Lakes of Kyrgyzstan

Academy of Tourism 
 
 
 
 

Project 
 

Lakes of Kyrgyzstan 
 
 
 
 

                                                                                          
 
 
 

Done by: N. Muravjeva

                                                                                                              AT-43-4

                                                                                     Checked by: K. Medetbekova 
 
 

Bishkek - 2011 

Content:

INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………….3 

CHAPTER 1. ESSENCE OF LAKE…………………….…………………………6

    1.1 Meaning of the word ‘lake’ and origin of natural lakes……………………..6

1.2 Types of lakes9 
 

CHAPTER 2. LAKES OF KYRGYZSTAN11

   2.1 Lakes of a tectonic origin11

2.2 Lakes завального origin19

   2.3 Lakes of a glacial origin.26 

CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………..30 

THE LIST OF REFERENCES……………………………………………………32 
 
 

 

Introduction

    Water resources of Kyrgyzstan are one of the main national wealth playing the major role in ability to live of the person, formation of an animal and flora, development of productive forces not only our republic, but also of some areas of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, China.

    In Kyrgyz there is a saying: «Эл башы болбой, суу башы бол». In English it means: «not be at the head of the people and be at the head of water». The considerable stocks of fresh water fed with glaciers, and also high mountains - here compound water resources of the country.

    Huge volumes of water resources are concentrated in 6580 glaciers which stocks make about 760 billion in cubic meter. Water in glaciers differs high quality, a low mineralization and is suitable for an irrigation and water supply. The total area of all glaciers exceeds 8 thousand in sq. m. the largest square of a freezing in a river basin the Sary-jazz. Glaciers occupy 4,2 % of all territory of Kyrgyzstan. During the summer period at the expense of a glacial drain the considerable part of water resources of the rivers of high-mountainous areas is formed.

Pic. 1

    The total amount of water consumed in republic is estimated in 10-12 billion in cubic m. a year.

    In КR are more than 2000 rivers in length over 10 km, and their general length makes almost 35 thousand in km.

    Huge value in development and functioning of an economic complex, escalating of water-power resources, preservation of the environment, formation of effective water balance lakes have, water basins and ponds. The considerable volume of water is concentrated in lakes, small ponds, and water basins. Their total area makes 6836 sq. km. mainly lakes are located in high mountains zone - 3-4 thousand in m above sea level.

During the Soviet period such major interstate water economic objects, as Toktogulsky, Kurpsajsky, Tash-Kumyrsky, Shamaldy-Sajsky, Uch-Kurgan water-power knots, the Kirov, Najmansky water basins, the Chumyshsky dam, the Big Chujsky channel and other objects are constructed.

    In КR there is a considerable volume of underground waters. The general operational resources of underground waters are estimated approximately in 435 cubic km/s.

Thus, in Kyrgyzstan the interconnected, effective enough water and power infrastructure providing rational functioning of this major complex (the cascade of dams of Hydroelectric Power Station, water basins of long-term and seasonal regulation, irrigational constructions and substations) was generated. It is established, though also insufficiently effective order of water division between republics of the central-Asian region which is based on a seasonal exchange of water resources, the electric power and organic energy carriers. Abundantly clear that the water-power problem is characteristic not only for КR, but also for all Central-Asian region. The permission of these problems lies not only in an economic plane, but in the sociopolitical.

    Now water resources still are used insufficiently effectively practically in all water consuming branches of economy, especially in irrigated agriculture. The general losses reach an order of 35-37 % from volume of water giving to agriculture. In the industry the system of turnaround and repeatedly-consecutive water supply is a little used. Many losses in household sector.

    In water balance excess of volume of water resources formed in republic over volume of their consumption in territory of Kyrgyzstan prevails, therefore they have interstate value. At total amount of a drain of year of 57.3 billion abounding in water in cubic m. outflow for republic limits makes about 45 billion in cubic m., or 78 %. Thus from total amount of consumption of fresh water in republic 89 %, in the industry more than 6 %, household sector - about 3 % and other part - in other kinds of economic activities are spent for an irrigation almost.

    The purpose of the given work is consideration of large lakes of Kyrgyzstan. To achievement of the given purpose following problems are selected, make definition of concept "lake", and consider classification of lakes, to consider lakes as natural-tourist objects of Kyrgyzstan. 

    The objects of this work are the largest lakes of Kyrgyzstan.

    For a writing of the given work works of domestic scientists in the field of preservation of the environment and hydrobiology, and also educational, scientific, help sources of the information were used. At a work writing the method of the analysis of references on the declared theme has been used. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Chapter 1. Essence of lake

1.1 Meaning of the word ‘lake’ and origin of natural lakes

    A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams, which are usually flowing. However most lakes are fed and drained by rivers and streams.

    Natural lakes are generally found in mountainous areas, rift zones, and areas with ongoing glaciations. Other lakes are found in endorheic basins or along the courses of mature rivers. In some parts of the world there are many lakes because of chaotic drainage patterns left over from the last Ice Age. All lakes are temporary over geologic time scales, as they will slowly fill in with sediments or spill out of the basin containing them.

    Many lakes are artificial and are constructed for industrial or agricultural use, for hydro-electric power generation or domestic water supply, or for aesthetic or recreational purposes.

Etymology, meaning of "lake"

    The word lake comes from Middle English lake ("lake, pond, waterway"), from Old English ("pond, pool, stream"), from Proto-Germanic *lakō ("pond, ditch, slow moving stream"), from the Proto-Indo-European root *leg'- ("to leak, drain"). Cognates include Dutch laak ("lake, pond, and ditch"), Middle Low German lāke ("water pooled in a riverbed, puddle"), German Lache ("pool, puddle"), and Icelandic lækur ("slow flowing stream"). Also related are the English words leak and leach.

    There is considerable uncertainty about defining the difference between lakes and ponds, and no current internationally accepted definition of either term across scientific disciplines or political boundaries exists.  For example, limnologists have defined lakes as water bodies which are simply a larger version of a pond, which have wave action on the shoreline or where wind-induced turbulence plays a major role in mixing the water column. None of these definitions completely excludes ponds and all are difficult to measure. For this reason there has been increasing use made of simple size-based definitions to separate ponds and lakes. One definition of lake is a body of water of 2 hectares (5 acres) or more in area, however others have defined lakes as water bodies of 5 hectares (12 acres) and above or 8 hectares (20 acres) and above.  

Origin of natural lakes

    There are a number of natural processes that can form lakes. A recent tectonic uplift of a mountain range can create bowl-shaped depressions that accumulate water and form lakes. The advance and retreat of glaciers can scrape depressions in the surface where water accumulates; such lakes are common in Scandinavia, Patagonia, Siberia and Canada. The most notable examples are probably the Great Lakes of North America.

    Lakes can also form by means of landslides or by glacial blockages. An example of the latter occurred during the last ice age in the U.S. state of Washington, when a huge lake formed behind a glacial flow; when the ice retreated, the result was an immense flood that created the Dry Falls at Sun Lakes, Washington.

    Salt lakes (also called saline lakes) can form where there is no natural outlet or where the water evaporates rapidly and the drainage surface of the water table has a higher-than-normal salt content. Examples of salt lakes include Great Salt Lake, the Aral Sea and the Dead Sea.

    Small, crescent-shaped lakes called oxbow lakes can form in river valleys as a result of meandering. The slow-moving river forms a sinuous shape as the outer sides of bends are eroded away more rapidly than the inner side. Eventually a horseshoe bend is formed and the river cuts through the narrow neck. This new passage then forms the main passage for the river and the ends of the bend become silted up, thus forming a bow-shaped lake.

    Crater lakes are formed in volcanic craters and calderas which fill up with precipitation more rapidly than they empty via evaporation. Sometimes the latter are called caldera lakes, although often no distinction is made. An example is Crater Lake in Oregon, located within the caldera of Mount Mazama. The caldera was created in a massive volcanic eruption that led to the subsidence of Mount Mazama around 4860 BC.

Gloe Lakes are freshwater lakes that have emerged when the water they consist of has been separated, not considerably long before, from the sea as a consequence of post-glacial rebound.

    Some lakes, such as Lake Jackson in Florida, USA, come into existence as a result of sinkhole activity.

    Lake Vostok is a sub glacial lake in Antarctica, possibly the largest in the world. The pressure from the ice atop it and its internal chemical composition mean that, if the lake were drilled into, a fissure could result that would spray somewhat like a geyser.

    Most lakes are geologically young and shrinking since the natural results of erosion will tend to wear away the sides and fill the basin. Exceptions are those such as Lake Baikal and Lake Tanganyika that lie along continental rift zones and are created by the crust's subsidence as two plates are pulled apart. These lakes are the oldest and deepest in the world. Lake Baikal, which is 25-30 million years old, is deepening at a faster rate than it is being filled by erosion and may be destined over millions of years to become attached to the global ocean. The Red Sea, for example, is thought to have originated as a rift valley lake.

1.2 Types of lakes

• Per glacial Lake: Part of the lake's margin is formed by an ice sheet, ice cap or glacier, the ice having obstructed the natural drainage of the land.
• Sub glacial Lake: A lake which is permanently covered by ice. They can occur under glaciers, ice caps or ice sheets. There are many such lakes, but Lake Vostok in Antarctica is by far the largest. They are kept liquid because the overlying ice acts as a thermal retaining energy introduced to its underside by friction, by water percolating through crevasses, by the pressure from the mass of the ice sheet above or by geothermal heating below.
• Glacial Lake: a lake with origins in a melted glacier, such as a kettle lake.
• Artificial Lake: A lake created by flooding land behind a dam, called an impoundment or reservoir, by deliberate human excavation, or by the flooding of an excavation incident to a mineral-extraction operation such as an open pit mine or quarry. Some of the world's largest lakes are reservoirs like Hirakud Dam in India.
• Endorheic Lake: terminal or closed: A lake which has no significant outflow, either through rivers or underground diffusion. Any water within an endorheic basin leaves the system only through evaporation or seepage. These lakes, such as Lake Eyre in central Australia or the Aral Sea in central Asia, are most common in desert locations.
• Meromictic Lake: a lake which has layers of water which do not intermix. The deepest layer of water in such a lake does not contain any dissolved oxygen. The layers of sediment at the bottom of a meromictic lake remain relatively undisturbed because there are no living aerobic organisms.
• Fjord Lake: a lake in a glacially eroded valley that has been eroded below sea level.
• Oxbow Lake: A lake which is formed when a wide meander from a stream or a river is cut off to form a lake. They are called "oxbow" lakes due to the distinctive curved shape that results from this process.
• Rift lake or sag pond: A lake which forms as a result of subsidence along a geological fault in the Earth's tectonic plates. Examples include the Rift Valley lakes of eastern Africa and Lake Baikal in Siberia.
• Underground Lake: A lake which is formed under the surface of the Earth's crust. Such a lake may be associated with caves, aquifers or springs.
• Crater Lake: A lake which forms in a volcanic caldera or crater after the volcano has been inactive for some time. Water in this type of lake may be fresh or highly acidic, and may contain various dissolved minerals. Some also have geothermal activity, especially if the volcano is merely dormant rather than extinct.
• Lava lake: A pool of molten lava contained in a volcanic crater or other depression. Lava lakes that have partly or completely solidified are also referred to as lava lakes.
• Former: A lake which is no longer in existence. Such lakes include prehistoric lakes and lakes which have permanently dried up through evaporation or human intervention. Owens in California, USA, is an example of a former lake. Former lakes are a common feature of the Basin and Range area of southwestern North America.
• Ephemeral lake: A seasonal lake that exists as a body of water during only part of the year.
• Intermittent lake: A lake with no water during a part of the year.
• Shrunken: Closely related to former lakes, a shrunken lake is one which has drastically decreased in size over geological time. Lake Agassiz, which once covered much of central North America, is a good example of a shrunken lake. Two notable remnants of this lake are Lake Winnipeg and Lake Winnipegosis.