Lake Nyasa: the origin and photo. Where is Lake Nyasa

Lake Nyasa is the sixth in the ten most deepest lakes in the world, the ninth - in the ranking of the largest reservoirs in the area. It is the third largest in Africa.

The tropical waters of Malawi (the second name of Nyasa) are characterized by a large number of fish. Such a variety of fish kingdom is not found in any other lake of the planet.

Origin of the lake basin of Lake Nyasa

A few million years - this is how experts estimate the age of such a reservoir as Lake Nyasa. The origin of the basin of reservoirs can be associated with a volcanic or tectonic fault, due to the exogenous factor, the convergence of glaciers and other situations.

The Malawi lake basin was formed as a result of a tectonic rift. That is, the origin of Lake Nyasa is associated with a tremendous fault of the earth's crust - the East African graben. As a rule, such lakes are the largest and deepest on the globe. Not an exception and the lake Nyasa.

The origin of the Malawi Basin, according to some sources, calls into question the continued existence of Africa. In the future, this rift could tear the continent from south to north along the Great Lakes. This will lead to a change in the inclination of the land and the direction of the flow of water in the rivers.

History of the discovery

If we trace the origin of Lake Nyasa to scientists, it is not difficult, then its discovery is not entirely understandable. For Europeans, the history of this geographical object began almost four hundred years ago. Then, in 1616, a Portuguese named Gaspar Bucarro, during his journey to the northeast of the lower reaches of the Zambezi River, which flows into the Indian Ocean, made the first discovery of Lake Nyasa. It turned out that although Bukarru was the European pioneer of the reservoir, it was not widely publicized, and the information itself was buried in the Portuguese state archives. Therefore, for a long time, the discovery of Lake Nyasa was attributed to the Scottish missionary and the great explorer of Africa, David Linvingston.

He, knowing nothing of both the explorer Bucarra himself and his discovery, in 1858 led a large expedition to the Zambezi basin. And on September 16, 1859, he declared the date of the discovery of the southernmost of the Great Lakes of East Africa, Lake Nyasa. By the way, it's worth noting: if his attempt to climb up the Zambezi did not fail, then maybe he would not have started a study of the Shire River and would not have come across a "lake of stars", as the researcher himself called Nyasa in his diaries.

Origin of the name of the lake

As already mentioned, one of the largest lakes in Africa has two names - Nyasa and Malawi.

"Nyasa" is consonant with the ancient name of Lake Victoria - "Nyantsa". These two words come from different, but related languages, which belong to one large language family - the Bantu. Hence, their equal importance is "big water" or "a large pond".

The second name, Malawi, comes from the Malawi ethnic group, which accounts for more than half the population of the same-named African republic. By the way, the last part belongs to the greater part of the reservoir. But this will be discussed later.

Because of the duality of the name on different maps, one can meet both the lake of Malawi and the lake of Nyasa.

Geography

Where is Nyasa? The lake fills a crack in the earth's crust of the Rift valley, which is located at the southernmost point of the Great Rift system. And the latter stretched between the outskirts of the Red Sea and the lower reaches of the Zambezi River.

Due to the peculiarities of the area where Nyasa is located, the lake has an elongated shape, reaching a length of 584 km and a width of 16 to 80 km in different places. The area of the reservoir is 29 604 km, and it lies at an altitude of almost five hundred meters (specifically - 472 m) above sea level.

The maximum depth of Lake Nyasa reaches 706 m, and the average depth - 292 m. This means that the deepest places are below sea level. The bottom of the lake has no sharp changes, the depths are gradually increasing from south to north.

The relief of the shoreline is not monotonous. In some places on the coast, mountains and peaks rise (from 1500 to 3000 m above sea level), in others the coastal plain extends, which expands in places where it enters a given water body of large rivers.

Lake Nyasa on the map of Africa can be found on the coordinates: 11 ° 52 'south latitude and 34 ° 35' east longitude.

Climate

The climate in the territory where the lake Nyasa is located is subtropical and has the property of changing: the mountains are filled with an invigorating coolness, in the very Malavi Valley - moderately warm, and in the Lower River region it is really hot.

Autumn and winter are warm and mostly dry, only occasional rains are possible. The minimum temperature mark at this time does not fall below +22 ⁰ С, and the maximum fluctuates at the level of +25 ⁰ С. And even this is in the mountains. On the plain, the temperature is insignificant, but higher: +27 ... +30 ⁰ C.

At the end of spring - early summer begins the rainy season. The air temperature drops to +15 ... +18 ⁰ C in the mountains, and +20 ... +25 ⁰ C on the plain.

Hydrography

Lake Nyasa feeds fourteen rivers. Among them, the Bois (or, as it is sometimes translated, Bwa), the North and South Rukak, which carry their waters from the west, Dwanga, Rukhuhu - from the northeast, Songwe from the northwest and Lilongwe from the south- West.

The Shire River is the only external drain of the reservoir. It flows from Malawi in the south and flows to the Zambezi.

The great depth of the lake means no less than the volume of the water mass of Nyasa - 8,400 km ³ . But, despite this, its drain equals 63 km ^{3 of} water per year. Of this volume, only 16% flows down the Shire River, the remaining 84% evaporates from the surface. Because of such features, the period of renewal of the lake's water is quite long: experts estimate that 114 years are necessary to fully update the water mass.

The salinity of Lake Nyasa is within 0.4 grams per liter. The water itself is similar in composition to the water of Lake Tanganyika - the same hard and hard. For both water bodies, the same temperature is typical, which, depending on the season, ranges from 23.5 to 27.5 ^° C.

Biology

Lake Malawi has one of the most diverse ecosystems among all the freshwater reservoirs on the planet. It has from 500 to 1000 species of fish, eleven families are represented.

On each site, in separate bays and on the coasts its fish kingdom. But the most common inhabitants are lake cichlids, which are divided into two groups: pelagic and coastal. Pelagic cichlids are predatory fish, most of them live in thicker species far from the coast. Their opposite is the coastal cichidids. They are distinguished by a wide variety of sizes, shapes, ways of eating and behavior.

But fish are not the only inhabitants of the waters of Lake Nyasa. The pond was chosen by crocodiles and African eagles-klikun, inhabiting it in large numbers.

In general, the animal world can boast no less variety of its representatives. Around the lake buffaloes roam, rhinoceroses, African elephants, zebras, antelopes, giraffes, predatory lions, cheetahs, leopards, hyenas and jackals. Such a multitude of wild animals is due to the multifaceted nature. Here, with mountainous tropical moist forests, there are savannahs with green palm trees, aerial acacias and majestic baobabs.

Political distribution

Around the magnificent lake are three countries: Mozambique, Malawi and Tanzania. Between the last two there was a long dispute about who owns the waters of the reservoir. And all due to the fact that the boundaries of ownership were differently defined in different years: before the First World War, the line passed between the former Nyasaland and the German East Africa, and after 1914 - the lake was in the account of Malawi.

Sometimes these disputes led to clashes. But to date, the passions have subsided a little, and Malawi is no longer trying to restore its rights to the object we are considering. Although the membership of the disputed part to Tanzania does not officially recognize.

However, part of Nyasa and its basin is proportionally divided as follows: Malawi is subject to 68% of the reservoir, Tanzania - 25%, and Mozambique - only 7% of the basin.

Fisheries

A large number of fish contributed to the formation of such fishing as fishing. The annual volume of fish caught here was five to seven thousand tons a year, of which 2/3 were produced by local African fishermen.

The development of fishing led to the emergence of small fishing villages on the banks of Lake Nyasa, which live solely through the sale of the catch. Of course, the residents use a small fraction of their own production, but most go on sale - the fish are smoked or dried and sold in this form, mostly through intermediaries.

More recently, Lake Nyasa has become a place of industrial fishing, and not only local, but also foreigners. Such activities are completely market-oriented. At the disposal of fishermen, unlike African fishermen, there are fully equipped modern vessels.

Despite the great demand for fish, the deep-water part of the reservoir remains inadequate - to expand the catching areas, better equipment is needed, and accordingly, more money is required. And while there is enough extraction close to the shore, no one will be ready for extra expenses.

Tourism

The beauty of Lake Nyasa in itself could be the cause of the pilgrimage of tourists. But the fish kingdom became not only a fishing specialization, but also a bait for divers.

For today there are special tours to the lake of Malawi for lovers of diving and admiring the beauty of the underwater world. How else? After all, such a variety of aquarium fish, along with the transparency of water (visibility is reached at a distance of thirty meters), there are no analogues in all of Africa.

Usually such tours include both day dives and night diving. In addition to bathing, tourists can enjoy walking and transport walks along the picturesque shores of the lake.

But not only divers come here. In 1934, some areas of the territory were declared forest reserves and wildlife sanctuaries, and in 1972 their area increased several times, which led to the creation of a national park. For example, ornithologists can make several discoveries by observing a large population of eagle anglers who like to hunt and nest on the shores of the lake.

The journey to Nyasa, like its history, will not leave anyone indifferent!