Seas that no longer exist. What else will we have time to see? Aral Sea. Tragic history Map of the Aral Sea before and after

One of the border objects separating Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan is the endorheic salty Aral Sea. In its heyday, this lake-sea was considered the fourth largest in the world in terms of the volume of water it contained; its depth reached 68 meters.

In the 20th century, when the Republic of Uzbekistan was part of the Soviet Union, the waters and bottom of the sea were explored by specialists. As a result of radiocarbon analysis, it was established that this reservoir was formed in the prehistoric era, approximately 20-24 thousand years ago.

At that time, the landscape of the earth's surface was constantly changing. Full-flowing rivers changed their courses, islands and entire continents appeared and disappeared. The main role in the formation of this water body was played by the rivers that at different times filled the sea called the Aral Sea.

In primitive times, the stone basin containing a large lake was filled with the waters of the Syr Darya. Then it really was no more than an ordinary lake. But after one of the shifts of tectonic plates, the Amu Darya River changed its original course, ceasing to feed the Caspian Sea.

Great waters and periods of drought in the history of the sea

Thanks to the powerful support of this river, the large lake replenished its water balance, becoming a real sea. Its level rose to 53 meters. Significant changes in the water landscape of the area and increased depth became the causes of climate humidification.

Through the Sarakamyshen depression it connects with the Caspian Sea, and its level rises to 60 meters. These favorable changes occurred in the 4th-8th millennium BC. At the turn of the 3rd millennium BC, aridization processes took place in the Aral Sea region.

The bottom again became closer to the water surface, and the waters dropped to 27 meters above sea level. The depression connecting two seas – the Caspian and Aral – is drying up.

The level of the Aral Sea fluctuates between 27-55 meters, alternating periods of revival and decline. The great medieval regression (drying out) came 400-800 years ago, when the bottom was hidden under 31 meters of water

Chronicle history of the sea

The first documentary evidence confirming the existence of a large salt lake can be found in Arab chronicles. These chronicles were kept by the great Khorezm scientist Al-Biruni. He wrote that the Khorezmians already knew about the existence of a deep sea from 1292 BC.

V.V. Bartholdi mentions that during the conquest of Khorezm (712-800), the city stood on the eastern coast of the Aral Sea, of which detailed evidence has been preserved. The ancient writings of the holy book Avesta have brought to this day a description of the Vaksh River (present-day Amu Darya), which flows into Lake Varakhskoe.

In the mid-19th century, a geological expedition of scientists (V. Obruchev, P. Lessor, A. Konshin) carried out work in the coastal region. Shore deposits discovered by geologists gave the right to assert that the sea occupied the area of the Sarakamyshin depression and the Khiva oasis. And during the migration of rivers and drying out, the mineralization of water sharply increased and salts fell to the bottom.

Facts of the recent history of the sea

The presented documentary evidence is collected in the book “Essays on the history of research of the Aral Sea”, written by a member of the Russian Geographical Society L. Berg. It is interesting to note that, according to L. Berg, neither ancient Greek nor ancient Roman historical or archaeological works contain any information about such an object.

During periods of regression, when the seabed was partially exposed, islands became isolated. In 1963, along one of the islands, Revival Island, a border was drawn between the territories occupied by present-day Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan: 78.97% of Revival Island is occupied by Uzbekistan, and 21.03% by Kazakhstan.

In 2008, Uzbekistan began geological exploration work on Vozrozhdenie Island in order to discover oil and gas layers. Thus, Renaissance Island may turn out to be a “stumbling block” in the economic policies of the two countries.

It is planned to complete the bulk of geological exploration work in 2016. And already at the end of 2016, the LUKOIL corporation and Uzbekistan will drill two appraisal wells on Vozrozhdenie Island, taking into account seismic data.

Ecological situation in the Aral Sea region

What is the Small and Large Aral Sea? The answer can be obtained by studying the drying up of the Aral Sea. At the end of the 20th century, this reservoir experienced another regression - drying out. It splits into two independent objects - the Southern Aral and the Small Aral Sea.

Why did the Aral Sea disappear?

The water surface decreased to ¼ of its original value, and the maximum depth approached 31 meters, which became evidence of a significant (up to 10% of the initial volume) reduction in water in the already disintegrated sea.

Fishing, which once flourished on the lake-sea, left the southern reservoir - the large Aral Sea - due to the strong mineralization of the water. The Small Aral Sea has retained some fishing enterprises, but fish stocks there have also decreased significantly. The reasons why the sea bottom was exposed and individual islands appeared were:

Natural alternation of periods of regression (drying out); during one of them, in the middle of the 1st millennium, there was a “city of the dead” at the bottom of the Aral Sea, as evidenced by the fact that there is a mausoleum here, next to which several burials were discovered.
Drainage-collector waters and domestic wastewater from surrounding fields and vegetable gardens, containing pesticides and toxic chemicals, enter rivers and settle to the bottom of the sea.
The Central Asian rivers Amudarya and Syrdarya, partially flowing through the territory of the state of Uzbekistan, have reduced the recharge of the Aral Sea by 12 times due to the diversion of their waters for irrigation needs.
Global climate change: the greenhouse effect, the destruction and melting of mountain glaciers, and this is where Central Asian rivers originate.

The climate in the Aral Sea region has become harsher: cooling begins already in August, the summer air has become very dry and hot. Steppe winds blowing across the bottom of the sea carry toxic chemicals and pesticides across the entire Eurasian continent.

Aral is navigable

Back in the XYIII-XIX centuries, the depth of the sea was passable for a military flotilla, which included steamships and sailing ships. And scientific and research vessels penetrated the secrets that were hidden by the depths of the sea. In the last century, the depths of the Aral Sea abounded in fish and were suitable for navigation.

Until the next period of drying out at the end of the 70s of the 20th century, when the sea bottom began to sharply approach the surface, ports were located on the seashores:

Aralsk is the former center of the fishing industry on the Aral Sea; now here is the administrative center of one of the districts of the Kyzylorda region of Kazakhstan. It was here that the start was given for the revival of fishing. The dam, built on the outskirts of the city, increased to 45 meters the depth of one of the parts into which the Small Aral Sea broke up, which has already made it possible to engage in fish farming. By 2016, fishing for flounder and freshwater fish has been established here: pike perch, catfish, Aral barbel, and asp. More than 15 thousand tons of fish were caught in the Small Aral Sea in 2016.
Muynak is located on the territory of the state of Uzbekistan, the former port and the sea are separated by 100-150 kilometers of steppe, on the site of which there was a seabed.
Kazakhdarya is a former port located on the territory of the state of Uzbekistan.

New land

The exposed bottom became islands. The largest islands stand out:

Vozrozhdeniya Island, the southern part of which is located on the territory of the state of Uzbekistan, and the northern part belongs to Kazakhstan; as of 2016, Vozrozhdeniya Island is a peninsula on which a large amount of biological waste is buried;
Barsakelmes Island; belongs to Kazakhstan, located 180 km from Aralsk; as of 2016, the Barsakalme Nature Reserve is located on this island in the Aral Sea;
Kokaral Island is located in the north of the former Aral Sea on the territory of Kazakhstan; Currently (as of 2016) it is a land isthmus connecting a large sea that has split into two parts.

Currently (as of 2016), all former islands are connected to the mainland.

Location of the Aral Sea on the map

Travelers and tourists visiting Uzbekistan are interested in the question: where is the mysterious Aral Sea, the depth of which in many places is zero? What do the Small and Large Aral Seas look like in 2016?

Caspian and Aral Sea on the map

The problems of the Aral Sea and the dynamics of its drying out are clearly visible on the satellite map. On an ultra-precise map depicting the territory occupied by Uzbekistan, one can trace a trend that could mean the death and disappearance of the sea. And the effects of a changing climate on the entire continent, which could result from the disappearing Aral Sea, will be catastrophic.

The problem of reviving a drying water body has become international. The real way to save the Aral Sea could be the project of turning the Siberian rivers. In any case, the World Bank, when 2016 began, allocated $38 million to the countries of the Central Asian region to solve the Aral Sea problem and mitigate the climate consequences in the region caused by disastrous processes in the Aral Sea.

Video: Documentary film about the Aral Sea

“I wanted to know more about this natural disaster, so I decided to dedicate this post to the once fourth largest lake in the world...

You probably noticed that I called the Aral Sea a lake? And I was not mistaken, it really is an endorheic salt lake, and traditionally it is considered a sea because of its large size, just like the “neighboring” Caspian Lake. By the way, they are both remnants of the ancient, now non-existent Tethys Ocean.

And a little geography for those who don't know where is the Aral Sea located, let me explain: it is located in Central Asia, on the border of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.

The drying process of the Aral Sea began back in the 1980s. The beginning of its end is considered to be the 1960s, when the active development of agriculture, including cotton growing, began in the then Central Asian Soviet republics of Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, for which purpose they began to actively divert water from the Syrdarya and Amu Darya rivers feeding the lake through canals for irrigation.

As a result of the constant increase in the volume of water drained from rivers, by 2009 the Aral Sea had moved tens of kilometers away from the cities that formerly stood on its shores, and split into two isolated reservoirs.

The first is the Northern or Small Aral Sea (located on the territory of Kazakhstan), and the second is the Southern or Greater Aral Sea (Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan).

Problems of the Aral Sea

The drying out of the sea affected the entire region of its former water area as a whole: ports were closed, commercial fishing stopped, as the salinity of the water increased almost 10 times, and many species of flora and fauna could not survive in the dramatically changed conditions. The climate of the Aral Sea has also changed - winters have become colder and longer, and summers have become even drier and hotter.

In addition, winds carry huge amounts of dust from the drained areas, containing sea salt, pesticides and many other chemicals. This is one of the main reasons for the high mortality rate among residents of the region, especially among children.

What to do? How to save the Aral Sea?

Many experts thought about ways to solve the problem of shallowing the Aral Sea, but apart from the “crazy” Soviet project to divert several Siberian rivers, there were no other options. But since this turn will entail very serious environmental consequences for many regions of our Siberia, there is no chance of its implementation.

The only real steps to save the Aral Sea and the economy of the region as a whole are now being taken only by the authorities of Kazakhstan. True, they decided to save only the Small Aral, that is, the northern part of the sea, which is entirely within the territory of their country.

In 2005, the construction of the 17-kilometer Kokaral dam, 6 m high and about 300 meters wide, was completed, separating the Northern Aral Sea from the rest of the sea.

Because of this, the flow of the Syrdarya River now accumulates only in this reservoir, due to which the water level is gradually increasing. This made it possible not only to reduce the salinity of the water, but also to breed commercial fish varieties in the Northern Aral Sea. And in the future, this should help in restoring the flora and fauna of the Aral Sea region.

Also, in the near future, the Kazakh authorities want to build a dam with a hydroelectric complex and a shipping canal here in the Small Aral, thanks to which it is planned to connect the former port of Aralsk with the lost big water.

Well, the Great Aral Sea, located on the territory of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, was less fortunate. No one is working to save it, and most likely in the next decade it will disappear from the maps altogether.

The Aral Sea is an endorheic salt lake located in Central Asia, or more precisely, on the border of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. Since the 60s of the last century, the sea, as well as its size, has decreased significantly. Why is the Aral Sea drying up? There are several main reasons. Scientists suggest that a similar phenomenon occurs as a result of water intake for various needs through the feeders and the Amu Darya.

The water is leaving

River flows

It has been proven that the boundaries of the Aral Sea have fluctuated over many centuries. The eastern part of this reservoir dried up for the first time not in our time. This lasted for 600 years. It all started with the fact that one of the branches of the Amu Darya began to direct its flows to Naturally, this led to the fact that the Aral Sea began to receive less water. The reservoir gradually began to decrease in size.

Where it leads

Now many people know where the Aral Sea is disappearing to. Why did the lake dry up? What is it paying for? The reservoir is shrinking. Where ships once drifted, you can see a sandy plateau that divided the water area into several parts: Small Sea - 21 km 3, Big Sea - 342 km 3. However, she didn’t stop there. Its scale continues to grow.

According to experts, in the near future the water level in the Great Sea will gradually decrease, which will lead to an increase in its salinity. In addition, certain species of marine animals and plants may disappear. In addition, the wind gradually carries salt from the drained areas. And this leads to a deterioration in soil composition.

Is it possible to stop?

The reasons why the Aral Sea is drying up have long been identified. However, no one is in a hurry to correct the consequences. After all, this requires a lot of effort, as well as financial costs. If wastewater continues to be discharged into the lake, it will simply turn into a septic tank, which will be unsuitable for agriculture. At the moment, all work should be aimed at recreating the natural boundaries of the reservoir.

Since the Aral Sea has not yet completely dried up, but only its eastern part, the strategy for saving it should be aimed at stabilizing the ecological system. It is necessary to restore her ability to self-regulate. First, you should repurpose the planting areas for other crops, for example, fruits or vegetables. They require less moisture. All efforts in this case should be directed to the main reasons that caused the drainage of the large salt lake. This is the only way to save the blue pearl

Scum - in the literal sense: those who walk on the bottom. To meet these people, I also had to hit rock bottom. I was not welcome, but it turned out okay.

What is happening in the Uzbek Muynak, a barely alive city on the shores of the Dead Sea? Unlike the Dead Sea in Israel, people killed it themselves.

1 The disaster zone begins long before the seashore. In stunted villages here and there lie pieces of rusty metal, what for several decades were called ships and walked on water. Some ships were lucky enough to be preserved and made into makeshift monuments.

In the Soviet Union alone, two of the world's largest disasters occurred - technological in Chernobyl and environmental in Central Asia. That country no longer exists, but the entire country will be dealing with the consequences of both disasters for a very long time. In January I was in , and at the end of spring I was transported to the other side of the once large united country. There is also a kind of Zone here. Not so long ago, the prosperous land became a bare lifeless desert, and millions of people lost the most important source of life - water.

Muynak, the furthest city from Tashkent in Uzbekistan, is the edge of geography in all respects. It was once a major seaport with fishermen and industry.

In Ancient Greece there was a parable about a drunkard who wanted to drink the sea. At a noisy feast, Xanthus boasted that everything is subject to man. Word for word, the comrades took the argument lightly.
-Will you drink the sea? - they asked him.
- I'll drink! - Xanthus answered and they made a bet.
In the morning he sobered up and was horrified by such shame. Aesop, who witnessed the dispute, undertook to help the fool Xanthus.
“When you go out to the seashore with the judges and spectators, say so: I promised to drink the sea, but I did not promise the rivers that flow into it; let my opponent dam all the rivers flowing into the sea, then I will drink it!” Xanthus did just that, and everyone was only amazed at his wisdom.

Several thousand years later, the Aral Sea was destroyed in approximately this way.

2 What remains of the Amu Darya River. The width of the dry riverbed is impressive.

3 The rivers have become shallower than ever, but they continue to dry out. Vast areas and millions of people are suffering. Although for residents of almost any post-Soviet outback, such devastation will not seem like something special, even without an environmental disaster.

4 The road seemed endless. In time it was only two hours from Nukus, but they lasted much longer. At some point, all the cars disappeared. No one went with us to Muynak, no one returned from there. Such calms happen in the last kilometers before the border. When local traffic has already ended, and customs is holding oncoming cars.

5 Yes, there is a real border here, just not between states. The border between time and timelessness, that’s what Muynak is. A little more and you will understand it. I will try to convey my feelings. I remember now, three months after the trip - it gave me goosebumps. It’s like if tomorrow you arrive in Sochi or Nice, and the sea has disappeared there.

6 The same exact sensations grip you when entering the former coastal town. The old entrance sign still has waves, a seagull and a lone fish jumping out of the water.

7 It was necessary to come on the only day when at least something happens in the town. That evening there was a big concert at the city stadium. The sports arena here is as phantom as the sea. Trampled earth with bald patches of old lawn. Karakalpak pop stars are unpretentious and agreed to such conditions. And the audience is happy. Police were brought in from all over the autonomous republic, iron fences were brought in and access to the body was blocked. An improvised stage was set up in the middle of the “hippodrome”, but the singer literally walked along the edge! The songs were long, drawn-out and pitiful. I'm sure it's about love, and not about the Aral Sea.

8 Entrance ticket - five thousand soums. 43 rubles 15 kopecks in Russian. They even accepted plastic cards, but only Uzbek ones. A group of guys clustered at the entrance, not daring to enter. They didn’t speak Russian, but I understood that they were trying to sneak in without money, but my aunt didn’t let me in, even though she had known them since kindergarten.

9 Five thousand is not a lot of money, but it’s better to spend it on seeds or cigarettes.

10 Where in a city of 18 thousand without work and production there are so many young people, one can only guess. As well as about the fate that awaits the younger generation of Muynak.

11 Having struggled through a couple of songs, I decided to continue my walk around the city. I slipped a ticket to one of the loser bunnies on duty at the entrance, I took one last look at the pop star and walked out of the stadium.

12 Muynak is a very strange place. Everywhere in Uzbekistan, people live poorly, but with dignity, they sweep the streets and clean the interiors of their homes until they shine. They smile at people they meet, and especially at tourists. For the most part, they are not aggressive at all. But here hostility is in the air. Every glance glares at you, as if wanting to drill right through you. And these people clearly don’t like that you came here. You are not welcome here.

13 Right now we're standing on the seashore. Right there, behind the blue fence, salt water splashes. Now it’s quiet here, because the whole city is listening to the concert. You can stand in silence, and in the morning everything will boil and seethe again, flocks of hungry seagulls will chase fishing boats and shout: “give, give, die...”

There is none of this. No water, no fish, no seagulls. The boats sank to the bottom, people fell to the bottom. This strange triangle made of concrete is a monument to the Great Patriotic War. They used to be a long time ago. Now it is a monument to the Dead Sea. Something that can no longer be returned.

The word "Aral" translated means "island", that is, an island sea in the middle of deserts. Unlike the Caspian Sea, which is a “torn off” piece of the World Ocean, the Aral has never been a real sea - but it was the third largest lake on Earth.
It was fed by the Syr Darya and Amu Darya, and from time immemorial the life of the Aral Sea depended on the latter. Even its drying out is not the first: on the opened bottom, archologists discovered ancient settlements and foundations of palaces and mausoleums (Kerderi, Aral-Asar) from the not so distant 11-15 centuries. It is believed that the last time the Aral dried up was in the 4th century, and began to fill again in the 1570s, and this was also an unheard of disaster for the desert - people had to leave their villages, which were inevitably attacked by water!
But over 400 years, everyone got used to the sea-lake, and the life of Khorezm in the 19th century could not be imagined without the Aral fishermen. In Soviet times, Syr and Amu were dismantled to irrigate the fields of Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, and this step in itself was not at all crazy - in Central Asia there is no water shortage, so characteristic of countries in deserts. However, the runoff could no longer exceed evaporation, and since the 1960s, the shallow sea began to become shallow and disappear before our eyes. By 1989, having shrunk by half in area and three times in volume (that is, to the size of Azov), the Aral split into two - the Small Aral in Kazakhstan and the Large Aral in Uzbekistan. The Kazakhs managed to stabilize the Small Aral, concentrating the flow of the Syr Darya in it, and now fishing is even being revived in it, from Aralsk to the water 25 kilometers.
But the Great Aral continued to dry out. It has long become smaller than the Small Aral and itself fell into several parts, and the fish in it died. The salty dust remaining at the bottom turned out to be contaminated with pesticides that the Amu Darya and Syr Darya carried from the fields, and now sends the earth hundreds of kilometers around. Vozrozhdenie Island, on which in Soviet times there was a testing ground for bacteriological weapons and abandoned burial grounds, “moored” to the shore. // from the log varandej

15 The old lighthouse has been preserved, whose classic round tower was thoroughly disfigured by plastic double-glazed windows. For a long time it stood abandoned, but now it has been bought and several young guys are trying to build a tourism business. They let you go up for a small fee, but I refused - the equipment was not preserved, and I myself can look down at the world with the help of a quadcopter.

16 Next to the lighthouse, a yurt camp was set up, somewhat traditional for nomadic peoples (the Karakalpaks, unlike the Uzbeks, historically were not very assiduous), where anyone can now spend the night. The asking price is ten “bucks” per nose, there is a shower, but in a separate annex. You can view the amenities by clicking on the arrow directly on this photo.

17 In the parking lot in front of the monument, almost on the very edge of the cliff, there is a MAN truck converted into a mobile home. Judging by the numbers, travelers came from Munich itself to see the consequences of the largest environmental disaster. Using this kind of transport you can get to the water and to the former Renaissance Island.

18 We drove a regular rental car, so we couldn’t spend the night right in the desert. It’s good that yurts appeared near the lighthouse, but they didn’t suit us. They do not register there, and by law foreign tourists must report when leaving the country where they spent every night. Now this law may already be repealed, in Uzbekistan now everything is quickly changing for the better, but it was still in effect then. So, we found two more hostels where we can stay. One is right on the main street, opposite the school. The place is new, opened in April 2018 and is clearly designed for groups of foreign tourists. There are only three rooms, more like barracks - there are single beds in a row, shared showers and toilets. We were lucky; there were no guests at all that day; we spent the night alone in the room. But if something happens, sharing cannot be avoided, there are simply no options. The night cost 20 dollars per person, which of course is damn expensive for Uzbekistan and such a hole, but there is nothing to choose from. Even at the stage of preparing the trip, I “called” the numbers indicated in earlier travel reports, people recommended people with whom to stay. No one answered the phone. So we went at random, but were not left without a roof over our heads. They even fed us breakfast. Pictures of food and interiors will open to those who click on the "right" arrow directly on this photo.

19 In the morning we went to the airport early to look at the city from above. In full view! Green meadows with small puddles are what was once called the sea. They say there was a time when you could only get here by water or by plane. The air harbor served 20 flights a day! A flight of passenger AN-2s was based at the airfield, and the runway accepted AN-24, YAK-40 and increasingly lighter planes and helicopters of any model. Although the sea receded back in the 70s, people flew here before the collapse of the USSR.

20 Now the airport is abandoned, and only birds and quadcopter owners can see Muynak from above. Having risen a hundred meters, I saw water. Much water!

21 Another artifact from the past is a gate with TU planes and the logo of the Soviet Aeroflot.

22 Some things are still changing for the better. Like the lighthouse on the cliff, I also expected to see the airport building empty and abandoned. Suddenly it was renovated, painted, windows were put in and “Zhenis!” was written on it. - and then completely incomprehensible words. With the help of Google translator, who does not know the Karakalpak language, I found out that this is a banquet hall. Well, yes, just for weddings.

23 Meteorological station, seemingly operational.

24 For some time, air ambulances still landed here, but those wonderful years are long gone. The airport is completely dead. Although some navigation and lighting equipment survived.

25 Life in Muynak even with water was not like a resort, and now it has completely begun to slide back towards the Middle Ages.

26 I don’t know how old these apartment buildings are or whether amenities were provided for in the original design, but these crooked sheds with numbers are nothing more than...toilets! No public toilets, this is a city, not a village! Each apartment has its own! But...what for to live like that!

27 Some apartments don’t even have glass! But there are satellite dishes. The unfortunate inhabitants of the city by the sea are trying to hide from the terrifying reality, at least in the dreams of the TV. But the caring state recently painted the walls of all houses. From a distance they don't look so depressing.

28 The logo of the 1980 Moscow Olympics is visible under the layer of paint.

29 Having read other posts about Muynak, we took with us several packages of sweets to distribute to children. They usually chase foreigners and demand to give them something. It’s better to bring fresh water in bottles, they need it more, but we didn’t have the opportunity or space. We didn’t meet any little beggars on our way, so we gave the whole pack to this guy. I look and the brand on his new bike is UKRAINA. What is it? After all, the Kharkov plant seems to have closed?

30 Overgrown and abandoned Orthodox plot at city cemetery No. 1. As in Nukus, a community of Cossack Old Believers lived in Muynak. Maybe even now the last old people are living out their lives. We didn’t meet a single Russian on the streets.

31 Cinema "Berdakh" and the head of that same Karakalpak poet. They promise a cafe and movies in the "three-de" but the place doesn't look like it's operating. Only the facade is painted with the same yellow paint as all the old houses in the city of the republic. The appearance that all is not lost.

32 Or maybe it’s true that life is being reborn? In the center there is a tiny amusement park for the little ones. For such a hole, this is already good.

33 And there is an Internet cafe here.

34 The ground here is sand.

35 The most modern and “rich” building in the entire city is the building of the registry office and the notary’s office. There is even a ramp for the disabled. On which you can only drive cows. Because there is such devastation around that if there is even one wheelchair user here, he will not even be able to get to this street.

36 In its fat years, the city lived not only on fish. The faded colors remind us of this

37 There are two ways to truly be horrified by the Aral Sea disaster. Hire an SUV with a guide and drive 100-200 kilometers to the nearest water: where the sea has gone. It costs about two hundred dollars per person. We didn't go. I picked up the quadcopter and flew a little over the ship graveyard, a poignant and sad monument.

38 "The Graveyard" is made up of ten boats and ships of varying sizes, from fishing schooners to small barges, all of them in a deplorable state, with only rusty metal remaining.

39 They say that this whole pile of iron was dragged here from all over the coast for scale and to attract tourists. After all, the sea left Muynak not yesterday, but almost half a century ago. It moved further and further, running away from people.

Over these many years, 40 port facilities, piers and docks did not survive at all.

41 The smooth surface of the water gave way to mounds of sandy bottom, but the endless view and horizon still reveal the non-desert origin of the landscape.

42 "Beware of the tugboat."

43 The seabed is all covered in shells.

46 The Maps.me navigator, unlike Google, Yandex, Waze and others, always shows much more roads. Does he take them from old General Staff maps? And if you believe the map, then along the coast, not far from the embankment and the ship cemetery, there was once a pioneer camp. We tried to get there, but had to turn back halfway through the 10-kilometer journey. What used to be a road was completely covered with sand, and only traces of SUVs made it clear that people sometimes drive here. But how often? If we were stuck here, it wouldn't be fun at all. No connection, walk 5 kilometers through the desert...turned back

47 Ruins of a cannery.

48 There is also little left of the fish processing plant. But before, when the trees were large, Muynak supplied almost the entire Soviet Union with canned food. Jars with labels are on display at the Aral Sea Museum, which is right here on the main street, but was closed for reconstruction.

49 The industrial area appears empty and abandoned, but one of the buildings of the former fish factory is operational. On the walls of the cell, in the security booth, in front of the entrance there is a Toyota with "thieves" license plates, and in Uzbekistan a foreign car of this level means a lot. What are they doing there? We won't know.

50 Muynak is called the end of the earth, but the road does not end there. Another 15 kilometers on broken asphalt, and there will be a working village called Uchsay.

51 Along the road there are several more villages, even poorer and more insignificant than Muynak. But not only do people live here, there is even a regular bus service. Even if it’s only to the city, that’s already something. But I still can’t understand within myself how people can live in such lost, forgotten and useless places on the map. Unless they themselves, forgotten and lost. And there is some bitter truth in this.

52 Heavy shift "Urals" rush around Uchsai, several cabins stand on the former shore, a yellow giraffe-like crane drags black pipes from place to place. They found oil or gas here, and that’s where life comes from, and that’s why the bus comes. And it was only by miracle that a small white memorial to those who died in the Great Patriotic War was preserved here. With Soviet symbols, long ago erased in independent Uzbekistan (decommunization took place here before Ukraine), with naive nomenklatura lines. This is probably one of the last places in the country where such memorials still remain, not even in Muynak anymore.

53 We are going back. There is nowhere else to go here, getting to Vozrozhdenie Island is not possible, driving 200 kilometers in an UAZ just to look at the water is too expensive. Again we pass a lonely entrance sign with a faded fish jumping on the waves. Cows stand in the tall grass along the road and carelessly chew on plants. These smart ones thought of it. They stand “waist-deep” in cool water and chew juicy grass, while others choke on dried stems. Don’t ask where the water comes from; there hasn’t been any rain in the desert for a long time. I look at the map - there was a sea here too. And these drops are the last tears of the Aral Sea.

54 If you liked this report, don’t hesitate to like it and share the link with your friends. I would be glad to receive comments, additions and stories from those who remember these places as completely different.

Between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, Aral Lake is located, which has a rich history, being one of the largest salt lakes in the world. But since the middle of the last century, it began to shrink due to the human factor; people needed water to water their livestock and irrigate the land.

Aral Lake: origin

More than 20 million years ago, the lake was a sea and connected to the Caspian Sea. However, scientists have established that it once became shallow and then filled with water again, since human remains dating back to the 1st millennium were found at the bottom, as well as the remains of trees that grew in this place.

An interesting discovery after the shallowing was the discovery of several mausoleums and the remains of two settlements. Scientists believed that peoples lived here, and the Kerderi mausoleum, dating back to approximately the 11th-14th centuries, and the remains of the Aral-Asar settlement, dating back to the 14th century, were preserved.

The change in water level was associated with natural cycles, when it waxed and waned, some rivers stopped flowing, and small islands formed. However, this did not affect the depth of the Aral Lake, continuing to be a large body of water in the world, although not connected with the World Ocean. The Aral military flotilla was located at sea, research was carried out, and the reservoir was studied.

In 1849, the first expedition led by A. Butakov was carried out. Then an approximate depth measurement was made, the Barsakelmes Islands were photographed and part of the Renaissance Islands were studied. These islands were formed at the end of the 16th century, when the water level was reduced. During the same expedition, meteorological and astronomical observations were carried out, and mineral samples were collected.

Research was carried out even when fighting was going on for the annexation of the Central Asian states, and the Aral Flotilla took part in these battles.

At the end of the 19th century, another expedition was created led by A. Nikolsky in the south, and academician Lev Berg in the north. They mainly studied climate, flora and fauna. In 1905, industrial fishing began when merchants Lapshin and Krasilnikov created fishing unions.

Catastrophe

In the 30s of the last century, people began to actively engage in agriculture. But the reservoir was still safe, and the water level did not decrease. In the 60s, its decline began, and already in 1961 the level decreased by 20 cm, and 2 years later by 80 cm. In the early 90s, the area decreased sharply, and the salt level increased 3 times, and it is impossible There was a clear answer: Is the Aral Lake fresh or salty?

In 1989, it completely split into two reservoirs, and they began to call it the Big Aral and the Small Aral. All this affected the amount of fish that remained only in Maly.

Aral Sea-lake: why did the disaster happen?

Having learned that this reservoir had become so shallow, people wondered why this happened? After all, many live off rivers and lakes, use their waters not only for agriculture, but also for construction, for drinking, and they do not become shallow.

At one time, the sea area was 428 km long and 283 km wide. Residents located along the banks lived off the water, fished and made money in this way. For them, crushing turned into a tragedy, and by the beginning of the 21st century the area was only 14 thousand square meters. km.

Experts believe that this situation arose due to the fact that resources were distributed incorrectly. The Aral Sea was fed by the Amu Darya and Syr Darya, thanks to which up to 60 cubic meters entered the reservoir. km of water, but now this figure is only 5.

Rivers flowing in Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan are mountain reservoirs that began to be used for irrigation. At first it was planned to irrigate about 60 million hectares, and then this figure increased to 100 million hectares, and the reservoir simply did not have time to replenish.

Fauna

Catastrophe for the inhabitants of the shores of the Aral Sea came when it was divided into two parts and became increasingly salty, which made it impossible for fish to survive. As a result, there were no fish left at all in the Big Aral due to the high concentration of salt, and in the Small Aral its quantity decreased sharply.

Things were completely different before the drying out; once upon a time there were more than 30 species of fish, worms, crayfish and mollusks in the sea, 20 of which were commercial. People made a living by fishing, for example, in 1946 23 thousand tons were caught, in the early 80s 60 thousand tons.

Since salinity increased, the biodiversity of living organisms began to decrease sharply and first invertebrates and freshwater fish died, then brackish water fish disappeared, and when the concentration increased to 25%, species of Caspian origin also disappeared, leaving only euryhaline organisms.

In the 80s, they tried to correct the situation a little and created hydraulic structures, which reduced the salinity in the Small Aral and even fish such as grass carp and pike perch appeared, i.e. the fauna was partially restored.

In the large Aral Sea, things were worse and the salt concentration reached 57% in 1997, and the fish gradually began to disappear. If by the beginning of 2000 there lived 5 species of fish and 2 species of gobies, then already in 2004 the entire fauna died completely.

Environmental consequences

If you see an animation of satellite images from 2000 to 2011, you can understand how rapidly the reservoir has shrunk, that now, looking from a satellite, you wonder: where is Lake Aral, why is it disappearing and what could this threaten?

The fact that the fauna died due to the high concentration of salt is one of the consequences. This led to the fact that residents lost their jobs, and the ports of Aralsk and Kazakhdarya ceased to exist.

In addition, toxic chemicals and pesticides flowing from the fields into the beds of the Syr Darya and Amu Darya ended up in the sea, and now everything remains on the shallow salty bottom, and due to the winds, all this is carried for many kilometers.

Small Aral Sea

In 1989, when the Berg Strait dried up, the Small Aral Lake was formed, but a few years later, when the use of the Syr Darya River sharply decreased, the strait began to fill with water again, which is why the Small Lake filled up, from where it flowed into the Big Lake. This situation led to the influx of over 100 m³ of water literally in a second, which led to the deepening of the channel, erosion of the natural barrier, and subsequently the complete drying of the North Sea.

In 1992, experts came to the conclusion that it was necessary to create an artificial dam. The level of the Small Aral Lake increased, the salinity of the water decreased, and the Saryshyganak Strait was revived, and the separation of Butakov and Shevchenko Bay was prevented. Flora and fauna began to recover.

The natural levee was fragile and often collapsed during floods, and in 1999 it was completely destroyed by a storm. This again influenced a sharp decrease in water, and the leadership of Kazakhstan came to the conclusion that it was necessary to build a capital dam in the Berg Strait. Construction lasted for a year, and already in 2005 the Kokaral dam was created, which meets all technical requirements. The difference between this dam and a dam is that it has a culvert structure, which allows excess water to be discharged during floods and maintain the level at a safe level.

Great Aral Sea

Things are completely different with the Big Sea; significant changes have occurred literally over the last 15 years. In 1997, salinity levels exceeded 50%, which led to the death of fauna.

In the same year, the island of Barsakelmes joined the land, and in 2001, Vozrozhdeniya Island, where biological weapons were tested.

The entire sea was first divided into 2 parts: northern and southern, but in 2003 the southern part was divided into east and west. In 2004, Lake Tuschibas was formed in the eastern part, and when the Kokaral dam was built in 2005, the influx of water from the Small Aral Sea stopped, and the Large one began to decrease sharply.

In subsequent years, the Eastern Sea completely dried up, the salinity in the Western Sea was 100%, and the area of the Southern Aral changed with varying degrees of success. In 2015, all parts decreased in size, and it is possible that the western reservoir may soon split into 2 parts.

Climate

The change in the area and size of the Aral Sea also affected the climate - it became drier and colder, continental, and where the sea receded, a salt desert appeared. In winter, frosty times, when water does not freeze on the surface, the so-called “snow lake effect” appears. This is the process of cumulonimbus clouds where cold air moves over warm lake water and this leads to the development of convective clouds.

Land in the sea

The Aral Lake began to shrink sharply in the last century, as a result of which new lands were formed. Some of them have become especially interesting to scientists and researchers:

The island of Barsakelmes, which is distinguished by its amazing nature, where one of the large nature reserves is located. This territory belongs to Kazakhstan.
Kokaral Island also belongs to Kazakhstan, and in 2016 it was an isthmus that connected two parts of the former sea.
Renaissance Island belongs to two countries - Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. There is a lot of biological waste buried on this island.

Facts of recent history

Even in ancient Arab chronicles, Lake Aral was mentioned, which was once one of the largest in the world. Today it is even difficult to say right away where the Aral Lake is, which is so difficult to find on the map.

Scientists study this natural object, and someone finds the cause of the disaster in something completely different. Some believe that this happened due to the destruction of the bottom layers, and the water simply does not reach the place, others consider a different point of view, believing that due to climate change, negative changes are occurring in the glaciers that feed the Syr Darya and Amu Darya.

Once upon a time, the former wastewater Aral Lake was well studied by a member of the Russian Geographical Society L. Berg, who wrote a book about it “Essays on the History of Research of the Aral Sea”. He believed that in ancient times none of the ancient Greek and Roman peoples described this body of water, although it had been known about it for a very long time.

When the sea began to become shallower and land appeared in the 60s of the last century, Renaissance Island was formed, which is divided into the territory of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, 78% and 22% respectively. Uzbekistan has decided to conduct geological exploration in search of oil, many experts believe that if minerals are found, this could lead to a clash between the two countries.

Lessons for the whole world

Many experts believed until recently that it was not possible to restore the salty Aral Lake. However, progress has been made in the restoration of the northern Small Aral, including thanks to the construction of the dam.

Before destroying nature, it is worth thinking about what the consequences might be, and the Aral Sea is a clear example for everyone. People can easily destroy the natural environment, but then the restoration process will be long and difficult. Thus, Lake Chad in Central Africa and Lake Salton Sea in the USA may suffer the same consequences.

The tragedy of the Aral Sea was also touched upon in art. In 2001, the Kazakh rock opera “Takyr” was staged, and the book “Barsakelmes” was written by the Uzbek writer Jonrid Abdullakhanov. Similar relationships between man and nature are revealed in the film “Dogs.”

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