Issyk Kul

The Issyk Kul ( Kyrgyz Ысыккөл / Issyk Kul " hot lake "; Russian Иссык-Куль/Issyk-Kul ) is the largest lake in Kyrgyzstan (Central Asia ).

After the South American Lake Titicaca is located in the Tianshan Mountains lake with 6236 km ² area is the second largest mountain lake in the world. It is located in the territory of Issyk Kul, is 182 km long, 60 km wide, up to 668 m deep and is located 1,609 m above sea level. This is called the lake and the "heart of the Tianshan ". North of the lake lies the mountain range of Kungej Alatau, south is the chain of Terskey Alatau.

Special

The Issyk Kul never freezes despite an air temperature of up to -20 ° C in winter. This is probably because that the rapid mixing between surface water and deep water ( with a temperature of > 4 ° C ) in winter prevents cooling of the surface to the freezing point. In addition, the temperature of the maximum density of the water is due to the salt content (about 6 g / kg) of 4 ° C (fresh ) is reduced to ≈ 2.6 ° C, which makes the cooling of the water body and hence the freezing. Other reasons for the lack of ice in the winter and the great depth or the occurrence of warm springs are frequently cited in the lake bottom; However, these conditions are fulfilled in other lakes, but freeze in winter (eg Lake Baikal ). The lake has several tributaries but no outlet. Over longer periods, the water level fluctuates therefore strongly influenced by local climate changes.

Use

The once rich in fish pond is both nature reserve and recreation area. On the shore or in the vicinity of the lake are the towns of Karakol and Cholpon. The lake is also an arena of Chingiz Aitmatov novels. On the shore at Cholpon prehistoric petroglyphs were discovered, also have been found remains of an ancient submerged city in the Issyk Kul.

During the time of the Kyrgyz SSR of the lake from the Soviet military was used to test torpedoes and torpedo control systems; large water and riparian areas were military intelligence and restricted zones. In March 2008, the Kyrgyz government announced that 866 acres of the peninsula Karabulan be leased for an indefinite period to the Russian Navy, which will take up their weapons testing there again. The lease should be about 4.5 million U.S. dollars per year.

Fauna

The original fish fauna of the Issyk Kul consists mainly of fish from the family Cyprinidae. These are in detail the gudgeon ( gobio Gobio ), asp ( Leuciscus aspius ), Leuciscus Leuciscus bergi and schmidti, Gymnodiptychus dybowskii and Phoxinus issykkulensis, the stone moroko ( Pseudorasbora parva ) and Schizothorax pseudoaksaiensis issykkuli that Bachschmerlen Triplophysa dorsalis, Triplophysa pedaschenkoi and Triplophysa ulacholica, as well as the only non carp fish of the Southern nine -spined stickleback ( Pungitius platygaster ). Introduced by man, the carp bream ( Abramis brama ), Alburnoides taeniatus, Giebel (Carassius gibelio ), carp ( Cyprinus carpio) and tench ( Tinca tinca ), the salmon fish whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus ), cisco (Coregonus migratorius ), rainbow trout ( Oncorhynchus mykiss) and Salmo ischchan, and walleye ( Sander lucioperca ) from the perch family.

Pictures

Yurt camp on the Issyk Kul

Beach at Issyk Kul

Rocks on a mountainside in Cholpon with petroglyphs

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