The secret of the Blue Lake in Kabardino-Balkaria - one of the deepest in Europe - remained unsolved.
There are 8 million karst lakes in the world. The blue lake is the deepest. There is no exact data on the depth of the lake, and unmanned underwater vehicles were able to descend only to a depth of 365 meters. Scientists understand how it formed and what's down there.
The last time the Blue Lake was explored was in the 20s of the last century. It is known that its level can change several times a day. For what reason, scientists still do not know.
Blue Lakes Kabardino-Balkaria is located in the Cherek Gorge. There are 5 lakes in total. All of them have a karst nature of formation.
Lower Blue Lake is the most interesting and unique. It is located at 809 meters above sea level. It has total area the water surface is just over two hectares, and its depth is 386 meters. But there are suggestions that the depth of the lake is much deeper, because no one has yet reached its bottom. In terms of its depth, this lake ranks third in Russia after Teletskoye in Altai and Baikal. The uniqueness of the lake also lies in the fact that not a single river flows into it, and about 70 million liters of water flows out per day.
Tserik-Kel - this is what this lake is called locals, which translated means like a rotten lake. There is a legend about the origin of this lake among the local population. Once upon a time in the territory of Kabardino-Balkaria lived the fearless hero Bataraz, who defeated the evil dragon in a duel. And when the dragon collapsed, a hole formed in the mountains, which was filled with water. The dragon to this day lies at the bottom of this lake and sheds tears, thereby filling the lake with water and an unpleasant smell.
Directly from the water's edge, sheer walls are visible going into the depths, and from what he sees one gets the impression that this is a huge well. Depending on the time of day and weather, the shades of the water are constantly changing and have different colors. The water temperature in the lake in winter and summer is the same +9.3, so the lake never freezes.
Upper Blue Lakes are 2 lakes, East and West. Also these lakes are called Communicating. A dam was built between them, and the water from the East Lake flows into the West. The East Lake is larger and deeper than the West. Fish are found in these lakes.
Secret Lake is located near the Upper Blue Lakes. And it is so named because it is located in a deep karst funnel, overgrown with a dense beech forest.
The dry lake, or it is also called the missing, was formed in a large karst gap with sheer walls reaching depths of up to 180 meters. Previously, this sinkhole was completely filled with water, but as a result of the shuddering of the mountains, the lake disappeared and remained only at the bottom of the canyon.
Many myths and legends are associated with these amazingly beautiful places.
Location
The blue lakes of the KBR are located in the unique Chereksky gorge, located on the territory of the region of the same name. It is considered the most densely populated in Kabardino-Balkaria, moreover, it has a large area. Basically, there are mountains: five of the seven peaks of the Caucasus, the height of which reaches 5 km. It is here that the longest European glacier is located. There is also one of the oldest mountaineering camps "Bezengi" in these amazing places, it was in it that the foundations of Soviet mountaineering were laid.
Natural monument
The blue lakes of the KBR are considered unique Chirik-Kol - the second deepest karst source in the world. It is a karst aquifer with sheer walls. The maximum width on the surface of the lake is 130 meters, the length is 235 meters. There is an extension in the upper part, therefore the depth difference is determined from 0 to 40 meters. Chirik-Kol has no tributaries, a small river flows out of it.
Temperature regime
The weather on the Blue Lakes of the KBR is determined by the season, but the water temperature is unchanged and is 9 degrees. This lake is absolutely transparent, in good weather the visibility is about 30-50 meters.
Research history
For the first time the Blue Lakes of the KBR were described by the geographer I. Dinnik in his work "A Trip to Balkaria in 1887-1890". The author emphasized the beauty and pristine nature of these unique places, described the climate features of the KBR, Blue Lakes.
How to get to this natural monument? This question is of interest to many tourists. At the beginning of the last century, serious geographical research in this region was carried out by I. Shchukin. In the thirties of the last century, he was engaged in the study of the Blue Lakes.It was he who was awarded by the Russian Geographical Society for the unique results obtained during the experiments, a personalized silver medal. He managed to find out that the reservoir of this lake is a deep well, the sheer walls of which are lined with layered limestone. Water enters here from below under strong pressure.
In the summer of 1980, an expedition from the Geographic Institute named after V.I. Vakhushti Bagrationi belonging to the Georgian Academy of Sciences. G. Gigineishvili, Doctor of Geography, became the head of the research group. The expedition confirmed the information about the depth of the lake, and in the course of the work, new data on chemical composition water. It turned out that only algae live in these places, there are no living creatures, and mineral salts in the Blue Lake are present in minimal quantities.
Legends of the Blue Lake
The history of the appearance of a dive center on the Blue Lake begins in the summer of 1982. In June, Roma Prokhorov, a Moscow student, appeared on the shore of the lake. In addition to a huge number of trunks, he had oxygen cylinders, as well as diving equipment.
It was he who later became the record holder of the Russian Federation and founded the Blue Lakes camp. KBR is famous all over the world for its diving center founded by Prokhorov. Now the buildings, built with the assistance of the government of Kabardino-Balkaria, have two tiers. The lower one is cut directly into the rock, here there is an exit to the launching platform. There are showers, changing rooms, equipment storage rooms, as well as a pressure chamber.
How to get there
Have you decided to visit the Blue Lakes of the CBD? How to get to these amazing places? First, get to Nalchik. From Moscow you can get here by railroad, as well as along the road Along the gorge upward behind the Blue Lake are the Cherek tunnels, part of old road... A narrow path to the reservoir begins at a small waterfall and winds along the cliff, the height of which is about one hundred and fifty meters.
A mesmerizing view opens up on the way to the Blue Lakes. After driving a few kilometers, you can get to the village of Upper Balkaria. The attraction of this settlement is a unique suspension bridge leading to the old settlement. It was destroyed during the resettlement of the Balkars by order of Stalin. But the foundations and remnants of the walls are still preserved, when looking at them one can imagine narrow winding streets where the inhabitants of the ancient mountain village once walked. The Abai-Kala tower, surrounded by apricot trees, is also unique in its beauty. A watchtower stands on a solid stone, the height of which is ten meters, to the left of Abai-Kala.
The secret of the Blue Lake in Kabardino-Balkaria - one of the deepest in Europe - remained unsolved. An expedition led by a British diver had to find out if a cave system exists at depth. But the research was stopped after one of the crew members died under water.
NTV correspondent Maxim Berezin found out the circumstances.
Former British special forces soldier Martin Robson and in civilian life cannot live without thrills. The award-winning diving instructor has dived into all sorts of extreme points on the planet, from the Arctic Circle to the underwater caves of Mexico. Martin's new goal was an inconspicuous lake in the mountains of Kabardino-Balkaria. Locals believe that it is bottomless. And this is not far from the truth. There really is no exact data on the depth of the lake. To begin with, Robson planned a dive to 160 meters.
Martin Robson: “I noticed what the scientists paid attention to. They helped us and suggested what, in fact, need to be explored in this lake. They themselves still do not fully understand how it was formed and what is down there. Therefore, it is interesting to me. "
The last time the Blue Lake was explored was in the 20s of the last century. It is known that its level can change several times a day. For what reason, scientists still do not know. Somewhere very deep, there is probably a cave from which water enters the lake. No one has yet been able to find the cave. Martin Robson hoped to become a pioneer, thus helping Russian science.
Day "x" for divers did not go well from the very beginning. Fog fell on the lake. The dive time was shifted for various reasons. In the end, the Englishman still donned a wetsuit and went to the depths. The beginning of the operation was filmed by Andrey Rodionov, the expedition's volunteer videographer. He joined Robson's support group.
A few hours later, the rescuers of the Ministry of Emergency Situations noticed a stationary body of a diver on the surface. Andrey was no longer breathing. Attempts to bring him back to life were in vain.
Rodionov's computer showed that in the last minutes of his life the diver was at a depth of 16 meters. What happened next is to be found out by the investigation. According to one of the versions, Andrey's breathing apparatus could break. He lost consciousness, which is tantamount to death under water. It was dangerous to stop the operation; all that remained was to wait for the return of the English diver.
Martin Robson spent almost eight hours underwater and during this time he could not find the mysterious cave. Not having time to reveal the secrets of the Blue Lake, the researchers decided to prematurely curtail the expedition.
A unique miracle created by nature is located in the Caucasus mountains, in Kabardino-Balkaria. This is the mysterious lake Tserik-Kel. It looks small. Its width is 130 meters, and its length is 235. But at the same time, a huge column of water is hidden in it due to its very great depth. The lake itself, in turn, is located at an altitude of 809 meters.
Lake without a bottom
The lake has a fantastic depth for its size - about 279 meters. At the same time, many consider the reservoir "bottomless", since this figure is not final. In 2016, divers made dives, even launched an underwater robot there, which reached the lowest possible level. But this is not the limit, since caves have been found that go down to great depth... Scientists say that the landscape of the slopes and the bottom of the lake is constantly changing, as the limestone rocks are gradually eroded. It is possible that Tserik-Kel could become the deepest karst lake in the world.
It is also interesting that the lake is fed not by surface waters (not a single river flows into this body of water), but by underground sources. Water comes from underground, forming a huge volume.
Strange features of the reservoir
Let's start with the fact that the name Tserik-Kel (or Cherik-Kel) in translation sounds funny - "Smelly Lake". And indeed the smell of hydrogen sulfide comes from it. With such a repulsive feature, the lake is fantastically beautiful. Due to the presence of this gas, the water surface takes on a beautiful turquoise or bluish-green hue.
The color of the lake is especially saturated in autumn. At the same time, the reservoir is practically uninhabited, only algae and crustaceans live in it. Because of their interesting features Cerik-Kel, naturally, was overgrown with legends and speculation. Which of this is true for you, the readers, to judge.
Secrets and legends of the lake
There is a legend about a dragon who was defeated in battle by a local hero, who killed him with an arrow. Then the legendary lizard fell in the mountains, and the tears of his pain filled the stone niche, forming a lake. Scientists joke that this very dragon still lives somewhere at the bottom of the lake and prevents divers from revealing all the secrets. Find maximum depth, eg.
In this regard, there is still a belief that the cave at the bottom goes underground to the Black Sea and merges with it. Others say that there is still a full-fledged bottom and treasures are stored there. After all, the whole army of Alexander the Great sank there at one time. But there are other "treasures" as well.
For example, eyewitnesses of the fall of a truck with port wine there in Soviet times are still alive. The vehicle itself was found by an expedition in 2016. Question: where did all the port in the truck go? It's a shame that he was never found, because for such a period the port might not have deteriorated. Especially when you consider that the temperature in the lake is about 9 degrees.
Conclusion
Lake Tserik-Kel is a generally recognized and unique natural monument.
In its depth, it is comparable to Lake Teletskoye in Altai, which has many secrets. After all, Teletsky has about the same water temperature, but large sizes. Under these conditions, decomposition proceeds very slowly, therefore, perhaps, surprising discoveries await scientists at the bottom of the lake.
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Mountain lakes are the most important sights of Kabardino-Balkaria. The most famous of them are the Blue Lakes Karst. There are five of them.
This is a natural monument of the republic, a recreational area, a tourist attraction that must be seen.
Bottomless Lower Blue Lake
First of all, we saw the most visited and most beautiful Lower Blue Lake. The deepest lake North Caucasus, which is not accidentally called bottomless ...
Small, the surface of the water is about two hectares. But an amazing depth - 279 meters! Although no one knows for sure, these are approximate indicators for instruments.
Locals call this lake Bottomless - Chirik-Kol. A real artesian well. The third deepest lake in Russia. But there are chances to become the second, and maybe the first ...
The lower lake is not always blue. It changes color depending on the weather. It can be blue, or maybe blue, turquoise, azure, green, gray-blue and even gray. We saw him silvery, the color of mercury. The cold winter sky was just reflected in the mirror of the water.
A mysterious, incredibly beautiful and frightening body of water ... Many secrets of the lake have not yet been solved, although the lake has been studied for centuries. But it does not want to reveal its secrets to people.
Legends and secrets of the Lower Blue Lake
Previously, the Balkars believed that the lake had no bottom. That is why they called him the Bottomless Lake - Chirik-Kol.
The researchers have a version that the lake does not really have a bottom. And the bottom that the robots saw is actually not a bottom at all. Just a bend, or rather a bend in the bottom, under which an unknown depth is hidden ...
It's also called Rotten Lake or Smelly Lake. This name is so unromantic because it smells slightly of hydrogen sulfide.
The legend about the lake says that the fearless warrior Bataraz lived in these parts, who defeated the dragon, which brought many troubles to people. The dragon fell and formed a hole in the ground, which was soon filled with the dragon's tears. So the monster lies at the bottom of the lake, spreading the smell of hydrogen sulfide and flooding the lake with tears ...
According to another legend, a flock of sheep drowned in the lake, which belonged to the god of cattle breeders Aimush. The herd was countless, covering all the surrounding mountains. But one day the leader, a golden-horned ram, jumped into the Bottomless Lake. And the whole herd after him disappeared into the depths ...
These are legends. And there are real mysteries of the lake. No fish live in it. Only tiny gammarus crustaceans. But in the Upper Blue Lakes there is fish - trout, carp ... Why does not fish live in the Lower?
One of the main mysteries of the Lower Blue Lake is where the reservoir is replenished, located 809 meters above sea level.
Neither rivers nor streams flow into the lake. At the same time, a river flows out with a daily volume of more than 77 thousand cubic meters of water.
Our children on the Lower Blue Lake
It is believed that there are underground springs in the lake. Or that it is completely connected by underwater tunnels with the Upper Blue Lakes.
The respectful attitude of local residents to the Bottomless Lake, who never swim in a reservoir, is striking. Yes, the water is icy. But I saw mountain children swimming in icy mountain rivers.
They say there are whirlpools in the lake. Where are they from here?
Be that as it may, the locals do not swim in the Lower Blue Lake. They don't even dare to wet their feet. What is it? Sacred fear of a sacred place? Or knowledge and understanding of some other things, inaccessible to researchers of secrets?
Diving on the Lower Blue Lake
There are daredevils who violate the sanctity of the lake. Of course, these are not residents of the surrounding villages, but visiting divers.
