Markakol

(also Markakul’), a lake in the Altai Mountains, in Semipalatinsk Oblast, Kazakh SSR. Area, 449 sq km; length, 38 km; maximum depth, 30 m. It is located in an intermontane basin between the Kurchum Range on the north and the Azutau Range on the south and lies at an elevation of 1,449 m. The southern shores are precipitous, while the northern shores are low-lying. Fluctuations in water level are less than 1 m (the water level is lowest between October and March and highest in June and July). The water is fresh and weakly mineralized and during the summer heats up to 16°-17°C on the surface and about 7°C near the bottom. The lake freezes in November, and the ice breaks up in May. Many rivers, which are fed mainly by meltwaters, empty into Markakol’. The lake’s outlet is the Kal’dzhir River (a tributary of the Irtysh). The lake is rich in fish (grayling, minnow).