Lake Lobnor

There are lakes that, contrary to all the rules, "walk" around the planet, confusing travelers and researchers, and then disappear altogether, leaving behind many mysteries and riddles. One of these reservoirs was (and probably will be) the Chinese lake Lobnor.

During the periods of maximum filling, the area of the Tunnel could reach more than 10,000 km2.
Currently, it is mostly dry, with small scattered bodies of water appearing periodically.
The first mention of Lobnor is found in the manuscripts of the Warring States period (that is, in the 5th century BC). Then, in the second century AD, the geographer Marin of Tyre pointed to the existence of the Tarim River and the lake formed by its waters. And Chinese scientists began to designate Lobnor on their geographical maps from the 7th century AD. It is also well known that Marco Polo stayed near Lobnor during his trip to the Pamirs. However, subsequently, they stopped believing in the existence of the Lobnor, and, I must say, with good reason: the appearance of foreigners in these parts was not welcomed, and the lake itself "behaved" strangely.

N.M. Przhevalsky decided to find out what the Lobnor is and whether there really is such a lake. Another expedition to Central Asia, equipped with a researcher, lasted for more than a year before he finally managed to come across the Tarim River, and then onto a swamp overgrown with reeds with an area of about 2 thousand square kilometers.

The local population called the reservoir discovered by Przhevalsky Kara-Buran (which translates as "black storm"). because of the high, threatening waves that supposedly rise on its surface during a storm. And the researcher himself did not doubt for a minute that this was Lobnor, even though the lake was not at all where its predecessors had indicated, and for some reason it was filled with fresh water, not salt water.

Well, there really weren't any other bodies of water in the area. And although in the 19th century most of his colleagues refused to believe in Przhevalsky's discovery, today it is reliably known that the Russian researcher was absolutely right. Like many desert rivers, the Tarim was constantly changing its course, and the lake where it ended was "traveling" after it. So over the course of several centuries, the Frontnor was able to travel two hundred kilometers, changing the composition of the water, shape, depth, and so on many times.

A little less than a century ago, Lobnor briefly returned to the place where it was found in ancient times. Then it "moved" from place to place several more times, and half a century ago it completely dried up: local residents began to take water from Tarim so actively to irrigate agricultural land that the river simply did not have the resources to "create" a Floodplain from time to time. After some time, nuclear and hydrogen bombs began to be tested in these places, and the Lobnor area became a closed area for several decades.

Now life in the vicinity of the extinct Lobnor is gradually reviving: not only insects, but also rats, as well as dzerens (a type of goat), wolves and owls are returning here. Who knows, maybe the Tarim will fill up with water again, and then change its course to give a new life to the mysterious Lobnor.