Lake Alakol
Alakol Lake (Kazakh: Алакөл, Turkic "motley lake") is a lake located in the Almaty and Shyghyz provinces, east central Kazakhstan. Its elevation is 347 m (1,138 ft) above sea level.
The lake is the northwest extension of the region known as the Dzhungarian Gate (Alataw Pass), a narrow valley connects the southern uplands of Kazakhstan with arid northwest China. The Dzhungarian Gate is a fault-bounded valley (see vertical line on the image along the southwest side of the lake) where the elevation of the valley floor is between 350 and 450 m above sea level and the peaks of the Dzhungarsky Alatau range (lower left) reach 4,463 m (14,642 ft) above sea level. Two well-defined alluvial fans are visible where mountain streams cut through the faulted landscape to the southwest of the lake.
The surface area of the lake is 2,650 km2 (1,020 sq mi). It is 54 m (177 ft) deep at its maximum depth, with a volume of 58.6 km3. A swampy lowland (just above the center of the photo) connects the northwest end of Lake Alakol with the Kosharkol and Sasykkol (the two lighter-colored lakes in the photo). From the southern tip of Lake Alakol a narrow swampy valley connects it to the freshwater Lake Zhalanashkol (at the bottom edge of the picture).
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