Sarygamysh Lake

The Sarygamysh Lake, also Sarykamysh or Sary-Kamysh (Turkmen: Sarygamyş köli, Uzbek: Sariqamish ko‘li, Karakalpak: Sarıqamıs kóli, Russian: Сарыкамы́шское озеро), is a lake in Central Asia. It is about midway between the Caspian Sea and the Aral Sea. It is the largest lake in Turkmenistan,[2] in which three quarters of the entire lake's area is located (a quarter of the area falls on Uzbekistan[3]). The Sarykamysh basin and the Sarykamysh delta of the Amu Darya river are physical and geographical nature regions of the Dashoguz Region of Turkmenistan.[4]

Not to be confused with Sary-Kamysh, a village in Kyrgyzstan.
Sarygamysh Lake
December 2001
Sarygamysh Lake is located in Uzbekistan
Sarygamysh Lake
Sarygamysh Lake
Sarygamysh Lake is located in Turkmenistan
Sarygamysh Lake
Sarygamysh Lake
Coordinates42°00′N 57°20′E
Basin countriesTurkmenistan and Uzbekistan
Max. length125 km (78 mi)
Max. width90 km (56 mi)
Surface area3,955 km2 (1,527 sq mi)[1]
Average depth8 m (26 ft)
Max. depth40 m (130 ft)
Water volume68.56 km3 (55,580,000 acre⋅ft)[1]
Surface elevation5 m (16 ft)

Up until the 17th century, the lake was fed by the Uzboy River, a distributary of the Amu Darya River, which continued on to the Caspian Sea. Today, its main source of water is a canal from the Amu Darya but also the runoff water from surrounding irrigated lands, containing high levels of pesticides, herbicides and heavy metals.

Etymology

The name of the lake comes from the Turkic words sari (yellow) and qamish (depression), a reference to the yellow color of silt and salt in the old dried up basin before its flooding by the Soviets. The modern Turkmen authorities wish to "Turkmenize" the name by contending that the name is Turkmen sarykamysh 'yellow reed'.[5]

History

Throughout its history, the lake has disappeared several times and re-emerged, depending on the arrival of the Amu Darya waters. The drying out periods of the Sarygamysh lake were associated with the confluence of the river into the Aral Sea. The lake existed at the end of the Neogene period, in the upper anthropocene[6] (at 58 m above sea level), when its area covered, including the modern Assake-Audan basin,[7] and then in the 14th - 16th centuries AD (at the level of 50–62 metres above sea level).[6] It was first discovered and charted by the Russian geographer, Nikolai Petrusevich, in 1876.[8] The last time the waters of the Amu Darya directly entered the basin was during the flood of 1878.[6][9]

Since the beginning of the 1960s, the Sarykamysh lake has been filled with collector-drainage waters,[10] feeding was carried out through the Daryalyk collector, while water from the farmland of the left bank of the Amu Darya was used.[10][11]

Fauna

The ichthyofauna of Lake Sarykamysh was formed by species that penetrated from the Amu Darya and water bodies of the adventitious drainage network. For the most part, the lake is inhabited by native species of the Aral-Amu Darya basin and immigrant species, both spontaneously penetrated and purposefully transferred to the reservoir for fish breeding purposes in 1969–1974. In 1980–1987, 27 species lived here, and in 2018 there were already 32, of which 34.4% are immigrant species. In total, during the existence of the lake, 36 species of various representatives of ichthyofauna were recorded in it,[12] including carp, catfish and snakehead.[13] At the end of 2020, two tons of carp, silver carp and grass carp fry were released into the Sarykamysh lake in the territory of the Dashoguz velayat of Turkmenistan.[14]

Sarygamysh lake is also inhabited by such bird species as white swans, pink and curly pelicans, cormorants.[15]

  • Sarykamysh Lake at lower left, Oxus delta and what is left of the Aral Sea
    Sarykamysh Lake at lower left, Oxus delta and what is left of the Aral Sea
  • Sarygamysh Lake, from Uzbekistan
    Sarygamysh Lake, from Uzbekistan
  • Sunset at Sarygamysh Lake
    Sunset at Sarygamysh Lake
  • Political Map of the southern Aral Sea and surroundings.
    Political Map of the southern Aral Sea and surroundings.

References
  1. Orlovsky, Leah; Matsrafi, Offir; Orlovsky, Nikolai; Kouznetsov, Michael (2014). "Sarykamysh Lake: Collector of Drainage Water – the Past, the Present, and the Future". The Turkmen Lake Altyn Asyr and Water Resources in Turkmenistan. The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry. Vol. 28. Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag. pp. 107–140. doi:10.1007/698_2012_191. ISBN 978-3-642-38606-0.
  2. "Озеро Сарыкамышское: описание, исторические факты, интересные факты". autogear.ru. Retrieved 2022-06-06.
  3. "Сарыкамышское озеро". www.advantour.com. Retrieved 2022-06-06.
  4. "Велаяты Туркменистана/Академия наук Туркменистана". science.gov.tm. Retrieved 2022-06-18.
  5. E.M. Pospelov, Geograficheskiye nazvaniya mira (Moscow, 1998), p. 369.
  6. Сариқамиш сойлиги — Национальная энциклопедия Узбекистана на узбекском языке. — Ташкент, 2000—2005.
  7. http://bse.sci-lib.com/article076978.html Ассаке-Аудан
  8. Igor S. Zonn; Michael H. Glantz; Andrey G. Kostianoy; Aleksey N. Kosarev (2009). The Aral Sea Encyclopedia. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 251. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-85088-5. ISBN 978-3-540-85088-5.
  9. Шнитников А. В. (1969). "Внутривековая изменчивость компонентов общей увлажненности". Ленинград: Издательство «Наука». Ленинградское отделение: 130. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  10. Григорович Н. (1977). "Солнце и вода, земля и соль" (8) (Наука и жизнь ed.): 68–69. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  11. "Сары-Камыш" (Словарь современных географических названий ed.). Екатеринбург: У-Фактория. Под общей редакцией акад. В. М. Котлякова. 2006. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  12. Ф.М.Шакирова «Биоразнообразие ихтиофауны водоемов Туркменистана». Международный научно-практический журнал «Проблемы освоения пустынь», 2018 г., № 3-4. г. Ашхабад, Туркменистан
  13. "Там, где жили гепарды | Turkmen.ru". Turkmen.ru. Retrieved 2022-06-19.
  14. "Восполняются природные ресурсы". uae.tmembassy.gov.tm. Retrieved 2022-06-08.
  15. "Там, где жили гепарды | Turkmen.ru". Turkmen.ru. Retrieved 2022-06-19.
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