Labynkyr Lake

About

Labynkyr (Russian: Лабынкыр, Yakut: Лабыҥкыр, romanized: Labıñkır) is a lake in Oymyakonsky Ulus, Sakha Republic, Russia. The lake is part of the Indigirka basin and is located near the borders of Khabarovsk Krai and Magadan Oblast. The surface area of the lake is 44.7 km2 (17.3 sq mi) and is 1020 meters above mean sea level. Its average depth is 52 m (171 ft). The highest summer temperature at the end of July can reach 35°C, the coldest winter temperature can fall to -65°C and colder, the most often it below colder -60 since December ended four February started, amplitude during a year several years can rise 100° and higher.

Labynkyr is unusual as it does not freeze solid during the winter as other lakes in the region do. It maintains a 2 degrees Celsius (36 Fahrenheit) water temperature which causes scientists to speculate that there may be an underground hot spring or fissure heating the lake. Surface air temperatures at their lowest have been recorded at negative 60 degrees Celsius (negative 76 Fahrenheit). There is an 80 meters (260 feet) deep underwater trench that divers have not by 2013 been able to explore. There is also a suspicion by scientists that Labynkyr connects by underground tunnel to lake Vorota, 20 km (12 mi) away. One reason this is suspected is because both lakes are at the same water levels. Folklore and eyewitness accounts speculate that a lake monster called the Labynkyr Devil or Labynkyrsky Chert lives there.

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)。Photography via Wikimedia Commons.