Geography
editThe Aral Sea was a large endorheic lake in Central Asia, divided between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Measuring around 67,500 km2 (26,100 sq mi) in 1960, it was the fourth largest lake by area.[a] Two rivers, the Amu Darya and Syr Darya, were its primary inflows of water, both forming expansive river deltas as they met the sea. As it was in an endorheic basin, its only outflow was evaporation. As such, the surface level of the sea was dependent on the balance between its net evaporation (evaporation minus local precipitation) and its intake from the rivers. This variation was relatively minor; from the seventeenth century until the 1960s, water levels varied by less than 4.5 m (15 ft), with less than 1 m (3.3 ft) of variation recorded during the first half of the twentieth century.[1]
Its water was brackish, less than a third as salty as seawater.[1] Beginning around 1960, the lake began to rapidly recede as major irrigation projects along the Amu Darya and Syr Darya cut off much of its inflow.[1]
Hydrology
editThe lake was fed by a large watershed (the Aral Basin) which stretches as far as the Tian Shan and Pamir Mountains, over 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) away.[2] Estimates of the basin's land area vary from 1,500,000 to 2,700,000 km2 (580,000 to 1,040,000 sq mi). Sources such as the World Bank give an estimate of 2,200,000 km2 (850,000 sq mi). Much of the watershed consists of desert: the Karakum occupies much of the area to the southwest of the sea, while the Kyzylkum extends from its eastern edge.[3]
The Amu Darya is the largest river in the basin, with a watershed measuring 465,000 km2 (180,000 sq mi). It receives most of its water from the Pamir Mountains; about 80% of its inflow comes from Tajikistan, where it receives tributaries such as the Vakhsh, with small portions coming from Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Iran, and Turkmenistan. It flows 2,620 km (1,630 mi) from the mountains to what was once the Amu Darya Delta. Much of it runs through the Karalkum desert, where a combination of evaporation phreatophytic plants (which draw from river and groundwater) historically reduced its flow by about a third over its course. Other rivers in the surrounding region, such as the Zarafshon and Hari, dry up completely before meeting the Amu Darya.[4]
Geology and formation
editHistory
editEarly written references to the Aral Sea are sparse. Ahmad ibn Rustah
Soviet Union
editVozrozhdeniya Island
editDesiccation
editEcology
editAs a brackish body of water much less salty than seawater, the lake was mainly occupied by freshwater fish.[1] Only twenty species of fish were native to the lake.
The sea had a very limited diversity of invertebrate species. Some major groups of invertebrates, such as sponges and bristle worms, were entirely absent from the lake. The biomass of zoobenthos (seafloor animals) was highest in the northern and central regions of the lake. Zooplankton were scarce during the winter, but was increased in biomass and diversity from May to October. Zooplankton populations were mainly composed of bivale larvae and copepods.[5]
Post-desiccation ecology
editManagement and restoration
editEconomy
editNotes
edit- ↑ Behind the Caspian Sea, Lake Superior, and Lake Victoria.[1]
Citations
edit- 1 2 3 4 5 Micklin 2014a, pp. 1–2.
- ↑ Burr et al. 2019, pp. 142, 145.
- ↑ Micklin 2014b, pp. 15–16.
- ↑ Micklin 2014b, pp. 17–18.
- ↑ Plotnikov et al. 2014a, pp. 43–45.
Bibliography
edit- Aladin, Nikolay Vasilevich; Gontar, Valentina Ivanovna; Zhakova, Ljubov Vasilevna; Plotnikov, Igor Svetozarovich; Smurov, Alexey Olegovich; Rzymski, Piotr; Klimaszyk, Piotr (27 November 2018). "The Zoocenosis of the Aral Sea: Six Decades of Fast-Paced Change". Environmental Science and Pollution Research International. 26 (3): 2228–2237. doi:10.1007/s11356-018-3807-z. PMID 30484051.
- Boomer, I.; Wünnemann, B.; Mackay, A. W.; Austin, P.; Sorrel, P.; Reinhardt, C.; Keyser, D.; Guichard, F.; Fontugne, M. (2009). "Advances in Understanding the Late Holocene History of the Aral Sea Region". Quaternary International. 194 (1––2). doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2008.03.007.
- Breckle, Siegmar-W.; Wucherer, Walter; Dimeyeva, Liliya A.; Ogar, Nathalia P., eds. (2011). Aralkum, a Man-Made Desert: The Desiccated Floor of the Aral Sea (Central Asia). Springer Science+Business Media. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-21117-1. ISBN 9783642211171.
- Burr, G. S.; Kuzmin, Y. V.; Krivonogov, S. K.; Gusskov, S. A.; Cruz, R. J. (2019). "A History of the Modern Aral Sea (Central Asia) since the Late Pleistocene". Quaternary Science Reviews. 206. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.01.006.
- Dukhovny, Victor A.; de Schutter, Joop L.G. (2011). Water in Central Asia: Past, Present, and Future. CRC Press. ISBN 9780415459624.
- Edelstein, Michael R.; Cerny, Astrid; Gadaev, Abror, eds. (2012). Disaster by Design: The Aral Sea and Its Lessons for Sustainability. Emerald Group Publishing. ISBN 9781781903766.
- Ermakhanov, Zaualkhan K.; Plotnikov, Igor S.; Aladin, Nikolay V.; Micklin, Philip (28 February 2012). "Changes in the Aral Sea Ichthyofauna and Fishery During the Period of Ecological Crisis". Lakes & Reservoirs: Research and Management. 17 (1): 3–9. doi:10.1111/j.1440-1770.2012.00492.x.
- Issanova, Gulnura; Abuduwaili, Jilili; Tynybayeva, Kuralay (2023). Soil Cover of the Dried Aral Seabed in Kazakhstan. Springer Science+Business Media. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-29867-7. ISBN 9783031298660.
- Izhitskiy, A. S.; Zavialov, P. O.; Sapozhnikov, P. V.; Kirillin, G. B.; Grossart, H. P.; Kalinina, O. Y.; Zalota, A. K.; Goncharenko, I. V.; Kurbaniyazov, A. K. (2016). "Present State of the Aral Sea: Diverging Physical and Biological Characteristics of the Residual Basins". Scientific Reports. 6 (23906). doi:10.1038/srep23906.
- Kostianoy, Andrey G.; Kosarev, Aleksey N., eds. (2010). The Aral Sea Environment. Springer Science+Business Media. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-88277-0. ISBN 9783540882763.
- Krivonogov, S. K.; Burr, G. S.; Kuzmin, Y. V.; Gusskov, S. A.; Kurmanbaev, R. K.; Kenshinbay, T. I.; Voyakin, D. A. (2014). "The Fluctuating Aral Sea: A Multidisciplinary-Based History of the Last Two Thousand Years". Gondwana Research. 26 (1). doi:10.1016/j.gr.2014.02.004.
- Mantellini, Simone, ed. (2013). Ancient Irrigation Systems of the Aral Sea Area: The History, Origin, and Development of Irrigated Agriculture. Oxbow Books. doi:10.2307/j.ctvh1dh1z. ISBN 9781782971658. JSTOR j.ctvh1dh1z.
- Micklin, Philip; Aladin, Nikolai V.; Plotnikov, Igor S., eds. (2014). The Aral Sea: The Devastation and the Partial Rehabilitation of a Great Lake. Springer Science+Business Media. ISBN 9783662505540.
- Micklin, Philip; Aladin, Nikolai V.; Chida, Tetsuro; Boroffka, Nikolaus; Plotnikov, Igor S.; Krivonogov, Sergey; White, Kristopher (2020). "The Aral Sea: A Story of Devastation and Partial Recovery of a Large Lake". Large Asian Lakes in a Changing World. Springer Science+Business Media. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-42254-7_4. ISBN 9783030422530.
- Micklin, Philip (2016). "The Future Aral Sea: Hope and Despair". Environmental Earth Sciences. 75. doi:10.1007/s12665-016-5614-5.
- Novikova, N. M.; Kuz'mina, Zh. V.; Mamutov, N. K. "Desertification of the Amu Darya River Delta and Vegetation Dynamics in the Conditions of the Aral Sea Crisis". Arid Ecosystems. 13: 371–385. doi:10.1134/S2079096123040108.
- Peterson, Maya K. (2019). Pipe Dreams: Water and Empire in Central Asia's Aral Sea Basin. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781108475471.
- Wheeler, William (2021). Environment and Post-Soviet Transformation in Kazakhstan’s Aral Sea Region: Sea Changes. UCL Press. ISBN 9781800080331.
- Xenarios, Stefanos; Schmidt-Vogt, Dietrich; Qadir, Manzoor; Janusz-Pawletta, Barbara; Abdullaev, Iskandar (eds.). The Aral Sea Basin: Water for Sustainable Development in Central Asia. Routledge. ISBN 9780429791079.
- Zonn, Igor S.; Gantz, Michael H.; Kostianoy, Andrey G.; Kosarev, Aleksey N. (2009). The Aral Sea Encyclopedia. Springer Science+Business Media. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-85088-5. ISBN 9783540850885.