{{Short description|Largest freshwater lake in Mongolia}} {{Infobox lake | name = Lake Khuvsgul | image = khuvsgul.jpg | caption = | image_bathymetry = | caption_bathymetry = | location = |pushpin_map=Mongolia | coords = {{coord|51|06|N|100|30|E|type:waterbody_region:MN_scale:1000000|display=inline,title}} | type = [[Ancient lake]], [[Rift lake]] | inflow = | outflow = [[Eg River]] | catchment = | basin_countries = Mongolia | length = {{convert|136|km|abbr=on}} | width = {{convert|36.5|km|abbr=on}} | area = {{convert|2760|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}} | depth = {{convert|138|m|abbr=on}} | max-depth = {{convert|267|m|abbr=on}} | volume = {{convert|380.7|km3|abbr=on}} | residence_time = | shore = | elevation = {{convert|1,645|m|abbr=on}} | islands = Modon khui, Khadan khui, Modot tolgoi, Baga khui | cities = [[Khatgal, Khövsgöl|Khatgal]], [[Khankh, Khövsgöl|Khankh]] }} {{Image frame|content={{MongolUnicode| ᠬᠥᠪᠰᠥᠭᠥᠯ<br>ᠨᠠᠭᠤᠷ|font-size=1.5em}}|caption=Name in<br/>[[Chakhar Mongolian|Chakhar Mongolian<br>language]] and [[Mongolian script|script]],<br/>''köbsügül naɣur''|border=no|align=right}}
'''Lake Khövsgöl''' ({{langx|mn|Хөвсгөл нуур}}), also referred to as '''Khövsgöl Sea''' ({{lang|mn|Хөвсгөл далай}}), is a lake in [[Khövsgöl Province]], [[Mongolia]]. It is the largest freshwater lake in the country by volume, and the second largest by area after [[Uvs Lake]]. It is nicknamed "Mother Sea" ({{lang|mn|Далай ээж}}, {{translit|mn|Dalai eej}}) in Mongolian.
== Geography == Lake Khuvsgul is located in the northwest of [[Mongolia]] near the [[Mongolia-Russia border|Russian border]], at the foot of the eastern [[Sayan Mountains]]. It is {{convert|1645|m|0|abbr=off}} [[above mean sea level|above sea level]], {{convert|136|km|0|abbr=off}} long and {{convert|262|m|0|abbr=off}} deep. It is the second-most voluminous freshwater lake in Asia, and holds almost 70% of Mongolia's fresh water and 0.4% of all the fresh water in the world.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ansp.org/~gelhaus/chapters/lake_hovsgol.htm |title=The Aquatic Invertebrates of the watershed of Lake Hovsgol in northern Mongolia |publisher=Institute for Mongolia Research Guide |access-date=2007-07-13 |archive-date=2014-05-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140505183233/http://darwin.ansp.org/home/~gelhaus/chapters/lake_hovsgol.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> The town of [[Hatgal]] lies at the southern end of the lake.
Lake Khuvsgul's [[Drainage basin|watershed]] is relatively small, and it has only small tributaries. It is drained at the southern end by the [[Egiin Gol]], which connects to the [[Selenga|Selenge]] and ultimately flows into [[Lake Baikal]]. Between the two lakes, its waters travel more than {{convert|1000|km|0|abbr=on}}, and fall {{convert|1169|m|0|abbr=off}}, although the line-of-sight distance is only about {{convert|200|km|0|abbr=on}}. Its location in northern Mongolia forms one part of the southern border of the great Siberian [[taiga]] forest, where the dominant tree is the Siberian larch (''[[Larix sibirica]]'').
[[File:ISS-052-E-45462 (Lake Khuvsgul).jpg|thumb|The southern end of the lake as seen from the ISS in 2017.]] [[File:Mongolian arats at the lake.jpg|thumb|left|Mongolian arats at the lake]] The lake is surrounded by several mountain ranges. The highest mountain is the [[Munku Sardyk|Bürenkhaan / Mönkh Saridag]] ({{convert|3492|m|0|abbr=off}}), whose peak, north of the lake, lies exactly on the [[Mongolia–Russia border|border with Russia]]. The lake freezes over completely in winter, and the ice cover is strong enough to carry heavy trucks; transport routes on its surface offer shortcuts to the normal roads. However, this practice is now forbidden, to prevent pollution of the lake from both oil leaks and trucks breaking through the ice. An estimated 30–40 vehicles have broken through the ice into the lake over the years.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}}
There is a roughly [[ellipse|elliptical]] island in the middle of the lake, named [[Wooden Boy Island]], measuring 3 km east–west and 2 km north–south. It is located about 11 km from the lake's eastern shore, and 50 km north of the town of [[Hatgal]].<ref name=goomap>"[https://www.google.com/maps/place/50%C2%B058'41.9%22N+100%C2%B030'23.3%22E/@51.0246104,100.411117,27799m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x0:0x0!7e2!8m2!3d50.9783122!4d100.506469 Wooden Boy / Dalan Modon Khuis Island]". Google Maps, accessed on 2019-05-24.</ref>
== Ecological significance == [[File:Hovsgol.jpg|thumb|right|180px|Lake Khövsgöl]]
[[File:Rainy clouds over Lake Khövsgöl.jpg|thumb|Rainy clouds over Lake Khövsgöl]] Khuvsgul is one of seventeen [[ancient lake]]s in the world, being more than 2 million years old, and the most pristine (apart from [[Lake Vostok]]),<ref> worldlakes.org: {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20031128032343/http://www.worldlakes.org/lakedetails.asp?lakeid=8663 ''lake Hovsgol'']}}, retrieved 2007-02-27 </ref><ref> Goulden, Clyde E. et al.: [http://klter.kookmin.ac.kr/EVENTS/Conference99/doc/Clyde.htm ''The Mongolian LTER: Hovsgol National Park''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929210236/http://klter.kookmin.ac.kr/EVENTS/Conference99/doc/Clyde.htm |date=2007-09-29 }}, retrieved 2007-02-27 </ref> as well as being the most significant drinking water reserve of Mongolia. Its water is potable without any treatment. Hovsgol is an ultra[[oligotrophic]] lake with low levels of nutrients, primary productivity and high water clarity ([[Secchi disk#Secchi depth|Secchi depth]]s > 18 m are common).
The Lake area is a National Park bigger than [[Yellowstone National Park|Yellowstone]] and strictly protected as a transition zone between Central Asian [[Steppe]] and the Siberian [[Taiga]]. Despite Hovsgol's protected status, [[illegal fishing]] is common and prohibitions against commercial fishing with gillnets are seldom enforced. The lake is traditionally considered sacred in a land suffering from arid conditions where most lakes are salty.
The Hövsgöl (Khövsgöl) Long-term Ecological Research Site (LTERS) was established in 1997 and an extensive research program began soon thereafter. Now part of an international network of long-term study sites, the Hövsgöl LTERS provides a stage for nurturing Mongolia's scientific and environmental infrastructures, studying climate change, and developing sustainable responses to some of environmental challenges facing the lake and its watershed.
Recent studies has identified high levels of [[plastic pollution]] (esp. [[microplastics]]) in the lake, showing that even small rural populations can cause high plastics pollution levels, as high as elsewhere around the world.<ref>"High-levels of microplastic pollution in a large, remote, mountain lake" [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X14003622 ''Marine Pollution Bulletin'', 15 August 2014]</ref><ref>"Why Pristine Lakes Are Filled With Toxins." [http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20180426-why-plastics-are-not-just-an-ocean-problem ''BBC'', 30 April 2018]</ref>
===Wildlife=== The park is home to a variety of wildlife such as [[ibex]], [[argali]], [[Red Deer|elk]], [[wolf]], [[wolverine]], [[musk deer]], [[brown bear]], Siberian [[moose]], and [[sable]]. It has also been identified as an [[Important Bird Area]] by [[BirdLife International]].
Hovsgol's fish community is species-poor compared to that of Lake Baikal. Species of commercial and recreational interest include Eurasian perch (''[[Perca fluviatilis]]''), burbot (''[[Lota lota]]''), lenok (''[[Brachymystax lenok]]''), and the endangered [[Endemism|endemic]] Hovsgol grayling (''[[Thymallus nigrescens]]''). Though endangered by poaching during its spawning runs, the Hovsgol grayling is still abundant throughout much of the lake.<ref>[http://www.divernet.com/Travel_Features/far_east/220400/mongolias_dark_blue_pearl.html ''DIVER Magazine'', March 2009] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100203224128/http://divernet.com/Travel_Features/far_east/220400/mongolias_dark_blue_pearl.html |date=2010-02-03 }}</ref><ref>{{FishBase species | genus = Thymallus | species = nigrescens | month = February| year = 2017}}</ref>
==Etymology and transliterations==
The name ''Khövsgöl'' is derived from [[Turkic languages|Turkic]] words for "Khob Su Kol, means Lake with Great water"<ref>Shomfai, David Kara (2003) "Traditional musical life of Tuvans of Mongolia" in Melodii khoomei-III: 40, 80</ref> ''Göl'' is the Turkic word for "lake" and today the Mongolian word for river. There are a number of different transcription variants, depending on whether the [[Cyrillic]] "х" is transliterated to "h" or "kh," or whether the "ө" is transliterated to "ö," "o," or "u." Transcriptions from the name in the [[classical Mongolian script]], like Hubsugul, Khubsugul etc. may also be seen.
{{wide image|Panoramic view of Lake Khövsgöl.jpg|800px|Panoramic view of Lake Khövsgöl}}
== References == {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Lake Khövsgöl}} {{portal|Lakes}} * [http://travel.nytimes.com/2005/05/08/travel/08mongolia.html?ex=1176696000&en=1d089180d18b0ee4&ei=5070 Gliding Along the Water in the Land of the Eternal Sky] ''New York Times'', Jan Goodwin, May 8, 2005 *[http://www.geodata.es/mongolian_lakes Limnological Catalog of Mongolian Lakes]
{{Lakes in Mongolia}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khovsgol}} [[Category:Ancient lakes]] [[Category:Rift lakes]] [[Category:Important Bird Areas of Mongolia]] [[Category:Lakes of Khövsgöl Province]] [[Category:World Heritage Tentative List]] [[Category:Sacred lakes]]