Aralsor (Kazakh: Аралсор; Russian: Аралсор) is a bittern salt lake in Bokey Orda District, West Kazakhstan Region, Kazakhstan.[1]
Aralsor | |
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Аралсор | |
![]() ISS image of Aralsor in 2019 | |
![]() ![]() Aralsor | |
Location | Caspian Lowland |
Coordinates | 49°04′N 48°11′E |
Type | endorheic |
Primary inflows | Ashchyozek |
Basin countries | Kazakhstan |
Max. length | 34.3 kilometers (21.3 mi) |
Max. width | 13 kilometers (8.1 mi) |
Surface area | 124 square kilometers (48 sq mi) to 200 square kilometers (77 sq mi) |
Surface elevation | 1.6 meters (5 ft 3 in) |
The lake lies about 80 kilometers (50 mi) to the east of the Russian border, north of the R-97 Highway (Kazakhstan). The road connects Saykyn station of the Volga Railway near lake Botkul with the village of Taipak on the right bank of the Ural River.[2] Salt extraction on an industrial scale is carried out at the lake.[3]
Lying at the northern edge of the Ryn Desert, east of the Russian border, Aralsor is an endorheic lake. The main water body is colored pink and is surrounded by a string of smaller lakes and salt pans. The latter contain clay salt-mud deposits covered with a crust of halite reaching 0.3 meters (1 ft 0 in). The western and eastern banks of Aralsor are steep and cliff-like in places.[3]
Flowing from the north, the Ashchyozek is the main river feeding the waters of Aralsor. The channels connecting the river with the lake are periodically dry.[2][3]
There is desert and steppe vegetation in the terraced flat areas of the Aralsor lakeside cliff-like formations. In the ravines of the shoreline cliffs there are plants such as tamarisk, anabasis, Halocnemum and winterfat, providing a habitat and breeding ground for the local fauna of small mammals, birds and reptiles.[4]
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