In the 1960s, the Aral Sea, situated at the lowest reaches of its two main inflows, had a surface area of 68,000 km
2, a maximum waterlevel of 53.41 m above sea level, a volume of 1,090 km
3, and salinity of 10 g L
-1. For the 300 to 400 years before 1960, it was one of the largest lakes in the world. Its influents are Syr Darya, which runs into the Aral Sea from the east, and Amu Darya, which flows from the south. The sea has been continuously shrinking since, the 1960s, and in 1989 it had a surface area of only 37,330 km
2, a water-level of 39,80 m above sea level, and a volume of 320 km
3; and had undergone a sharp salinity increase to 29.60 g L
-1.
The total volume of water inflow has decreased over the past 50 years, caused by human activities. In recent years, the Aral Sea has separated into two lakes that connect near the mouth of Syr Darya by a small and shallow channel. These lakes are the Small Aral Sea and the Large Aral Sea. Amu Darya stopped flowing into the Large Aral Sea in 1980. The reduction of the sea had several impacts: fish production ceased, crop production deepened, and salinization of the soil and pollution of drinking water occurred. These impacts as a whole have been generally referred to as the ‘Aral Sea Crisis’.
抄録全体を表示