Chöwsgöl Nuur
| Chöwsgöl Nuur | ||
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| Chöwsgöl Nuur | ||
| Geographical location | Chöwsgöl-Aimag ( Mongolia ) | |
| Drain | Egiin Gol → Selenga | |
| Data | ||
| Coordinates | 51 ° 6 ′ N , 100 ° 30 ′ E | |
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| Altitude above sea level | 1624 m | |
| surface | 2 760 km² | |
| length | 136 km | |
| width | 40 km | |
| Maximum depth | 262 m | |
The Chöwsgöl Nuur or Chöwsgöl Dalai ( Mongolian Хөвсгөл Нуур , Chöwsgölsee or Хөвсгөл Далай , Chöwsgöl-Meer ) is a lake in Mongolia . It is the second largest lake in the country by area (behind the Uws Nuur ) and the largest by volume. It is important as a drinking water reservoir and as a tourist destination. The signature in classical Mongolian script : 
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Colloquially, the lake is also called Dalai Eedsch ( Mongol . Далай ээж - "Mother Sea").
geography
The Chöwsgöl Nuur is located in the northwest of Mongolia, only a few kilometers south of the Russian border at the southeast end of the Eastern Sayan . The lake is 136 km long, between 20 and 40 km wide and a maximum of 262 m deep. This makes it the deepest lake in the country. After Lake Baikal , it has the second largest freshwater reservoir in Asia with 70% of the drinking water supply in Mongolia and 0.4% of the world's drinking water supply. Its mean water level is 1624 m above sea level. Four partly wooded, partly rocky islands are located in the lake and offer breeding and nesting sites for many birds. The largest is 9 km long and 6 km² in size.
Its catchment area is relatively small; therefore it is fed by 46, but only by small tributaries . The outflow from Chöwsgöl Nuur is at the southern end and runs in a south-easterly direction over the Egiin Gol to the Selenga , which flows into Lake Baikal. The water overcomes a distance of 1000 km and a difference in altitude of 1169 m, although the distance between the two lakes is only about 200 km (as the crow flies ).
The lake is surrounded by larch forests, mountain ranges and mountain ranges. The highest mountain is the Munku Sardyk ( 3492 m ), the summit of which rises north of the lake directly on the Russian-Mongolian border.
In winter the lake freezes completely. The ice cover then becomes 1–1.5 m thick, so that it can also carry trucks , which is why shortcuts on the ice are used for some transport routes. However, there are always break-ins, so that, according to the locals, some vehicles are lying on the ground.
Ecological importance
Chöwsgöl Nuur is one of 17 lakes in the world with an age of more than 2 million years. It is the most important freshwater reservoir in Mongolia. Its water is potable without treatment and provides a habitat for several large species of fish, including taimen , Siberian whitefish , Siberian Grayling , Lenok ( Brachymystax lenok ), Dog Fish , cisco , perch . In a dry land, where most of the lakes contain salt water, a large freshwater lake is considered sacred.
The area around the lake is designated as a national park and strictly protected. The greater mountain area around the lake represents an extensive transition zone between the Central Asian steppe and the Siberian taiga.
The fauna at the lake is very diverse and includes Siberian ibex , Argali sheep , elk , wolf , musk deer , brown bear , reindeer as well as wolverine and sable .
Economical meaning
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The only relevant branch of the economy is tourism , which has been increasing since the beginning of the millennium , which manifests itself in the yurt camps sprouting up like mushrooms on the south-west bank and in the whole national park in an increased amount of garbage. Most of the holiday groups come from South Korea (one-week annual holiday in the camp), from Europe (riding holidays) and from the capital Ulaanbaatar (family recreation with fishing , paddling, swimming, but also visiting medicinal springs and even hot springs, the latter, however, on the less frequented east bank ). One of the first yurt camps on the west bank has been staging an annual marathon since 1999, which attracts many participants from all over the world and has contributed significantly to the tourist development of the region.
Despite increasing tourism, hardly a sailing or motorboat gets lost on the lake, so that you can really get the impression of untouched nature here.
Until now, the journey from Mörön , the capital of the Chöwsgöl-Aimag (administrative district) and the last domestic airport, was only possible on a difficult runway with all-wheel-drive transporters, but an asphalt road built in 2008 right up to the lake ensures a faster connection - and causes displeasure the environmentalists, because wide aisles through the mountain taiga threaten the biodiversity of fauna and flora.
Shipping traffic on the lake has existed since 1913. The only rusty steamer that is now that is left can only be rented on demand.
A former geological camp 30 km north of Chatgal on the west bank of the lake testifies to phosphorite mining plans from Soviet times that were later abandoned for environmental reasons and now serves as a rest home.
Many nomads set up their summer camp on the shores of the lake and supply the tourist camps with dairy products, handicrafts and mounts and offer their services as guides. In some cases, ecologically-minded tour operators give repairs and new manufacture of saddle equipment and the like over the winter. in order to provide the nomads with additional sources of income. Some families of the otherwise withdrawn Tuvinian reindeer herders who live much further north-west beyond the plateau , who are called "Tsaatan" or "reindeer people" by the Mongols, but prefer to call themselves "Taiga people", set up their summer camp near the lake and offer riding on reindeer, allow tourists to film themselves with the animals or stage pseudo- shamanistic rituals , sometimes for a horrific fee.
In winter, the nomads move to the more protected valleys of the surrounding mountains. Some yurt camps then offer fishing and sledding on the frozen lake.
Movie
The increasing popularity of Lake Chöwsgöl and the Chöwsgöl National Park is also reflected in the fact that the final part of the film Liu San - Guardian of Life , in the original Le Concile de Pierre (2006), by Guillaume Nicloux , which is about a myth the seed goes, plays there.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Forkert / Stelling, p. 344
- ↑ The film is available on DVD from Concorde Home Entertainment, order no. 2596, available.
literature
- Fred Forkert / Barbara Stelling, Mongolia , Reise Know-How Verlag, Bielefeld 1997, 4th, completely updated and redesigned edition 2003, ISBN 3-8317-1165-8
