Aralsor (; ) is a bittern salt lake group in Bokey Orda District,

West Kazakhstan Region West Kazakhstan Region (; ) is a region of Kazakhstan. The region has a population of 695,000 as of July 1st, 2024. Its administrative centre is Oral (also known as Uralsk or Ural'sk), a city of about 250,000 inhabitants. The Region was created ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

. The lake lies about to the east of the Russian border, north of the R-97 Highway (Kazakhstan). The road connects

Saykyn Saykhin (, ''Saiqyn''; ) is a village in far western Kazakhstan on the border with Russia. It is the administrative center of Bokey Orda District in West Kazakhstan Region. Population: Geography Lake Botkul Botkul (; ) is a bittern salt lake ...

station of the Volga Railway near lake

Botkul Botkul (; ) is a bittern salt lake in the Kazakhstan–Russia border. There is no salt mining at the lake. Its waters have a bitter, stinging taste and a strong smell of hydrogen sulfide. The authorities are exploring the potential of developing ...

with the village of

Taipak Taipak (), until 1996 known as Kalmykovo () is a village in western Kazakhstan. It is the administrative center of Taipak Rural District (KATO code - 273273100), Akzhaik District in the West Kazakhstan Region. Population: The rural district incl ...

on the right bank of the

Ural River The Ural, also known as the Yaik , is a river flowing through Russia and Kazakhstan in the continental border between Europe and Asia. It originates in the southern Ural Mountains and discharges into the Caspian Sea. At , it is the third-longes ...

. Salt extraction on an industrial scale is carried out at the lake.

Geography

Lying at the northern edge of the Ryn Desert, east of the Russian border, Aralsor is an

endorheic lake An endorheic lake (also called a sink lake or terminal lake) is a collection of water within an endorheic basin, or sink, with no evident outlet. Endorheic lakes are generally Saline water, saline as a result of being unable to get rid of solutes ...

group. 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 Halite ( ), commonly known as rock salt, is a type of salt, the mineral (natural) form of sodium chloride ( Na Cl). Halite forms isometric crystals. The mineral is typically colorless or white, but may also be light blue, dark blue, purple, pi ...

reaching . The western and eastern banks of Aralsor are steep and cliff-like in places.Аралсор
''

Great Soviet Encyclopedia The ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (GSE; , ''BSE'') is one of the largest Russian-language encyclopedias, published in the Soviet Union from 1926 to 1990. After 2002, the encyclopedia's data was partially included into the later ''Great Russian Enc ...

'' in 30 vols. — Ch. ed.

A.M. Prokhorov Alexander Mikhailovich Prokhorov (born Alexander Michael Prochoroff, ; 11 July 1916 – 8 January 2002) was an Australian-born Russian physicist and researcher on lasers and masers, in the former Soviet Union. He shared the Nobel Prize in Ph ...

. - 3rd ed. - M. Soviet Encyclopedia, 1969-1978. (in Russian) Flowing from the north, the Ashchyozek is the main river in the area. A short channel connects the end of the river with Aralsor. This channel is periodically dry. The Kamys-Samar Lakes lie to the east.

Google Earth Google Earth is a web mapping, web and computer program created by Google that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satelli ...

Flora and fauna

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 The genus ''Tamarix'' (tamarisk, salt cedar, taray) is composed of about 50–60 species of flowering plants in the family Tamaricaceae, native to drier areas of Eurasia and Africa. The generic name originated in Latin and may refer to the Tamb ...

anabasis Anabasis (from Greek ''ana'' = "upward", ''bainein'' = "to step or march") is an expedition from a coastline into the interior of a country. Anabase and Anabasis may also refer to: History * '' Anabasis Alexandri'' (''Anabasis of Alexander''), ...

, '' Halocnemum'' and

winterfat ''Krascheninnikovia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the subfamily Chenopodioideae of the family Amaranthaceae known as winterfat, so-called because it is a nutritious livestock forage. They are known from Eurasia and western North America. Th ...

, providing a habitat and breeding ground for the local fauna of small mammals, birds and reptiles.ЧУДО АРАЛСОРА: СТЕПНАЯ ЭКСПЕДИЦИЯ РГО ОБСЛЕДОВАЛА УНИКАЛЬНОЕ ОЗЕРО В СЕВЕРНОМ ПРИКАСПИИ
(in Russian)

References

External links

*
Tourism and recreational potential of the salt lakes of Western Kazakhstan
{{Lakes of Kazakhstan Lake groups of Kazakhstan Endorheic lakes of Asia West Kazakhstan Region Caspian Depression kk:Аралсор (көл, Бөкей ордасы ауданы)

Geography

Flora and fauna

See also

References

External links