The mystery of nature. Why the mystery of the Blue Lakes in the CBD has not yet been solved? & Nbsp
The secret of the Blue Lake in Kabardino-Balkaria - one of the deepest in Europe - remained unsolved. An expedition led by a British diver had to find out if a cave system existed at depth. But the research was stopped after the death of one of the team members under water.
NTV correspondent Maxim Berezin found out the circumstances.
Former British special forces soldier Martin Robson cannot live without thrills even in civilian life. The award-winning diving instructor has dived into all sorts of extreme points on the planet, from the Arctic Circle to the underwater caves of Mexico. Martin's new goal was an inconspicuous lake in the mountains of Kabardino-Balkaria. Locals believe that it is bottomless. And this is not far from the truth. There really is no exact data on the depth of the lake. To begin with, Robson planned a dive to 160 meters.
Martin Robson: “I noticed what the scientists paid attention to. They helped us and suggested what, in fact, need to be explored in this lake. They themselves still do not fully understand how it was formed and what is down there. Therefore, it is interesting to me. "
The last time the Blue Lake was explored was in the 1920s. It is known that its level can change several times a day. For what reason, scientists still do not know. Somewhere very deep, there is probably a cave from which water flows into the lake. No one has yet been able to find the cave. Martin Robson hoped to become a pioneer, thus helping Russian science.
Day "x" for the divers did not go well from the very beginning. Fog fell on the lake. The immersion time shifted for various reasons. In the end, the Englishman nevertheless donned a wetsuit and went to the depths. The beginning of the operation was filmed by Andrey Rodionov, a volunteer videographer of the expedition. He joined Robson's support group.
A few hours later, the rescuers of the Ministry of Emergency Situations noticed a stationary body of a diver on the surface. Andrei was no longer breathing. Attempts to bring him back to life were in vain.
Rodionov's computer showed that in the last minutes of his life the diver was at a depth of 16 meters. What happened next is to be found out by the investigation. According to one version, Andrey's breathing apparatus could break. He lost consciousness, which is tantamount to death under water. It was dangerous to stop the operation; all that remained was to wait for the return of the English diver.
Martin Robson spent almost eight hours underwater and during this time he could not find the mysterious cave. Not having time to reveal the secrets of the Blue Lake, the researchers decided to prematurely curtail the expedition.
Tserik-Kel
Scientists have found that the Lower Blue Lake in the Cherek region of the republic is much deeper than previously thought. This lake is also called Tserik-Kel. It is located 809 meters above sea level. The temperature is +9 degrees all year round. Researchers suggest that it was formed due to the collapse of an underground karst cave.
A river flows out of the lake - more than 70 thousand cubic meters per day. But what feeds the reservoir itself - for many years it was not clear, the inflowing sources are not visible from the outside. Until recently, it was believed that the depth of the lake is 258 meters. But recently it turned out that this is not the case.
“The Center for Underwater Research of the Russian Geographical Society, professors and scientists from all over Russia (about 60 people in total) have thoroughly studied the Lower Lake,” says Mukhamed Kozhokov, chairman of the Kabardino-Balkarian branch of the Russian Geographical Society. - More than 90 deep-sea descents were carried out in a couple of months. For the first time, they used underwater vehicles - controlled robots. With their help, scientists discovered three caves in the deep-water part of the lake. The deepest point to which we managed to descend is 279 meters. It was also found that underwater rivers feed the Tserik-Kel. The water is incredibly clear, you can see every pebble, even at a depth of 25 meters. Further, the water becomes azure-turquoise due to hydrogen sulfide. There is no flora and fauna in the lake - hydrogen sulfide kills all living things. But why the water temperature is constant and what is at the very bottom is still unknown. "
Going to the bottom “I went down to the Lower Lake several thousand times,” says the head of the Center for Underwater Research of the KBR, President of the Kabardino-Balkarian Federation of Underwater Sports Eduard Khuazhev. - The task of the last expedition was to determine a more accurate depth. And understand where the water comes from. In the bowl of the lake, we found several cracks from different sides, three of them are 1.5 meters wide, and powerful streams are coming from there. "
At the bottom of the lake, not far from the shore, there are several sunken cars. Empty, no people. Old-timers say that in the 30s of the last century a truck, loaded to the brim with boxes of port, fell into the water. Researchers have exposed this myth: there really is a "GAZon" at the bottom, but there is only a box of port in it. They took out one bottle, tried it, appreciated the exposure.
Local residents bypass the lake due to superstitions. It is believed that one cannot even wet one's feet in Tserik-Kel.
By the way, it is really impossible to swim there even in summer. Cold water in an unprepared person cramping muscles, and at a depth it is very dangerous.
Four lakes
“There are four lakes in the Cherek Gorge - Lower, Dry, Secret and Upper,” says local historian Hadis Tetuev. “For the first time, the“ bottomless ”lakes of the Caucasus were mentioned in 1864 in the notes of the Russian officer Fyodor Tornau."
The first special observations over the Blue Lakes group were carried out in 1892-1895 by geologist Konstantin Rosikov. Scientists have established that all the lakes are of karst origin. But they are all completely different. If you climb from the Lower Lake to the northeast, then on the mountain plateau 187 m above the Lower Lake there is a huge, now dry, Kel-Kechkhen sinkhole. Translated from Balkar - "the lake has flowed under the bridge." The depth of the sinkhole is 177 meters. Below you can see a lake, which from above seems very small - the size of a saucer. It is called "Dry". According to legend, once its waters reached the upper edge of the sinkhole, but the mountains shuddered, and the water flowed into the Lower Lake.
Modern researchers suggest that the Nizhnee and Sukhoye lakes do communicate. The secret lake seems to be hidden in dense thickets of bushes and trees. On the opposite side of it is the Upper Blue Lake. Back at the beginning of the twentieth century, there were three small reservoirs in its place, which eventually merged together into one large lake. The water in the Secret and Upper Lakes freezes in winter, and in summer you can swim and fish in them - there are many animals in them.
Have you ever seen a bottomless lake? What about a lake with magic water? If not, then travel lovers will be very interested in knowing and seeing the Blue Lake. It is located in the Sergievsky district of the Samara region. And you should definitely see this miracle! Many rumors, legends and mysteries surround him. Let's try and we figure out - is it true or fiction.
A turquoise abyss changing its depth
They say that it is bottomless! The lake bottom is present, but not everything. Part of the bottom is at a depth of 23 meters, and part of the bottom is missing. Instead, there is a hole, about 10 meters in diameter, which goes into the depth. Many times have tried to determine where this abyss leads. Modern instruments have succeeded in establishing only a certain length of this part of the lake. It is 810 meters of the studied depth! The tortuous shape of the abyss does not allow us to determine its entire length.
The blue lake is mesmerizing at once. You can look at it endlessly. The surface of the water section is slightly more than 40 meters in diameter. It looks a lot like a turquoise saucer. Absolutely steep banks go into the depths. The water is so clean and transparent that even the bottom can be seen. Only where there is an abyss, a mysterious darkness is visible.
By the way, there is another interesting one not far from Nizhny Novgorod.
The unusual turquoise color tends to change with the weather. Unique chara algae are swaying. Only these plants have adapted to live in concentrated sulfuric water. The bloom of minerals gives the algae a completely alien look. Only daredevils will dare to swim in the lake, since the water has a temperature of about seven degrees all year round. And this is even in the thirty-degree heat! But in winter it does not freeze. The pressure from the depths is strong. Excess water flows into the Shungut River.
Author: Vlad chernenko - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid\u003d18802148
Rumors and legends
There are rumors and legends that cannot be verified, but they are passed down from generation to generation. Once, a long time ago, a horse with a cart fell into the lake and disappeared, as if it had never existed! Witnesses say that wooden fragments with mysterious inscriptions sometimes float to its surface. They also say that the rich threw large silver utensils and coins into the abyss. It was supposed to bring happiness and prosperity! The underworld favorably accepted the gifts and did not return them back.
The Blue Lake has long been chosen by divers. The abnormal shape of its bowl, clear turquoise water, a mystical view from the depths into the seven-story building. All this attracts scuba divers from many countries. They use a karst funnel for extreme diving up to 35 meters.
There is practically no life in the "dead" water of the lake. Specific chara algae, sulfur bacteria and several types of protozoa. Only they have adapted to cold and concentrated sulfuric water. Frogs and muskrats very rarely swim. Probably, they are the same adventurers as scuba divers.
Where to camp
Although the Blue Lake has the status of a natural monument of regional significance, the area around it is not a protected area. So you can safely put up tents near it. The Shungut River flows 150 meters away, where it is convenient to take water for the kitchen. In the lake itself, the water is not potable - there is too much sulfur. And swimming in the river is warmer.
How to get from Samara
Finding it is not difficult at all. From Samara you need to go towards Ufa along the E30 / M5 road. It is about 117 km before the turn to the village of Staroe Yakushkino. A pointer to the village of Sernovodsk, where the sanatorium "Sergievskie Mineralnye Vody" is located, can serve as a reference point. Without turning to Sernovodsk, you need to drive about 8 km along the highway and turn right towards the village of Staroe Yakushkino.
These are very beautiful places! Green hills overgrown with forest will be to the left of the road. And on the right is a field and on it, like a bump out of the blue, a mountain 150 meters high. The mountain is called Lump. You can climb on it and look at the beauty of these places from above. Travelers do just that. You can drive up part of the road, but it is better to walk to the top.
The bridge over the Shungut River does not need to be crossed, as there is a road to the left towards the lake. Parallel to the riverbed, you need to drive another 2.5 km. This part of the road is without asphalt, so it is better to choose dry weather.
Exact coordinates: 53 ° 54′44 ″ s. sh. 51 ° 29'15 "in. etc.
"Living" and "dead" water
They say that the water in it is magical! And this is true, because it is hydrogen sulfide and has a lot of miraculous properties. In fairy tales they say that "dead" water heals, heals wound surfaces. And the water of the Blue Lake will help relieve inflammation, treat infertility, neurological ailments and diseases of the musculoskeletal system. And this is no longer fiction, but a proven fact.
However, you cannot treat yourself on your own, since the concentration of hydrogen sulfide is very high and dangerous with prolonged contact with the skin. Many diseases can be cured in the sanatorium "Sergievskie Mineralnye Vody", where the water is diluted to a safe concentration. The sanatorium is located very close, about 17 kilometers away, in the village of Sernovodsk. The sanatorium uses water of a similar composition from another lake. There is an assumption that these water bodies are replenished from one underground source.
It is curious that the Black Lake is located literally fifteen meters from the Blue Lake. This area has always attracted tourists. A mystical bottomless karst funnel with cold turquoise water and an ordinary warm water body perfectly "get along" side by side. A mysterious place with "dead" and "living" water really exists in the Samara region!
Shooting from a quadcopter
For fifty dives, they tested unique equipment and came close to creating a three-dimensional model of the reservoir. Almost a quarter of a kilometer deep - it hides many mysteries.
The mini-sub is immersed in the Blue Lake - one of the deepest karst lakes in the world - 258 meters.
For the first time, the lake was surveyed in the 1920s, then in the 80s, but then there was no question of using such deep-sea vehicles.
“I didn’t dare to dream of such an opportunity when, in the most comfortable conditions and without any preparation, we can dive to the bottom of the lake and examine it. It makes it much easier for us to further interpret the results that we will receive, ”notes Nikolai Maksimovich, a geologist, candidate of geological and mineralogical sciences, deputy director for scientific work of the Natural Science Institute of the Perm State National Research University.
To study the lake, two more mini-submarines are used, with the help of which specialists from the Center for Underwater Research of the Russian Geographical Society take samples of soil and rocks from the very bottom.
“The fact that we see this surface is just a part of the total volume of the lake, since it has the shape of a bottle or a jug, that is, a rather narrow neck, after which it expands. So we would gasp if we saw the entrance to a cave, into a tunnel, or an entrance to some neighboring hall, ”says Sergey Fokin, executive director of the Center for Underwater Research of the Russian Geographical Society, head of the group of manned underwater vehicles.
According to experts, it is through underground caves that water is supplied to the lake. After all, there are no tributaries on the surface, but the river flows out of the lake. At the same time, the level of the reservoir does not change in any way. With the help of special measurements, it was possible to find out what the water consumption is.
“The depth and breadth here is such that 77 thousand cubic meters of water flows here per day, it must come from somewhere,” says Artem Demenev, a geologist, junior researcher at the Natural Science Institute of the Perm State National Research University.
Another goal of scientists is to establish exactly what the bottom of the lake looks like. And this small robot with the help of sound can examine any areas under water that are inaccessible even to mini-submarines.
These pictures were taken using an underwater vehicle. Every five meters as you dive, the sonar sends out a signal that bounces off the walls of the lake. They are shown in a separate color here. In the future, these images will be used to create a three-dimensional underwater map.
If underwater vehicles operate at great depths, then divers study the lake at a depth of no more than 120 meters. In addition to research, divers are testing new scuba equipment that records all diving parameters.
“Very stable conditions, like an ideal training base, good visibility, again, stable temperature, no current, no excitement, very convenient entry and exit from the water,” notes the head of the diving group Sumbat Aleksandrov.
Why does the lake have a constant temperature all year round - nine degrees above zero? Or where does the hydrogen sulfide come from? These are questions that the expedition has yet to answer. In total, it will last a month.
