The Deep Mysteries of the World’s Deepest Lake - Baikal Lake

List members , Lake Baikal in Siberian Russia is without doubt , the most mysterious lake in the world . It is believed by many to be a "bottomless" lake , with openings to Hollow Earth . This remote & desolate region is also known for very frequent UFO sightings , including underwater ones :-

The Deep Mysteries of the World’s Deepest Lake

In the southern part of the Russian region of remote, frigid and untamed cold known as Siberia lies a lake unlike any other on Earth. Lying nestled within the rugged Siberian wilderness is the enormous Lake Baikal, the deepest and most ancient lake on the planet, and so renowned for its beauty that it is sometimes referred to as “The Pearl of Russia.” It is a majestic place not only remarkable for its deep water, but also for its deep mysteries, for Lake Baikal has long been the epicenter for a wide variety of weird happenings and high strangeness.

Lake Baikal is a rift lake, meaning it was formed within a deep rift created by tectonic movement along fault lines, and lies in the Russian region of Siberia, between the Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the Buryat Republic to the southeast. At 5,387 feet (1,642 meters) deep and with a surface area of 12,248 square miles (31,722 square kilometers) it is the deepest lake in the world and the seventh largest by surface area. The lake is so large and so deep that it is estimated to hold 20% of the world’s unfrozen fresh water. At an estimated 25 million years old, Lake Baikal is also considered to be the oldest existing lake in the world as well. The lake is known for not only its size, but also its remarkably crystal clear water and biodiversity. Lake Baikal is home to a large variety of species found nowhere else on earth and this rich ecology and biodiversity has earned it the nickname “The Galapagos of Russia,” and helped it to be designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996.

Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal

Considering its remote and wild locale, its enormity, and how ancient it is, it is perhaps no surprise that Lake Baikal has a long history of bizarre events, strange occurrences, legends, myths, and folklore. Some of the earliest stories stretch far back into history to its very creation, with local legend saying that the lake was formed by the impact of a gigantic rock falling from the sky. From there, the lake’s weird history began. Ghengis Khan was said to have been born on the lake’s Olkhon Island, which is the third largest island lake in the world, and there is a legend that Jesus Christ once visited here. Jesus allegedly proclaimed the land north of the lake to be blessed and the land south of it to be of no worth, which is why to this day local folklore says that corn will not grow in these cursed lands south of the lake.

There is a myriad of mysteries to be found at Lake Baikal. One of these is the alleged presence of a mysterious lake monster long feared by locals. The native Buryat people of the region call the creature Lusud-Khan or Usan-Lobson Khan , which translate to “Water Dragon Master,” and it is said to resemble some kind of giant sturgeon, with a prominent snout and armored plating along the back. In modern times, there are occasional reports from fishermen of the elusive creatures breaking the surface or of seeing huge black shapes soaring through the crystal clear water below, but accounts of strange beasts in the lake go back hundreds of years. Early Chinese explorers of the lake, which they called the North Sea, also reported seeing these beasts, which they referred to as “gods of the lake” and “dragon fishes.”

The alleged monsters of Lake Baikal are also represented in ancient petroglyphs found along the Baikal cliffs. There is aditionally a large stone stele , a carved stone slab erected as a monument, located on the bank of the Yenisei river near the village Askiz which is estimated to date to between the 3rd and 9th century BC and depicts some sort of mysterious water monster. The image carved into the stone shows a large, lizard-like creature with a forked tongue, wicked claws, and plate-like armor along its back. The bizarre creature is depicted standing upright submerged in water, indicated by the image of a fish hovering nearby. It is unclear what connection this mysterious carving has, if any, to the giant fish-like monsters said to lurk in the lake. The lake is home to many unique species of fish and other animals, including the rare freshwater seal known as the Baikal seal ( Pusa sibirica ), but there is no known species of creature known to be present here that matches the size of what is reported for the Lake Baikal monster.

Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal

Large mysterious lake monsters are not the only things said to haunt Lake Baikal. The area has long been known for its UFO related weirdness as well. There have long been numerous reports of strange lights and alleged alien spacecraft over the lake, but perhaps the most interesting stories come from declassified Soviet era documents compiled on unexplainable incidents by the Russian navy under the command of deputy Navy commander Admiral Nikolay Smirnov. Although the documents are not completely focused on UFOS or even Lake Baikal in particular, the two make regular appearances and the documents mention numerous UFO related incidents and sightings around Lake Baikal nevertheless.

One such account describes how in 1958, a Russian TU-154 plane crashed into the lake’s frigid waters after allegedly being pursued by a UFO. Other reports come from various fishermen, who have seen strange lights hovering over the lake, cruising underwater or even spectacularly erupting from below the waves to shoot into the sky above. People have also reported UFOs rapidly descending from the heavens only to gently alight upon the surface of the lake and float like a boat. One of the most bizarre accounts related to aliens and UFOs at Lake Baikal allegedly happened in 1982, when navy divers in the lake reported encountering humanoid creatures that were dressed in silvery suits about 164 feet (50 meters) underwater. The report claims that three of the divers were killed when they tried to pursue the creatures and four divers were seriously injured. The Russian government denies that any of the accounts in their documents stem from otherworldly sources and maintains that everything described must have some natural explanation.

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The reports of lights and humanoid creatures in Lake Baikal’s depths have, perhaps not surprisingly, led to theories that aliens could have underwater bases here, and there are other bizarre reports of strangeness in the lake that seem to somewhat support this far out notion. In 1977, a deep water submersible called Paysis was involved in scientific research operating at a depth of 1,200 meters in the dark, frigid water. At one point, the vehicle’s spotlight turned off and it was in complete darkness until a sudden bright beam shone upon it from an outside source. The blinding light reportedly remained fixed on the submersible for several seconds before flickering out and once more leaving the sub in cold blackness. It has never been satisfactorily explained what the source of the light was.

There is also an unexplained and powerful magnetic anomaly occurring within a deep part of the lake’s rift, where the tectonic plates pull apart. The anomaly has not been explained and has reportedly suddenly and inexplicably grown in size twice in the past 50 years. Other weird phenomena coming from the depths are reported sudden surges or eruptions of water inexplicably shooting upwards and strange, inexplicable mass fish die offs. These are usually explained as being caused by trapped gasses belching up from the bottom, but the source remains unknown.

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Another phenomenon on Lake Baikal that may or may not have anything to do with sea monsters, UFOs, or aliens is the reports of various vessels mysteriously vanishing in its waters. The lake holds many anomalous zones that are particularly known for the disappearance of ships, such as an area on the western shore known as Cape Ryty, an area with so many reported vanishings that the locals consider it to be cursed and to bring sure death upon who ever goes there. The island of Great Ushkan’i, near Cape Sun, as well as the huge island of Olkhon are other cursed zones known for swallowing vessels. Olkhon is known for a place called “The Devil’s Crater,” from where one of the most recent and well known disappearances of a vessel comes.

On June 16, 2011, the pleasure boat Yamaha departed from a village in the Kabansk area of Buryatia with an experienced crew of four to test out a new motor and never returned. It was reported that the crew were all seasoned sailors, yet contact with the vessel was lost shortly after their departure when a sudden fog rolled in. When the fog burned off, the Yamaha was gone. Although the boat was well in range of cellular service, none of the cell phones of the crew could be reached, as if they were completely out of the network. In addition, other than the fog bank, conditions on the lake were said to be placid and perfectly safe for boating at the time, so what happened to the Yamaha and its crew? Nobody knows.

Several extensive search and rescue operations were launched to try and locate the Yamaha , but they turned up no wreckage and not one clue as to the vessel’s fate. It was as if the Yamaha was swallowed by the lake itself. Locals think they know the answer, as it is believed that the area in question occasionally produces horrific sudden whirlpools that appear like a crater upon the surface, hence the name “Devil’s Crater,” and suck in anything unfortunate to be nearby. Local legend says that these mysterious chasms in the water are gateways to hell, through which the souls of sinners pass. Perhaps these whirlpools hold the key to the many missing ships on the lake, but they would not explain the other, more bizarre accounts of ships disappearing for long periods of time only to reappear with crews that claim they have been only gone for a few hours.

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Perhaps just as bizarre as the disappearance of vessels is the sudden and inexplicable appearance of various objects upon Lake Baikal. Locals have claimed to see ships and even things that have no business being on the water such as trains and castles suddenly materializing on the lake and often blinking out of existence just as quickly. Scientists believe that this may be the result of potent mirages formed by the unique properties of Lake Baikal. In the summer, warm air flows over the frigid water and in the winter there are extreme cold and clear conditions, all of which combine to create layers of air with differing densities that refract, distort, and reflect upon the lake’s calm, transparent surface to create highly vivid and realistic mirages. It is thought that such mirages could be at least partly to blame for missing ships such as the Yamaha , as they could lead them astray or cause them to crash into the rocky shoreline. There are even reports that such mirages are sometimes accompanied by anomalous magnetic disturbances, which could theoretically confound a ship’s navigational equipment. Are these mirages merely the result of conspiring natural forces or do they represent some other, more supernatural occurrence? As with many of the lake’s other mysteries, no one really knows.

Lake Baikal has its share of natural mysteries as well as all of the spooky, bizarre stuff. It has an incredibly high amount of biodiversity for such a cold lake that is frozen for most of the year, and most of its species are endemic. The freshwater Baikal seal has long confounded biologists as no one can really figure out how it got here. The Baikal seal is most closely related to the Arctic seal or ringed seal, ( Pusa hispida ), and yet Lake Baikal is completely isolated and located hundreds of kilometers from the nearest sea. There are many theories on how this happened, with perhaps the most prevailing idea being that they arrived through a sea passage that once linked the lake to the Arctic Ocean and the seals subsequently adapted to a freshwater environment. The lake currently harbors an estimated 80,000 to 100,000 of the enigmatic freshwater seals and they are not considered to be threatened.

Lake Baikal seals

Lake Baikal seals

Lake Baikal has also shown itself to be rich in resources not typical for a freshwater lake. From 2008 to 2010, two Russian submersibles known as the Mir made a remarkable discovery 1637 meters under the surface. Researchers operating the Mirs found a special type of ice high in concentrations of natural gas, called “gas hydrates,” which are in fact found elsewhere, particularly on the deep ocean floor, but never in freshwater environments. This unusual finding could mean that the ice-laden lake potentially holds vast reserves of an important, untapped fuel source although extraction methods for gas hydrates have not been perfected as of yet. It is still not totally understood why gas hydrates should be found in this freshwater lake and not in others. The two Mir submersibles also collected data on a good number of previously unknown species lurking in the dark, icy depths of the lake.

Another baffling natural phenomenon on the lake occurred in 2009, when strange, huge circles with diameters of up to 2.7 miles (4.4 km) started to appear in the lake’s ice during particularly cold months. The bizarre circular ice formations were first spotted by astronauts aboard the International Space Station and their discovery immediately ignited speculation as to their cause. Of course there was the inevitable theory that the circles were the result of alien activity, but in the end scientists came to a more rational, yet possibly more worrying explanation. It is currently believed that the ice circles are the result of methane gasses gurgling up from the bottom and resulting in swirling warm water currents that then formed the circular formations on the lake ice. The reason this is worrying is that it could indicate that Lake Baikal’s spring ice has been diminishing more rapidly in recent years. When coupled with global warming, this could have disastrous consequences for the lake’s ecosystem and biodiversity, which rely heavily on the lake’s cycles of ice.

Mysterious ice circles on Lake Baikal

Mysterious ice circles on Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal is truly one of the world’s most beautiful, remote, and amazing lakes. Full of mysteries both natural and perhaps supernatural, it is a vast, deep, yawning chasm of majestic beauty. What are the answers to the enigmas that are here lurking within the crystal clear depths and just beyond our understanding? Is this a place flung far from the familiar world of our current knowledge? Is this a place that sits on some mysterious divide between the realms of what we know, what we think we know, and what we will never know? How deep does the rabbit hole go here at the world’s deepest lake deep in the wilderness of Siberia? Ancient, awe inspiring, mysterious, beautiful, all of these words fit Russia’s Lake Baikal perfectly. Full of deep waters and deep mysteries, Lake Baikal is certainly like no other place on Earth.

Regards

The Vedas had fairly detailed descriptions of Earth's geography and the far north of Eurasia i.e. the Siberian region was called Uttar Kuru (the Northern Kuru region) . There is a special mention of a lake "Vaikhanas" , which was probably the same as lake Baikal .

These unusual Vedic references to Siberia in the far North , tie in well with the "Arctic home of Vedas" :-

Indra In Russia Lake Baikal Vaikhanasa Teertha

Published on 19 Aug 2014

My research into Sanatana Dharma having spread through out the world has come to a sort of shape.

Studies on Vedas, Puranas ,Ithihasas and Tamil literature has given me a fair idea.

Cross checking this information with the geographical information with the Legends and the Physical locations of the world provide some interesting information.

I have written auite a few articles on the evidence of Sanatana Dharma being present throughout the world, with the help of archeological findings, culture and linguistics.

Sanatana Dharma was in practice in Sri Lanka,Malaysia, Cambodia,Vietnam, Laos, Philippines,Japan,Fiji,China, New Zealand, Australia on the eastern side of the present India,

Middle East, Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy,Spain,France, Britain,

African Continent,

South America, Central America,Mexico and North America(US).

This Sanatana Dharma had Dravida or South India conncetion.

This becomes evident when one reads Sanskrit Literature and Hindu religious texts in conjunction with Tamil literature and cross referencing the events found in these texts with the Great floods referred to in them.

Lord Rama’s ancestor Satyavrata Manu migrated from the South , land between Goa and the Indian Ocean, to Ayodhya with his two sons.

His other son with the help of Ganesha and Shiva moved towards the West through the Arabian Sea and settled down in Europe and Africa.

This happened during the third Great Flood.

But the is another reference to the migration of the people from the Sarasvati Valley/Indus Valley towards North through Afghanistan and Russia .

A group among these moved into Europe as well.

This accounts for the migration of people from Asia into Europe in intermittent waves.

Sagara, he ancestor of Rama, more ancient than Satyavrata Manu who moved from the South to North.

This was the period when Ganga, the Ganges did not flow.

This was subsequently brought (Ganges) by Bhagiratha, Sagara’s descendant.

Sagara fought a great Battle with the Kings of the South,they were also a part of Sanatana Dharma and won.

He banished them to the west through Afghanistan and asked them not to practice Sanatana Dharama, have the heads shaved and cursed them to be called Milechas.

Milecha is the term used in a derogatory sense to indicate the people of the west.

This is also the reason for prohibiting Sanatana Dharma followers from traveling through the Ocean.

Some of these people settled down Russia and moved into Arctic as well.

Among these people who were prohibited from learning the Vedas, some of them did.

They established Sanatana Dharma and Hindu practices in the Arctic and Russia.

The descendents of this group probably came down to India at a later date through SouthEast of Russia, Afghanistan into Indus Valley.

This probably is called the present Indus Valley Civilization.

Now to the evidence of Sanatana Dharam having been present in Russia.

Airavatha Varsha.jpg

Airavatha Varsha as described in Puranas.Airavatha Varsha.

Lake Baikal in Russia.jpg

Lake Baikal in Russia.

In Sudharshana Dweepa ” , the rule of Sanatana Dharma was in place.

It had Bharath in the South (rectangle area in the bottom of this picture) with

Hemakuta or Himalayas in its northern limits,

an intermediary Ilavarsha to the north of Himalayas (noted in dark red square in the middle) and

a vast Airavatha varsha in extreme north of the Sudharshana dweepa.

Most of Russia is covered by Airavatha varsha.

Airavatha is the name of the elephant of Indra, the titular king of the Devas.

The Deva territory is close to the North pole where there was sunlight continuously for 6 months and darkness continuously for 6 months.

The elephant, Airavatha in all probability was the Woolly mammoth which became extinct about 10,000 years ago.

Skanda secured the release of Indra’s son, Jayanthaand killed Sura padma. (Skanda Puaana)

Skanda described in this purana coincides with Ugra kumara born to Meenakshi and Sundareswara who started the first Sangam assemblage in the South-Madurai (Then-Madurai) in Deep South about 11,000 years ago.(post on this follows)

Before the last glaciation, the territory near north pole was very much habitable. The locations called Amaravathy, capital city of Devas and Uttar Kuru existed in Siberia.

The route to Uttarkuru and Deva territories is explained in Valmiki Ramayana through the narration of Shugreevawho detailed the places to be seen and searched to find out Seetha in the north of Bharath. ( Valmiki Ramayana -4-43)

Read my post On Sugreeva’s direction to vanaras to search for Sita in Peru.

Once having crossed the vast Himalayas, he describes a pure-water lake called Vaikhanas where sages used to do penance.

This coincides with Lake Baikal.. There is an opinion that the name Russia was derived from Rishi varsha.

There is a mention of Rishi varsha in scriptures which goes well with this region. The presence of Devas in this part of the globe in a distant past had attracted sages to this place.

It is derived from the Persian word ‘rana’ or ‘ra’. But this word ‘rasa’ is a straight Sanskrit word meaning essence, juice, nectar, elixir, soup, love, the finest part of anything and so on.

This name perfectly fits with the river of fine water quality From the river’s name Rasa, the name Russia was derived.

Volga’s tributary is called as ‘Oka’. People connect it with the Latin Aqua which means water, whereas the root word Apa ins again a straight Sanskrit word meaning the same.

From Apa comes ‘aapa-saras’ the waterway and from that ‘apsaras’ the beautiful girls who enjoy playing in the aapa-saras.

This region of Russia was identified with Apsaras women. Menaka, Urvasi, Thiloththama etc were all apsara women who were known to have seduced men.

Another tributary of Volga is known by a name which is very familiar to any Hindu.

It is river ‘Moksha’ which means salvation in Sanskrit.

There is another tributary nearer to this Moksha called as “Mokswa”.

Moscow got its name from Mokswa because of its location on the banks of this river!

Article to follow on Arctic being a Home of The Vedas.

Citation.
http://frontiers-of-anthropology.blogspot.in/2011/12/guest-blogger-jayasree-saranathan.html

Regards

Here's another article that explores the high strangeness of the "bottomless" Lake Baikal , that contains 20% of the fresh water on the Earth's surface . Even ancient chroniclers had described the weirdness of this mysterious lake :-

This deep lake is known for probably the highest number of UFO sightings in the world :-

Lake Baikal: The Enigmatic, ‘Bottomless Lake’, Home to Countless Paranormal ‘Mysteries’

"Stranger than strange..."

The mysterious ice circles on Lake Baikal, as seen from space. Image Credit: NASA.

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Lake Baikal, located in southern Siberia is home to countless mysteries. In April 2009, astronauts aboard the International Space Station observed strange, massive circles appearing on the surface of the lake. As explained by NASA, the origin of the circles is unknown.

Lake Baikal is the deepest freshwater lake in the world and one of the most mysterious destinations on the planet.

During the cold months, the lake freezes completely and becomes a huge ice rink by which one can travel even by car.

The crystalline ice of the Baikal, only adds to the already fascinating legends that surrounding this enigmatic body of water, located deep inside southern Siberia.

With 23,615.39 km3 (5,670 cubic miles) of fresh water, Lake Baikal contains more water than the North American Great Lakes combined.

Furthermore, with a maximum depth of 1,642 m (5,387 ft), Baikal is the world’s deepest lake.

It is considered among the world’s clearest lakes and is considered the world’s oldest lake– at 25–30 million years, it is also the seventh-largest lake in the world by surface area.

Having that said, we can agree it has quite a stunning resume.

But in addition to all of its natural beauties, the world’s largest and oldest lake is home to countless mysteries.

Since ancient times, Lake Baikal has been known as a deeply mysterious place, but in the final years of the Soviet era, and ever since the lake and its surrounding region have been the source of a number of alleged UFO and Alien sightings and the lake has become a UFO hunting hotspot.

According to reports, the Soviet Era sightings were covered-up by the authorities of the USSR, but later they were revealed by the Russian media.

In modern times, it has been reported that mysterious lights, fast-moving objects, and strange sounds have been seen and heard at Lake Baikal.

Some locals have even claimed to see large ‘spaceships’ hovering over the lake’s stunning, magic expanses.


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An artists illustration of the alleged UFO’s seen near Lake Baikal. Image Credit: NTV.

One of the most enigmatic UFO cases of Lake Baikal, as reported by the Siberian Times , occurred at Kurma, Irkutsk region, on 17 April 1987 , as told y Valery Rudesntosv, a local resident of a village near Lake Baikal.

There was 13 of us. At about 12.20am, one of our guys went out into the yard, a few seconds later runs, and calls all of us out. He stood in the center of the yard and pointed his finger at the sky.

“Diagonally from his gesture – 150 meters above us – hung a huge flying saucer. From the center of the plate went a phosphorescent purple ray. And at the edges of the plate were yellow portholes, almost like in our rural houses. The diameter of the plate was 70 meters. We saw it so clearly and for a long time, someone even suggested he throw a stone at it … ”

Sergey Konechnykh, the chairman of the Union of Photographers of Buryatia took this photograph in July 2009. Image Credit: Sergey Konechnykh / NTV.

“The weather was amazingly quiet, no sound was heard from the hanging saucer, although behind us was the village of Kurma – there was the noise of a dog barking, the lowing of cows. We were spellbound.”

“It was a full moon and the visibility was so clear that no one of us could doubt the reality of what we saw. And then the plate slid smoothly away, sailed along the shore of the bay and further slipped into the hills of Olkhon. Neither before nor after have I ever met such a thing. But since that time it has been a kind of sacrilege to me – not to believe in UFOs. My friend Alexander, a hunter, and his colleagues who lived there for 20 years, often see UFOs – and all is fine, he is still alive. So, if to speak about glowing balls or ‘cigars’, we constantly see these on the shores of Lake Baikal. They exist.”

But not only have local residents reported seeing mysterious ‘spacecraft’, it is said that the military also investigated the depths of the lake for ‘ strange activity ‘.


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In fact, it is reported that in 1982, seven military divers went to investigate the lake , and discovered strange activity only a few dozen meters beneath the surface.

As told by historian Alexey Tivanenko, at a depth of around 50 meters, they met ‘swimmers’ around three meters tall, dressed in strange suits. They did not seem to wear diving gear, just helmets on their heads. The military divers allegedly pursue the creatures but eventually gave up. The Government has denied that this ever happened.

tombud / Pixabay

In 1977, researchers V. Alexandrov and G. Seliverstov, explored the depths of Lake Baikal in a submersible device reaching a depth of 1200 meters where they supposedly observed ‘ strange lights ‘. At one moment, after a powerful beam of light appeared in the distance, their submersible supposedly was left without power. Once the mystery light disappeared, they regained power and were able to return to the surface.

And despite the fact that these stories may be nothing more than just that, ordinary stories, declassified Soviet era Documents have revealed a compilation of strange accounts and UFO-related incidents.

One account describes how in 1958, a Russian TU-154 fighter crashed into the lake after supposedly being chased down by a UFO.

But perhaps the best UFO stories come from the local fishermen of the area, who have spent decades sailing the lake, indicating that strange lights above the lake are an ordinary occurrence. Some even say that disk-shaped objects regularly erupt from below the depths of Lake Baikal, only to shoot into the sky above.

And even without aliens and UFOs, the lake is stranger than strange .

In 2011, the boat Yamaha departed from the village of Kabansk with four experienced crew members on board.

Didgeman / Pixabay

It is believed that the sailors set out to test a new boat engine. Shortly after leaving the shore, as they entered Baikal’s creepy fog, contact with the sailors was lost . The boat was supposedly well within cellphone service distance, but none of the sailor’s phones had signal. The boat disappeared, almost as if was swallowed by the lake.


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Search and rescue operations set out to find the missing ship and sailors never found any traces of them.

What exactly happened to the Yamaha and the sailors on board remains a mystery.

Locals also claim to have seen objects ‘materialize’ on the frozen surface of the lake. Numerous reports indicate how people have seen all kinds of things on the lake, that should not exist. Some speak of seeing castles appear in the middle of the lake, while others claim to have witnessed trains appearing on the very surface of the frozen lake.

But the stories of objects ‘appearing out of nowhere’ can be explained by powerful mirages.

As explained by Pravda.ru , Lake Baikal has ideal conditions for mirages created by warm air over the chilled water in summer, and clear atmosphere and extreme cold in winter. In the layers of air of different density, the light rays are refracted, distorted, and produce fantastic forms.

Astronauts and Cosmonauts onboard the International Space Station have reported seeing gigantic circles on the lake’s surface , clearly visible from space.

Image Credit: NASA.

And while the origin of the circles is unknown, the peculiar pattern suggests convection (upwelling) in the lake’s water column. Ice cover changes rapidly at this time of year.

Image Credit: NASA.

So, what on Earth can cause convection, bringing warmer waters to the surface?

As noted by NASA , hydrothermal activity and high heat flow have been observed in other parts of the lake, but the location of this circle near the southern tip, over relatively deep water, is puzzling.

Regards

Folks , I have had this hunch that lake Baikal must have caves around it...after all , this 25 million year old lake is the oldest lake in the world - as it turned out , that is true and what spectacular caves these are !

© Photo credit: www.depositphotos.com

August, 25

The Underground Fairy-Tale of Baikal: What are the Caves near the Lake Famous For

Baikal is surrounded by mountain ranges on all sides. The snow ridge of Khamar-Daban stretches in the south and south-east almost everywhere, the spurs of the Primorsky and Baikalsky ridges approach the coast of the lake in the west and north-west; the spurs of the Barguzinsky ridge come to the lake’s coast in the east, beginning from the Chivyrkuisky Bay. The holes of mysterious caves can be seen in the outcrops of rocks in many places...

There are more than 40 caves and grottoes of natural origin located directly on the coast, the most part of them are situated in the oldest limestone rocks. The rocky coast of Lake Baikal has the most picturesque grottoes and arches created by the destructive power of the Baikal waves.

The Kadilinskie caves are the most inspirational ones

The Little Kadilnaya Gorge located 40 kilometers to the north of Listvyanka includes more than 10 known caves. The largest of them is located on Strelka, a very steep slope of the cliff, dividing the Little Kadilnaya Gorge into two narrow pieces, located at an altitude of 200 meters above the Baikal level. The vast hall of this cave has an oval shape with the dimensions 8x12 meters. Due to the wide vent going up, the cave is well lit. The cave was inhabited back in the early Iron Age.

A lot of things have been discovered in the cave: stone and iron arrowheads, iron knives of various shapes, horn patches for a compound bow, birch bark sheets stitched with hair, spinning wheels, fragments of pottery with various ornaments, wild boar’s fangs, bones of bulls, horses, ringed seals and other animals.

The Kadilinskaya cave, located in the right narrow piece of the Little Kadilnaya Gorge at the foot of a cliff composed of limestone, is also interesting. It is 16 meters long, 2-4 meters wide, and 2-3 meters high. The remains of the Iron Age culture were found in the cave, as well as the bones of bulls, horses, koulan-dziggetai.

The entrance to the Little Kadilnaya Gorge is surrounded by the arches located in limestone cliffs at an altitude of more than 250 meters above the Baikal level. The grounds of the arches offer a wonderful panorama of the broad expanses of Lake Baikal. Some of the arches served as guard posts for the people who lived on the coast of Lake Baikal during the Iron Age. Smoke and fire signals were sent to the nearest settlements from these grounds.

The Little Kadilnaya Gorge is exceptionally picturesque. A night spent here at the bonfire among the dense taiga can become an unforgettable memory. At sunrise or sunset you can observe the beauty of the Kadilinskie rocks lit by golden sun rays.

The most beautiful caves are located in the Aya Bay

The word “aya” is translated from Evenki as “beautiful”. And it is very difficult to argue with this: steep cliffs, bright blue Baikal below them, free and clean steppe all around. The bay is located 13 km to the east of the village of Elantsy. Ancient rock paintings have been preserved on its northern coast, at an altitude of about 20 m above the water level. Their age amounts to about 2500 years.

Several caves are hidden approximately at a 2-kilometer distance to the north-west of the pier, at the marble plateau of the Aya Bay at an altitude of about 200 m. This is the location of the largest underground labyrinth at Lake Baikal: its length reaches 1350 m and depth - 64 m. Not long ago there were two caves here: Aya and Ryadovaya. Now they merged into one.

Aya has been known since early 1960s. The place has been one of the most revered shamanic sites since ancient times. Money and other items were thrown at the Bay as the offerings to the Master of the mountain. Public shamanic prayers – tailagans - were performed at the top of the cliff. The entrance to the cave is located in a funnel. It is an inclined labyrinth system of branched grottoes and passages, and it is easy to get lost among them.

The cave has a ring-shaped structure. It is famous for its unique sinter limestone formations, stalactites, stalagmites and stalagnates of the most interesting shapes. The cave has wonderful halls: the “Musical” Hall - its ceiling has corallites inside it, they sound in a gentle modulating melody; the “Snowy” Hall is covered with frost at all seasons; the “Marble” Hall has a ceiling and walls made of white and pink marble; the “Ice” Hall is famous for its amazing sparkling ice incrustations. All this beauty illuminated by small flashlights surprises and shakes your imagination.

The “Legendary Dream” Cave (“Legendarnaya Mechta” in Russian)

The “Dream” cave has become very famous among tourists. It is located in the Bay of Maloye Orso, 1.2 km away from the lake, at an altitude of 270 m above its level. The total length of the cave passages is 870 m, its depth is 52 m.

The steep entrance to the “Dream” cave is covered with a thick layer of ice. The cave has three floors, which is extremely rare in the Baikal region. Whimsical, snow-white, calcite formations painted in pink in some places turn into different shapes of stalactites, stalagmites, corallites... It is pretty cold inside the cave. There is a lot of sinter ice and ice garlands that do not melt even during hot summers. The largest amount of these is accumulated at the entrance to the cave. This cave is one of the most noteworthy in the Baikal region due to the beauty and richness of the newly emerged formations with their origin determined by insignificant water inflow. The ice cover here lies both on the ceiling and on the floor. The temperature is the lowest at the entrance to the cave, the farther away from it - the warmer the air. The passages of the cave are high, so you can walk along the fantastic ice halls in full growth, without bending. The so-called organ is located here: it presents an ice formation with icicles in the form of strings, like those of a musical instrument.

The halls of the “Dream” cave have their own names. There is a “Throne” Hall, also known as “Avalanche” Hall, with its length is 35-40 m, width 10 m, and height 10-15 m, there is a protrusion in its wall shaped as a throne where the God of Darkness Tankhan supposedly sits, according to a legend. There is a “Musical” Hall, sinter formations inside it emit a soft and melodic sound even at the lightest touch, the “Fairy-tale” Hall is one of the most beautiful halls in this cave. It has ice stalagmites called “Father Frost and Snow Maiden” and “Rocket”. One of the passages is called “Metropolitan” for its extraordinary length.

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