The Republic of Karelia is the land of forests and blue lakes. There are at least 60,000 of the latter here. Our article is devoted to one of them. This is Lake Segozero, located in the central part of the region. Next, you will learn about the hydrology, features and ichthyofauna of this reservoir.
Lakes of Karelia
Karelia is one of the most lake regions on the planet. Karelian reservoirs are diverse and extremely picturesque. Among them are the huge Onega and Ladoga lakes, and very tiny lakes, lost in the depths of virgin forests and called here "lambushki". But it is small water bodies that prevail in the region, the surface area of which does not exceed one square kilometer.
Many Karelian lakes are flowing and connected with each other by rivers or small streams. Their shores are often rocky and steep, quite often there are placers of boulders of bizarre shapes. The origin of most of the lakes of Karelia is glacial. Remarkable and curious are their names, which are based on Finnish, Karelian, Vepsian, Sami words.
Fifth inarea reservoir of Karelia - Segozero. The lake is located in the center of the region within the Segezhsky and, partially, Medvezhyegorsk regions of the republic (the map is presented below). Next, we will tell you more about this reservoir.
Lake Segozero: photos and general information
The name of the reservoir comes from the Karelian word sees, which means "bright". The shores of the "Light Lake" are the ethnic territory of the Podan Karelians - a sub-ethnos whose anthropology has Mongoloid features. The total area of Lake Segozero is 815 square kilometers, the maximum depth is 103 meters. The length of the coastline is about 400 kilometers.
Lake Segozero was studied in detail by the Russian geographer Gleb Vereshchagin in the 1920s. The expedition led by this scientist explored, in total, over a hundred Karelian lakes. The reservoir belongs to the White Sea basin. Its main tributaries are Luzhma, Sanda and Voloma. The Segezha River also flows out of the lake, connecting it with the neighboring Vygozero. In 1957, as a result of the construction of a dam near Popov Threshold, the water level in Segozero was raised by 6.3 meters.
Lake Hydrology
The average depth of Segozero is 29 meters. The northern part of the reservoir is the deepest. Depths of 40-60 meters prevail here. But in the central and southwestern parts of the lake, there are mainly shallow water areas (no more than 10 meters).
Segozero is a fresh lake. Mineralization of water in it is low - up to 40mg/liter. The acidity index (pH) ranges from 6.5 to 7.0. The color of the water in the lake is yellowish, the transparency is 4.3-5.2 meters, and in the bays - no more than 3.2 meters. In the summer months, the water warms up to +16…17 degrees (in the bays - up to +18 °C). The reservoir freezes in early December, and is completely freed from ice shackles by mid-May.
Most of the bottom of the lake is covered with grey-green and brown silt. At depths of up to ten meters, sandy deposits are found. In total, there are about seven dozen islands of various sizes on the lake. Most of them are located in the northeastern part of the reservoir. Ten kilometers from the village of Karelian Maselga is the unique island of Dyulmek, which is a monument of geology. It is composed of 2 billion year old dolomites, in the body of which the fossilized remains of ancient algae were found.
Coasts and surrounding landscapes
The shape of Lake Segozero resembles a triangle, oriented with its right angle to the southwest (photo below). The length of the reservoir is 49 km, the maximum width is 35 km. The coastline is heavily indented with deep and narrow bays-lips.
Coastal landscapes are very diverse: from steep and rocky to low-lying and marshy. But slightly elevated shores dominate, completely overgrown with dense coniferous forest. Of the hydrophilic vegetation, horsetail, pondweed, reed, reed, yellow water-pod and some other species are represented here.
In the lakeside forests - an abundance of mushrooms and berries (blueberries, lingonberries, cranberries). On thehazel grouse, partridges and other birds feed on berries. Bears also feast here, so a meeting with a clubfoot animal in the local forests is quite likely. Of the local mushrooms, Peck's gindellum, popularly known as "cranberries in sugar", stands out. His white hat is completely covered with small ruby \u200b\u200bbeads. The mushroom, although not poisonous, is inedible due to its strong bitter taste.
Fishing on Lake Segozero
The pond has always attracted many lovers of fishing. Once they said about this lake like this: “It bites on a bare hook!”. The reason for a good beak lies in the saturation of the water with oxygen and the abundance of plankton. Today, there are fewer fish here, but there are still more than enough for recreational fishing.
Today, 17 species of fish live in Segozero - vendace, grayling, salmon, ide, roach, burbot, perch, bleak and others. Fishing on the lake is allowed all year round. The most suitable period for spearfishing is the beginning of autumn. At this time, the water in Segozero is as clear as possible. The most fishy places are Panda Bay, Sondal Bay and Akkonshaari Island.
How to get to the lake
The lake is located in the Segezhsky district of the Republic of Karelia, about 700 kilometers from the city of St. Petersburg. If you are traveling by public transport, you can take the train to the Segezha station, and then by taxi to the village of Popov Porog (about 80 km). If you get on your personal transport, move along the M 18 highway, and at the 681st kilometer turn towards the villageUrosozero.
It should be noted that it is much easier to get to the southern and eastern shores of the lake, but it is much more difficult to get to the northern coast, since there are simply no roads there. There are no large hotels or recreation centers on Segozero. However, in some villages (Popov Porog, Karelskaya Maselga, Padany) there are small guest houses.
