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Tectonic Lakes

Owing to the internal force action of the earth's crust, including the crust rift, depression, and sink, there produce the tectonic lake basins, which store water and transform into so=called tectonic lakes. In China, most lakes are more or less affected and controlled by both new and old geological tectonic movements. However, due to different development stages of tectonic lakes as well as different natures of tectonic movement, the characteristics reflected on the lake form are not unanimous too.

The forming process  of a type of tectonic lakes-the rift lake is:

  1. the earth surface, perhaps the high mountain and plateau, or the hills or plain.
  2. there appeared rupture on the ground, and depression along rupture direction
  3. water begins to be stored gradually, and form the lake.
  4. the sketch map of construction of Fuxian Lake in Yunnan Province. The sinking basin taking shape during the Himalayas Movement in  late Tertiary  accumulated water and formed the lake.

Because Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau is influenced by strong rising , there have developed some deep grand rupture valleys in the southern side of some broken mountain ranges from east to west. In the bottom of the valley there always distribute some lakes in vertical extensions, and the direction of the lake major axis is identical to that of tectonic line in the area. For instance, among the wide low-lying land between the Tanggula Mountains and Kangdese-Nyainqetanglha Mountains, there develop numerous lakes and the relatively larger ones are Nam Co, Serling Co, Ngangzi Co. Numerous lakes in the Qaidam Basin are generally distributed at the lowest part of tectonic basin and they all belong to the remnant lake basins split up from the ancient gigantic Qaidam Lake.

Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau has a lot of rift basins, which are mostly controlled by the faulted structures  from south to north and it makes the major axis of the lake extend from north to south, for instance Dianchi lake, Fuxian Lake, Yangzonghai Lake, Erhai Lake and Chenghai lake, etc. Most of them still maintain the obvious broken precipice, or have springs and hot springs flowing out.

The vast area of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is a plateau uplifted by the Himalayas orogeny, which is accompanied with bend and deformation of faults, and numerous wide shallow basins take into shape. Among them there have developed numerous lakes and the larger ones are Hulun Lake, Bayer Lake, Daihai Lake, Huangqihai Lake, Chagan Nur and Anguli Nur.

In the two large tectonic basins, Tarim Basin and Junggur  Basin in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, there develop Lop  Lake, Manas Lake, Aydingkol  Lake, Sarim  Lake, Buluntuohai Lake, Barkol Lake and Bosten  Lake, etc.

In the depression belt between Aerdaijin Mountains and Holxil Mountains in Qinghai Province, there develop Holxil Lake, Zonag Lake, and Kusai Lake; between Holxil Mountains and Tanggula Mountains there develop Xijir Ulan  Lake, Ulan Ul Lake, and Duogecuoren Lake. In the upper reaches of the Yellow River, Ngoring Lake and Gyaring Lake are also the tectonic lakes formed under the control of rifts .
 
Sun-moon Lake in Taiwan Province is a mountain tectonic lake formed due to the water accumulation in the rift basin between Yu Mountain and Ali Mountain.

Xingkai Lake on the Sino-Russian border is a tectonic lake formed on the basis of rift in the Tertiary Period.

The tectonic lake possesses distinct form characteristics. Being precipitous, the lake bank of the tectonic lake develops along the tectonic line and the lake water is very deep. Meanwhile, there appear a string of tectonic lake groups arranged along the tectonic line.

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