{{short description|Extant lake}} {{Further|Aral Sea|South Aral Sea}} {{Infobox lake | name = North Aral Sea | native_name = {{native name list|tag1=kk|name1=Солтүстік Арал теңізі|tag2=ru|name2=Северное Аральское море}} | image = North Aral Sea.PNG | caption = 1. Shevchenko Bay, 2. Butakov Bay, 3. Bolshoy Saryshyganak Bay | image_bathymetry = | caption_bathymetry = | location = [[Kazakhstan]], [[Central Asia]] | coords = {{Coord|46.5|N|60.7|E|type:waterbody_region:KZ_scale:1000000|display=inline,title}} | type = [[endorheic]], [[salt lake]], [[lake|natural lake]], [[reservoir]] | inflow = [[Syr Darya]]<br />(previously also the [[Amu Darya]]) | outflow = | catchment = | basin_countries = [[Kazakhstan]] | length = | width = | area = {{Convert|3300|km2|mi2|-1|abbr=on}} (2008)<br />{{Convert|2550|km2|mi2|0|abbr=on}} (2003) | depth = <!---{{Convert|8.7|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} (2007)---> | max-depth = {{Convert|30|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} (2003)<br />{{Convert|42|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} (2008) | volume = <!--- {{Convert|27|km3|mi3|0|abbr=on}} (2007)---> | residence_time = | shore = | elevation = <!---{{Convert|42|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} (2007)---> | islands = | cities = | embedded = {{Designation list | embed = yes | designation1 = Ramsar | designation1_offname = Lesser Aral Sea and Delta of the Syrdarya River | designation1_date = 2 February 2012 | designation1_number = 2083<ref>{{Cite web|title=Lesser Aral Sea and Delta of the Syrdarya River|website=[[Ramsar Convention|Ramsar]] Sites Information Service|url=https://rsis.ramsar.org/ris/2083|access-date=25 April 2018}}</ref>}} <!-- Map -->| pushpin_map = Kazakhstan#Asia | pushpin_label_position = | pushpin_map_alt = Location of North Aral Sea in Kazakhstan. | pushpin_map_caption = <!-- Below --> | website = | reference = }} The '''North Aral Sea''' ({{langx|kk|Soltüstık Aral teñızı}}) is the portion of the former [[Aral Sea]] that is fed by the [[Syr Darya]] River. It split from the [[South Aral Sea]] in 1987–1988<ref name=devast/> as water levels dropped due to river diversion for agriculture.
In 1925 a large site containing numerous fossils of the [[Oligocene]] was discovered near the village of [[Akespe]] by the northern shore of the Aral Sea.<ref>[https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Kazakhstan_National_encyclopedia_(ru)_-_Vol_1_of_5_(2004).pdf&page=242 Aral fossil fauna] // ''Kazakhstan National Encyclopedia''. Almaty: Kazakh encyclopedias, 2004. - T. I. ISBN 9965-9389-9-7</ref><ref>[https://www.mindat.org/paleo_collection.php?col=64413 Collection: Akespe Aral, Kyzylorda Region, Kazakhstan]</ref>
==Background== {{missing information|section|exactly how much salt per liter|date=September 2021}} The [[Aral Sea]] began shrinking in the 1960s, when the [[Soviet Union]] decided that the two rivers feeding it, the [[Amu Darya]] and the [[Syr Darya]], would be diverted to [[irrigation|irrigate]] [[cotton]] and food crops in [[Kazakhstan]] and [[Uzbekistan]]. In 1987–1988,<ref name=devast>{{cite book | editor-last=Micklin | editor-first=Philip | editor-last2=Aladin | editor-first2=N.V. | editor-last3=Plotnikov | editor-first3=Igor | title=The Aral Sea: The Devastation and Partial Rehabilitation of a Great Lake| publisher=Springer Berlin Heidelberg | publication-place=Berlin, Heidelberg | year=2014 | isbn=978-3-642-02355-2 | doi=10.1007/978-3-642-02356-9 | s2cid=127749591 | ref={{sfnref | Springer Berlin Heidelberg | 2014}}}}</ref> due to an accelerated loss of water, the Aral Sea split into northern and southern parts; the southern part was the former [[South Aral Sea]].
After [[Dissolution_of_the_Soviet_Union|the fall of the Soviet Union]], the government of independent [[Kazakhstan]] decided to restore the northern lake fed by [[Syr Darya]]. In 2003, the lake was {{Convert|30|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} in depth and {{Convert|2550|km2|mi2|0|abbr=on}} in area<ref name=ens>[http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/aug2008/2008-08-01-01.asp Environment News Service – The Kazakh Miracle: Recovery of the North Aral Sea]</ref> ([[JAXA]] source: {{Convert|3200|km2|mi2|-1|abbr=on}});<ref name=jaxa>[[JAXA]] – [http://www.eorc.jaxa.jp/en/imgdata/topics/2007/tp071226.html South Aral Sea shrinking but North Aral Sea expanding]</ref> by 2008 it had reached {{Convert|42|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} in depth and {{Convert|3300|km2|mi2|-1|abbr=on}} in area<ref name=ens /><ref>[http://www.boku.ac.at/iwhw/onlinepublikationen/nachtnebel/EU_INTAS_0511_Rebasows/Files/Summary_report.pdf The rehabilitation of the ecosystem and bioproductivity of the Aral Sea under conditions of water scarcity] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120213010127/http://www.boku.ac.at/iwhw/onlinepublikationen/nachtnebel/EU_INTAS_0511_Rebasows/Files/Summary_report.pdf |date=2012-02-13 }} (rev. August 2007)</ref> ([[JAXA]] source: {{Convert|3600|km2|mi2|-1|abbr=on}}).<ref name=jaxa />
The poorly built [[Dike Kokaral]] intended to contain the North Aral Sea and save its fisheries failed twice, but in 2005, the government of [[Kazakhstan]] was able to fund a more robust design. Since then, water levels have risen faster than expected and fish stocks have increased. Plans to build a second dike to increase water levels further were due to begin in 2010, but have so far not materialized. There is now an ongoing effort in Kazakhstan to save and replenish the North Aral Sea. As part of this effort, a dam project was completed in 2005; in 2008, the water level in this lake had risen by {{Convert|12|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} from its level in 2003.<ref name=ens/> Salinity has dropped,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wang |first=Xiaolei |last2=Zhang |first2=Junze |last3=Wang |first3=Shuai |last4=Ge |first4=Yongxiao |last5=Duan |first5=Zihao |last6=Sun |first6=Lin |last7=Meadows |first7=Michael E. |last8=Luo |first8=Yi |last9=Fu |first9=Bojie |last10=Chen |first10=Xi |last11=Huang |first11=Yue |last12=Ma |first12=Xiaoting |last13=Abuduwaili |first13=Jilili |date=2023 |title=Reviving the Aral Sea: A Hydro-Eco-Social Perspective |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2023EF003657 |journal=Earth's Future |language=en |volume=11 |issue=11 |article-number=e2023EF003657 |doi=10.1029/2023EF003657 |issn=2328-4277|doi-access=free }}</ref> and fish are again found in sufficient numbers for some fishing to be viable, especially [[mackerel]] introduced at the Syr Darya river delta, though attempts to introduce [[tuna]] in 2009 failed. {| |- valign="top" |[[File: AralSea ComparisonApr2005-06.jpg|thumb|April 2005 and April 2006 comparisons.]] |[[File:North Aral Sea 2000 and 2011.gif|thumb|300px|Comparison of the North Aral Sea in 2000 and 2011.]] |}
==Different projects == === Heightening the existing dike === The Kokaral dam could be raised by several meters, which would restore this lake to its pre-1970 level. {{Main|Dike Kokaral}}
=== West outflow on the Shevchenko Bay === [[File:Mer d Aral emissaire ouest.png|thumb|none|North Aral Sea with a west outfall<br />1= [[Syr-Daria]] <br />2= Raised [[Dike Kokaral]]<br />3= Control of the Saryshyganak Bay<br />4= Shevchenko Bay exit control<br />5= Emissary from the Small Aral Sea to the [[South Aral Sea|Western Aral Basin]]<br />A= Shevchenko bay<br />B= Butakov bay<br /> C= Saryshyganak bay<br /> D= [[Barsakelmes Lake]] <br /> E= Western Aral Sea basin.]] A [[Discharge (hydrology)|discharge]] on the Shevchenko Bay, in the former Auzykokaral Strait, west of the former [[Kokaral]] Island, would allow available water to be used towards the other remnants of the Aral Sea, [[Barsakelmes Lake]] and the western basin,<ref>{{Cite web| title=The devastation and partial rehabilitation of the Aral sea: lessons for lake Urmia? | url=http://www.cawater-info.net/bk/water_land_resources_use/english/english_ver/pdf/micklin.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220510091921/http://www.cawater-info.net/bk/water_land_resources_use/english/english_ver/pdf/micklin.pdf | archive-date=2022-05-10}}</ref> preventing this water from being lost in the sandy desert that the eastern part of the ancient sea has become, as is currently the case.
=== Rehabilitation of the Saryshyganak Bay === [[File:Saryshyganak-Kamysliba.png|thumb|none|Rehabilitation of the Saryshyganak Bay (Kamyslybas option)<br />1= Syr Daria <br />2= Saryshyganak Basin Feeder Channel <br />3= Existing Dike Kokaral<br />4= High Dam<br />A= Shevchenko bay<br />B= Butakov bay<br /> C= Saryshyganak bay<br />D= [[Kamyslybas]].]]
Another project would be the construction of a second dam further north, halfway between Kokaral and [[Aralsk]], this city would thus regain its maritime space. The lake would then be in two parts, only the upper level, corresponding to the Saryshyganak bay, would return to the level before 1970. A supply channel would be necessary, for this several options are possible : a canal of around sixty km long coming from the Syr Daria, a channel coming from the Kamyslybas or even a channel coming from upper north avoiding arid regions.<ref name="Schlager">{{cite web|access-date=8 January 2021|author=Edda Schlager|date=23 December 2020|language=de|title=Das Meer ist verschwunden|url=https://www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de/rettung-des-aralsees-das-meer-ist-verschwunden.979.de.html?dram:article_id=489811|website=[[Deutschlandfunk Kultur|deutschlandfunkkultur.de]]}}<!-- auto-translated by Module:CS1 translator -->.</ref>
==See also== *[[Water scarcity]]
==References== {{Reflist}} * {{cite book|author=Philip Micklin |author2=N.V. Aladin |author3=Igor Plotnikov |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=atq4BAAAQBAJ&q=Aral+Sea+Mikhail+Gorbachev%22&pg=PA313 |title= The Aral Sea: The Devastation and Partial Rehabilitation of a Great Lake |date= 22 November 2013 |publisher=Springer |isbn = 978-3-642-02356-9}} ==External links== *{{commonscat inline}} *[https://slidetodoc.com/field-trip-to-the-aral-sea-september-2007/ FIELD TRIP TO THE ARAL SEA September 2007] *[https://silkadv.com/en/content/sands-small-barsuki Deserts of the North Aral Sea.] {{Lakes of Kazakhstan}} [[Category:Lakes of Kazakhstan]] [[Category:Aral Sea]] [[Category:Ramsar sites in Kazakhstan]]