The Turpan Basin has the lowest elevation in China. This basin is 154 meters below sea level, but in fact, there are no large lakes here.
Our earth is covered with a large amount of water, mostly in liquid form such as rivers and lakes, oceans, but also some areas are covered in solid form such as water in glaciers and frozen land, Some exist in gaseous form, mainly as water in the atmosphere.
Water is the source of life and life on our planet cannot be without the presence of water, our production and living activities cannot be separated from water, so humans have had the habit used to live next to areas with water sources since ancient times. Over time, the amount of water resources used by humans is also increasing.
Humans have had the habit of living near water sources since ancient times.
The surface currents of the Earth are the main water resources of humans, in which rivers and lakes are the most important sources of water, but for lakes, not all of them can be used as resources. water resources for human life.
According to the nature of the water in the lake, we can divide it into freshwater and saltwater lakes .
For example, Poyang Lake, Dongting Lake and Taihu Lake are all freshwater lakes, and many lakes on the Taihai-Tibet Plateau, such as Qinghai Lake, Namco Lake and Selinco Lake, etc. cannot be used as a source of drinking water.
In fact, the number of lakes in northwest China is relatively small. There is a basin in southeastern Xinjiang called the “Turpan Basin”. This area is not only famous for its grapes, but it also possesses a very special altitude. This basin is 154 meters below sea level (154 meters below sea level). But why with such an altitude, this basin has no large lake formed?
To answer this question, let’s first review the definition of a lake. Lakes are areas of standing water that are relatively wide and deep inland. Lakes usually do not have a definite area. There are very large lakes, with an area of tens of thousands of square kilometers, such as Lake Victoria in Africa, Lake Aran in Asia, but there are also small lakes with only a few hundred square meters.
The Turpan Basin is 154 meters below sea level (154 meters below sea level).
The topography of the Turpan basin is the topography of the basin , that is, the lowland and lowlands will be in the middle, surrounded by mountains or highlands. In fact, this is an inter-mountain basin, belonging to the rift basin formed by the fault slope. The total area of the Turpan Basin is about 50,000km 2 , of which the area below sea level is about 4,050 km2 – mainly located in the western part of the Turpan Basin. In other words, the Turpan basin has a very dominant “lake basin structure” . If the Turpan basin can store water, it is certain that the lake in this basin will have a huge area, about 4,000 square kilometers, and it will become China’s second largest lake after Qinghai Lake.
Qinghai Lake or Koko Nor Lake is the largest lake in China and the second largest saltwater lake in the world. Qinghai Lake is also the largest lake without any drainage system in China. The ancient Chinese classified Qinghai Lake as the West Sea in the Four Seas along with Lake Baikal, East China Sea and East Sea.
However, this is only in theory, because the Turpan basin only possesses ideal terrain but lacks one more condition to form a large lake, which is water bodies.
We know that water will flow from high terrain to low terrain and Turpan basin has very low elevation. If there is enough water in the area, then the water will naturally converge into the basin and form a lake.
But it is a fact that finding water in the Turpan basin is a “luxury”. Not only the Turpan basin but the entire Xinjiang region is located deep inland and far from the sea, so it is difficult for water vapor from the ocean to reach this area, so the climate is formed. It is a temperate continental climate with cold winters, hot summers and extremely low annual rainfall.
Water in the Turpan basin is mainly from the meltwater of glaciers in the surrounding high mountains.
The Turpan Basin is more enclosed than the Xinjiang region due to the basin’s topography and less annual rainfall. Annual rainfall is only about 16 mm, while areas with annual rainfall below 200 mm are considered extremely arid. Water in the Turpan basin is mainly from the meltwater of glaciers in the surrounding high mountains, but is also very limited.
Furthermore, the Turpan basin has a very strong evaporation capacity, with an annual evaporation of 3000 mm. Due to the low rainfall and strong evaporation in the Turpan basin and the lack of water bodies, these are the reasons why a huge lake cannot be formed here. However, in the lowest part of the Turpan basin, a lake is formed by the convergence of water sources. This area is about 150 square kilometers, but now it is almost dry all year round.