| Arear of Baikal's catchment |
570 000 sq.km. |
| Total area of Baikal's basin |
300 000 sq. km. |
| Length (talweg) |
636 km. |
| Width maximum (abeam of Onguren and Ust-Barguzin villages) |
79.5 km. |
| Width minimum |
25 km. |
| Width medium |
47.8 km. |
| Length of the shoreline |
2000 km. |
| Arear of the surface (including islands) |
31500 km. |
| Number of tributaries |
About 500 |
| Depth maximum |
1642 m. |
| Depth average |
758 m. |
| Depth of the Southern basin: |
|
| Maximum |
1446 m. |
| Medium |
843 m. |
| Depth of the Central basin: |
|
| Maximum |
1642 m. |
| Medium |
854 m. |
| Depth of the Northern basin: |
|
| Maximum |
903 m. |
| Medium |
576 m. |
| The lake surface above sea level |
454 m. |
| Areas of Baikal bays: |
|
| Barguzinsky |
791 sq. km. |
| Chivyrkuisky |
268 sq. km. |
| Maloe Sea |
1019 sq. km. |
| Total area of 22 islands: |
716 sq. km. |
| Olkhon Island |
|
| Length |
71.7 km. |
| Width maximum |
14 km. |
| Area |
700 sq. km. |
| Altitude above sea level (Zhima Mountain) |
1274 m. |
| Archipelago of Ushkanie Islands: |
|
| Area of Big Ushkany Island |
15 sq. km. |
| Altitude about sea level |
216 m. |
| Water level average changes under the natural conditions |
82 cm. |
| Water level seasonal changes |
60-120 cm. |
| Water level multiyear amplitude of level changes |
2.23cm. |
| The North-western shore |
101 |
| The South-eastern shore |
73 |
| Duration of sun radiance (in the North of the lake) |
1900-2000 hours/ year |
| Duration of sun radiance in the Southern and Central parts of the lake |
2000-2400 hours /year |
| Duration of baric seasons for Baikal Region |
4-5 months |
| Duration of cold season for Baikal Region |
up to 7 months |
| Moisture evaporation |
19.1 cbkm |
| Precipitation |
12.8 cbkm |
| Average annual run-off |
61 cbkm |
| Annual temperature amplitudes (islands, shore) |
50-60°C |
| Annual temperature amplitudes on the ridges |
up to 100°C |
| Maximum winds power |
up to 50 m/sec |
| Average winter temperature |
–25°C |
| Average summer temperature |
+17°C |
| Geological age (Cretaceous-Late Eocene) |
70-35 mln years |
| Sediments' age (Tompundinskaya moraine) |
39 000 years |
| Sediments' age (Relskaya moraine) |
26 000 years |
| Chernozem silts on the first Baikal terraces |
7000 years |
| Peat bogs of Chivyrkuisky Bay |
10000-12000 years |
| Thickness of the earth's crust under the mountain ridges of Baikal Region |
45-55 years |
| Minimum thickness to the earth's crust subface in the center of Baikal basin |
34 km |
| Cenozoic sediment thickness in the basin |
3-8.5 km |
| Seismicity (annual number of earthquakes) |
>2000 |
| earthquakes' recurrence 7 magnitude |
1-2 years |
| 8 magnitude |
5-10 years |
| 9 magnitude |
50-100 years |
| 10 > 10 |
150-200 years |
| Earthquakes' epicenter depth |
12-22 km |
| Maximum altitude of the mountain ridges around Baikal(the Barguzin Mountain Ridge) |
2840 m |
| Area of semicovered glaciers of Meso-Pleistocene glaciation |
>10 000 sq km |
| Thickness of mountain and valley glaciers |
>1000 m |
| Sloping piedmont plain (abrasive relief)occupies area from the shores of Baikal to it depths 10-12 m |
60% |
| Average bottom slope |
30-65° |
| Maximum thermal springs temperature |
80-82° |
| Thickness of many year frozen ground (on interfluve areas) |
Up to 0-500-600 m |
| Depth of summer thawing |
Up to 0.5-3 m |
| Depth of winter freezing |
Up 1 to 5 m |
| Area of mountain and tundra zones |
20% |
| Mountain and forest zone |
45% |
| Mountain and steppe zone |
35% |
| Swell: calm in June-July (waves >0.5 m) |
80% of the time |
| Wave height up to 1.5 m |
80% of all summer storms |
| Wave height &dt; 2 m |
17% |
| Wave height > 3 m |
3% |
| In autumn waves can reach 5 m (rare) |
|
| Velocity wind currents at the surface |
Up to 1.4 m/sec |
| Velocity of circulatory currents at the depths (50m) |
56 cm/sec |
| 250 m |
30 cm/sec |
| 675 m |
12 cm/sec |
| 1000 m |
8 cm/sec |
| 1200 m |
6 cm/sec |
| Average monthly velocities of circulatory currents at the surface |
2-3 km/ day |
| During storms |
Up to 8-12 km/ day |
| Duration of substitution of depth waters for surface waters |
Up to 11-20 years |
| Duration of water exchange in the Northern basin |
225 years |
| Duration of water exchange in the Central basin |
132 years |
| In the Southern basin |
66 years |
| The whole Baikal |
356 years |
| Water volume total |
23.6x1013 liters |
| Sound velocity in Baikal surface waters in winter |
140.2 m/sec |
| Duration of ice covered period |
4-5 months |
| Ice thickness in a freeze-up day |
5-20 cm |
| Speed of the ice growing |
From 1 to 5 cm/day |
| Width of constant cracks |
40 cm up to several meters |
| Size of ice fields divided with cracks |
10-30 km |
| Complete release from the ice in the South |
12-16 of May |
| In the North |
9-14 of June |
| Terms of freezing |
The beginning of January |
| Total amount of live organisms inhabiting Lake Baikal (species and subspecies) |
2635 |
| Number of endemic hydrobionts |
1800 |
| Omul biomass in Lake Baikal |
26000 ton |
| Nerpa amount |
50 000-100 000 |
| Number of autotrophic pinoplankton |
Up to 1 mln cells/ml |
| Biomass of Epishura and cyclop |
1.8 mln ton |