Khar-Us Lake

Khar-Us Lake
Khar-Us Lake frozen, Khar Lake fragment is at the western edge of the image, Jargalant-Khaikhan Mounts are south from Lake Khar-Us (NASA astronauts image 2002-12-13).
Location	Khovd aimag, Mongolia
Coordinates	48°02′N 92°17′E
Type	freshwater
Primary inflows	Khovd River
Primary outflows	Chono Kharaikh gol
Catchment area	74,500 km²
Basin countries	Mongolia, Russia
Max. length	72.2 km
Max. width	36.5 km
Surface area	1,578 km²
Average depth	2.2 m
Max. depth	4.5 m
Water volume	3.432 km³
Surface elevation	1,156.7 m
Frozen	November - April
Islands	Agbash (Ak-Bashi)
Settlements	Dörgön
Ramsar Wetland
Designated	13 April 1999
Part of	Har Us Nuur National Park

Khar-Us Lake

Khar-Us Lake (Mongolia)

Khar-Us Lake (Mongolian:Хар-Ус нуур, lit. "black water lake") is a lake in western Mongolia in the Great Lakes Depression. It is the upper one in a system of the interconnected lakes: Khar-Us, Khar, Dörgön, Airag and Khyargas.

Its area value (1,852 km²) includes the island Agbash (or Ak-Bashi, white head) area (274 km²), so the water surface area is 1,578 km² only.

Some sources are using different Khar-Us Lake Lake statistics values:

• Water level: 1,160.08 m
• Surface area: 1,496.6 km²
• Average depth: 2.1 m
• Volume: 3.12 km³.

Water balance of Khar-Us Lake
(Unit of water balance: mm/year)

Surface input		Surface output		Groundwater inflow- outflow	Retention time, years
Precipitation	Inflow	Evaporation	Outflow
56.4	1,979.2	942.7	675.3	-417.6	1.1

Primary inflow is the Khovd River, which creates a large river delta.

So called Genghis Khan's wall runs along the western shore of the Khar-Us Lake. It is possible to find it at the Google Map and Google Earth satellite maps 47°53′29″N 91°59′37″E.