Saumalkol ( kk, Саумалкөл; russian: Саумалколь) is a

salt lake A salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of water that has a concentration of salts (typically sodium chloride) and other dissolved minerals significantly higher than most lakes (often defined as at least three grams of salt per litre). ...

Karkaraly District Karkaraly District ( kk, Қарқаралы ауданы, ) is a district of Karaganda Region in central Kazakhstan. The administrative center of the district is the town of Karkaraly. As of 2019, the district is home to a population of 36,025 peop ...

, Karaganda Region,

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

. The lake is located to the northwest of Karkaraly city. The nearest inhabited place is Saumalkol railway station to the southwest. The lake is a

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

part of the

Korgalzhyn Nature Reserve Korgalzhyn State Nature Reserve ( kk, Қорғалжын мемлекеттік табиғи қорығы, ''Qorğaljyn memlekettık tabiği qoryğy'') is a protected area in Aqmola and Karaganda regions of Kazakhstan, located west of the city of ...

Geography

Saumalkol is an

endorheic lake An endorheic lake (also called a sink lake or terminal lake) is a collection of water within an endorheic basin, or sink, with no evident outlet. Endorheic lakes are generally saline as a result of being unable to get rid of solutes left in the l ...

in the central

Kazakh Uplands The Kazakh Uplands ( kk, Сарыарқа, ''Saryarqa'' - "Yellow Ridge", russian: Казахский мелкосопочник, Kazakhskiy Melkosopochnik), also known as the Kazakh Hummocks, is a large peneplain formation extending throughout th ...

. It lies at the feet of the southern slopes of the Ayr Mountains. Located to the west of the western end of lake Karasor, it is the second largest of the lakes of a vast depression. The southern shore of the lake is flat, but the northern is steep with up to high cliffs. The lake is shallow, with a maximum depth of to . Its water is salty and

hard Hard may refer to: * Hardness, resistance of physical materials to deformation or fracture * Hard water, water with high mineral content Arts and entertainment * ''Hard'' (TV series), a French TV series * Hard (band), a Hungarian hard rock supe ...

and the bottom of the lake is muddy, having a smell of

hydrogen sulfide Hydrogen sulfide is a chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless chalcogen-hydride gas, and is poisonous, corrosive, and flammable, with trace amounts in ambient atmosphere having a characteristic foul odor of rotten eggs. The unde ...

. The lake is fed mainly by snow and groundwater. Two rivers having their sources in the Ayr Mountains, a long and a long one, flow from the northwest into the lake. They dry up in the summer. There is a small peninsula in the northern shore.

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 ...

Saumalkol Lake - BirdLife Data Zone
/ref>

Flora and fauna

Steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the temperate grasslands, ...

vegetation grows in the area surrounding the lake. There is a narrow belt of reeds along the shoreline. There are no fish in the waters. The

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...

white-headed duck The white-headed duck (''Oxyura leucocephala'') is a small diving duck some long. The male has a white head with black crown, a blue bill, and reddish-grey plumage. The female has a dark bill and rather duller colouring. Its breeding habitat is ...

Record numbers of Endangered White-headed ducks counted in Kazakhstan
/ref> and the

common goldeneye The common goldeneye or simply goldeneye (''Bucephala clangula'') is a medium-sized sea duck of the genus ''Bucephala'', the goldeneyes. Its closest relative is the similar Barrow's goldeneye. The genus name is derived from the Ancient Greek ' ...

are among the migratory bird species found in Saumalkol.Saumalkol Lake - IBA Criteria - BirdLife Data Zone
/ref>

References

External links

Озера и реки Казахстана
(in Russian)
Record numbers of White-headed Duck in KazakhstanBirds of Kazakhstan. Rare Birds Records
Lakes of Kazakhstan Endorheic lakes of Asia Karaganda Region Kazakh Uplands Important Bird Areas of Kazakhstan {{Kazakhstan-geo-stub ru:Саумалколь (озеро, Каршигалинский сельский округ)

Geography

Flora and fauna

See also

References

External links