Digital model of Turgoyak Lake presented in new paper
Scientists of Kazan Federal University have created a digital model of Lake Turgoyak, "Baikal's little brother," located in the Southern Urals.
The new scientific data is presented in Georesursy.
"Lake Turgoyak is a unique natural feature and one of the largest reservoirs of drinking water in the Southern Urals. It is prized for the purity and transparency of its water. The lake has been designated a natural monument of regional significance since 1961," said Lina Kosareva, senior researcher at the Laboratory of Paleoclimatology, Paleoecology, and Paleomagnetism.
The body of water is at least 25,000 years old, and its bottom sediments formed during the late Pleistocene and Holocene.
"We have created a digital relief model of the Turgoyak lake system and its surrounding area. It demonstrates the geological, topographic, and hydrological characteristics of the lake. Digital modeling was implemented in a GIS environment based on available cartographic data on the lake's geological structure, topography, and bathymetric studies. During the expedition to the lake, we collected core cores up to 5 meters long, and sediment samples were analyzed using lithological, mineralogical, petrophysical, geochemical, and microscopic methods. Radiocarbon dating of the samples was performed using AMS-14C mass spectrometer," the scientist explained.
The sedimentary material for the lake is provided by the watershed area.
"The modeling results showed that the total catchment area of Lake Turgoyak is 52.5 square kilometers and consists of 43 drainage areas, four of which are large: the catchments of the Lipovka, Mokhovaya, Bobrovka, Kuleshovka, and Pugachevka rivers. These four drainage areas account for 81 percent of the entire catchment area of Lake Turgoyak. They frame the lake from the northwest, west, and southwest," Kosareva shared.
It was established that Quaternary deposits are the main supplier of sedimentary material.
The area of pre-Quaternary rock outcrops on the surface is very small compared to the sedimentary cover of Quaternary deposits. Superimposing the catchment model on geological maps of pre-Quaternary formations and Quaternary deposits allowed to hypothesize the composition of the material transported into the lake.
The authors believe that the reservoir is dominated by allochthonous (brought from the catchment area) sedimentary material, formed as a result of physical, chemical, and biological weathering of continental facies deposits (eluvium, colluvium, proluvium, alluvium) and regularly composed of mature mineral components (quartz, feldspars, talc, hornblende, zircon, etc.). The created digital model is crucial for developing an understanding of the structure and genesis of lake and other associated facies in the Southern Urals. Furthermore, it systematizes the information and allows for its use for various purposes.
"Such models are essential for those involved in environmental research and recreational load assessment. They can be used, for example, to track the migration routes of pollutants entering the lake," the interviewee said.
The digital model of the Turgoyak lake system can be expanded based on long-term monitoring of the lake's waters.
Further refinement of the model is possible through the use of larger-scale geological maps and detailed bathymetry data for the lake. There is also potential for estimating the volume of sediment, which requires data on average annual water discharge and average river sediment volumes.
The work was funded by a subsidy allocated to Kazan Federal University as part of a state research contract.
More information:
Chernova I.Yu., Kosareva L.R., Nourgalieva N.G., Chernova O.S. Digital Model of the Turgoyak Lake System, Southern Urals. Georesursy = Georesources. 2025;27(2):264–280. doi.org/10.18599/grs.2025.2.20
Provided by Kazan Federal University
