Saumalkol (Kazakh: Саумалкөл; Russian: Саумалколь) is a salt lake in Karkaraly District, Karaganda Region, Kazakhstan.[1][2]

Saumalkol
Саумалкөл
Sentinel-2 image of the lake
Saumalkol
Location	Kazakh Uplands
Coordinates	49°49′N 75°00′E
Type	endorheic
Primary outflows	none
Catchment area	307 square kilometers (119 sq mi)
Basin countries	Kazakhstan
Max. length	6 kilometers (3.7 mi)
Max. width	4.7 kilometers (2.9 mi)
Surface area	20.2 square kilometers (7.8 sq mi)
Average depth	1.5 meters (4 ft 11 in)
Residence time	UTC+6
Surface elevation	632 meters (2,073 ft)

The lake is located 50 kilometers (31 mi) to the northwest of Karkaraly city. The nearest inhabited place is Saumalkol railway station 5 kilometers (3.1 mi) to the southwest.[3] The lake is a 2,171 hectares (5,360 acres) Important Bird Area part of the Korgalzhyn Nature Reserve.[4][5]

Geography

Saumalkol is an endorheic lake in the central Kazakh Uplands. It lies at the feet of the southern slopes of the Ayr Mountains. Located 8 kilometers (5.0 mi) to the west of the western end of lake Karasor, it is the second largest of the lakes of a vast depression. The southern shore of the lake is flat, but the northern is steep with up to 15 meters (49 ft) high cliffs. The lake is shallow, with a maximum depth of 3 meters (9.8 ft) to 5 meters (16 ft). Its water is salty and hard and the bottom of the lake is muddy, having a smell of hydrogen sulfide.[6]

The lake is fed mainly by snow and groundwater. Two rivers having their sources in the Ayr Mountains, a 23 kilometers (14 mi) long and a 10 kilometers (6.2 mi) long one, flow from the northwest into the lake. They dry up in the summer. There is a small peninsula in the northern shore.[3][6]

Flora and fauna

Steppe vegetation grows in the area surrounding the lake. There is a narrow belt of reeds along the shoreline. There are no fish in the waters. The endangered white-headed duck[7] and the common goldeneye are among the migratory bird species found in Saumalkol.[6][4]

See also

• List of lakes of Kazakhstan

References

External links

• Озера и реки Казахстана (in Russian)
• Record numbers of White-headed Duck in Kazakhstan
• Birds of Kazakhstan. Rare Birds Records

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На других языках

[ru] Саумалколь (озеро, Каршигалинский сельский округ)