Lake Manych-Gudilo

Lake Manych-Gudilo (Russian: Ма́ныч-Гуди́ло) is a large saltwater reservoir lake in Kalmykia, Russia. Part of the lake lies also in Rostov Oblast and Stavropol Krai. It has an area of about 344 km² and average depth of only about 0.6 m.^[3]

Lake Manych-Gudilo
Lake Manych Gudilo coastline
Lake Manych-Gudilo Show map of Kalmykia Lake Manych-Gudilo Show map of Rostov Oblast Lake Manych-Gudilo Show map of Stavropol Krai Lake Manych-Gudilo Show map of European Russia
Location	Kalmykia
Coordinates	46°20′09″N 42°47′58″E
Lake type	Saline
Primary outflows	Sea of Azov (via the West Manych River)
Basin countries	Russia
Surface area	344 km2 (133 sq mi)
Average depth	0.6 m (2 ft 0 in)
Max. depth	2.2 m (7 ft 3 in)
Surface elevation	8 m (26 ft)[1]
Ramsar Wetland
Official name	Lake Manych-Gudilo
Designated	13 September 1994
Reference no.	673[2]

Lake Manych-Gudilo is the source of the West Manych River, which flows north-west, through a number of reservoirs, falling into the lower Don a short distance upstream from Rostov-on-Don and the Don's fall into the Sea of Azov.^[4]

Temperatures in the region through the year can range from −30 °C (−22 °F) in winter to 40 °C (104 °F) in summer. The area is also home to many species of birds and is the site of the Chernye Zemli Biosphere Reserve.^[5][6][7]

Manych-Gudilo as seen from space

A global sea level rise of roughly 25 metres (80 ft) would cause the ocean surface to be higher than the highest point of an area between the ocean and the Caspian, forming a narrow channel straddling the lake in the area between the Sea of Azov and the Caspian Sea, potentially placing the Caspian Depression area underwater.^[8][9]

See also

• Aral Sea – Lake between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan
• Black Sea undersea river – Saline water current in the Black Sea
• Paratethys – Prehistoric shallow inland sea in Eurasia

Further reading

• Yanko-Hombach, Valentina (2006). Allan S. Gilbert, Nicolae Panin and Pavel M. Dolukhanov (ed.). The Black Sea Flood Question. Springer. p. 999. ISBN 978-1402047749.

References

1. Ramsar Sites Database – Lake Manych-Gudilo Archived 2011-05-27 at the Wayback Machine
2. "Lake Manych-Gudilo". Ramsar Sites Information Service. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
3. Lake Manych-Gudilo (Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Science) (in Russian)
4. "Institute of Limnology: DB page". 2015-10-23. Archived from the original on 2015-10-23. Retrieved 2024-02-09.
5. Lake Manych Gudilo (Important Birds Areas of Russia (European))
6. BBC – Saiga – Publications
7. Rostovsky Zapovednik – Russian Nature Reserve
8. Sea Level Rise Explorer Archived 2011-07-18 at the Wayback Machine
9. Flood Maps