| Qinghai Lake |
Index for Qinghai |
Website Links For Qinghai |
Information AboutQinghai Lake |
|
Qinghai Lake or '''Lake Kokonor''' ( Tibetan : '''mtsho khri shor rgyal mo''' and མཚོ་སྔོན་ mtsho sngon po; "The Blue Sea", in China . Qinghai Lake is also the largest drainless lake in the PRC and is located 3,205 m (10,515 feet) above Sea Level in a Depression of the Tibetan Plateau . Twenty-three rivers and streams empty into Qinghai Lake. The lake is 5,694 km&2 (2,278 square miles; some sources say 4,635 km&2), and 360 km (220 miles) in circumference. Despite its salinity, it has an abundance of fish, such as the edible ''huángyú'' (湟鱼). Its Geographic Coordinate s are in . Qinghai Lake is sandwiched between Hainan and Haibei Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture s in the northeastern Namesake Province . The lake is located at the crossroads of several bird migration routes across Asia. Many species use Qinghai as an intermediate stop during migration. As such, it is a focal point in global concerns of avian influenza ( H5N1 ). A major outbreak here could spread the virus across Europe and Asia, further increasing the chances of a pandemic. Minor outbreaks of H5N1 have already occurred at the lake. At its northeast end are the "Bird Islands" (Cormorant Island and Egg Island), which have been bird sanctuaries of the Qinghai Lake Natural Protection Zone since 1997. The lake often remains frozen for three months continuously in winter. Splitting At one time 108 freshwater rivers that emptied into the lake in the 1960s. As of 2003, 85 % of the river mouths have dried up, including the lake's largest tributary, the Buha River . In between 1959 and 1982, there had been an annual water level drop of 10 centimetres. Unfortunately, measures taken led to an annual rising of 10 cm from 1983 to 1989. But as of the Chinese Academy Of Sciences reported in 1998 of the reappearance of the threat of the lake drying up due to livestock over-grazing, land reclamations and natural causes It has descended 11.7 percent in the period between 1908 and 2000 [http://fpeng.peopledaily.com.cn/200111/04/eng20011104_83871.html . As a result of this, or possibly moving sand dune, higher lake floors were exposed, numerous water bodies were separated from the rest of the main lake around since the 20th century. In the 1960s, the 48.9 km&2 Gǎhǎi (尕海) Lake appeared in the northern part of the lake. During the 1980s, Shādǎo (沙岛) Lake split out in the northwest covers an area of 19.6 km&2, while the northeastern Hǎiyàn (海晏) Lake is 112.5 km&2 Another 96.7 km&2 daughter lake split off in 2004. In addition, the lake has now split into half a dozen more small lakes at the border. The surface water surface shrank by 312km&2 [http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-02/24/content_308805.htm . External links |