Maloe More (russian: Малое Море; in English literally ''the Small Sea'') is a
strait in
Lake Baikal
Lake Baikal (, russian: Oзеро Байкал, Ozero Baykal ); mn, Байгал нуур, Baigal nuur) is a rift lake in Russia. It is situated in southern Siberia, between the Federal subjects of Russia, federal subjects of Irkutsk Oblast, I ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...
. It separates the largest island of the lake,
Olkhon Island
Olkhon ( rus, Ольхо́н, also transliterated as Olchon; bua, Ойхон, ''Oikhon'') is the third-largest lake island in the world. It is by far the largest island in Lake Baikal in eastern Siberia, with an area of . Structurally, it const ...
, from the western shore of Baikal. The length of the strait is about 70 km and width 5 – 16 km. The maximum depth is 210 m in the northern part where the strait opens to the open Baikal.
[Maloe More. Ostrov Olkhon]
In the south, Maloe More strait is connected through the narrow
Olkhon Gate
Olkhon ( rus, Ольхо́н, also transliterated as Olchon; bua, Ойхон, ''Oikhon'') is the third-largest lake island in the world. It is by far the largest island in Lake Baikal in eastern Siberia, with an area of . Structurally, it const ...
strait to the central part of the lake. The
Tryokhgolovy Golets
Tryokhgolovy Golets (russian: Трёхголовый Голец) is the highest peak in the Primorsky Range, Irkutsk Oblast, Russia.
Geography
Tryokhgolovy Golets, meaning "Three-headed Golets" is a high ‘’golets’’ type of mountain with ...
, highest peak of the
Primorsky Range
The Primorsky Range (russian: Приморский хребет) is a range of mountains in Southern Siberia, part of the South Siberian Mountains. Administratively the range belongs to the Irkutsk Oblast, Russian Federation. The settlement of Bu ...
, rises on the continental side of the strait.
The waters of Maloe More are heated up to 20-25 degrees Celsius during summer.
[
Maloe More is rich in fish. It is inhabited by sturgeon, ]golomyanka
''Comephorus'', known as the golomyankas or Baikal oilfish, are a genus comprising two species of peculiar, sculpin fishes endemism, endemic to Lake Baikal in Russia. ''Comephorus'' is the only genus in the family Comephoridae. Golomyankas are ...
, Baikal omul, grayling
Grayling or Greyling may refer to:
Animals Fish
* Grayling, generically, any fish of the genus ''Thymallus'' in the family Salmonidae
** European grayling (''Thymallus thymallus''), the European species of the genus ''Thymallus''
** Arctic grayli ...
, whitefish, perch
Perch is a common name for fish of the genus ''Perca'', freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which three species occur in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Per ...
and pike
Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to:
Fish
* Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus''
* Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes
* ''Esox'', genus o ...
.
The islands of Ogoy, Zamogoy, Izhilhey, Oltrec and Khibin, are located in the Maloe More.
The rivers Sarma, Kurma, etc. flow into the Small Sea.
The strait is a result of millions of years of tectonic
Tectonics (; ) are the processes that control the structure and properties of the Earth's crust and its evolution through time. These include the processes of mountain building, the growth and behavior of the strong, old cores of continents ...
movement, resulting in the hollowing of the channel between the land and the block of stone forming the Olkhon Island.
References
{{coord, 53.25, N, 107.25028, E, display=title
Straits of Russia
Bodies of water of Irkutsk Oblast
Lake Baikal