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Introduction to the Aral Sea and Its Region

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The Aral Sea

Part of the book series: Springer Earth System Sciences ((SPRINGEREARTH,volume 10178))

Abstract

This chapter presents key background information on the Aral Sea and its region. The Aral Sea Basin’s geographical setting is discussed, including location, climate, topography, soils, water resources, constituent nations, and basic demographic parameters. Next, the physical characteristics of the Aral Sea (size, depth, hydrochemistry, circulation patterns, temperature characteristics, water balance, etc.) prior to the modern desiccation that began in the 1960s are summarized. This is followed by treatment of level fluctuations of the Aral and their causes prior to the modern drying. The final section is devoted to tracing the most important events in the history of research and exploration of the Aral up to 1960.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Micklin used the 1:500,000 Soviet bathymetric chart of the Aral published in 1981 and GPS coordinates for Kerdery #1 to determine the water depth. This chart uses 53 m for the long-term level of the lake, which gives an elevation for the site of near 35 m asl. The chart in the area of Kerdery shows bottom topography in 1-m increments. As the sea has shrunk, this chart has proven amazingly accurate. The CLIMAN group cites the level of the Kerdery grave as 32 m asl. They may have assumed the elevation was the same as the level of the Large Aral at the time (2002) because the site was adjacent to a large body of water. But the water seen was probably a shallow lake created by spring/summer outflow from the Small Aral and was at a higher level than the main part of the Eastern Large Aral.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, Western Michigan University, 1903 W Michigan Ave., Kalamazoo, MI, 49008-5433, USA

    Philip Micklin

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  1. Philip Micklin
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Correspondence to Philip Micklin .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Western Michigan University Dept. Geography, Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA

    Philip Micklin

  2. Russian Academy of Sciences Inst. Zoology, St. Petersburg, Russia

    N.V. Aladin

  3. Russian Academy of Sciences Zoological Institute, St. Petersburg, Russia

    Igor Plotnikov

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Micklin, P. (2014). Introduction to the Aral Sea and Its Region. In: Micklin, P., Aladin, N., Plotnikov, I. (eds) The Aral Sea. Springer Earth System Sciences, vol 10178. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-02356-9_2

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