Lake Elgygytgyn

Lake El'gygytgyn (Russian and Chukchi: Эльгыгытгын) is an impact crater lake located in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug in northeast Siberia, about 150 km (93 mi) southeast of Chaunskaya Bay.

El'gygytgyn Lake
View of the lake
El'gygytgyn Lake
Location in Chukotka, Russia
LocationChukchi Peninsula, northeast Siberia
Coordinates67°30′N 172°00′E
TypeImpact crater lake, oligotrophic
Primary outflowsEnmyvaam
Catchment area293 km2 (113 sq mi)
Basin countriesRussia
Max. length12 km (7.5 mi)
Max. width12 km (7.5 mi)
Surface area110 km2 (42 sq mi)

The word "Elgygytgyn" means "white lake" in the Chukchi language.

The lake is of particular interest to scientists because it has never been covered by glaciers. This has allowed the uninterrupted build-up of 400 m (1,300 ft) of sediment at the bottom of the lake, recording information on prehistoric climate change.

Geography
Landsat 7 satellite image of the lake

Lake El'gygytgyn is located in the Anadyr Plateau, part of the Anadyr Highlands. It is drained to the southeast by the Enmyvaam, a tributary of the Belaya. It is approximately 12 km (7 mi) in diameter and has a maximum depth of 174 ± 2 m (571 ± 7 ft). The lake is centered within an impact crater with a rim diameter of 18 km (11 mi) that formed 3.6 million years ago during the Pliocene.[1] Before it was reliably dated, preliminary papers in the late 1970s suggested either Elgygytgyn[2] or Zhamanshin[3] as the source of the young Australasian strewnfield.

Scientific drilling

In late 2008 and early 2009, an international team from the USA (Dr. Julie Brigham-Grette), Germany (Dr. Martin Melles), Russia (Dr. Pavel Sergeevich Minuyk) and Austria (Dr. Christian Koeberl) conducted a drilling program targeting three holes in El'gygytgyn Lake. The resulting cores are designated ICPD Site 5011-1 and 5011-3.[4] This co-sponsored by the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP), with funding also provided by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) and GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam (GFZ), the Russian Academy of Sciences Far East Branch (RAS FEB), the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR), and the Austrian Federal Ministry of Science and Research (BMWF).[4]

Fauna

The conditions in the El'gygytgyn lake are extremely severe for fish life. Even so, there are three species permanently inhabiting the lake's harsh aquatic environment.[5] These are three types of char: Salvelinus boganidae, S. elgyticus (Small-mouth char) and Salvethymus svetovidovi (long-finned char).[6] The two latter species are endemic to the El'gygytgyn lake. The golets (Salvelinus alpinus, Russian: голец) has been introduced recently. Fish species in the lake are adapted to its very cold waters, which are generally just above the freezing point, and spend most of the year in total darkness. The surface is frozen for about 10 months of the year. It may start to melt in the summer, but some years it never fully thaws.[7]

See also

References
  1. "El'gygytgyn". Earth Impact Database. Planetary and Space Science Centre University of New Brunswick Fredericton. Retrieved 2009-08-19.
  2. R.S. Dietz (1977), Elgygytgyn Crater, Siberia: Probable Source Of Australasian Tektite Field Meteoritics, June 1977, Vol 12, Issue 2, p. 145–157
  3. B.P. Glass (1979), Zhamanshin crater, a possible source of Australasian tektites? Geology, July 1979, v. 7, p. 351-353
  4. Melles; et al. (2011). "The Lake El'gygytgyn Scientific Drilling Project – Conquering Arctic Challenges through Continental Drilling". Scientific Drilling. 11 (10): 29. Bibcode:2011SciDr..11...29M. doi:10.2204/iodp.sd.11.03.2011.
  5. Fly Fishing Russia – The Elgygytgyn Lake, Chukotka
  6. Salvethymus svetovidovi
  7. Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) in the lake
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