Lake Baikal

• 1. Ancient Rift And Deep Water

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  Lake Baikal sits in southern Siberia, Russia, between Irkutsk Oblast and the Republic of Buryatia. It is a rift lake formed by the Earth's crust slowly pulling apart within the Baikal Rift Zone. The fault zone widens about 4 millimeters each year, making it geologically young yet active. Notable earthquakes occur every few years here, and hot springs dot the area. The lake stretches long and wide, holding the largest surface area of any freshwater lake in Asia. Its maximum depth reaches approximately 1,642 meters below sea level. This makes it the deepest lake on Earth. The bottom lies some 3,500 meters below the surface when counting sediment layers. Scientists estimate the lake is between 25 to 30 million years old. This age makes it the most ancient lake in geological history. No other large high-latitude lake has sediments that escaped being scoured by continental ice sheets. Russian, U.S., and Japanese teams drilled deep cores into the lake bed during the 1990s. These studies provided a detailed record of climate variation over the past 6.7 million years. The lake contains around 19 percent of the unfrozen fresh water on the planet. That volume exceeds all of North America's Great Lakes combined.

• 2. Endemic Life And Crustaceans

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  Human habitation near Lake Baikal dates back at least 24,000 years. Remains of a young male known as Mal'ta Boy were discovered near the village of Mal'ta. The Kurykans inhabited the area during the sixth century and gave the lake a name meaning much water. Han dynasty armies pursued Xiongnu forces from the second century BC to the first century AD. They called the lake a huge sea and designated it the North Sea. Russian expansion into the Buryat area occurred between 1628 and 1658. Pyotr Beketov first encountered a group of Buryats in 1628 while collecting tribute. Yakov Khripunov set off from Tomsk in 1629 seeking a rumored silver mine. His men plundered both Russians and natives before leaving due to food shortages. Maksim Perfilyev built an ostrog at Bratsk in 1631. The settlement was destroyed in 1634 but restored by a punitive expedition two years later. Kurbat Ivanov became the first European to see Lake Baikal and Olkhon Island in 1643. He sent half his party under Skorokhodov to winter on the Barguzin River. Ivan Pokhabov traveled up the Angara to reach Baikal around 1644. The Trans-Siberian Railway construction took place between 1896

• 3. Tribes And Imperial Expansion

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  and 1902. Engineers built 200 bridges and 33 tunnels along the southwestern end of the lake. A train ferry named SS Baikal transported railcars across the water until the railway finished.

  Russia deployed two small submersibles, Mir-1 and Mir-2, to descend into the lake in July 2008. They reached depths of approximately 1,000 meters to conduct geological and biological tests. Vladimir Putin joined Russian scientist Artur Chilingarov aboard one of these vessels. Anatoly Sagalevich holds the world record for deepest freshwater dive at 1,068 meters using a Pisces submersible in 1990. Since 1993, neutrino research has operated within the Baikal Deep Underwater Neutrino Telescope. The NT-200 array sits 1 kilometer from shore at a depth of 1,000 meters. It consists of 192 optical modules detecting particles passing through the ice-covered water. Hydrothermal vents with water temperatures around 4 degrees Celsius exist in deep sections. These vents have little effect on overall lake temperature due to its massive volume. Stormy weather creates waves as high as 5 meters during summer and autumn months. Regular winds blow through the rift valley year-round. The surface freezes for about four to five months each winter.

  Environmentalists have acknowledged pollution at Lake Baikal since the late 1950s. The Baykalsk Pulp and Paper Mill was constructed directly on the shoreline in 1966. It bleached paper using chlorine and discharged waste straight into

• 4. Submersibles And Neutrino Telescopes

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  the lake. Soviet scientists protested strongly against building the plant here. They argued that ultra-pure water should support innovative chemical production instead. Objections faced opposition from industrial lobbyists until decades later. The mill closed in November 2008 due to unprofitability but resumed operations on the 4th of January 2010. Vladimir Putin legalized its operation by changing legislation on the 13th of January 2010. He claimed he saw no pollution during a submarine inspection. Final bankruptcy occurred in September 2013 with 800 workers losing jobs by December 28th. More than 15,000 metric tons of toxic waste flowed into the lake since 2010. Chinese-owned AquaSib started building a bottling plant in Kultuk town in 2019. Plans included exporting 190 million liters of water annually to China. Local protests halted these plans pending analysis. Up to 25,000 tons of liquid waste enter the lake yearly from ships and tourist sites.