About Lake Baskunchak (14 pics + text)

Along the shores stands a few small factory, the railway on which carry salt. No conditions for tourism there. Passages are all closed boxes, local children for 20 rubles eager to tell you how to go to a place of bathing. The feeling of poverty and devastation supported 42 degree heat.




Very interesting comment given geologist Michael Leykum on my forum:

Comment on the little I can - at the level of those memories that stayed with me from the institute's course "Regional Geology of the USSR»
Will have to start from afar ... The Permian-Triassic time, and this is where some 260-230 million years ago in the area Plekan shallow sea ... Here it should be noted that from the perspective of many geologists and mine in particular, the "real" Oceans, what we know them now then simply did not exist ...
In general, the area occupied by the sea quietly dropped and lifts the "breathing" as a result of tectonic processes, but regress - the retreat of the sea, still prevailed ... The very shallow marine basin was divided into a series of bays, estuaries and closed drainage basins that conditions prevailed here then arid climate led to the accumulation of thick strata of the so-called gypsum-evaporite (salt-gypsum) deposits ... In the next stages of the geological development of these strata have plunged into the depths of the Earth. Now in neighboring areas such geological formations are located at depths of 1-1.5 km ... But I must say that the salt - is the formation of a tricky ... Being quite fragile in normal conditions, when it is the enormous pressure the Earth's interior and for the duration of geological time has high plasticity and fluidity . Therefore, if kaom a portion of the earth's crust pressure on these beds for one reason or another weakened relative to adjacent, this salt tends upward, lifting and even sometimes piercing the overlying sediments and flowing into an area of ​​low pressure ... so formed salt domes or diapirs ... In the same way formed large Baskunchak salt-raising or dome ... Its surface is uneven due to have separate local domes, diapirs and compensating their troughs, troughs. This is one of those diapirs sticks out from the land of Triassic sediments of Mount Bogda, which continues to grow until now although not with roofing felt great speed - millimeters per year ... And the bowels of the mountain, composed of gypsum deposits, actively dissolve groundwater and karsted to form a complex system of caves ... And the lake Baskunchak in turn - local basin-trough, the bottom of which continues to sag as well ... Because of the number of features - it is undrained and is located below sea level, it is an active evaporation. New portions of river water dissolved the ancient salt-bearing strata, and an active evaporation leads to the deposition on the surface of a very pure salt, sodium chloride - the mineral halite ... It produces almost 80% of dietary salt in Russia ...
A wooden poles, perhaps in some way contribute to evaporation, the truth is already afraid to lie ...

Everywhere hammered bars, the purpose of which I did not understand. Can anyone tell me what they are?



Cars left for 800 meters from the property and go swimming peshochkom.



All covered with salt. A Pordoi salt mud.







On the poster beautiful salt build-up.





Vodicka warm, heat facilitates a very strong wind, which in turn interfere with swimming. If the salt spray will get unpleasant sensations in the eyes.





The bottom of the structure of the lower part of this column - bosichkom impossible to walk.