Lake Khyargas-Nuur

According to local legend, a huge reptile lives in this Mongolian lake, which sometimes comes ashore to bask and leaves strange footprints on the deserted shore. If this is the case, then the unknown creature is probably the only large inhabitant of a salty reservoir.

In the drainless lake Khyargas-Nuur, the water mineralization exceeds 7 grams per liter, which allows it to be inhabited by only a few species of phyto- and zooplankton, one species of coastal algae, as well as one species of fish — the Altai osman. The latter exists here in two forms at once — feeding on vegetation and preferring to hunt its fellows. There is simply no one else to hunt — the diversity of flora and fauna of the reservoir is ending on plankton and ottomans.

The length is about 83 km.
The width is within 31 km.
The area is approximately 1,468 km2.
The maximum depth is 75 m.
The average depth is 31 m.
The volume of water is 75.2 km3.
The height above sea level is 1028 m.

The shores of Khyargas Nuur are also mostly lifeless. Most of the coastal zone consists of sandy-gravelly or rocky areas unsuitable for the survival of higher plants and animals. And even those animals that have adapted to life in this desolate part of Mongolia, avoid the territories around Khyargas-Nuur, preferring to settle near fresh water sources. For example, at the small lake Airag-Nuur, located at the southern tip of the salt reservoir.

Hyargas-Nuura chloride-carbonate-sodium water is not applicable for irrigation of lands. The climate in the vicinity of the lake is sharply continental with temperature differences from -50 °C to +35 °C. From October to May, the lake is covered with ice, but complete freezing of the reservoir occurs only by the end of December, because in summer the water temperature in shallow areas reaches +30 ° C. It also does not contribute to human settlement of its shores. Rare freshwater springs and wells allowed only a few cattle herders to live here, although under different climatic and hydrological conditions the reservoir would certainly have become a vital center of western Mongolia, because it is really large.  

Khyargas-Nuur belongs to the Basin group of large lakes and is the deepest and deepest of its brethren. The Nuuryn-Holoi River (or rather, the strait) flows into it, and the waters of the large Mongolian rivers Khovd and Zavkhan eventually enter the lake.

Surprisingly, the lake does not stand still. Since it is located in a seismically active zone, the shifts of the earth's crust have shifted it by a couple of tens of kilometers to the west only in the last historical period. And even earlier, there was no separate lake here at all, since the entire Basin of the Large Lakes had long been a single body of water. Back then, the water level was 20 meters higher and the surrounding landscapes were completely different. Over time, the giant lake dried up, the amount of precipitation in the region noticeably decreased, and the large ancient reservoir turned into several salt and freshwater lakes, including Khyargas-Nuur. It is noticed that the lake continues to gradually decrease in size. This is evidenced by the terraces, which are most clearly visible in the images from space.

And now the main environmental problem of the lake, located far from populated areas and developed lands, is the threat of shallowing. The depth of this natural reservoir reaches 75 meters with an average of over 30 meters, so it is unlikely to disappear this century. However, the fact remains that Kharnas Nuur is gradually losing square meters of its shallow waters to the desert. And someday humanity will find out whether there are any creatures unknown to science hiding in its waters or traces that Soviet scientists reported in 1985 appeared as a result of less mysterious processes.

By the way, there were indeed unidentified footprints on the lifeless beaches of the lake. According to eyewitnesses, small footprints reached half a meter in diameter, and large ones suggested that they were left by creatures weighing at least a ton and up to 8 meters long. And although no other evidence of the existence of large animals in Khyargas-Nuur has ever been found here, scientists and tourists have been showing increased interest in this natural reservoir since the late 80s of the last century.