Kostanay Region
Kostanay Region (; ) is a region of Kazakhstan. Its administrative center is the city of Kostanay. The population of the region is 835,686. The population living in Kostanay is 207,000 which is equivalent to 23% of the region.
Geography
Kosta ...
,
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 ...
.
Tyuntyugur is a
steppe
In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without closed forests except near rivers and lakes.
Steppe biomes may include:
* the montane grasslands and shrublands biome
* the tropical and subtropica ...
lake of the central sector of the
Turgay Basin
The Turgay Depression, also known as Turgay Basin, Turgay Trough, and Turgay Hollow (; ), is a structural basin in Kazakhstan.Karasu District
Karasu (, ) is a district of Kostanay Region in northern 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 ...
, Kostanay Region. By the northern shore lies the small village of Tyuntyugur and the administrative center of the district, Karasu village, is located to the west of the western lakeshore.
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 ...
Tyuntyugur is part of the Koibagar-Tyuntyugur Lake System, a
Ramsar site
A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,8 ha (O)
*** Permanent 8 ha (P)
*** Seasonal Intermittent < 8 ha(Ts)
**
Koibagar-Tyuntyugur Lake System /ref>
Geography
Tyuntyugur is an
endorheic
An endorheic basin ( ; also endoreic basin and endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water (e.g. rivers and oceans); instead, the water drainage flows into permanent ...
lake lying to the east of the larger
Koybagar
Koybagar (; ) is a lake in the Kostanay Region, Kazakhstan.
Koybagar is a steppe lake of the central sector of the Turgay Basin in Karasu District, Kostanay Region. Karasu village is located west of the lake.Google Earth The lake is part of th ...
lake. The lake has a regular, roughly oval, shape. Its water is
brackish
Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...
. The smaller and elongated lake Zhanshura lies close to the east. They are separated by a
landspit
A spit (cognate with the word for a rotisserie bar) or sandspit is a deposition bar or beach landform off coasts or lake shores. It develops in places where re-entrance occurs, such as at a cove's headlands, by the process of longshore drift ...
that is at its narrowest in the area of the southeastern shore of lake Tyuntyugur, where the western shore of lake Zhanshura is only away. The Tyuntyugur river flows from the south into the southern end of the lake.
The eastern shore of lake Tyuntyugur is bound by about high cliffs, while the southern coastline is flat and muddy. The lake is fed by
snow
Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes.
It consists of frozen crystalline water througho ...
and freezes every winter, shrinking significantly in years of drought. Tyuntyugur is surrounded by agricultural fields and its water is used for irrigation, which contributes to increasing
siltation
Siltation is water pollution caused by particulate terrestrial clastic material, with a particle size dominated by silt or clay. It refers both to the increased concentration of suspended sediments and to the increased accumulation (temporary o ...
.''Kazakhstan National encyclopedia'' / Chief editor A. Nysanbayev -
Almaty
Almaty, formerly Alma-Ata, is the List of most populous cities in Kazakhstan, largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population exceeding two million residents within its metropolitan area. Located in the foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau mountains ...
" Kazakh encyclopedia" General editor, 1998 ISBN 5-89800-123-9 , volume VIII
Fauna
The lake is part of the Koybagar-Tyuntyugur lake group. It is a critical site for nesting, migration and molting of 39 waterfowl and wetland bird species, such as the
greylag goose
The greylag goose (''Anser anser'') is a species of large goose in the waterfowl family Anatidae and the type species of the genus ''Anser (bird), Anser''. It has mottled and barred grey and white plumage and an orange beak and pink legs. A lar ...
,
mallard
The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa. It has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Arge ...
,
gadwall
The gadwall (''Mareca strepera'') is a common and widespread dabbling duck in the family Anatidae.
Taxonomy
The gadwall was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''. DNA studies have shown th ...
,
garganey
The garganey (''Spatula querquedula'') is a small dabbling duck. It breeds in much of Europe and across the Palearctic, but is strictly bird migration, migratory, with the entire population moving to Africa, India (in particular Santragachi), Ban ...
,
common pochard
The common pochard (; ''Aythya ferina''), known simply as pochard in the United Kingdom, is a medium-sized diving duck in the family Anatidae. It is widespread across the Palearctic. It breeds primarily in the steppe regions of Scandinavia and Si ...
,
tufted duck
The tufted duck (or tufted pochard) (''Aythya fuligula'') is a small diving duck with a population of nearly one million birds, found in northern Eurasia. They are partially migratory. The scientific name is derived from Ancient Greek , an unide ...
and
Eurasian coot
The Eurasian coot (''Fulica atra''), also known as the common coot, or Australian coot, is a member of the rail and crake bird family, the Rallidae. It is found in Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and parts of North Africa. It has a slaty-bla ...
. 13 species of birds that visit the lake are listed as
critically endangered
An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of t ...
, such as the
siberian crane
The Siberian crane (''Leucogeranus leucogeranus''), also known as the Siberian white crane or the snow crane, is a bird of the family Gruidae, the crane (bird), cranes. They are distinctive among the cranes: adults are nearly all White, snowy whi ...
and the
gyrfalcon
The gyrfalcon ( or ) (), also abbreviated as gyr, is a bird of prey from the genus ''Falco'' (falcons and kestrels) and the largest species of the family Falconidae. A high-latitude species, the gyrfalcon breeds on the Arctic coasts and tundra, ...
.Tyuntyugur-Zhanshura Lake System , Siberian Crane /ref>
There are ten different fish species in the lake, including
perch
Perch is a common name for freshwater fish from the genus ''Perca'', which belongs to the family Percidae of the large order Perciformes. The name comes from , meaning the type species of this genus, the European perch (''P. fluviatilis'') ...
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 of ...
.
See also
*
List of lakes of Kazakhstan
Excluding the northernmost districts, Kazakhstan consists of endorheic basins, where rivers flow into one of the numerous lakes. The most important drainage system is known as Yedisu, meaning "seven rivers" in Turkic languages. Below is a list o ...
*
List of Ramsar Wetlands of International Importance
Ramsar sites are protected under by the Ramsar Convention, an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands, recognizing the fundamental ecological functions of wetlands and their economic, cultural, scientific, and r ...