Mystical lakes of the world. Mysterious and mysterious lakes of the earth

It is known that on May 18, 1960, three priests saw a horse-headed monster in Loch Ree, Ireland. This is one of three lakes in Ireland where the monster has been seen. In 2011, scientists conducted a search expedition, which received media coverage. All these facts only fueled public interest in the mysterious lakes. Therefore, we suggest you take a trip to the ten most mysterious lakes in the world, where monsters were seen, the existence of which has not yet been proven.

Bear Lakes, Russia

Eyewitnesses claim that a creature that feeds on livestock lives in this mysterious lake. According to a local shepherd, a monster with a small head and a giant mouth crawled out of the water and swallowed the cow whole. However, ichthyologists investigated the lake and denied all rumors about the existence of the monster.

Loch Morar, Scotland

Locals claim to have seen a huge creature in the lake. It is curious that it even received the nickname "Morag". However, the analysis of Loch Morar showed nothing, so we can only assume that Morag is a real fiction, created against the backdrop of the "boom of dinosaurs" and the "success" of the famous monster - Nessie.

Lake Brosno, Russia

Eyewitnesses claim that the local monster is very much like a pangolin resembling a plesiosaur. As a rule, most of them talk in words about the monster, but a few even managed to photograph the lizard. Nevertheless, there are no official facts about the existence of the monster at the moment.

Lake Champlain, USA - Canada

For the first time, a local monster was described by an eyewitness, a sheriff named Nathan Mooney in 1883. He claimed to have seen a huge black snake about 50 meters long on the lake. In 1977, the tourist Sandra Mansi was lucky, and she managed to capture the head, neck and part of the back of the monster on camera film. The locals gave the monster the nickname "Champ". And the latest eyewitness testimony indicates that the Champ monster has about five humps on its back.

Lake Storshen, Jämtland Province, Sweden

The most mysterious local inhabitant of this lake is a huge pangolin, the first information about which appeared back in 1635. Evidence of its existence was absent for a long time, and he himself was considered an ordinary medieval legend, but at the very beginning of 2000, local media provided information that two girls saw the monster. Initially, they simply did not believe them, but after some time, huge footprints were found on the shore of the lake, and their owner has not yet been identified. There is also evidence that scientists have set a giant trap for the pangolin on the lake.

Lake Kok-Kol, Dzhambul region, Kazakhstan

Eyewitnesses claim that a giant (at least fifteen meters long) bloodthirsty monster lives in this mysterious Kok-Kol lake, which drags animals and birds under the water. The locals even gave the monster a nickname - "the water spirit of Idahar".

Lake Kanas, Xinjiang Province, China

In 1985, students at a local university first noticed a huge living creature. A little later, rumors appeared that the monster was constantly taking birds and animals underwater. In the 90s, the monster showed no signs of life. However, in 2011, several eyewitnesses claimed to have seen the creature rise to the surface. One of them even managed to capture the monster on camera.

Lake Labynkyr, Yakutia, Russia

For the first time, the Yakuts saw the Labynkyr devil in the 19th century. Unfortunately, there are no photos or evidence of the existence of the monster, but several scientific expeditions managed to fix the monster. In addition, the noise that the Labynkyr devil makes was recorded on film. Also, with the help of an echo sounder, a huge shadow was found in the lake, which does not fit any of the known fish in size. Locals claim that the monster is very vicious - it chases fishermen, eats deer and dogs.

In addition, the monster, there is where to turn around and hide. Lake Labynkyr is located at an altitude of more than a thousand meters. About fourteen kilometers long maximum depth- 60 meters. At the bottom of the famous lake there are anomalous faults, which in some places increase the depth to almost a hundred meters. And under the steep banks there are several underwater caves.

Lake Okanagan, Canada

Ogopogo is considered the second legendary monster after Nessie, who glorified British Columbia. The monster was first seen in 1958. Eyewitnesses described him as a long snake lizard, with a body that resembles a barrel, a long neck and fins.

Loch Ness, Scotland

This is the world's most famous lake with a monster. A mysterious creature nicknamed Nessie, which gained its popularity back in the 6th century AD. BC, according to many scientists, is the last dinosaur living on earth.

The Great Lakes are the largest concentration of fresh water on Earth (22.7 thousand sq. km). The system includes five reservoirs: upper lake, Huron, Michigan, Erie and Ontario. The Great Lakes have long been used as natural waterways, despite the fact that traveling through them was fraught with considerable dangers.

Today, the bottom of the Great Lakes is literally strewn with the skeletons of ships that once suffered a shipwreck in their waters. Among local scuba diving enthusiasts, even a special direction has appeared - wreck diving, during which divers find and explore sunken ships.

We are used to the fact that most shipwrecks occur in the ocean. The culprits of disasters are, as a rule, storms, icebergs and coral reefs. However, those who live near the Great Lakes are familiar with storms, and with mysterious waves, and even ... with their own "version" of the Flying Dutchman.

Storms on large lakes are of the same order as storms on small seas. But they are much less often reported in the newspapers, and only a few, the most outstanding catastrophes, get into the headlines of the major newspapers. According to the latest data provided by American divers, between six and ten thousand shipwrecked ships rest at the bottom of the Great Lakes. Every year this list is updated with a dozen discovered ships. Approximately one in five can be identified - water and time do not spare either logbooks or hulls.

The story of one of these ships, which disappeared during a storm in 1912 and was discovered sixty years later, formed the basis of the musical "Christmas Schooner". The fact is that the main cargo of the ship was Christmas trees. In vain, the residents were looking forward to the arrival of the festive cargo - the fir trees remained at the bottom of the lake, so they did not please anyone. For a long time the schooner was listed as missing until it was discovered by scuba divers.

Another story - and completely from the category of mystical. It is willingly told to tourists. On September 18, 1679, the Griffon ship, owned by the French traveler René Robert, Chevalier de La Salle, was to arrive in Niagara, New York. This ship was built here, and it was well known to the locals. When it became clear that the Griffon was delayed, at first no one gave it special significance- Ships quite often ran out of schedule for several hours. But since the ship did not appear either a day or a week later, it became clear that another shipwreck had occurred. There were no witnesses to the tragedy that took place on the Griffon, it simply disappeared without a trace. Its wreckage was discovered and identified only in 1955. But this is far from the strangest. Many people who do not know each other claim that on foggy nights, the Griffon is often seen silently sailing through Lake Huron. At night, it is impossible to see all the details of its equipment, but the outlines of the vessel are easily recognizable.

Such ghost ships on the Great Lakes have become accustomed to. Mentions of them are found in chronicles dating back to the middle of the 17th century. For example, in New Haven (Connecticut) in 1648, many people simultaneously saw a ghost ship. Moreover, he did not just sail past, but showed the astonished spectators the scene of a shipwreck. This outstanding event was interpreted as a sign sent down by God, shedding light on the mystery of the death of one of the missing ships. However, those who have encountered ghost ships note that they quite often depict scenes of their crash, repeating them at each meeting with observers.

If in the distant XVII century. the appearance of ghosts and mysterious shipwrecks were explained by the play of supernatural forces, today scientists have taken up the solution to this phenomenon. There were plenty of hypotheses.

The most rationally minded researchers attributed the incident to storms of great strength. They still occur - for example, in 2003, a storm broke out over the Great Lakes, accompanied by snow and rain. The wind speed reached 100 km/h. The elements destroyed hundreds of buildings, more than one and a half million people were left without electricity. Of course, modern means of communication helped to transmit a storm warning to all residents of the area, so that only two people died. And two or three centuries ago, ship captains had to rely only on signs. Hurricanes and storms on the Great Lakes are often attributed to the influence of El Niño (El Nino in Spanish - "Christ Child"). This is a warm seasonal surface current in the eastern part Pacific Ocean appears with a frequency of two to seven years and has an adverse effect on the climate. Hurricanes, tornadoes and storms caused by El Niño are extremely powerful and unpredictable. However, not in all cases, the death of ships was due to a storm.

The Indians living on the coast of the Great Lakes have preserved many ancient legends, which are based on real facts. In particular, local tribes well aware of one natural phenomenon, which has remained almost unexplored until now - "Three Sisters". "Three sisters" are three huge waves, which quite unexpectedly appear on the smooth surface of the lake and rush to the shore, sweeping away everything in its path. The legends of the Chippeza tribe explain the appearance of the "Three Sisters" by the movement of a giant sturgeon, as if living in the Great Lakes. Modern Americans are also familiar with this phenomenon, but they call it "session", which means "level fluctuations". On June 26, 1954, the session hit the shoreline of Lake Michigan between the cities of Whiting (Indiana) and Wakegen (Illinois), destroyed dozens of buildings and 50 people, of whom 8 drowned. Many of the fishermen sat quietly on the shore of the lake with fishing rods. The weather was beautiful, the lake looked perfectly calm. Suddenly, a water shaft about three meters high fell on the shore. It happened so suddenly that no one had time to escape.

A similar phenomenon was also observed on Lake Superior. Jay Gawley, who wrote a book about the mysteries of the Great Lakes, described the catastrophe that occurred with the bulk carrier "Sames E. Davidson" with a displacement of six thousand tons. If the disappearance of ships that plied the waters of the Great Lakes in the 17th century can be explained by their technical imperfection and the absence of a meteorological service, then the death of a modern dry cargo ship seems inexplicable. The wave effortlessly destroyed a ship that could withstand an ocean storm. Her power must be colossal! The wind, no matter how strong, could not give the wave such energy. Where, then, do such waves come from on the Great Lakes? The most likely version seems to be that the Three Sisters and similar phenomena are caused by tremors. In this case, both the sudden formation of waves and their amazing energy are easily explained. But if this were true, then the seismic stations of the United States and Canada would easily compare data on tremors with the frequency of occurrence of huge waves. The Great Lakes phenomenon would be explained, even predictable, from seismic data. However, there is no direct correspondence between earthquakes and waves.

Even more mysterious is the fact that planes go missing over the Great Lakes. A three-meter wave could not bring them down! But the fact remains: there are many more air crashes over the lakes than over the rest of the adjacent territory. This area is gradually gaining fame anomalous zone, no less famous than the Bermuda Triangle.

Among the hypotheses explaining the "strange behavior" of lakes, there are the most incredible. In particular, ufologists are convinced that anomalous phenomena are either caused by aliens or are the object of their interest. According to Jay Gauley, over the Great Lakes, observers have repeatedly noticed strange objects that can move completely silently and have extreme maneuverability. In this regard, it was suggested that in the Great Lakes region there are some kind of “gates” through which aliens enter our world. Their use creates a disturbance in nature, as a result of which huge waves arise on the lake, and the planes lose control and fall.

Scientists also believe that the myth of flying saucers has the same dubious value as the legends of the Indians about the giant sturgeon. In any case, attempts to explain the inexplicable should be based on facts, and not on a blind faith in the existence of "brothers in mind." However, we have to admit that modern science is able to explain only a part of the phenomena observed on the Great Lakes. In particular, according to experts, the main culprits of shipwrecks are still not mythical aliens and not even the Three Sisters, but the most common storm waves. The fact is that lakes, no matter how large they are, are still much smaller than the ocean. Therefore, storm waves are different there. In the oceans, long and relatively gentle waves are formed, which only shake ships. Only those ships that are in close proximity to the coast are at risk. They can be thrown onto rocks or reefs. It is no coincidence that the captains, having received a storm warning, took the ships to the open sea. In large lakes and small seas, a different effect is observed: the waves there are short and very steep. They are able not only to rock the ship, but also to turn it over. This insidious property of storms on lakes is well known to everyone who swims in the Caspian Sea, Baikal and Lake Ladoga.

But the appearance of the ghosts of sunken ships and the disappearance of aircraft so far has absolutely no scientific explanation. Perhaps these phenomena are somehow connected with the geological structure of the region. But it will be a long time before the mystery of the Great Lakes is solved.

When we hear the word "lake", a picture arises in our imagination - a wonderful place to relax, where you can swim and fish. However, this is not always the case. Some lakes inspire fear and horror. And there are reasons for this.

Lake Empty (Russia)

Its location is the area of ​​Kuznetsk Alatau located in Western Siberia. Lake Pustoye is a fresh and environmentally friendly reservoir of continental origin, because it is completely free of chemicals. Many scientists have repeatedly conducted studies of water from the lake, which have never confirmed the presence of any toxic components in it.

The lake has clean water that is suitable for drinking, and resembles champagne, as it is dominated by completely harmless natural gas bubbles. However, the researchers could not determine the reason why there is no fish in the lake.

There have never been ecological disasters and emergency technical accidents polluting the reservoir in the vicinity of Lake Pustoye. According to the chemical composition, its water does not differ from the nearest reservoirs of the reserve, which are distinguished by an abundance of fish resources. Moreover, the reservoir feeds several fresh, clean reservoirs in the vicinity; the fact that there are fish in them will give a special mystery to what is happening in these dreams.

There were several attempts to launch unpretentious fish species of pike, perch and crucian carp into the reservoir. Each of them ended in failure, the fish died, the aquatic plants rotted. And today there are no grass and birds on the banks of the reservoir, there are no fish or fry in the water, the lake guards its mysteries.

Why are there no fish in the lake?

Samples from the Kuznetsk reservoir were studied by chemists from the USA, Great Britain and Germany. However, none of them could put forward a sensible version explaining the absence of fish in the reservoir. Scientists are not yet able to answer the questions of the inhabitants, what is happening with the Kuznetsk reservoir.

However, scientists repeat attempts to explain the unusual phenomenon of the Empty Lake with enviable frequency. Stay on the coast unusual lake there are many who wish, tourists come here and stay for the night. Some of them dream of touching the mystery of nature and unraveling it.

Lake of Death (Italy)

Our world is amazing and beautiful, its nature can be admired and enjoyed endlessly. But besides this, there are places on our Earth that sometimes lead us into bewilderment. Among such places is the Lake of Death on the island of Sicily. This lake can be attributed to the number of phenomena and unique natural phenomena. The name itself suggests that this lake is deadly for all living things. Any living organism that gets into this lake will inevitably die.

This lake is the most dangerous on our planet. The lake is absolutely lifeless and there are no living organisms in it. The shores of the lake are deserted and lifeless, nothing grows here. Everything is connected with the fact that any living creature that enters the aquatic environment immediately dies. If a person decides to swim in this lake, then in just a few minutes he will dissolve in the lake.

When information about this place appeared in the scientific world, a scientific expedition was immediately sent there to study this phenomenon. The lake revealed its secrets with great difficulty. The conducted water analyzes showed that the water environment of the lake contains a large amount of concentrated sulfuric acid. Scientists were not immediately able to figure out where sulfuric acid comes from in the lake. Scientists have put forward several hypotheses about this.

The first hypothesis was that there are rocks at the bottom of the lake, which, when eroded by water, are enriched with acid. But further study of the lake showed that there are two springs at the bottom of the lake, which emit concentrated sulfuric acid into the aquatic environment of the lake. This explains why any organic matter dissolves in the lake.

Dead Lake (Kazakhstan)

In Kazakhstan, there is an anomalous lake that attracts the attention of many people. It is located in the Taldykurgan region, the village of Gerasimovka. Its dimensions are not large, only 100x60 meters. They call this reservoir Dead. The fact is that nothing is found in the lake, neither algae nor fish. The water is unusually cold.

The low temperature of the water remains even when the strongest sun is outside. People are constantly drowning there. Scuba divers, for some unknown reason, begin to choke after three minutes of diving. Locals do not advise anyone to go there, and they themselves bypass this anomalous place.

Blue Lake (Kabardino-Balkaria, Russia)

Blue karst abyss in Kabardino-Balkaria. Not a single river or stream flows into this lake, although it loses up to 70 million liters of water every day, but its volume and depth do not change at all. The blue color of the lake is due to the high content of hydrogen sulfide in the water. There are no fish here at all.

The creepiness of this lake is given by the fact that no one has been able to figure out its depth. The fact is that the bottom consists of an extensive system of caves. Researchers have not yet been able to figure out what the lowest point of this karst lake is. It is believed that under Blue Lake is the world's largest system of underwater caves.

Boiling Lake (Dominican Republic)

The name speaks for itself. Located in Dominica, the beautiful Caribbean, this lake is actually the second largest natural hot spring on the ground. The water temperature in the boiling lake reaches 90 degrees Celsius and there are hardly any people who want to check the temperature of the source on their own skin. Just look at the photos and it becomes clear that the water is almost boiling here. The temperature cannot be controlled because it is the result of a crack in the bottom of the lake through which red-hot lava erupts.

Lake Powell (USA)

Despite its common name (Horse Shoe), near the town of Mammoth Lakes, Lake Powell is a fearsome killer. The city of Mammoth Lakes was built on top active volcano, and this is not best location. However, for many years the lake was considered safe. But about 20 years ago, the trees around the Horseshoe began to dry up and die abruptly.

After ruling out all possible diseases, the scientists determined that the trees were suffocating from excessive levels of carbon dioxide slowly seeping through the ground from underground chambers of cooling magma. In 2006, three hikers took refuge in a cave near a lake and suffocated from carbon dioxide.

Lake Karachay (Russia)

Situated in beautiful Ural mountains Russia, this dark blue lake is one of the most dangerous bodies of water in the world. During a secret government project, for many years, starting in 1951, the lake was used as a dumping ground for radioactive waste.

This place is so toxic that a 5-minute visit can make a person nauseous, and a longer visit of over an hour is guaranteed to be fatal. During a drought in 1961, the wind carried toxic dust that killed 500,000 people - a tragedy comparable to the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Definitely one of the most polluted places on Earth.

Lake Kivu (Democratic Republic of the Congo)

This lake is located on the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, with large layers of carbon dioxide at the base of the volcanic rock, as well as 55 billion cubic meters of methane at the bottom. This explosive combination makes Lake Kivu the deadliest of the three exploding lakes in the world. Any earthquake or volcanic activity can pose a lethal threat to the 2 million people living in this region. They can die from both methane explosions and carbon dioxide asphyxiation.

Lake Michigan (Canada)

Of the five Great Lakes on the border between Canada and the United States, Lake Michigan is the deadliest. The warm, inviting lake is a popular holiday destination for numerous tourists, despite its dangerous undercurrents that claim at least a few lives each year.

The shape of Lake Michigan makes it especially prone to dangerous currents arising spontaneously and abruptly. The lake becomes more dangerous in autumn, in October and November, when there are sudden and significant changes in water and air temperature. Wave heights can reach several meters.

Mono Lake (USA)

One of the most developed ecosystems in the world, Mono Lake is located in the California county of the same name. This ancient salt lake has no fish, but trillions of bacteria and small algae thrive in it. unique waters. Up until 1941 it's amazing beautiful lake was healthy and strong. But Los Angeles intervened, which was just beginning its giant growth spurt. The city drained the tributaries of the lake, which began to dry up.

This scandalous destruction of natural resources continued for almost 50 years and when it was stopped in 1990, Mono Lake had already lost half its volume and its salinity had doubled. Mono has become a toxic alkaline lake overflowing with carbonates, chlorides and sulfates. Los Angeles has decided to correct its mistake, but the restoration project will take decades.

Lake Manun (Cameroon)

Located in the Oku Volcanic Field in Cameroon, Lake Monoun appears to be a completely normal body of water. But its appearance is deceiving, as it is one of the three explosive lakes on earth. In 1984, Monun exploded without warning, releasing a cloud of carbon dioxide and killing 37 people. Twelve of the dead were riding in a truck and stopped to look at the aftermath of the explosion. Just at that moment, lethal gas did its job.

Lake Nyos (Cameroon)

In 1986, Lake Nyos, located just 100 kilometers from Lake Monoun, exploded after a magma eruption and released carbon dioxide, converting the water into carbonic acid. As a result of a powerful landslide, the lake abruptly emitted a giant cloud of carbon dioxide, killing thousands of people and animals in local cities and villages. The tragedy was the first known major asphyxiation caused by natural phenomenon. The lake continues to pose a threat because its natural wall is fragile and even the slightest earthquake can destroy it.

Natron (Tanzania)

Lake Natron in Tanzania not only kills its inhabitants, but also mummifies their bodies. On the shores of the lake there are mummified flamingos, small birds, bats. The most terrible thing is that the victims freeze in their natural poses with their heads up. It was like they froze for a moment and stayed that way forever. The water in the lake is bright red because of the microorganisms living in it, closer to the shore it is already orange, and in some places it is of a normal color.

Evaporation of the lake scares away large predators, and the absence of natural enemies attracts a huge number of birds and small animals. They live on the banks of the Natron, multiply, and after death they are mummified. A large amount of hydrogen contained in water and increased alkalinity contribute to the release of soda, salt and lime. They do not allow the remains of the inhabitants of the lake to decompose.

Probably many of you have met geographical map names that mention colors: Black, White, Yellow, Red Sea, Belukha Mountain and others. And some names, although of foreign origin, but in translation also mean color. For example, Cape Cape in Africa - "Green", Greenland - "Green Country", the Black Forest mountains - "Black Forest" ... But there are especially many so-called colored lakes on our Earth. And these lakes really have the most different, unusual shades of water: red, crimson, blue-green, blue, yellow, white and even black. Not only Europe or Asia can boast of such curiosities - colorful lakes are scattered all over the globe!

There are, for example, in Carpathian mountains near the town of Svalyava at an altitude of 700 meters above sea level, Lake Sinyak. Sulfur compounds dissolved in it give the water an intense blue color. Many similar lakes are also located in the mountains of the Caucasus, but the Gek-Gel Lake (“Blue Lake”), located in Azerbaijan at an altitude of 1576 meters in the Asgun Gorge, is considered the queen of blue lakes.
Most of all in the world of White Lakes. Only in Russia there are about twenty of them. At first glance, there is nothing unusual in such lakes. But as soon as the wind starts to make waves, the mirror-like water surface is covered with white lambs. This water, washing away the clay shores, acquires a whitish color.
But on the island of Kunashir - one of Kuril Islands- there is a milky-white lake, and ... boiling. It is filled with a concentrated solution of sulfuric and hydrochloric acids, hot volcanic gases rise from the bottom of it all the time, which heat the water to a boil.

In Western Siberia and Central Asia, there are many lakes with a purple-red color. During sunset, they change their color a little and become like bowls filled with molten gold.

There are truly unique raspberry lakes near Astrakhan, which are named so not only for their color, but also ... for the smell, which is very reminiscent of the smell of ripe raspberries. By the way, the salt extracted from these lakes retains a persistent aroma of raspberries or violets and was once highly valued at the royal court.

Another Raspberry Lake, located in the south of Siberia in the Kulunda steppe, attracts not only with its beauties. In the water of this lake, saturated with magnesium salts and soda, stones are constantly formed and grow (to the delight of local population, which makes extensive use of this extraordinary building material).

Lakes with red water are also found in Italian Alps, on the banks mediterranean sea in Western Europe, in Bolivia, Japan.

By the way, there is a unique two-colored lake on the Japanese island of Kyushu. One half of it from sulfur impurities became yellow color, and the other is pink due to iron oxides.

Three colored lakes lie in the crater of the Keli Mutu volcano on the island of Flores in Indonesia. Two of them are painted in different shades of green, and the third is black and red. The internal forces of the earth and ... chemistry are to blame for this. The lakes were formed in different craters of the volcano, rich in various minerals. All three lakes have romantic names. Ti-voe Ata Polo means "Lake of Enchanted People". Tivoye Noea Moe-ri Koo Fai is translated as "Lake of young men and girls", the third is Tivoye Ata Mboepoe - "Lake of drowned hopes".

The name Sarykul or Sarikol, which means "yellow lake", is carried by many lakes. The largest of them is located in the Chelyabinsk region of Russia. The water in this lake resembles highly diluted coffee in its color due to the fact that many particles of clay are dissolved in it as a result of constant erosion of the banks.

There are many black lakes on Earth. The color of the water in them is explained not only by the presence of peat. For example, in the "most-most" black lake in the world - Lake Kahinidaakh, located in Yakutia, the water is a kind of solution of soot, ash and soot. The phenomenon is explained by the fact that this lake is located in a depression where a fire raged several millennia ago (coal burned there for several years). Later, the fire was flooded with water.

A natural lake filled with real ink is located in Algiers, near the town of Sidi Bel Abbes. There are no fish or plants in the pond, since this naturally created ink is poisonous and is only suitable for writing with. For a long time, people could not understand how a substance so unusual for a reservoir arises. And recently, scientists, after conducting research and analysis, found out the cause of this phenomenon. It's all about the composition of the water of the two rivers flowing into this lake.

One of the rivers contains a huge amount of dissolved iron salts, the other - all kinds of organic compounds, many of which are borrowed from peat bogs located in the river valley. Merging together into the lake basin, the streams interact with each other, and in the course of constantly occurring chemical reactions, the amount of ink is increasingly replenished.

Local residents are ambivalent about this attraction. Some consider the lake to be a devilish obsession, while others, on the contrary, try to benefit from it. That's why he has half a dozen names. Among the most famous are “Devil's Eye”, “Black Lake” and “Inkpot”. And ink from it is sold in stationery stores not only in Algeria, but also in several other countries.

This asphalt lake is located on the island of Trinidad, located fifty kilometers from the northern part of Venezuela.

Swimming and swimming in it, of course, is impossible. The lake is located in the crater of the former mud volcano, its depth is 90 meters, and the area is 46 hectares. A few kilometers from it there is a settlement of La Brea. Coming out of the bowels of the earth through the mouth of a volcano, oil lying at great depths under the influence of evaporation loses volatile substances, as a result of which it turns into asphalt. All this takes place in the center of the lake basin. The place where more and more portions of asphalt are born has been called “Mother Lake” for many years. It is thanks to him that Lake Trinidad retains its reserves, despite the fact that every year up to 150 thousand tons of asphalt is mined from it, which is used for construction needs. Most of the mined is exported to the USA, England and many other countries. During the development of the deposits, more than five million tons of asphalt were produced. At the same time, the level of the lake dropped by only half a meter.

On the surface of Lake Trinidad, except for its center, a person can safely move without the risk of getting stuck and going into the depths.

However, if, for example, someone dares to stay in one place for a long time and does not move at the same time, he will slowly begin to sink into the thickness of the asphalt. Almost any object left for a long time on the surface of the lake disappears into the black abyss some time later. Scientists involved in the study of the deep bowels of the “reservoir” discovered a whole cemetery of prehistoric animals, including the bones of mastodons that became extinct during the ice age and, apparently, once lived in the area. Probably, new amazing finds will be made in the miracle lake.

There are reserves of asphalt in the Dead Sea, famous for its healing salt reserves, located on the border of Israel and Jordan. Many people know about the extreme salinity and special composition of its waters, but not everyone has ever heard of asphalt deposits. Accumulations of asphalt, resembling resin in appearance, periodically float to the surface of the water, are given to the will of the waves and often in large numbers thrown ashore. Asphalt has been mined from the Dead Sea since ancient times. It is used in various industries: for building roads, tarring ships, obtaining all kinds of chemical products ... Until the middle of our century, it was believed that the Dead Sea region was practically the only supplier of asphalt in the whole world. And only in the 50s new deposits were developed.

And the most “dead” body of water on the entire planet is rightfully considered the Lake of Death, which is on the island of Sicily.

Not only are its shores and waters devoid of any vegetation and living creatures, it is also deadly to swim in it. Any living creature that falls into the waters of this terrible lake dies instantly. A person who puts an arm or leg into the water feels a strong burning sensation and then watches in horror as the skin becomes covered with burns and blisters. The chemists who analyzed the contents of the lake were quite surprised. The water contains a fairly large concentration ... sulfuric acid. On this occasion, scientists have put forward several versions - for example, that the lake dissolves some unknown rocks and is enriched with acids due to this. However, studies have confirmed another hypothesis. It turned out that concentrated sulfuric acid is thrown into the lake by two sources located at its bottom.

But the mystery of the Russian Empty Lake, located among many other lakes of the Kuznetsk Alatau, has not yet been solved. Around all the lakes are teeming with fish, and in the Empty - at least with a rolling ball, despite the fact that rivers flow from these fish lakes, flowing into a fishless lake.

Researchers have repeatedly tried to populate a strange reservoir with various types of fish, giving preference to the most unpretentious. However, nothing came of it - all the fish fell asleep, and the Empty remained empty. But what is most surprising, chemists who analyzed the water for the possible content of toxic substances in it, proved that nothing of the kind was contained in it. The water of the Empty Lake turned out to be almost the same as in the neighboring lakes. And no one can still explain or even put forward a plausible hypothesis about the phenomenon of this strange reservoir. Whether it will be possible to solve a seemingly simple riddle, only time will tell.

There are hundreds of mysterious lakes in the world, which are associated with mysterious stories, anomalous phenomena, they are shrouded in fascinating myths and legends like a shroud.

Fear local residents in front of such lakes, which are notorious, was even expressed in their names: Devil's Lake, Dead Lake, Shaitan and others.

Let's take a short tour of some of them.

Sasha Mitrahovich 28.02.2016 10:19

Lake Smerdyache located in the Shatursky district of the Moscow region. Once crystal clear, the water in it has a pronounced red-brown color. The lake is an almost perfect circle with a diameter of approximately 250 meters. It got its name from the characteristic smell of hydrogen sulfide, which suddenly disappeared about 25 years ago. But once this smell led to the fact that a person next to a pond could faint.

However, local old-timers explain the origin of the name in a different way: Smerdyachye - not from the word "stink", but from the phrase "death of the devil". According to local legends, once upon a time there was a chapel on the shaft near the lake. One day, the ground suddenly shook, and the chapel, in which the deacon was located, fell into the lake and immediately went under water.

Another mystery is the sudden change in the depth of the reservoir. In 1985, its highest mark was 20 meters, and after 15 years, measurements showed the maximum distance from the surface to the bottom of 31 meters.

In 2002, a large scientific expedition was organized on Smerdyache. Specialists of the Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry. IN AND. Vernadsky collected enough evidence to assert that the lake is of meteorite origin. The collected coastal soil samples contained materials of local sedimentary rocks melted upon impact. At the same time, the time of the fall of the Shatura meteorite was determined - about 10,000 years ago.

Sasha Mitrahovich 28.02.2016 10:21

Another mysterious body of water called Chertok(Devil's Lake) is located in the Shkeltovsky parish of the Aglon region of Latvia. The lake is small and very deep. People have never lived near it, the nearest villages are two to three kilometers away. In the press, Chertok is called the “bottomless lake of horror”, because, according to the stories of local residents, it cannot be crossed without risk to life, although it is only a few tens of meters from coast to coast. Moreover, according to beliefs, the Devil's Lake has no bottom at all, so the bodies of drowned people are never found in it.

The water here, for no apparent reason, changes color from transparent blue to almost black - despite the fact that there are practically no clouds in the sky at this time, and the presence of algae in the reservoir is minimal. For this feature, the lake received a second name - Devil's Eye.

The President of the Latvian Academy of Parapsychology, Valery Paramonov, is convinced that the reservoir is an anomalous zone that affects the human psyche. According to him, a powerful energy beam hits from the bottom of the lake, which is capable of terrifying a person who finds himself on the shore.

Scientific studies have established that at the bottom of Devil's Lake accumulates an inert radioactive gas, radon, which is seven times heavier than air and easily dissolves in water. According to scientists, the lake was formed from the fall of a cosmic body.

This is confirmed by the studies of several daredevil divers who saw melted rock in the depths. There is also a version that Chertok is connected underground with the rather distant Aglon Lake, so drowned people disappear in deep underground channels.

Devil's Lake is located next to the highway Aglona - Kraslava, and tourists often settle down to rest near its shores. However, after some time they leave, trying to get rid of the fear that has suddenly surging. Many of them went to the doctor after visiting the Devil's Lake zone. Because of this, in 2005, local authorities ordered to remove a road sign with information about the presence of a nearby reservoir in order not to draw undue attention to this natural object.

Sasha Mitrahovich 28.02.2016 10:23

In the area of ​​the village of Gerasimovka in the Taldykurgan region of Kazakhstan, there is a small (100 meters long and 60 wide) dead lake.

For unknown reasons, even on a hot summer day, the lake does not dry up, and the water in it remains icy. Algae do not grow in the reservoir, there are no fish, there are no aquatic insects, there are no mosquitoes and flies on the shore.

In water dead lake can't stay long. A diver, even with a full tank of air, can withstand a dive for no more than three minutes, after which, for some unknown reason, he begins to suffocate and is forced to urgently rise to the surface.

Every year people drown in the Dead - mostly visitors who do not listen to the advice of local residents or simply do not know anything about the mysterious properties of the lake. What is surprising: drowned people do not float to the surface after a few days, as is usually the case, but stand vertically at the bottom, like candles.

In addition, incredible events happen every now and then near the Dead Lake: people disappear, and later they are found. At the same time, they find themselves in unexpected places, sometimes quite far from the lake or their home. Some can't even remember their own name.

There is an assumption that there is a crevice at the bottom of the lake, from which a toxic gas is released, which is a poison to all living things. But no scientific studies of the reservoir have yet been carried out.

Sasha Mitrahovich 28.02.2016 10:25

IN Kirov region Russia, near the city of Urzhum, there is Lake Shaitan, having the shape of a regular oval, with an area of ​​​​about two hectares. From time to time, the water in this lake seethes, and fountains from four to ten meters high are thrown to the surface. According to local beliefs, these are the tricks of an evil spirit living in the lake.

Scientific studies explain the appearance of such fountains by the fact that the lake is of karst origin and is distinguished by siphon water circulation. Under its bottom there is a second aquifer containing pressure artesian waters. Between these two horizons there is a connection through vertical karst wells (ponors). Settling silt and peat create plugs in the ponds, and the pressure of artesian waters pushes them out, resulting in a fountain outburst of water.

The second unique feature of the lake is small floating islands overgrown with shrubs and small trees. Such islands are formed by water ejections and are detached sections of wetlands. The largest of them can withstand the weight of three or four people. In normal times, up to twenty of them can be counted on the surface of the lake.

Sasha Mitrahovich 28.02.2016 10:27

Another lake with the same name - Satan- located in the Muromtsevsky district Omsk region near the village of Okunevo. Its water is famous for its healing properties, even curing some forms of cancer and cirrhosis of the liver. Placed in an ordinary container, it can stand for years, while retaining a fresh taste and smell.

Experts do not exclude that Lake Shaitan, as well as five other lakes near it, appeared as a result of the fall of a huge meteorite. Hidden deep in the bowels of the earth, it still radiates colossal energy. Numerous anomalous phenomena occurring in these places speak in favor of the cosmic origin of Lake Shaitan, in particular, the regular occurrence of luminous balls and rectangles above the surface of the water.

There is a popular legend among the locals that the temple of the Indian deity Hanuman, Satra, is hidden at the bottom of the lake. According to the legend described in the epic Ramayana, the giant Hanuman, the king of monkeys, helped Rama fight the forces of evil and for this he received the Siberian expanses as a gift, where he erected his city - Aku-Nego. It is he who is now deep under water, hidden from the eyes of people by a layer of silt and sand.

The legend about the Hindu temple at the bottom of the lake is closely connected with another legend - about a cosmic crystal. It is believed that this relic, given to people by alien beings, was the main shrine of the Satra temple and is still in it. According to legend, the crystal stores complete information about the entire history of earthly civilization and contains a clue to the salvation of mankind.

Another feature of the anomalous zone is that huge, almost meter-long footprints have been found more than once near the lake. unknown creatures. There are even written testimonies of eyewitnesses who saw the huge inhabitants of the lake with their own eyes.

The lake is famous for the fact that people, trying to get to it, often stray, their compasses and navigation devices fail. There is a documented case when a group of pilgrims went to Lake Shaitan, strictly checking the compass. The journey was supposed to take no more than an hour. After three hours of travel, the pilgrims became worried. In the end, after seven hours, not seeing any signs of the lake, they decided to return, went back the same way - and after 20 minutes they were in the place where they started their journey.

Sasha Mitrahovich 28.02.2016 10:34