is unique, it meets absolutely all the criteria of the Convention. Out of thousands of natural objects contained in the World Natural Heritage List, a little more than a dozen satisfy all four criteria.

On December 5, 1996, by the decision of the 20th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, held in the Mexican city of Merida, Baikal, together with the coastal zone with a total area of \u200b\u200babout 8.8 million hectares, was included in the UNESCO Natural Heritage List.

The total area of \u200b\u200bthe World Natural Heritage Site (UPPN) “Lake Baikal” is 88 thousand km2, of which 31.5 thousand km2 is the surface of the lake, and 19 nature reserves are occupied by 3 reserves (Baikal-Lensky, Baikalsky, Barguzinsky) and 3 national parks (Pribaikalsky, Zabaykalsky and, partially, Tunkinsky).

Five urbanized industrialized territories were excluded from the Site: Baikalsk, Slyudyanka, Kultuk, Babushkin and Severobaykalsk.

The decision adopted by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee states: “Lake Baikal is a classic case of a World Heritage site that meets all four natural criteria. The lake is located in the central part of the site. The features of the lake, hidden to a greater extent from the eyes by water, are the main value for science and protection. The lake is surrounded by mountain-taiga landscapes and specially protected natural areas, mainly preserved in a natural state and of additional value.

Lake Baikal is a limnological miracle and a territory possessing the following excellent qualities:

The geological rift system that gave rise to Lake Baikal was formed in the Mesozoic period. Lake Baikal is the oldest and deepest lake on Earth. Various tectonic forces still continue to operate, as evidenced by the emergence of thermal flows from the depths of the lake.

The evolution of aquatic organisms over the course of this long period has led to the formation of an exceptionally unique endemic fauna and flora. Lake Baikal is the "Galapagos Islands of Russia", is of exceptional value for the study of evolution.

The picturesque landscape around the Baikal basin with mountain ranges, boreal forests, tundra, lakes, islands and steppes provides an exceptionally beautiful environment of Lake Baikal. Baikal is the largest reservoir of fresh water on Earth (20% of all world reserves), which further characterizes it as a unique phenomenon.

Lake Baikal is one of the most biodiverse lakes on Earth, with 1340 species of animals (745 endemic) and 570 species of plants (150 endemic). In the forests surrounding the lake, there are 10 species of plants listed in the Red Book of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and the full composition of typical boreal species is presented. ”

In addition to fulfilling one of the four criteria of the Convention, the desire of the country in which this site is located is necessary to protect and preserve it.

The leadership of the World Heritage Committee submitted the following requirements to the Government of the Russian Federation:

1. Ensure the final adoption by the State Duma of the Law on Baikal;

2. Reprofile BPPM so that it ceases to be a source of pollution;

3. Reduce the discharge of pollutants into the Selenga;

4. Allocate additional funds to support the activities of reserves and national parks;

5. To provide and strengthen support for scientific research and monitoring on Lake Baikal.

The list of environmental measures implemented and already implemented by the leadership of the Russian Federation to meet the requirements of the leadership of the World Heritage Committee to the Government of the Russian Federation, presented in connection with the assignment of World Natural Heritage status:

2. The legislation has been amended to regulate relations in the field of protection of Lake Baikal:

The boundaries of the water protection and fish protection zones of Lake Baikal are established by the Government of the Russian Federation;

State registration of objects that have a negative impact on the environment of the Baikal natural territory is introduced;

On the Baikal natural territory, the construction of new business facilities, the reconstruction of existing business facilities without a positive opinion of the state environmental review of the design documentation of such facilities is prohibited, and in the central environmental zone of this natural territory - the placement of production and consumption wastes of I - III hazard class;

The possibility is established of transferring the lands of the forest fund occupied by protective forests to the lands of specially protected territories and objects during the creation of specially protected natural territories;

The Water Code of the Russian Federation, the Urban Planning Code of the Russian Federation, the federal laws “On Ecological Expertise” and “On Fisheries and the Conservation of Aquatic Biological Resources” are brought into line with the amendments made to the Federal Law “On the Protection of Lake Baikal”.

For more details on the regulatory legal acts in accordance with which environmental measures are implemented, see the section "Laws".

3. In 2008, BPPM, at the request of Rosprirodnadzor, suspended the production of bleached pulp and switched to the production of less profitable unbleached pulp using closed-loop water circulation technology that completely eliminates the release of even treated effluents into the lake. The plant stopped its work on December 25, 2013. On December 28, 2013, the Prime Minister of Russia signed a decree on the creation of the Expocentre of the Russian Reserves exhibition center on the territory of the closed plant.

4. Selenginsky Pulp and Paper Mill on August 1, 1990, stopped discharging industrial wastewater into Selenga.

5. In 2008-2010, the International Research Expedition “Worlds on Lake Baikal” was conducted, during which 160 dives were made on the deep-sea devices Mir-1 and Mir-2. According to the results of the International Conference at UNESCO headquarters “Baikal - a World Treasure”, an increase in the intensity and quality of scientific research in order to preserve the Baikal ecosystem was noted, the importance of the research results was made by the International Expedition “Worlds” on Baikal, which included scientists from 12 countries of the world; the significant contribution of this expedition to the development of Russian and world fundamental science, such fields as geology, geography, limnology, geochemistry, geophysics, biology, etc .; large amounts of data obtained during the expedition, which allows to significantly expand ideas about the genesis of Baikal and modern processes occurring in it.

6. State funding for the protection of Lake Baikal and the Baikal Natural Territory is carried out using the federal target program “Protection of Lake Baikal and the Socio-Economic Development of the Baikal Natural Territory for 2012 - 2020”, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of August 21, 2012 No. 847. (See the section "Implementation of the FTP Program").

In preparing the material, the following sources were used:

Baikal science: textbook / N. S. Berkin, A. A. Makarov, O. T. Rusinek. - Irkutsk: Publishing house Irk. state University, 2009

Volkov, S. On Baikal / Sergey Volkov. - M.: AST: AST Moscow, 2010 .-- 568 p.

Baikal (Irkutsk region, Buryatia)

The cleanest and, without a doubt, the most beautiful lake Baikal, rightfully took its place in the list .

Baikal is one of the greatest lakes on the planet, a lake of "superlative degree": the deepest (1637 m) and the oldest (about 25 million years), containing the largest number of endemic species (more than 1000 species) and representatives of flora and fauna (more than 2600 species ) living in freshwater bodies of the Earth. The lake has a unique reserve of water (23.6 thousand cubic kilometers) and a quality freshwater reserve (20% of the world).

The lake lies in the Baikal depression - a bottomless stone bowl surrounded on all sides by mountains. Baikal is a lake of tectonic origin in the southern part of Eastern Siberia, the deepest lake of the planet Earth, the largest natural reservoir of fresh water, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The lake and coastal areas are characterized by a unique variety of flora and fauna. Many of the animals, birds and fish of Lake Baikal are endemic, which means that they live only in this ecosystem and are not found anywhere else in the world.

Locals and many in Russia traditionally call Lake Baikal the sea. Butto whatever you like to call this magnificent reservoir of fresh water by the sea, it is still a lake that is surrounded on almost all sides by picturesque mountains and hills of extinct volcanoes.

The lake stretched from north-east to south-west for 632 km in the form of a giant crescent. The width of Lake Baikal ranges from 24 to 79.5 km. There is no other lake so deep on earth. The bottom of Lake Baikal is 1167 meters below the level of the World Ocean, and the mirror of its waters is 453 meters higher.

The water in the lake is so clear that individual stones and various objects are visible at a depth of 40 m. Such transparency of water can be observed after ice melts: usually in early spring Baikal water becomes bright blue. In summer and autumn, when the water warms up, microplankton and algae begin to develop in small quantities in it: naturally at this moment it is already quite difficult to distinguish pitfalls at a depth of 40 meters, but transparency is amazing at these times of the year. True, its color changes: it does not turn into muddy greens, on the contrary, it becomes pale turquoise.

Immerse yourself in the gentle and clean waters of Lake Baikal ... - a dream! True, the dream is only for those who know very little about this lake. The thing is that the water here does not warm up even in summer above the mark of +9 degrees Celsius. Only in small and shallow bays can it be expected that the water warms up under the sun to +16. Therefore, you can swim in Baikal and see the underwater world through crystal-clear water except in a wetsuit. In winter, the water mirror is almost completely covered with thick ice, so thick that sleepers were installed on ice in the 19th century and steam engines were transported through Baikal with horses. The ice on the lake is an amazing sight: during severe frosts, cracks pass along it, sometimes 30 (!)

There is a legend that the father of Lake Baikal had 336 rivers-sons and one daughter, the Angara, all of them flowed into his father in order to replenish his water, but his daughter fell in love with the Yenisei River and began to take out the water of his father to his beloved. In response, Father Baikal threw a huge piece of rock into his daughter and cursed her. This rock, called the Shaman-stone, is located at the source of the Angara and is considered its beginning.


Baikal is not even an ecosystem, it is a whole world, a world in which everything exists in harmony with each other. It is impossible not to heed the words of P.N. Kozlova, who writes that when a person communicates with nature, he becomes cleaner, his soul becomes whole and sensitive.

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BAIKAL - UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE FACILITY

The problem of preserving the natural heritage has always existed, sometimes becoming quite acute. The relevance of studying this topic is that you need to know the unique features of this lake, give an idea of \u200b\u200bthe planetary significance of its conservation, and also form a careful and responsible attitude of the population.

The study of this issue began with a visit to the Baikal Limnological Museum. The scientific direction of the museum is to study the features of the evolution of the ecosystem of Lake Baikal. The museum provides in-depth information about the history of the origin and existence of Lake Baikal, presents the biological diversity of the lake, the relationship of abiotic and biotic factors, introduces specially protected areas, talks about the study of the lake, and even makes it possible to virtually dive to the bottom of Lake Baikal. natural heritage of Baikal planetary

The list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Russia includes 26 objects, including: 16 of them are included in the list according to cultural criteria, 10 objects according to natural ones.

In 2016, it will be 20 years since the inclusion of Lake Baikal in the World Natural Heritage List. This happened on December 5, 1996. To be included in the World Natural Heritage List, a candidate object must satisfy at least one of the four criteria, Baikal satisfies all four. Out of a thousand natural objects contained in the List, a little more than a dozen satisfy all four criteria.

Baikal is an exceptional natural beauty; it represents a number of unique phenomena.

Baikal is the deepest lake on the planet, its depth is 1637 m., The transparency of the water is about 40 m. It is ten times more than in other lakes. For example, in the Caspian, the transparency of water is 25 m, in Issyk-Kul - 20 m. In Baikal, a silver coin thrown into the water can be traced to a depth of 30-40 m.

One of the oldest lakes on the planet, its age is 25 - 30 million years. On Baikal, unlike many of the oldest lakes in the world, there are no signs of aging. On the contrary, scientists suggest that Baikal is an emerging ocean. This is confirmed by the fact that its shores diverge at a speed of up to 2 cm per year, similar to how the continents of Africa and South America diverge.

In the lake, which is known as the “Galapagos of Russia”, due to its ancient age and isolation, a unique freshwater ecosystem has formed, the study of which is of lasting importance for understanding the evolution of life on Earth. The lake is home to 1340 species of animals (745 are endemic) and 570 species of plants (150 are endemic). This species diversity has developed due to the high oxygen content in the water.

After the inclusion of Lake Baikal in the World Natural Heritage List, special attention is paid to its ecological status. Currently, there are two large administrative regions of Russia - the Irkutsk Region and the Republic of Buryatia - on the territory of the drainage basin of Lake Baikal. Having industrial and agricultural potential, these entities determine the current state of the lake’s ecosystem, as a source of pollution.

The lake was at risk several times, not so long ago it was planned to lay an oil pipeline through the Baikal catchment basin and five other territories with protected status, but this project did not pass the state environmental review.

Today there is a new threat over Baikal: the construction of a hydroelectric power station planned by Mongolia on the Selenga and its tributaries, which could lead to the degradation of Lake Baikal. Selenga - the largest river flowing into the lake, provides up to 80% of the flow of water into the lake. The construction of dams on the river will significantly change the ecosystem of the river, the consequences are only negative - there will be a deterioration in water quality and a deterioration in water supply conditions, degradation of wetlands, loss of geological stability and an increased risk of landslides, erosion, and earthquakes.

The Limnological Institute highlights a new problem: pollution of the coastal zone of Lake Baikal, which was announced by Irkutsk scientists in 2014, has taken on a catastrophic scale in the full sense of the word. About 60% of the lake’s coast is covered with spiroga-algae, which is characteristic of warm, standing reservoirs, which had never been encountered in Baikal before, his closest relative lives in the sewage discharge area of \u200b\u200bthe Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill.

They cover almost 1 km of the coast with a thick layer with a strip 2-3 meters wide, producing an unpleasant odor. Residents of the village of Maksimikha note the disappearance of coastal whitefish, which spawns near the coast, this is due to the fact that the decomposition of algae in the coastal strip is incompatible with the reproduction of fish and other inhabitants of Lake Baikal, since oxygen is consumed by microorganisms, and its content in water decreases sharply. As a result of a decrease in the oxygen content in water, the death of organisms in need of oxygen occurs - zooplankton, fish, and its laid eggs.

Fertilizer minerals can enter Baikal with liquid household waste (nitrogen and phosphorus), sewage (nitrogen), detergents (washing powder contains phosphorus salts), and industrial waste from pulp and paper industries. Decaying biomass, organic waste, gives secondary pollution. Eutrophication is the process by which lakes gradually become swamps and do not usually live long.

Therefore, we can conclude that the lake is currently experiencing increased anthropogenic stress.

Moreover, the development of spirogyra poses a danger to humans. The fields of rotting algae attract the masses of gulls and other birds, with their feces intestinal bacteria enter them and actively multiply, which are washed away into the lake during storms. This is the so-called secondary sanitary pollution, something that employees of the Limnological Institute have already diagnosed.

Perhaps it is precisely with the appearance of spirogyra in the lake that the mass death of sponges, a natural filter of Baikal water, is associated. Algae takes the place of spawning grounds of yellow-winged fish, and it, in turn, is the favorite food of Baikal omul. That is, the consequences can affect the population of the latter. The sponges first die out, and then colonies of blue-green bacteria appear on them, and some genera of these bacteria can produce toxins of various effects, including those that affect the central nervous system and the liver, for example, they can cause cirrhosis.

Baikal is a unique natural complex of interest both as an object of scientific research and as an unconditional aesthetic value.

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