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Turkish
VAN GÖLÜ, lake, largest body of water in Turkey and the second
largest in the Middle East. The lake is located in the region of eastern
Anatolia near the border of Iran. It covers an area of 1,434 square miles
(3,713 square km) and is more than 74 miles (119 km)
across at its widest point. Known to the ancient Greek geographers as
Thospitis Lacus, or Arsissa Lacus, its modern Turkish name,
Van Gölü, is derived from Van, or Chauon, the name of the capital
of the Urartian kingdom that flourished on the lake's eastern shore between
the 10th and 8th centuries BC. Roughly triangular in shape, the lake lies
in an enclosed basin; its brackish waters are unsuitable for either drinking
or irrigation. The salt water allows for no animal life save the darekh
(related to the European bleak, a small soft-finned river fish of the
carp family), a freshwater fish that has adapted to a saline environment.
Lake Van occupies the lowest part of a vast
basin bordered by high mountains to the south, by plateaus and mountains
to the east, and by a complex of volcanic cones to the west. At some time
during the Pleistocene Epoch (10,000, to about 2,000,000 years ago), a
lava flow from the Nemrut volcano extended for nearly 37 miles (60 km)
across the southwestern end of the basin, blocking westward drainage to
the Murat River and thereby transforming the depression into a lake basin
without outlet.
Lake Van is divided into two sections; the
main body of water is separated from its much shallower northern extension
by a narrow passage. Its shores are generally steep and lined with cliffs;
the southern shore is extremely sinuous and eroded. The waters are dotted
with islands, including Gadir, the largest, in the north;
Çarpanak in the east; and Aktamar and
Atrek in the south. The main body of the lake to the south
is much deeper than its northern section, with the greatest depths exceeding
330 feet (100 m).
Lake Van's catchment area exceeds 5,790 square
miles (15,000 square km); it forms the largest interior basin of Turkey
except for that of the central Anatolian region. The lake is fed by rainfall
and meltwater as well as by several tributaries, notably the Bendimahi
and Zilan rivers, which flow in from the north, and the Karasu and Micinger
rivers, which enter the lake from the east. Lake Van experiences a seasonal
variation of its water level of about 20 inches (50 cm) per year. It is
lowest during the winter months and begins to rise after the spring thaw.
With the arrival of additional water from the melted snows of the surrounding
mountains, the lake rises to its highest level in July.
The lake has three distinct temperature zones
in summer, consisting of an upper layer of warm water, a lower region
of cold water, and an intermediate transitional layer. During the winter
the surface cools quickly; occasionally the shallow northern sector freezes
over. Freezing of the entire lake is retarded by its high salinity. The
most abundant salts in the lake are sodium carbonate and sodium sulfate.
A regular passenger boat service plies the
lake between the coastal towns; there is a small shipyard at Tug on the
southwestern shore.
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