Bogdo-Baskunchak Nature Reserve

Bogdinsko-Baskunchakski Nature Reserve
Russian: Богдинско-Баскунчакский заповедник
IUCN category Ia (strict nature reserve)
Big Bogdo Mountain slope, with salt lake in distance
Location of Reserve
Location	Astrakhan Oblast
Nearest city	Akhtubinsk
Coordinates	48°12′42″N 46°52′50″E / 48.21167°N 46.88056°E / 48.21167; 46.88056Coordinates: 48°12′42″N 46°52′50″E / 48.21167°N 46.88056°E / 48.21167; 46.88056
Area	18,780 hectares (46,400 acres)
Established	1997 (1997)
Governing body	Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (Russia)
Website	http://www.bogdozap.ru/

Bogdinsko-Baskunchakski Nature Reserve (Russian: Богдинско-Баскунчакский) (also Bogdinsko-Baskunchaksky) is a Russian 'zapovednik' (strict nature reserve) in a semi-arid area around two notable features: Lake Baskunchak, Russia's largest undrained salt lake, and Big Bogdo Mountain, the highest point (at 147 meters) in the Caspian Depression and home to the "singing rocks". It is about halfway between Volgograd and Astrakhan, placing it about 200 km north of the Volga River Delta, where the river enters the Caspian Sea from the northwest. About 20 km east of the lake is the border with Kazakhstan. Baskunchak has been a source of salt to Russia for centuries. The reserve is an important site on the bird migration route between northern Siberia and wintering regions. The reserve is situated in the Akhtubinsky District of Astrakhan Oblast.

The reserve lies in the trough of the Caspian Depression, just east of the Volga's present main floodplain. The boundaries wrap around the north, east and south shores of the lake, and the mountain is in a separate sector just south of the lake. The main features - the shores of Lake Baskunchak and Big Bogdo Mountain, are seated about 25 meters below sea level. The top of Big Bogdo is 130 meters above the terrain. The hill itself is a karst (limestone) formation with over 30 caves. It is growing approximately 1 mm in height each year due to the pressure of the underlying salt dome.

Red Rocks at the foot of Bolshoye Bogdo (Big Bogdo) Mountain

"Singing Rock"; air flow over limestone formations causes unusual sounds

Bogdinsko-Baskunchakski is located in the northwest of the Caspian lowland desert ecoregion. This region, on the north and northeast shores of the Caspian Sea, is characterized by sand dunes and ridges, salt soil, clay deserts (takyrs), and in places solonchaks (shors) or salt pans of 30–40 cm thickness devoid of vegetation. The sedimentary landscape is recently exposed lake bed (during the Tertiary the Caspian Basin was connected across the Black Sea to the Mediterranean.)