Sarygamysh Lake

The Sarykamysch Lake ( Turkmen Sarygamyş köli, uzbek Sariqamish ko'li, russ Сарыкамышское озеро -. Sarykamyschskoje Ozero ) is a slightly salty, in its present form anthropogenic incurred inland sea in Central Asia, south-west of the Aral Sea on the border between Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan lies.

The east of Ustyurt plateau located Sarykamysch Valley, whose deepest point is approximately 40 m below sea level, was constantly periodically filled with water in ancient times, when the Amu Darya River changed its course entirely or with one arm in her direction, as in 14th to 16th century, when the water level is 50-62 m above sea level. NN reached. By about the middle of the 1st millennium BC had the sink with the Usboi also have a drain to the Caspian Sea. In the summer of 1878, the waters of the Amu Darya River Valley reached the last time in a natural way. After that remained strong in the central part of the valley only several small ( less than 100 km2) salty lakes left.

Due to the rapid expansion of irrigation of Amurdarja Valley during the Soviet Union to increase the cultivation of cotton and related structural measures it came in 1971 to re- breakthrough of Amudarya water through their old arm Darjalyk ( Дарьялык ) in the Sarykamyschsenke which does not was inhibited.

The since then in contrast to the rapidly shrinking Aral Sea continuously enlarging Lake today has an area of ​​over 5,000 km2. The water level is more than 5 m above sea level. NN.

The sea is used to a large extent on the agricultural effluents containing in particular pesticides and herbicides, is fed. Despite this ecological problem of lake fishing is used economically.

• See in Asia
• Lake in Turkmenistan
• See in Uzbekistan
• Conservation
• Karakalpakstan
• Dasoguz Welaýaty