Qinghai Lake (Chinese: 青海湖; pinyin: qīnghǎi hú; Mongolian: Koro Nor; Tibetan: Tso Ngonpo; "the green-blue sea") is the largest and highest lake in China and is the second largest inland saltwater lake on Earth (after the Great Salt Lake in the United States). Qinghai Lake is also the largest drainless lake in Central Asia and is located 3,205 m (10,515 feet) above sea level in a depression of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Twenty-three rivers and streams empty into Qinghai Lake.

The lake is 5,694km² (2,278 square miles; some sources say 4,635 km²), and 360km (220 miles) in circumference. Despite its salinity, it has an abundance of fish, such as the edible huangyu (湟鱼). Its geographic coordinates are in 100 E and 37 N. Its names are Koko-nor (Köke Nagur) in Mongolian, and Tso-ngombo in Tibetan.

Qinghai Lake is sandwiched between Hainan and Haibei Tibetan Autonomous Prefectures in the northeastern namesake province. At its northeast end locates the "Bird Islands": Cormorant Island and Egg Island, which are bird sanctuaries by the Qinghai Lake Natural Protection Zone since 1997. It often remains frozen for three months together in winter.

Splitting

At one time 108 freshwater rivers that emptied into the lake in the 1960s. As of 2005, 85 percent of the river mouths have dried up, including the lake's largest tributary, the Buh River. In between 1959 and 1982, there had been an annual water level drop of 10 centimetres. Unfortunately, measures taken led to an annual rising of 10cm from 1983 to 1989. But as of the Chinese Academy of Sciences reported in 1998 of the reappearance of the threat of the lake drying up due to livestock over-grazing, land reclamations and natural causes [1] (http://www.tibet.ca/en/wtnarchive/1998/3/27_2.html). It has descended 11.7 percent in the period between 1908 and 2000 [2] (http://fpeng.peopledaily.com.cn/200111/04/eng20011104_83871.html). As a result of this, or possibly moving sand dune, higher lake floors were exposed, numerous water bodies were separated from the rest of the main lake around since the 20th century. In the 1960s, the 48.9-km² Gǎhai (尕海) Lake appeared in the northern part of the lake. During the 1980s, Shadao (沙岛) Lake split out in the northwest covers an area of 19.6 km², while the northeastern Haiyan (海晏) Lake is 112.5 km² [3] (http://fpeng.peopledaily.com.cn/200110/26/eng20011026_83241.html). Another 96.7 daughter lake split off in 2004. In addition, the lake has now split into half a dozen more small lakes at the border. The surface water surface shrank by 312 km² [4] (http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-02/24/content_308805.htm).

External links

• Photos (http://www.travelchinaguide.com/picture/qinghai/xining/birds_island)
• Satellite photos (http://www.redtailcanyon.com/items/9057.aspx)