Maloe More (russian: Малое Море; in English literally ''the Small Sea'') is a

strait A strait is an oceanic landform connecting two seas or two other large areas of water. The surface water generally flows at the same elevation on both sides and through the strait in either direction. Most commonly, it is a narrow ocean channe ...

Lake Baikal Lake Baikal (, russian: Oзеро Байкал, Ozero Baykal ); mn, Байгал нуур, Baigal nuur) is a rift lake in Russia. It is situated in southern Siberia, between the federal subjects of Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the Repu ...

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 ...

. It separates the largest island of the lake,

Olkhon Island Olkhon ( rus, Ольхо́н, also transliterated as Olchon; bua, Ойхон, ''Oikhon'') is the third-largest lake island in the world. It is by far the largest island in Lake Baikal in eastern Siberia, with an area of . Structurally, it const ...

, from the western shore of Baikal. The length of the strait is about 70 km and width 5 – 16 km. The maximum depth is 210 m in the northern part where the strait opens to the open Baikal.Maloe More. Ostrov Olkhon
In the south, Maloe More strait is connected through the narrow

Olkhon Gate Olkhon ( rus, Ольхо́н, also transliterated as Olchon; bua, Ойхон, ''Oikhon'') is the third-largest lake island in the world. It is by far the largest island in Lake Baikal in eastern Siberia, with an area of . Structurally, it const ...

strait to the central part of the lake. The

Tryokhgolovy Golets Tryokhgolovy Golets (russian: Трёхголовый Голец) is the highest peak in the Primorsky Range, Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. Geography Tryokhgolovy Golets, meaning "Three-headed Golets" is a high ‘’golets’’ type of mountain with ...

, highest peak of the

Primorsky Range The Primorsky Range (russian: Приморский хребет) is a range of mountains in Southern Siberia, part of the South Siberian Mountains. Administratively the range belongs to the Irkutsk Oblast, Russian Federation. The settlement of Bu ...

, rises on the continental side of the strait. The waters of Maloe More are heated up to 20-25 degrees Celsius during summer. Maloe More is rich in fish. It is inhabited by

sturgeon Sturgeon is the common name for the 27 species of fish belonging to the family Acipenseridae. The earliest sturgeon fossils date to the Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretace ...

, golomyanka, Baikal omul, grayling, whitefish,

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 Percif ...

and

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 ...

. The islands of Ogoy, Zamogoy, Izhilhey, Oltrec and Khibin, are located in the Maloe More. The rivers Sarma, Kurma, etc. flow into the Small Sea. The strait is a result of millions of years of

tectonic Tectonics (; ) are the processes that control the structure and properties of the Earth's crust and its evolution through time. These include the processes of mountain building, the growth and behavior of the strong, old cores of continents k ...

movement, resulting in the hollowing of the channel between the land and the block of stone forming the Olkhon Island.

References

{{coord, 53.25, N, 107.25028, E, display=title Straits of Russia Bodies of water of Irkutsk Oblast Lake Baikal