Zoning of the territory of Kazakhstan according to trends in changes in the water level of lakes

DOI: 10.35595/2414-9179-2024-2-30-299-308

View or download the article (Rus)

About the Author

Tatiana Y. Vyruchalkina

Water Problems Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences,
3, Gubkina str., Moscow, 119333, Russia,

N.N. Zubov’s State Oceanographic Institute,
6, Kropotkinsky ln., Moscow, 119034, Russia,

E-mail: vyruchi@list.ru

Abstract

The level of reservoirs is an integral indicator of climate change on a regional scale. Eurasia has the largest area with drainless reservoirs, including several large lakes and the Caspian Sea, the water level in which has been subject to significant fluctuations in recent decades. In order to determine the patterns of these fluctuations and their relationship to climate change, the variability of water levels in the lakes of Kazakhstan and the Caspian Sea was studied. Based on the archive of observations of lake levels in Kazakhstan in the period from 1936 to 2021. The characteristics and trends of changes in water levels are analyzed. Of the lakes considered, almost 50 % are drainless and salty. The main results of this study showed that there is a regional heterogeneity of lake level changes on the territory of Kazakhstan. Two large regional groups are distinguished: peripheral and central. The graphs of lake levels in the first and second groups have different interannual variability: pronounced periods of decline and rise, similar to fluctuations in the Caspian Sea in the first case and scattered trends in the second. In recent decades, there has been a general trend for the entire territory of Kazakhstan, first to rise (until 2016–2018) and then to decrease water levels in lakes. In this case, an almost simultaneous and consistent reversal from an increase in the water level to a decrease can be considered as a sign of a large-scale change in the hydrological regime in the arid zone of Central Asia. The above analysis allows us to present the lakes of the drainless region as potential indicators of multiple climatic changes. Fluctuations in the water level in these lakes can provide valuable information about both regional hydrological regimes and changes in global circulation.

Keywords

Kazakhstan, lake, water level, climate change, zoning

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For citation: Vyruchalkina T.Y. Zoning of the territory of Kazakhstan according to trends in changes in the water level of lakes. InterCarto. InterGIS. GI support of sustainable development of territories: Proceedings of the International conference. Moscow: MSU, Faculty of Geography, 2024. V. 30. Part 2. P. 299–308. DOI: 10.35595/2414-9179-2024-2-30-299-308 (in Russian)