North Hulsan Lake | |
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![]() View of lake taken during ISS Expedition 13 | |
Location | Dulan County Haixi Prefecture Qinghai Province China |
Coordinates | 36°54′30″N95°54′28″E / 36.90833°N 95.90778°E |
Type | Endorheic saline lake |
Native name |
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Primary inflows | Qaidam River |
Basin countries | China |
Surface area | 52–90 km2 (20–35 sq mi) |
Surface elevation | 2,675 m (8,780 ft) |
North Hulsan Lake | |||||||||
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North Huobuxun | |||||||||
Traditional Chinese | 北霍布遜 湖 | ||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 北霍布逊 湖 | ||||||||
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North Huoluxun | |||||||||
Traditional Chinese | 北霍魯遜 湖 | ||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 北霍鲁逊 湖 | ||||||||
Literal meaning | North Hulsan Lake | ||||||||
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Mongolian name | |||||||||
Mongolian script | ᠬᠣᠶᠢᠳᠤ ᠬᠤᠯᠤᠰᠤ ᠨᠠᠭᠤᠷ | ||||||||
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North or Bei Hulsan Lake, also known by other names,is a lake northeast of Golmud in Dulan County,Haixi Prefecture,Qinghai Province,China. A part of the Qarhan Playa,it is filled from the east by the Qaidam River. Like the other lakes of the surrounding Qaidam Basin,it is extremely saline.
Hulsan [1] [2] [3] or Hollusun Nor [4] is a romanization of the Mongolian name meaning "Reed Lake",from their former abundance in the area. [5] The adjective "north" distinguishes it from nearby South Hulsan Lake. [5] Huoluxun and Huobuxun [lower-alpha 1] are the pinyin romanizations of the Mandarin pronunciation of the same name's transcriptions into Chinese characters. Bei Hulsan or Beihuobuxun [2] is the same name,prefixed with the Chinese word for "North".
North Hulsan Lake lies in the northern Hulsan subbasin [9] at the eastern edge of the Qarhan Playa in the southeastern corner of the Qaidam Basin [6] [7] at an elevation of 2,675 m (8,780 ft). [1] It lies east of Xiezuo Lake and north of South Hulsan Lake. [9] It was reported by Zheng in 1997 as usually about 90.4 km2 (35 sq mi), [1] and by Zhang &al. in 2014 as 82.49 km2 (32 sq mi), [3] but by Zhou &al. as varying between dry and wet years from 52.55–88.21 km2 (20–34 sq mi). [10] North Hulsan Lake is chiefly fed from the east by the Qaidam River [11] [7] ( t 柴達木 河 , s 柴达木 河 ,CháidámùHé). In the area's hyperarid climate,there is generally only 28–40 mm (1–2 in) of annual rainfall but about 3,000 mm (120 in) of annual evaporation. [2] It is never more than about 1 m (3 ft 3 in) deep. [2] An inflow from the north by mineral springs in the playa's northern karst zone contribute a smaller volume of water [2] but its much higher solute concentration greatly affects the lake and its sediments. [12] [13] North Hulsan Lake's sediments have a relatively higher potassium content than most other lakes in the playa. [14]
North Hulsan Lake has been greatly affected [15] by the rapid expansion of the industrial processing of Qarhan's salt lakes for potassium and other valuable minerals since 2000. [16] Fang & al. found it had lost 8.1 Gt (8.9 billion short tons) of water between 1995 and 2015, [17] and Zhou & al. reported that the lake proper could not be distinguished at all from the surrounding salt pans in satellite imagery as of 2014. [18]
Golmud, also known by various other romanizations, is a county-level city in the Haixi Mongol and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Qinghai Province, China. It is now the second-largest city in Qinghai and the third largest in the Tibetan Plateau. The population in 2020 is 221,863.
Altyn-Tagh is a mountain range in Northwestern China that separates the Eastern Tarim Basin from the Tibetan Plateau. The western third is in Xinjiang while the eastern part forms the border between Qinghai to the south and Xinjiang and Gansu to the north.
The Qaidam, Tsaidam, or Chaidamu Basin is a hyperarid basin that occupies a large part of Haixi Prefecture in Qinghai Province, China. The basin covers an area of approximately 120,000 km2 (46,000 sq mi), one-fourth of which is covered by saline lakes and playas. Around one third of the basin, about 35,000 km2 (14,000 sq mi), is desert.
Bristol Lake is a dry lake in the Mojave Desert of San Bernardino County, California, 42 km (26 mi) northeast of Twentynine Palms.
The Baigong pipes, which are also known as 白公山铁管 and Delingha pipes, are a series of pipe-like features not officially identified but claimed in a 2003 magazine with no evidence as fossil trees or tree roots, found on and near White Mountain, about 40-kilometer (25 mi) southwest of the city of Delingha, in the Haixi Mongol and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, China.
Da Qaidam is a county-level administrative zone in Haixi Prefecture in northwestern Qinghai province, China. It borders Gansu province to the north.
The Qarhan or Cha'erhan railway station is a station on the Qingzang Railway at Qarhan in Golmud County, Haixi Prefecture, Qinghai Province, China.
Altun Shan National Nature Reserve is a large, arid area in the southeast of Xinjiang Autonomous Region, on the northern edge of the Tibetan plateau and the southern edge of the Tarim Basin in northwest China. It surrounds the Kumkol Basin, an endorheic basin in the western third of the Altyn-Tagh mountains. The reserve is sometimes referred to as the "Arjin Mountains Nature Reserve", or "Aerjinshan". The reserve covers the southern portions of Qiemo County and Ruoqiang County of Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture in Xinjiang.
Dabusun or Dabuxun Lake, alternately known as Dabasun Nor, is a lake beside the town Qarhan, just north of Golmud in the Haixi Prefecture of Qinghai Province in northwestern China. Fed by the main course of the Golmud River, it is the largest present-day lake in the Qarhan Playa. Like the other lakes of the surrounding Qaidam Basin, it is extremely saline, with 307–338 grams of salt per liter of water (2.5 lb/gallon).
The Qarhan Playa or Salt Plain, also misleadingly described as Qarhan Lake, is a playa in the Golmud and Dulan counties of Haixi Prefecture, Qinghai, China. Formerly a single unitary lake, it is now an expansive salt flat divided into four greater sections which contain a number of smaller salt lakes, the largest of which is Dabusun Lake. The area is heavily exploited for its valuable salt, mineral, and rare earth reserves but parts are also protected as a national park and contribute to regional tourism.
West Dabusun or Dabuxun Lake is an ephemeral lake northwest of Golmud in the Haixi Prefecture of Qinghai Province in northwestern China. Comprising a basin in the Qarhan Playa, it fills when meltwater floods the Golmud River, causing it to spill into subsidiary channels west of the main course to Dabusun Lake. Like the other lakes of the surrounding Qaidam Basin, it is extremely saline.
South or Nan Hulsan Lake, also known by other names, is a lake northeast of Golmud in Dulan County, Haixi Prefecture, Qinghai Province, China. A part of the Qarhan Playa, it lies east of Tuanjie Lake and south of North Hulsan Lake. Like the other lakes of the surrounding Qaidam Basin, it is extremely saline.
Tuanjie Lake is a lake in the southeastern Qarhan Playa north of Golmud in the Haixi Prefecture of Qinghai Province in northwestern China. It is fed from the south by the Shougong River. Like the other lakes of the surrounding Qaidam Basin, it is extremely saline.
Xiezuo Lake is a lake in the northeastern Qarhan Playa north of Golmud in Dulan County, Haixi Prefecture, Qinghai Province, China. Like the other lakes of the surrounding Qaidam Basin, it is extremely saline.
Dabiele Lake, also known by other names, is an ephemeral lake in the southwestern Qarhan Playa north of Golmud in the Haixi Prefecture of Qinghai Province in northwestern China. It is fed by the Tuolahai and Qingshui Rivers from the Kunlun Mountains to the south. Like the other lakes of the surrounding Qaidam Basin, it is extremely saline; like the other lakes in the Bieletan subbasin, it is rich in lithium.
Xiaobiele Lake or Xiaobieletan is an ephemeral lake in the southwestern Qarhan Playa north of Golmud in the Haixi Prefecture of Qinghai Province in northwestern China. Like the other lakes of the surrounding Qaidam Basin, it is extremely saline; like the other lakes of the surrounding Bieletan subbasin, it is rich in lithium.
Suli or Senie Lake is a lake in the western Qarhan Playa north of Golmud in the Haixi Prefecture of Qinghai Province in northwestern China. It is fed from the west by the Urt Moron River. Like the other lakes of the surrounding Qaidam Basin, it is extremely saline; like the other lakes of the surrounding Bieletan subbasin, it is rich in lithium. Its underlying salt has also trapped one of China's largest onshore natural gas fields.
Dongling Lake is a lake in the Qarhan Playa north of Golmud in the Haixi Prefecture of Qinghai Province in northwestern China. Like the other lakes of the surrounding Qaidam Basin, it is extremely saline.
South, Little, or New Suli or Senie Lake is a small ephemeral lake in Golmud County, Haixi Prefecture, Qinghai Province, China. It lies in the southwest corner of the Qarhan Playa in the southeast Qaidam Basin. It is part of Qarhan's Bieletan subbasin, located south of Suli Lake and west of Dabiele Lake. It is principally fed from the southwest by the Zaohuo or Little Zaohuo River (小灶火河,Xiǎozàohuǒ Hé) and consists of a 1.5 km2 (0.58 sq mi) basin which gradually evaporates into three smaller ponds. As part of the Bieletan subbasin, it is rich in lithium chloride.
The Golmud or Ge'ermu River is a river in Golmud County, Haixi Prefecture, Qinghai Province, China. It flows north from the Kunlun Mountains to Dabusun and (occasionally) West Dabusun Lakes in the central Qarhan Playa in the southeastern Qaidam Basin. The county seat Golmud lies along it.