Yalchik Lake

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Lake Yalchik
Frozen Smaller Yalchik

Location	Mari El
Coordinates	56°00′40″N, 48°24′30″ECoordinates: 56°00′40″N, 48°24′30″E
Lake type	karst
Basin countries	Russia
Surface area	Greater Yalchik: 128.5 ha (317.5 acres) Smaller Yalchik: 53.6 ha (132.4 acres)
Average depth	Greater: 7.89 m (25.9 ft) Smaller: 8.7 m (29 ft)
Max. depth	Greater: 28.8 m (94 ft) Smaller: 32.0 m (105 ft)
Water volume	Greater: 10,439 m³ (13,654 cu yd) Smaller: 2,580 m³ (3,375 cu yd)
Shore length¹	Greater: 9,460 m (10,350 yd) Smaller: 5,590 m (6,110 yd)
Surface elevation	Greater: 88.4 m (290 ft) Smaller: 89.8 m (295 ft)
Islands	no
Settlements	Yalchevsky
¹ Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Lake Yalchik (Cyrillic: Яльчик, Jalčik) is the largest lake in Mari El, located in the Marii Chodra national park. Lake Yalchik plays a major role in tourism in region and several tourist centres are located here. It is renowned locally for its clean and warm water.

1 Hydrology
2 Etymology
3 Recreation
4 References

[edit] Hydrology

In fact, Lake Yalchik is a system of two lakes, the Greater and Smaller Yalchiks, which are linked by a channel which periodically dries up in summer. The elevation of the Smaller Yalchik is higher than that of the Greater Yalchik, but flow from the Smaller Yalchik can only be observed at spring tide. The area of the lake is increasing due to as the karst processes that shape the area. The legend says that the lake appeared after the major collapse of a meadow, which was originally in the location of the lake. The last major collapse occurred in 1914 and it generated a tsunami-like wave. At the bottom of the lake there are two series of karst caves, 1,600 meters (5,249 ft) and 1,200 meters (3,937 ft) long, and the depth of the holes being up to 30 meters (98 ft).

The Greater Yalchik has a complex shape and has many bays, the Smaller Yalchik has an elongated shape.

The Smaller Yalchik has two little brooks as inflows, whereas the Greater Yalchik has none.

[edit] Etymology

The word Yalchik itself is a rendering of the Chuvash word Елчěк (Yälçek), what means a little village. The village, which gave a name to the lake was founded by the settlers from the modern Yalchiksky District of neighboring Chuvashia. Yalchik is an only major lake of the Marii Chodra, which name has Turkic roots, as the most of the lakes have the Mari names, and often have jär/yer endings, Mari for a lake.

[edit] Recreation

Being popular for its unique nature, Yalchik attracts many tourists, mostly from Kazan. However, there are no beaches at the lake, and the most of its coastline is covered with reed. Many tourists reach Yalchik by own cars, but a major part of them use a railway. The closest station to the Yalchik is the Yalchik station in the settlement of Yalchevsky.

Some Mari and Tatarstan universities sometimes arrange science conferences at the Yalchik's rest home.