Lake Kulunda or Kulundinskoye (russian: Кулундинское озеро) is a lake in the southern part of the

West Siberian Plain The West Siberian Plain (russian: За́падно-Сиби́рская равни́на ''Zapadno-Sibirskaya ravnina'') is a large plain that occupies the western portion of Siberia, between the Ural Mountains in the west and the Yenisei River ...

Altai Krai Altai Krai (russian: Алта́йский край, r=Altaysky kray, p=ɐlˈtajskʲɪj kraj) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (a krai). It borders clockwise from the west, Kazakhstan (East Kazakhstan Region and Pavlodar ...

, south-central

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. The

Kulunda Kulunda (russian: Кулунда) is a rural locality (a selo) and the administrative center of Kulundinsky District of Altai Krai, Russia. Population: It is located on the Kazakhstan–Russia border. Geography The village is located in the are ...

and Suetka rivers flow into the lake, which is connected by a channel with

Lake Kuchuk Lake Kuchuk or Kuchukskoye (russian: Кучукское озеро) is a bittern salt lake in the southern part of the West Siberian Plain, Blagoveshchensky District, Altai Krai, south-central Russia. Its waters are briny, containing sodium sul ...

to the south. The nearest town is Blagoveshchenka.

Google Earth Google Earth is a computer program that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satellite images, aerial photography, and geog ...

Geography

Lake Kulunda is the largest lake in Altai Krai. It is an

endorheic An endorheic basin (; also spelled endoreic basin or endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water, such as rivers or oceans, but drainage converges instead into lakes ...

lake located in the eastern side of the

Kulunda Plain The Kulunda Steppe or Kulunda Plain (russian: Кулундинская равнина, kk, Құлынды даласы, ''Qūlyndy dalasy'') is an alluvial plain in Russia and Kazakhstan. It is an important agricultural region in Western Sibe ...

, near the western limit of the

Ob Plateau The Ob Plateau ( rus, Приобское плато, ''Priobskoye Plato''), is one of the great plateaus of Siberia. Administratively it falls within Altai Krai and Novosibirsk Oblast, Siberian Federal District, Russia. The plateau is named after ...

. This

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 ...

, along with many other lakes in the region, exhibits a wide array of colors. The variations in color suggest that each lake is at a different stage of

eutrophication Eutrophication is the process by which an entire body of water, or parts of it, becomes progressively enriched with minerals and nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus. It has also been defined as "nutrient-induced increase in phytopla ...

. Kuchuk, the lake immediately south of Lake Kulunda is mauve-colored, contrasting with the oval, dark blue lake along the northwest edge of the photograph. The lake has no outlets and two deltas can be observed along the eastern side of the lake. The white areas are salty minerals that were deposited on the surface as water

evaporated Evaporation is a type of vaporization that occurs on the surface of a liquid as it changes into the gas phase. High concentration of the evaporating substance in the surrounding gas significantly slows down evaporation, such as when humidi ...

rendering the water

hypersaline A hypersaline lake is a landlocked body of water that contains significant concentrations of sodium chloride, brines, and other salts, with saline levels surpassing that of ocean water (3.5%, i.e. ). Specific microbial species can thrive in h ...

, with a mineralization of 111.5 g/L, suitable for a native population of brine shrimp (

Artemia ''Artemia'' is a genus of aquatic crustaceans also known as brine shrimp. It is the only genus in the family Artemiidae. The first historical record of the existence of ''Artemia'' dates back to the first half of the 10th century AD from Urmia La ...

sp.). A well-established shelter belt system (a series of three parallel lines adjoining end to end) runs generally north-south along the eastern side of Lake Kulunda to form a manmade barrier to help protect against wind

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is distin ...

. The cultivated field patterns nearby are large and roughly rectangular in shape.

References

External links

*
National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Biochemichal Composition of Artemia Cysts Used as Food for Juvenile Fish from Different Hypersaline Lakes of the Altai Territory
Lakes of Altai Krai Endorheic lakes of Asia West Siberian Plain {{AltaiKrai-geo-stub

Geography

See also

References

External links