The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1908-07-09
THE SEA OF ARAL.

In Turkestan, due east from the
Caspian Sea, lies the Sea of Aral, by
some geographers called lake, al
though next to the Caspian it is the
largest body of water in the steppes of
of Asia, The history of this sea is
very remarkable, and has been a con-
stant source of perplexity to geog-
raphers
From the northeast the ancient Jax-
artes river pours a volume of water
into this sea. while the Oxus, also a
broad and rapid stream, feeds it from
the southeast. The sea, however, is
very shallow, so much so that naviga-
tion is very difficult Yet the sea has
no visible outlet and is supposed to
lose its waters solely by evaporation
There can hardly be an under
ground outlet, or the water would be
fresh. On the contrary, it is braCkish,
but not sufficiently so to make it un-
drinkable by flocks and herds.
The most astonishing fact, however,
in connection with this sea is that it
has twice disappeared and reappeared
within historical times. This was the
case during the Greco-Roman period,
and again during the thirteenth and
fourteenth centuries, A. D. During
these periods, while the site of the sea
was dry, the Oxus and Jaxartes
or mt ioI hot ip+
These rivers, by the way, have been
christened anew in modern times, and
are now called the Anu river and Sir
or Syr river.
For many years previous to 1870 the
maps showed a long, narrow gulf,
called the Gulf of AiburGhir extend
ing far southwest as an arm of the
sea.
When the Russians made their ad-
vance on Khiva, one column marched
expecting they would have to provide
transportation across the gulf before
they reached the OXus and the capital
they meant to capture.
Much to their surprise, they did not
find the gulf or any evidence that a
gulf had existed, except a depression
in the sand. No one knew where or
how it had disappeared. Now a new
discovery has given rise to fresh
speculation.
A little while ago the Russians. In
the course of explorations around the
sea, discovered a new lake, the waters
of which are sweet, though it has no
outlet. 1t occupies a part of the de-
preston which was found during the
Khiva campaign, and a narrow 18th,
mus separates it from the sea. The
question is now how il came there,
and, moreover, why its waters are alb
solutely sweet.
In answer to the first question, the
most reasonable conjecture seems to
be that in recent years, during some
great flood, such as the enormous
freshet of 1878, when great mass of
water from the Oxus was diverted far
able portion of this flood swept north
west into the depression of Aibu-Ghir,
excavating a channel and throwing up
bar before it. which still separates
it from the Aral Sea.
AS to the sweetness of these waters,
the very curious hypothesis by which
the slight saline condition of the Cas-
plan and Aral Seas is explained is also
supposed to account for the sweet
waters of the new lake.
The Caspian and Aral Seas are
merely brackish. Around their shores
are a number Of large CULTS, almost
land locked, and therefore nearly sep
arated from the seas. The depth of
water in these CULTS is small, and the
evaporation is enormous. Currents
from the seas are constantly setting
into these CULTS. The water never
emerges from the sea again, but dis
pears through evaporation, leaving
saline deposits.
The Aral and Caspian Seas, there
fore, are constantly losing saline
matter deposited in these great inlets
while they are receiving water with
very little salinity, and it is sup
posed that the saline matter received
by the new fresh water lake is elimi-
mated in similar nanneT