Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Changes of the Aral Sea Level

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Aral Sea

Part of the book series: Springer Earth System Sciences ((SPRINGEREARTH,volume 10178))

Abstract

This chapter reviews the available data on the Aral Sea level changes and presents the current thinking on the sea’s recessions and transgressions prior to its modern desiccation. The geomorphologic, sedimentologic, paleoenvironmental, archaeologic and historiographic evidence is reconsidered and combined on the basis of calibrated 14C ages. The geomorphologic data appear contradictory and require re-examination. Lithology and paleoenvironmental proxies of the sediment cores provide much consolidated information, as they record lake level changes in sediment constitution by deep and shallow water facies and layers of gypsum and mirabilite, which are of special importance for determination of low levels. High levels are recorded in several on-shore outcrops. The new archaeological data from the now dry bottom of the Aral Sea and its surrounding zone in combination with the historiographic records provide a robust model for level changes during the last two millennia. Discovery of tree stumps in different parts of the bottom indicate low stands of the lake as well. During the last two millennia, there were two deep natural regressions of ca. 2.1–1.3 and 1.1–0.3 ka (1,000 years) BP (Before Present) followed by the modern anthropogenic one. The lake level dropped to ca. 29 m asl. Their separating transgressions were up to 52–54 m asl. The middle to early Holocene record of level changes is probably incomplete. Currently the middle Holocene regressions are documented for the periods of ca. 5.5–6.3, 4.5–5.0 and 3.3–4.3 ka BP. The early Holocene history of the Aral shows a long period of a shallow lake.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Projects: EU INTAS-Aral Sea (2002–2005) and USA-Russia CRDF-RFBR (2008–2010).

  2. 2.

    Researchers used different altitudinal estimates of the Aral Sea level. The conventional levels were 50.75 m in 1903 (Berg 1908), 52 m in 1911–1931 (Berg 1932) and 53 m in 1960 (official nautical maps). These differences include sizeable corrections by topographic leveling and perennial fluctuations of the lake. The amplitude of mean annual levels was 78 cm for the period of 1911–1931 and 3.09 m for the period of 1874–1931 (Berg 1932). Therefore, both heights and altitudes of terraces provided by individual authors may vary considerably.

  3. 3.

    Veinbergs (1986) refers this date to M.E. Gorodetskaya; however, Gorodetskaya (1978) published only the date of 920 ± 120 obtained in VSEGEI from shell material. Veinbergs believed the date was probably younger than the real age of the terrace.

  4. 4.

    Core M-2003-1 was obtained with a help of a Forestry Suppliers Inc. regular auger. Only the lower, non-contaminated, part of every portion of sediments was collected. Upper 7 m of the core B-2008-1 were obtained with the help of a Livingston-type piston corer, which provides undisturbed sediment columns. Lower part of the core B-2008-1 and the whole core M-2003-2 were obtained with the help of a checking sampler, which is a pipe with a vertical slit. Due to this, the lowermost lots of the cores were contaminated by younger materials during the hoisting of the downhole instrument. This was recently verified by the 14C dating and the previously published stratigraphic columns of the cores B-2008-1 and M-2003-2 (Krivonogov et al. 2010a; Guskov et al. 2011) are corrected (Krivonogov et al. 2010b and this chapter).

  5. 5.

    Unfortunately, the referenced paper (Nourgaliev et al. 2007) has no mention of core C2/2004, thus, its exact location is unknown.

  6. 6.

    Scott Stine, California State University, received these two samples from Ian Boomer in 1991 and dated them. The samples were collected by Nick Aladin.

  7. 7.

    One verst is approximately 1.6 km.

References

  • (2007) Catalogue of monuments of the Kazakhstan Republic history and culture. Aruna, Almaty (in Russian)

    Google Scholar 

  • Aladin NV, Plotnikov IS (1995) Changes in the Aral Sea level: paleolimnological and archaeological evidence. In: Alimov AF, Aladin NV (eds) Biological and environmental problems of the Aral Sea and Aral Region. Proceedings of the Zoological Institute RAS, vol 262, part 1. Zoological Institute, St. Petersburg, pp 17–46 (in Russian)

    Google Scholar 

  • Aleshinskaya ZV (1991) Diatomic and palynologic characteristics of bottom sediments. In: Sevastyanov DV, Mamedov ED, Rumyantsev VA (eds) History of Lakes Sevan, Issyk Kul, Balkhash, Zaysan and Aral. Nauka, Leningrad, pp 243–246 (in Russian)

    Google Scholar 

  • Austin P, Mackay A, Palagushkina O, Leng M (2007) A high-resolution diatom-inferred palaeoconductivity and lake level record of the Aral Sea for the last 1600 yrs. Quat Res 67:383–393

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baipakov KM, Boroffka N, Saveleva TV, Akhatov GA et al (2004) Results of the archaeological investigations of the Northern Aral region within the INTAS “CLIMAN” Project. Bull Natl Acad Sci Kazakhstan Repub Soc Sci 242(1):236–254 (in Russian)

    Google Scholar 

  • Baipakov K, Aubekerov M, Pachikin K, Takseitova G et al (2007) Landscapes and environment during the time of the Kerdery (Aral) settlement. In: Bekseitova RT, Veselova LK (eds) Problems of ecological geomorphology. Materials of IV Zhandaev international conference, April 17–19, 2007. Kazak University, Almaty, pp 64–67 (in Russian)

    Google Scholar 

  • Bartold VV (1902) Records of the Aral Sea and the lower stream of the Amur Darya since the earliest times to the XVII century. Turkestan Branch of the Russian Geographic Society, Tashkent (in Russian)

    Google Scholar 

  • Berg LS (1908) The Aral Sea an attempt at a physical–geographical monograph. Stasyulevich Publisher, St.Petersburg (in Russian)

    Google Scholar 

  • Berg LS (1932) True altitude of the Aral Sea level. Trans State Hydrol Inst 7:74–78 (in Russian)

    Google Scholar 

  • Boomer I, Aladin N, Plotnikov I, Whatley R (2000) The palaeolimnology of the Aral Sea. Quart Sci Rev 19:1259–1278

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boomer I, Horne DJ, Slipper IJ (2003) The use of ostracods in palaeoenvironmental studies, or what can you do with an ostracod shell? Paleontol Soc Pap 9:153–179

    Google Scholar 

  • Boomer I, Wünnemann B, Mackay AW, Austin P et al (2009) Advances in understanding the late Holocene history of the Aral Sea region. Quat Int 194(1–2):79–90

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boroffka NGO, Oberhähsli H, Achatov GA, Aladin NV et al (2005a) Human settlements on the northern shores of Lake Aral and water level changes. Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Changes 10:71–85

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boroffka NGO, Sorrel P, Alimov K, Baratov S et al (2005b) Prospecting in the southern Aral Sea, Uzbekistan. Archaologische Mitteilungen aus Iran und Turan, Deutsches Archaologisches Institut 37:247–306 (in German)

    Google Scholar 

  • Boroffka NGO, Oberhähsli H, Sorrel P, Demory F et al (2006) Archaeology and climate: settlement and lake level changes at the Aral Sea. Geoarchaeology 21:721–734

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brodskaya NG (1952) Bottom sediments and sedimentation processes in the Aral Sea. In proceedings of the Institute of the Geological Sciences, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Moscow (in Russian)

    Google Scholar 

  • Butakoff A (1853) Survey of the Sea of Aral. J R Geogr Soc 23:93–101

    Google Scholar 

  • Epifanov MI (1961) About terraces of the Aral Sea. In: Lodozhevsky IG, Pastrac RM (eds) Geology and prospects of oil-and-gas content in some regions of the USSR. Gostoptechizdat, Moscow, pp 164–169 (in Russian)

    Google Scholar 

  • Fedorov PV (1980) Problems of the Aral and Caspian Seas during the Holocene. In: Andrianov BV, Zorin LV, Nikolaeva RG (eds) Oscillation of precipitation in the Aral Sea region during the Holocene. Moscow, pp 19–22 (in Russian)

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferronskii VI, Polyakov VA, Brezgunov VS, Vlasova LS et al (2003) Variations in the hydrological regime of Kara-Bogaz-Gol Gulf, Lake Issyk-Kul, and the Aral Sea assessed based on data of bottom sediment studies. Water Resour 30:252–259

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Filippov A, Riedel F (2009) The late Holocene mollusc fauna of the Aral Sea and its biogeographical and ecological interpretation. Limnologica 39:67–85

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gorodetskaya ME (1978) On the Aral Sea terraces. Geomorphology 1:46–55 (in Russian)

    Google Scholar 

  • Guskov SA, Zhakov EY, Kuzmin YV, Krivonogov SK et al (2011) New data on evolution of the Aral Sea and its relations with the West Siberian Plain through the Holocene. Doklad Earth Sci 437(2):460–463

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kes AS (1969) The main stages in the development of the Aral Sea. In: Geller SY (ed) Problems of the Aral Sea. Nauka, Moscow, pp 60–172 (in Russian)

    Google Scholar 

  • Kes AS (1983) The palaeogeography of the Aral Sea in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene. In: Maev EG (ed) Palaeogeography of the Caspian and Aral Seas in the Cenozoic, Part II. Moscow: Moscow State University, pp 1–103(in Russian)

    Google Scholar 

  • Khondkarian SO (1977) Transgressive phases of the Aral Basin during the Holocene. Abstract of the conference “Oscillation of precipitation in the Aral Sea region during the Holocene”. Moscow, p 34 (in Russian)

    Google Scholar 

  • Khrustalev YP, Reznikov SA, Turovskyi DS (1977) Lithology and geochemistry of the Aral Sea bottom sediments. Rostov University Press, Rostov-on-Don (in Russian)

    Google Scholar 

  • Kiryukhin LG, Kravchuk VN, Fedorov PV (1966) New data on the Aral Sea terraces. Bull Russ Acad Sci Geogr 1:68–72 (in Russian)

    Google Scholar 

  • Kravtsova VI (2001) Analysis of changes in the Aral Sea Coastal Zone in 1975–1999. Water Resour 28:596–603

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Krivonogov SK (2009) Extent of the Aral Sea drop in the Middle Age. Doklad Earth Sci 428(1):1146–1150

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Krivonogov SK, Kuzmin YV, Burr GS (2010a) Environmental changes in the Aral Sea region (Central Asia): initial results of a radiocarbon-based study. Nucl Instrum Methods Phys Res, Sect B 268:1080–1083

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Krivonogov SK, Kuzmin YV, Burr GS, Gusskov SA et al (2010b) Environmental changes of the Aral Sea (Central Asia) in the Holocene: major trends. Radiocarbon 52:555–568

    Google Scholar 

  • Krivonogov SK, Burr GS, Kuzmin YV, Gusskov SA et al (2013) The fluctuating Aral Sea: a reliable history of the last 2 Ka (manuscript under review for publication in journal Gondwana Research)

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuptsov VM (1985) Radiocarbon dates of the P.P. Shirshov’s Institute of Oceanology, USSR Academy of Sciences. Report VI. Bull Comm Study Quat 54:152–156 (in Russian)

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuptsov VM, Rubanov IV, Zeldina BB (1982) The radiocarbon dating of the Aral Sea bottom sediments. Bull Russ Acad Sci Geogr 1:103–108 (in Russian)

    Google Scholar 

  • Le Callonnec L, Person A, Renard M, Létolle R et al (2005) Preliminary data on chemical changes in the Aral Sea during low-level periods from the last 9000 years. Comptes Rendus Geosci 12:1035–1044

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Letolle R, Mainguet M (1997) History of the Aral Sea (Central Asia) since the most recent maximum glaciation. Bull Geol Soc Fr 168(3):387–398 (in French)

    Google Scholar 

  • Levina LM (1998) On the history of investigations of the Khorezm archaeological-ethnographic expedition in the Eastern Priaral’e. In: Nerazik EE (ed) Priaral’e in antiquity and middle ages. Eastern Literature, Moscow, pp 42–59 (in Russian)

    Google Scholar 

  • Lymarev VI (1967) Shores of the Aral Sea, an inland basin of the arid zone. Nauka, Leningrad (in Russian)

    Google Scholar 

  • Maev EG, Karpychev YA (1999) Radiocarbon dating of bottom sediments in the Aral Sea: age of deposits and sea level fluctuations. Water Resour 26:187–194

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Maev EG, Maeva SA, Nikolaev SD, Parunin OB (1983) New data on the Holocene history of the Aral Sea. In: Maev EG (ed) Palaeogeography of the Caspian and Aral Seas in the Cenozoic, Part II. Moscow: Moscow State University, pp 133–144 (in Russian)

    Google Scholar 

  • Mamedov ED (1991a) Archaeological data on the Aral history. In: Sevastyanov DV, Mamedov ED, Rumyantsev VA (eds) History of Lakes Sevan, Issyk Kul, Balkhash, Zaysan and Aral. Nauka, Leningrad, pp 256–258 (in Russian)

    Google Scholar 

  • Mamedov ED (1991b) The history of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya and their breakthrough to the Aral. In: Sevastyanov DV, Mamedov ED, Rumyantsev VA (eds) History of Lakes Sevan, Issyk Kul, Balkhash, Zaysan and Aral. Nauka, Leningrad, pp 250–255 (in Russian)

    Google Scholar 

  • Nikolaev SD (1987) Paleogeographic changes in the inland seas of the USSR inferred from oxygen isotope data. In Theoretical and methodical problems of paleogeography. Moscow State University Press, Moscow, pp 128–145 (in Russian)

    Google Scholar 

  • Nikolaev SD (1991) The development of the Aral Sea from oxygen isotope data. In: Sevastyanov DV, Mamedov ED, Rumyantsev VA (eds) History of Lakes Sevan, Issyk Kul, Balkhash, Zaysan and Aral. Nauka, Leningrad, pp 246–249 (in Russian)

    Google Scholar 

  • Nikolaev SD, Blum NS, Nikolaeva VI (1989) Paleogeography of oceans and seas in the Cenozoic (isotopic and micropaleontological data), vol 6, Outcomes of science and technology. Paleogeography. VINITI, Moscow (in Russian)

    Google Scholar 

  • Nourgaliev DK, Heller F, Borisov AS, Hajdas I et al (2003) Very high resolution paleosecular variation record for the last 1200 years from the Aral Sea. Geophys Res Lett 30(17):41–44

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nourgaliev DK, Yasonov PG, Oberhänsli H, Heller F et al (2007) Paleomagnetic correlation of sedimentary sequences: the use of secular geomagnetic variations for the differentiation and correlation of Holocene Aral Sea deposits. Izv Phys Solid Earth 43(10):836–843

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oberhähsli H, Boroffka N, Sorrel P, Krivonogov S (2007) Climate variability during the past 2,000 years and past economic and irrigation activities in the Aral Sea Basin. Irrig Drain Syst 21:167–183

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parunin OB, Timashkova TA, Turchaninov PS, Shlukov AI (1985) list of radiocarbon dates of the laboratory of recent deposits, Faculty of Geography of the Moscow State University. Report XI. Bull Comm Study Quat 54:133–138 (in Russian)

    Google Scholar 

  • Píšková A, Grygar T, Veselá J, Oberhänsli H (2009) Diatom assemblage variations in the Aral Sea core C2/2004 over the past two millennia. Fottea 9(2):333–342

    Google Scholar 

  • Pshenin GN, Steklenkov AP, Cherkinskii AE (1984) Origin and age of pre-Holocene terraces of the Aral Sea. Doklad Acad Sci USSR 276(3):675–677 (in Russian)

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Reimer PJ, Baillie MGL, Bard E et al (2009) IntCal09 and Marine09 radiocarbon age calibration curves, 0–50,000 years cal BP. Radiocarbon 51(4):1111–1150

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Reinhardt C, Wünnemann B, Krivonogov SK (2008) Geomorphological evidence for the late Holocene evolution and the Holocene lake level maximum of the Aral Sea. Geomorphology 93(3–4):302–315

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rubanov IV, Ischniyazov DP, Baskakova MA (1987) The geology of the Aral Sea. Fan Publishers, Tashkent (in Russian)

    Google Scholar 

  • Sevastyanov DV, Mamedov ED, Rumyantsev VA (eds) (1991) History of Lakes Sevan, Issyk Kul, Balkhash, Zaysan and Aral. Nauka, Leningrad (in Russian)

    Google Scholar 

  • Shafranovskii KI, Knyazhetskaya EA (1952) Maps of Caspian and Aral Seas compiled after the expedition of Alexander Bekovich-Cherkasskii in 1715. News All-Union Geogr Soc 6:539–551 (in Russian)

    Google Scholar 

  • Shermatov E, Nurtayev B, Muhamedgalieva U, Shermatov U (2004) Analysis of water resources variability of the Caspian and Aral Sea Basins on the basis of solar activity. J Mar Syst 47:137–142

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shirinov T, Alimov K, Baratov S, Rakhimov K et al (2004) Fieldwork on the Project INTAS Aral no. 00–1030: Holocene climatic variability and evolution of human settlement in the Aral Sea Basin (CLIMAN). In Archaeological research in Uzbekistan, season 2003, issue 4. Uzbekiston millyi enciclopediyasy, Tashkent, pp 197–205 (in Russian)

    Google Scholar 

  • Shnitnikov AV (1983) The Aral in the Holocene and natural trends of its evolution. In: Maev EG (ed) Palaeogeography of the Caspian and Aral Seas in the Cenozoic, Part II. Moscow: Moscow State University, pp 106–118 (in Russian)

    Google Scholar 

  • Smagulov E (2001) The discovery and study of the mazar on the Aral Sea bottom. Otan Tarikhy 4:77–81 (in Russian)

    Google Scholar 

  • Smagulov E (2002) A mausoleum on the sea bottom. Qumbez 4:50–52 (in Russian)

    Google Scholar 

  • Sorokin DV, Fofonov KV (2009) Investigation of the Kerdery 2 mausoleum. Bull Natl Acad Sci Kaz Repub Soc Sci 247(1):230–236 (in Russian)

    Google Scholar 

  • Sorrel P, Popescu S-M, Head MJ, Suc JP et al (2006) Hydrographic development of the Aral Sea during the last 2000 years based on a quantitative analysis of dinoflagellate cysts. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclim Palaeoecol 234:304–327

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sorrel P, Popescu S-M, Klotz S, Suc JP et al (2007) Climatic variability in the Aral Sea Basin (Central Asia) during the late Holocene based on vegetation changes. Quat Res 67:357–370

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tarasov PE, Pushenko MY, Harrison SP et al (1996) Lake status records from the Former Soviet Union and Mongolia. Documentation of the second version of the data base, NOAA paleoclimatology publications series report 5. NOAA/NGDC Paleoclimatology Program, Boulder

    Google Scholar 

  • Tolstov SP (1962) Through the ancient deltas of Oxus and Jaxartes. Eastern Literature Publishers, Moscow (in Russian)

    Google Scholar 

  • Veinbergs IG (1986) The ancient coasts of the Soviet Baltic Sea and other seas of the USSR. Zinatne Publishers, Riga (in Russian)

    Google Scholar 

  • Veinbergs IG, Stelle VY (1980) Late quaternary stages of the Aral Sea and the connection with climate change. In: Andrianov BV, Zorin LV, Nikolaeva RG (eds) Oscillations of precipitation in the Aral Sea region during the Holocene. Nauka, Moscow, pp 176–180 (in Russian)

    Google Scholar 

  • Veinbergs IG, Ulst VG, Roze VK (1972) Ancient shore-lines and oscillations in the level of the Aral Sea. Vop Chetvertichnoy Geologii 7:1–21 (in Russian)

    Google Scholar 

  • Vinogradov AV (1968) Neolithic monuments of Khorezm. Nauka, Moscow (in Russian)

    Google Scholar 

  • Vinogradov AV (1981) Ancient hunters and fishermen of the Central Asian rivers. In proceedings of the Horezm archaeological and ethnographic expedition, vol 13. Nauka, Moscow (in Russian)

    Google Scholar 

  • Yanshin AL (1953) Geology of the northern Aral region. MOIP, Moscow (in Russian)

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhakovschikova TK (1981) Diatoms in bottom sediment cores from the Aral Sea. In: Gromov BV, Strelnikova NI (eds) Diatoms. Leningrad State University Press, Leningrad, pp 102–117 (in Russian)

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhamoida VA, Butylin VP, Popova EA, Aladin NV (1997) Recent sedimentation process in the northern Aral Sea. Int J Salt Lake Res 6:67–81

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geology and Mineralogy, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia

    Sergey Krivinogov

Authors
  1. Sergey Krivinogov
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sergey Krivinogov .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Western Michigan University Dept. Geography, Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA

    Philip Micklin

  2. Russian Academy of Sciences Inst. Zoology, St. Petersburg, Russia

    N.V. Aladin

  3. Russian Academy of Sciences Zoological Institute, St. Petersburg, Russia

    Igor Plotnikov

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Krivinogov, S. (2014). Changes of the Aral Sea Level. In: Micklin, P., Aladin, N., Plotnikov, I. (eds) The Aral Sea. Springer Earth System Sciences, vol 10178. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-02356-9_4

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation