Aral Sea
Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction - 1 -
2. History - 1 -
3. Effects of the Dying Sea - 3 -
4. Remediation - 5 -
5. Conclusion - 6 -
References - 7 -
List of Figures
Figure 1. Location of Aral Sea. (Google Maps, 2013) - 1 -
Figure 2. Comparison of the Aral Sea Before 1960 and present day. - 4 -
Figure 3. Old Fishing Vessels (Francios, 2010) - 4 -
1.0 Introduction
The Aral Sea is located in central Asia and is situated between the south of Kazakhstan, more specifically Aktobe and Kyzylorda provinces and northern Uzbekistan which is an autonomous part of Uzbekistan. Alternative to what the name suggests, the Aral Sea is not in fact a sea, it was, at least up until the second half of the 20th century, among the four largest land locked seas or saline lakes in the world. Since this time, around the 1960’s the sea has been shrinking at a steady rate and between 1960’s to 2007 it had shrunk from 68,000km2 down to 10 % of this original figure (Achmad 2010).
Figure 1. Location of Aral Sea. (Google Maps, 2013)
2. History
During the 1900’s, the Aral Sea was the fourth largest saline lake in the world which was used to provide communities with a valuable source of ecosystem services which included food from the vast quantities of fish present in the lake and the preserving of the surrounding soil for agriculture. The Aral Sea has been fed by two main rivers, the Syr Darya on the east which flows into the sea through the north of the lake and the Amu Darya River which flows into the south of the sea. Thompson (2008) highlights that both rivers flow from the Pamir Mountains and once provided four fifths of the seas volume while the remaining one fifth was supplied by rainfall.
It is known that the presence of Russian military existed in the region prior to 1900 at approximately 1847 which at this time Raimsk was founded which not too long after was recalled Aralsk which is located at the mouth of the river Syr Darya (Valikhanov et al.,
1.0 Introduction - 1 -
2. History - 1 -
3. Effects of the Dying Sea - 3 -
4. Remediation - 5 -
5. Conclusion - 6 -
References - 7 -
List of Figures
Figure 1. Location of Aral Sea. (Google Maps, 2013) - 1 -
Figure 2. Comparison of the Aral Sea Before 1960 and present day. - 4 -
Figure 3. Old Fishing Vessels (Francios, 2010) - 4 -
1.0 Introduction
The Aral Sea is located in central Asia and is situated between the south of Kazakhstan, more specifically Aktobe and Kyzylorda provinces and northern Uzbekistan which is an autonomous part of Uzbekistan. Alternative to what the name suggests, the Aral Sea is not in fact a sea, it was, at least up until the second half of the 20th century, among the four largest land locked seas or saline lakes in the world. Since this time, around the 1960’s the sea has been shrinking at a steady rate and between 1960’s to 2007 it had shrunk from 68,000km2 down to 10 % of this original figure (Achmad 2010).
Figure 1. Location of Aral Sea. (Google Maps, 2013)
2. History
During the 1900’s, the Aral Sea was the fourth largest saline lake in the world which was used to provide communities with a valuable source of ecosystem services which included food from the vast quantities of fish present in the lake and the preserving of the surrounding soil for agriculture. The Aral Sea has been fed by two main rivers, the Syr Darya on the east which flows into the sea through the north of the lake and the Amu Darya River which flows into the south of the sea. Thompson (2008) highlights that both rivers flow from the Pamir Mountains and once provided four fifths of the seas volume while the remaining one fifth was supplied by rainfall.
It is known that the presence of Russian military existed in the region prior to 1900 at approximately 1847 which at this time Raimsk was founded which not too long after was recalled Aralsk which is located at the mouth of the river Syr Darya (Valikhanov et al.,
References: