| Sarykopa | |
| Other Name: | Сарықопа / Сарыкопа |
| Coords: | 50.2667°N 72°W |
| Pushpin Map: | Kazakhstan |
| Inflow: | Saryozen and Teke |
| Catchment: | 985sqkm |
| Length: | 26.7km (16.6miles) to 53km (33miles) |
| Width: | 13.2km (08.2miles) to 19km (12miles) |
| Area: | 184sqkm to 336sqkm |
| Max-Depth: | 3.5m (11.5feet) |
| Elevation: | 101.2m (332feet) |
Sarykopa (Kazakh: Сарықопа; Russian: Сарыкопа) is a bittern salt lake in the Kostanay Region, Kazakhstan.[1]
Sarykopa lies in the steppe of the central sector of the Turgay Basin in Zhangeldi District, in the southern area of Kostanay Region. There are a number of villages near the lake.[2]
Sarykopa is an endorheic lake. Its shape is elongated, stretching roughly from SSW to NNE . The 164km (102miles) long Saryozen river flows into the lake from the north and the Teke from the west. Since the lake is fed by snow its level is subject to variations according to the inflow, reaching a maximum area of 336sqkm in the spring floods when the snows melt. In years of significant snowfall the lake becomes a single body of water and its waters may flow out into the Turgay river through a channel close to Tauysh village in the south, but such periods are very few and far between.[3]
Usually the surface of the lake stays around 184sqkm in the more common periods of low water where Sarykopa, especially in the summer, breaks up into a cluster of separate lakes with no connection between them. The depth fluctuates between 1m (03feet) and 3m (10feet).The western banks are gently-sloping, while the eastern shore rises steeply up to between 5m (16feet) to 10m (30feet) cliff-like banks.[4] [5]
Sarykopa is a refuge for birds such as the white-tailed lapwing, steppe gull, slender-billed curlew and the great white pelican, as well as the critically endangered siberian crane,[6] but the effects of human action on the lake are unfavorable for wildlife.[2]
