Lake Issyk-Kul : its natural environment ; [proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on the Issyk-Kul Lake: Evaluation of the Environmental State and its Remediation, Cholpon-Ata, Kyrgyz Republic, 25-28 September 2000

Lake Issyk-Kul is a closed lake located in the Tien Shan mountain belt of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan. It is the world's fifth deepest lake (668 m) and the second largest high altitude lake in the world (1607 m above sea level). The lake is affected by several environmental threats of both anthropogenic and natural origin: decline of the lake level resulting in progressively increasing salinity, incomplete vertical water exchange, and risk of contamination by past and present industrial activity. Although the lake has been intensively studied, the information is only available in unpublished reports or local scientific journals. This book presents for the first time to an international audience the main physical, chemical, biological and geological characteristics of the lake, the fruits of many years of observations, complemented by recent results of international projects. Case studies of similar problems in other parts of the world are presented, together with ethical aspects of the environmental protection of the lake. Front Matter....Pages i-xv Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Climate and Physical Properties of Water in Lake Issyk-Kul....Pages 3-11 Water Chemistry and Ecology of Lake Issyk-Kul....Pages 13-26 Hydrobiology of Lake Issyk-Kul....Pages 27-43 Water Level Variations and Water Balance of Lake Issyk-Kul....Pages 45-57 Hydromineral Resources of the Issyk-Kul Region....Pages 59-70 Groundwater in the Issyk Kul Basin....Pages 71-76 Currents and Vertical Water Exchange in Lake Issyk Kul....Pages 77-87 Using Transient Conservative and Environmental Tracers to Study Water Exchange in Lake Issyk-Kul....Pages 89-100 Bathymetry and Sedimentary Environments of Lake Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyz Republic (Central Asia): A Large, High-Altitude, Tectonic Lake....Pages 101-123 Recent Paleoenvironmental Evolution of Lake Issyk-Kul....Pages 125-145 Active Tectonics and Seismic Hazard of the Issyk-Kul Basin in the Kyrgyz Tian-Shan....Pages 147-160 The Environmental Risk Resulting from Gold Mining....Pages 161-166 Front Matter....Pages 167-260 Hydrochemistry of Lakes of Tajikistan....Pages 169-179 Zoobenthos and Zooplankton of the Northern Aral Sea and Possible Ways of the Sea Ecosystem Rehabilitation....Pages 181-190 Evaluation of the Damage to Environmental State of the Northern-Western Black Sea Shelf Ecosystems....Pages 191-206 Does Biomanipulation Work for Warm-Temperate Lakes? First Case Study in an Eutrophic Turkish Lake....Pages 207-215 Computed Mean Monthly Water Balance of a Large Lake: The Case of Lake Tanganyika....Pages 217-244 Radon Studies for Investigation of Nuclear Waste Deposits and Natural Emissions....Pages 245-260 Front Matter....Pages 261-261 Philosophy of Ecological Ethics Education, Considering the Issyk-Kul Lake Remediation Mechanisms....Pages 263-267 Ecosystem Management, Environmental Values and Lake Issyk-Kul....Pages 269-281 Back Matter....Pages 283-286 Lake Issyk-Jul is a closed lake (considered as monomictic) located in Kyrgyzstan that is currently threatened by both natural and anthropogenic environmental threats. Klerkx (International Bureau for Environmental Studies, Belgium) and Imanackunov (National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic, Kyrgyzstan) present 20 papers from a September 2000 workshop that aimed to evaluate the multidisciplinary state of knowledge about the lake, including examinations of comparative case studies from other regions. Among the topics covered are the impact of gold mining, seismic hazards, hydromineral resources, hydrobiology, the bathymetry and sedimentary environments of the lake, and the use of transient conservative and environmental tracers to study water exchange. Annotation (c)2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) Lake Issyk-Kul is a unique natural water basin of tectonic origin located in the Tien Shan mountain belt of Central Asia, at an altitude of 1606 m a.s.l.