Uvs Lake

The name Uvs Nuur (sometimes spelled Ubsa Nor or Ubsunur) derives from subsen, a Turkic/Mongolian word referring to the bitter dregs left behind in the making of airag (Mongolian fermented mare milk drink), and nuur, the Mongolian word for lake. The name is a reference to the lake's salty, undrinkable water. In one Mongolian folk tale a character named Sartaktai, known for digging wondrous canals and setting courses for rivers, tries to connect Uvs lake to another nearby lake by digging a canal between them. But when the water of Uvs lake refuses to flow, Sartaktai angrily declares "Be thy name Subsennor!" A name that is defined as "bad wine, dregs of the spirit that comes from the still..."The Folk-lore Journal. (1886). United Kingdom: Folk-lore Society. P. 32 [https://books.google.com/books/download/The_Folk_lore_Journal.pdf?id=mgcNAQAAMAAJ&output=pdf&sig=ACfU3U0FFZRqMPTNcUonDPyC225YXv6Uuw Folk-lore Society IV]

File:Great Lakes Depression, Mongolia and Russia, Terra-MODIS, 2001-10-15.jpg from space. Uvs is the largest lake, just above center]]

Uvs Lake has a length of 84 km and a width of 79 km, with an average depth of 6 m. Its basin is separated from the rest of the Great Lakes Depression by the Khan Khökhii ridge; however, it is not a rift lake as some mistakenly think.{{cn|date=May 2016}}

The main feeding rivers are the Baruunturuun, Nariin gol, and Tes (primary feed of the lake) from Khangai Mountains in the east, and the Kharkhiraa River and Sangil gol from the Altai Mountains in the west.{{cite web

|url = http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/wetlands/pdf/Mongolia.pdf

|title = Mongolia

|author = Jon Davies

|publisher = International Water Management Institute

|access-date = 2008-02-10

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080528115758/http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/wetlands/pdf/Mongolia.pdf

|archive-date = 2008-05-28

|url-status=dead

}}

The very large catchment area with no exit results in highly saline water, primarily due to sulphate and sodium ions. It has a salinity of 18.8 per mille, or 1.88%, making it half as salty as the oceans.

The lake freezes over from October to May. In summer, it exhibits a temperature gradient from 25 °C at the surface to 19 °C at the bottom.

29 different species of fish are known from Uvs Lake,{{cite web

| url = http://www.unitar.org/hiroshima/programmes/whs05/badarch.pdf

| title = Uvs Nuur Basin; World Natural Heritage Site

| author = Erdene-Ochir Badarch

| publisher = United Nations Institute for Training and Research

| access-date = 2008-02-10

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080528115759/http://www.unitar.org/hiroshima/programmes/whs05/badarch.pdf |archive-date = 2008-05-28}} and one of them, the Potanini altai osman (Oreoleuciscus potanini),{{cite web

| url = http://www.catalogueoflife.org/annual-checklist/show_common_name_details.php?name=Potanini+altai+osman

| title = Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist

| author = The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS)&Species 2000

| publisher = The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS)&Species 2000

| access-date = 2008-06-27

}}

is suitable for human consumption.

All of the lake and many parts of its surroundings have been declared protected sites. The UNESCO is using the designation "Uvs Lake site" as an umbrella term to summarize twelve separate clusters of protected sites, each a representative of a major eastern Eurasian biome.{{cite web

|year=2003

|url=http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jul2003/2003-07-08-02.asp

|title=World Heritage Protection Extended to Five Natural Sites

|publisher=Environmental News Service

|access-date=2008-02-10

}}

File:Uvs-Nuur Hollow, Mongolia, Russia, Landsat-7 CROP.jpg

{{Main|Uvs Nuur Basin}}

The Uvs Lake is the terminal basin for the Uvs Lake Basin, which covers an area of 70,000 km² and represents one of the best-preserved natural steppe landscapes of Eurasia. The border between Mongolia and Russia runs through the northern periphery of the basin. Here the world's most northern desert meets the world's most southern tundra zone.{{cite web

|url = http://www.isar.org/pubs/ST/RUubsunur49.html

|title = Ubsu-Nur Accepted into World Network of Biosphere Reserves

|publisher = ISAR

|access-date = 2006-12-31

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070920173809/http://www.isar.org/pubs/ST/RUubsunur49.html

|archive-date = 2007-09-20

|url-status=dead

}} Apart from the Uvs Lake, the basin comprises several smaller lakes. As these lakes lie to the north of other inland seas of Central Asia, they are of key importance for waterfowl migration.

Image:Uvs Nuur drainage basin.jpg

Since the basin spans the geoclimatic boundary between Siberia and Central Asia, temperatures may vary from −58 °C in winter to 47 °C in summer. Despite its harsh climate, the depression is home to 173 bird species and 41 mammal species, including the globally endangered snow leopard, argali, and Asiatic ibex. The population density is low here. The lack of industry and the reliance of the inhabitants on traditional ways such as nomadic pasturing have little impact on the landscape and allow the ecosystem to remain relatively pristine.{{cite web

|url=https://archive.today/20120731135837/http://www.greenpeace.org/russia/en/campaigns/world-natural-heritage/the-ubsunur-hollow/

|title=The Ubsunur Hollow

|publisher=Greenpeace

|access-date=2006-12-31

}}

In 2003, the UNESCO listed the Uvs Lake Basin as a natural World Heritage Site.{{cite web

|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/769

|title=Uvs Nuur Basin

|publisher=whc.unesco.org

|access-date=2007-01-16

}} It was nominated as "one of the largest intact watersheds in Central Asia where 40,000 archeological sites can be found from historically famous nomadic tribes such as the Scythians, the Turks and the Huns."{{cite web

|url=http://ces.iisc.ernet.in/hpg/envis/doc-russia-wh.html

|title=Russia's First World Heritage Site

|access-date=2006-12-31

}} This transboundary patrimony is one of the largest sites inscribed in the World Heritage List to date.

{{reflist}}

{{commons category|Uvs Nuur}}

{{portal|Lakes}}

• [https://whc.unesco.org/archive/advisory_body_evaluation/769rev.pdf UNESCO evaluation of the property]
• [https://artsandculture.google.com/story/dAUhhjX0fI4wug Uvs Nuur Basin] UNESCO Collection on Google Arts and Culture
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080209193329/http://www.ilec.or.jp/database/asi/dsasi050.html Data summary Uvs Nuur]
• [http://www.unep-wcmc.org/sites/wh/uvs_nuur.htm Protected areas of the world Uvs Nuur Basin, Russian Federation (Tuva) & Mongolia]
• [http://www.nhpfund.org/nominations/uvs_nuur.html Natural Heritage Protection Fund - The Uvs Nuur Basin]
• [http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2005IRH....90..580F Notes on the Cladoceran and Copepod Fauna of the Uvs Nuur Basin (Northwest Mongolia)]
• [http://www.globalnature.org/docs/02_vorlage.asp?id=20334&domid=1011&sp=E&addlastid=&m1=11089&m2=11093&m3=18849&m4=20334 Uvs Lake, Mongolia]
• [https://archive.today/20120731135837/http://www.greenpeace.org/russia/en/campaigns/world-natural-heritage/the-ubsunur-hollow/ The Ubsunur Hollow State Biosphere Reserve]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070920173809/http://www.isar.org/pubs/ST/RUubsunur49.html Ubsu-Nur Accepted into World Network of Biosphere Reserves]
• [http://www.nomadom.net/russia/tuva.htm Singing Stones - The Republic of Tuva]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080209113244/http://130.166.124.2/world_atlas/6/files/6-1040-full.html Ubsu Nur satellite photo]
• [https://archive.today/20110813083028/http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/106592481/ABSTRACT The distribution of the vegetation in the Uvs-nuur basin and its surrounding mountain ranges]
• [http://www.wetlands.org/reports/ris/2MN010en.pdf Lake Uvs and its surrounding wetlands]
• [http://www.geodata.es/mongolian_lakes Limnological Catalog of Mongolian Lakes]

{{World Heritage Sites in Mongolia}}

{{Lakes in Mongolia}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Lakes of Uvs Province

Category:Important Bird Areas of Mongolia

Category:Lakes of Tuva

Category:Mongolia–Russia border

Category:International lakes of Asia

Category:World Heritage Sites in Russia

Category:World Heritage Sites in Mongolia

Category:Saline lakes of Asia

Category:Ramsar sites in Mongolia

Category:Endorheic lakes of Asia