Lake Chebarkul () is a
lake
A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...
in
Chebarkulsky District,
Chelyabinsk Oblast,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
, on the slopes of the southern
Urals
The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western ...
. The town of
Chebarkul
Chebarkul (russian: Чебарку́ль) is a town in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, located on the shores of Lake Chebarkul, west of Chelyabinsk, the administrative center of the oblast. Population:
Etymology
The name of the town derives from t ...
lies on its eastern shore, and
Chelyabinsk
Chelyabinsk ( rus, Челя́бинск, p=tɕɪˈlʲæbʲɪnsk, a=Ru-Chelyabinsk.ogg; ba, Силәбе, ''Siläbe'') is the administrative center and largest city of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. It is the seventh-largest city in Russia, with a ...
, the
administrative center
An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located.
In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...
of Chelyabinsk Oblast, is located about to the northeast. The name of the lake, and the city of the same name, comes from
Turkic and means "Beautiful, colorful lake."
Mostly fed by
snowmelt
In hydrology, snowmelt is surface runoff produced from melting snow. It can also be used to describe the period or season during which such runoff is produced. Water produced by snowmelt is an important part of the annual water cycle in many par ...
from mountain streams, the lake freezes in November and stays icebound until April. The lake is the source of the Koelga River, which in turn flows into the Uvelka,
Uy,
Tobol
The Tobol (russian: Тобол, kk, Тобыл ''Tobyl'') is a river in Western Siberia (in Kazakhstan and Russia) and the main (left) tributary of the Irtysh. Its length is , and the area of its drainage basin is .
History
The Tobol River wa ...
,
Irtysh
The Irtysh ( otk, 𐰼𐱅𐰾:𐰇𐰏𐰕𐰏, Ertis ügüzüg, mn, Эрчис мөрөн, ''Erchis mörön'', "erchleh", "twirl"; russian: Иртыш; kk, Ертіс, Ertis, ; Chinese: 额尔齐斯河, pinyin: ''É'ěrqísī hé'', Xiao'e ...
, and
Ob Rivers. The Ob finally empties into the
Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceans. It spans an area of approximately and is known as the coldest of all the oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, a ...
.
There are several wooded islands, including Grachev, Golets, the Ribatskies, and Korablik Islands. The Krutik, Marin and Nazarychev peninsulas extend into the lake. Rest homes and
sanatoria
A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal, make healthy'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, are antiquated names for specialised hospitals, for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often ...
are located on the shores.
Lake Chebarkul is the largest of several lakes in the region, which collectively take on the name "Chebarkulsky lakes."
Fish that can be found in the lake include
tench
The tench or doctor fish (''Tinca tinca'') is a fresh- and brackish-water fish of the order Cypriniformes found throughout Eurasia from Western Europe including the British Isles east into Asia as far as the Ob and Yenisei Rivers. It is also ...
,
carp,
crucian carp
The crucian carp (''Carassius carassius'') is a medium-sized member of the common carp family Cyprinidae. It occurs widely in northern European regions. Its name derives from the Low German ''karusse'' or ''karutze'', possibly from Medieval L ...
,
bream
Bream ( ) are species of freshwater and marine fish belonging to a variety of genera including '' Abramis'' (e.g., ''A. brama'', the common bream), '' Acanthopagrus'', ''Argyrops'', '' Blicca'', '' Brama'', '' Chilotilapia'', ''Etelis'', '' L ...
,
pike
Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to:
Fish
* Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus''
* Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes
* ''Esox'', genus of ...
, and
perch
Perch is a common name for fish of the genus ''Perca'', freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which three species occur in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Per ...
.
2013 Chelyabinsk meteorite impact
On 15 February 2013, local fishermen found a hole in the ice where a large fragment from the
2013 Russian meteor event
The Chelyabinsk meteor was a superbolide that entered Earth's atmosphere over the southern Ural region in Russia on 15 February 2013 at about 09:20 YEKT (03:20 UTC). It was caused by an approximately near-Earth asteroid that entered the a ...
likely struck the frozen lake. The hole was circular, and about across.
Police
The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...
immediately cordoned off this site, as well as one other possible impact site in the area of the lake, but scientists and interested people streamed to the area to investigate.
In the days after the impact, black fragments of rock were found around the hole, which scientists from
Ural Federal University
la, Cogitare, agere, consequi!
, mottoeng = ''Think, act, achieve!''
, established = 1920 (established), 2011 (integrated)
, closed =
, type = Public
, affiliation =
, endowment = RU ...
suspect are meteorite fragments, and composed of about 10% iron.
[ News story contains photographs of meteorite fragments.] Months later, divers found a large meteorite fragment on the lakebed, and it was dredged to the surface on October 16, 2013. This fragment weighed about .
Gallery
File:Chebarkul meteorite sample.jpg, Scientists found meteorite samples on the ice of frozen Lake Chebarkul.
File:Chebarkul meteorite sample on lake ice.jpg, The meteorite fragments are about 10% iron.
Further reading
Detailed Russian-language map of the Lake Chebarkul regionPhotos of the meteorite fragments
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chebarkul
Lakes of Chelyabinsk Oblast