Sasykkol (, ''Sasyqköl'') is a

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

in eastern

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 ...

. It is located near . It has a surface area of 600 km² (736 km² when water level is high), average depth of 3.3 m, and maximum depth of 4.7 m. Fishery on the lake is common.

Water bird A water bird, alternatively waterbird or aquatic bird, is a bird that lives on or around water. In some definitions, the term ''water bird'' is especially applied to birds in freshwater ecosystems, although others make no distinction from seabi ...

s including the

mute swan The mute swan (''Cygnus olor'') is a species of swan and a member of the waterfowl family Anatidae. It is native to much of Eurasia, and (as a rare winter visitor) the far north of Africa. It is an introduced species in North America, home to ...

whooper swan The whooper swan ( /ˈhuːpə(ɹ) swɒn/ "hooper swan"; ''Cygnus cygnus''), also known as the common swan, is a large northern hemisphere swan. It is the Eurasian counterpart of the North American trumpeter swan, and the type species for the genu ...

, and

spoonbill Spoonbills are a genus, ''Platalea'', of large, long-legged wading birds. The spoonbills have a global distribution, being found on every continent except Antarctica. The genus name ''Platalea'' derives from Ancient Greek and means "broad", refe ...

can be found here.

Description

Into the Sasykkol lake (translated from the Kazakh language "Sasyk" - rotten, fetid;" Kol " - lake), in the delta of the Alakol Biosphere Reserve, flows the Tentek river from the south. The average depth of the lake is about 3 m, and the maximum depth is 4.7 m. The average annual water level varies up to 60 cm due to the fact that the lake is flowing. Through the river Zhinishkesu water goes to Lake Koshkarkol and then flows into Lake Alakol. Since the water in the lake is fresh, its mineralization varies during the year from 0.27 to 2.16 g/L. Lake Sasykkol is part of the Alakol Biosphere Reserve, designated by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

as part of its

Man and the Biosphere Programme Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) is an intergovernmental scientific program, launched in 1971 by UNESCO, that aims to establish a scientific basis for the 'improvement of relationships' between people and their environments. MAB engages w ...

in 2013.

References

* Sasykkol Balkhash-Alakol Basin {{Kazakhstan-geo-stub