Abrau (lake)

In 1870, on behalf of the emperor, a special commission was set up to study the lake from agronomists and engineers to inspect the surroundings of Lake Abrau, which concluded the “imperial order to establish a new special specific estate with the name“ Abrau-Durso ”. In 1872, following The advice of French winemakers in the vicinity of the lake began to cultivate vineyards , which, however, negatively affected the hydrography of the lake itself due to increased erosion of the coastal slopes of the mountains. noted ^[5] :

“Even more interesting is the large lake Abrau, framed by a ring of vineyards. It is located in a deep valley, where an unknown obstacle stopped the flow of water ... "

This is the second largest lake in the area of ​​the mirror of the Greater Caucasus (after Lake Kazenoyam on the border of the Chechen Republic and the Republic of Dagestan) ^[6] . The length of Lake Abrau is more than 3100 m, the greatest width is 630 m, the depth is 10.5 meters, the mirror area is 1.6-1.8 km². ^[2] The catchment area is 20.3 km² ^[7] . The maximum depth of the lake is observed at the dam, but over the past century and a half it has decreased from 30 to 10.5 meters ^[8] as a result of erosion of the surrounding banks after the construction of roads and the laying of vineyards. Altitude is 84 m. The isthmus that separates Lake Abrau from the Black Sea is small and less than 2 km wide .

Only a small river Abrau constantly flows into the lake, about 5.3 km long, as well as a number of temporary watercourses, including local showers, which feed mainly on precipitation and runoff from local enterprises ^[7] . In addition, keys are hit at the bottom of the lake. Most of the catchment area of ​​the lake (61%) is occupied by the Abrau river basin; other watercourses flowing into the lake occupy 6.3 km² (31%), the remaining 1.6 km² (8%) are occupied by the water mirror itself, on which precipitation also directly falls. Not a single river flows from the lake, therefore formally it is considered to be final (estuarine) ^[4] . The water entering the lake is spent on evaporation, as well as on the underground drain, which is carried out in the form of water filtration through the body of the dam. Therefore, it remains fresh ^[6] and the marsh vegetation in it is not developed. Due to the limestone dissolved in the water, its waters have a white-blue or emerald color and their transparency is low (about 1 m).

A dry Mediterranean climate dominates in the area of ​​the lake, which leaves an imprint on its hydrography: the maximum water levels are observed from November to March and are associated with the precipitation here in the form of rain and wet snow. In the summer, there is a low water.

The lake does not freeze even in winter. The minimum average monthly temperature of the surface layer of water in the lake near the coast reaches its annual minimum in January, but even then it is positive and averages + 0.2º ^[4] . A rapid increase in water temperature in the surface layer begins in April and continues until the end of July. The maximum average monthly water temperature reaches an average (24.8 º), and in August the water begins to gradually cool. The absolute maximum temperature of the surface layer of water was recorded in 1954 and reached 29.8 °.

Hypotheses about the origin of the lake are still quite controversial ^[8] . The lake is fraught with mysteries related to origin. Some scientists suggest that the basin was formed as a result of the karst failure, others - that the lake is the remnant of the ancient Cimmerian freshwater basin , while others attribute this to huge landslides.

Although a karst relief of a Mediterranean character is common on the Abrau Peninsula, the theory of karst failure is unlikely for a number of reasons. Firstly, the Abrau Mountains are relatively young. Secondly, karst lakes are disastrous and therefore usually have a rounded shape, and at Abrau it repeats the outlines of the river valley. Abrau and rather resembles a typical dam reservoir with expansion at the dam. A landslide theory is also unlikely, since in the region of the Abrau dam that separates it from the sea, there are no high mountain peaks from which impressive blocks could break away. As a result, it is most realistic to connect the origin of the lake with an earthquake, which led to the displacement of the earth's crust in the dam area.

Relict crustaceans ^[5] are found in the lake and the local endemic is the Abrau kilka . However, due to siltation of the bottom and deterioration of water quality, this species was in danger of complete extinction ^[7] . The ichthyofauna consists of 15 species ^[4] : trout , minnow , gold ofra , crucian carp , common carp , Abrau kilka . An amphibian is found in the bottom layers, and a freshwater crab is found along the banks.

Summer is hot, dry and long (up to 6 months), favorable for the growth of essential oil crops ( lavender , rosemary , etc.), figs , grapes .

The name Abrau was formed from the original Adyghe - Abrajo. Adyghe legend says:

... 15 versts from Novorossiysk towards Anapa in the mountains, on the spot where the lake is now, once stood a large rich aul, the mountaineers, boasting of their wealth, wanted to lay out the road to the sea with gold and silver coins. As a punishment for their pride, at the behest of God, the aul failed and the lake was in that place.

- K. Kh. Meretukov . Adyghe Toponymic Dictionary ^[9]

• Map sheet L-37-112 Novorossiysk . Scale: 1: 100,000. State of the terrain for 1985. 1990 edition

• Legend of the emergence of Lake Abrau (Russian) . azur.ru. Date of appeal April 27, 2019.
• Information on kuban-tourism.ru (Russian) (inaccessible link) . www.kuban-tourism.ru . Date of treatment April 27, 2019. Archived May 18, 2019.
• The film "Novorossiysk - Lake Abrau - Lake Limanchik - Black Sea in 30 hours" Author: V. Zalessky