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Lake Peipus

Coordinates: 58°41′N 27°29′E / 58.683°N 27.483°E / 58.683; 27.483
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(Redirected from Lake Chud)
Lake Peipus
  • Peipsi-Pihkva järv (Estonian)
  • Чудско-Псковское озеро (Russian)
Landsat satellite photo
Lake Peipus is located in Europe
Lake Peipus
Lake Peipus
Location within Europe
Lake Peipus is located in Baltic Sea
Lake Peipus
Lake Peipus
Location within Baltic Sea region
Lake Peipus is located in European Russia
Lake Peipus
Lake Peipus
Location within European Russia
LocationEstonia, Russia
Coordinates58°41′N 27°29′E / 58.683°N 27.483°E / 58.683; 27.483
Primary inflowsVelikaya, Emajõgi, Avijõgi
Primary outflowsNarva
Catchment area47,800 km2 (18,500 sq mi)
Basin countriesEstonia, Latvia, and Russia
Surface area3,555 km2 (1,373 sq mi)
Average depth7.1 m (23 ft)
Max. depth15.3 m (50 ft)
Water volume25 km3 (6.0 cu mi)
Shore length1520 km (320 mi)
Surface elevation30 m (98 ft)
IslandsKamenka, Kolpina, Piirissaar
SettlementsGdov, Mustvee, Kallaste
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.
Map of pools of Narva and Lake Peipus

Lake Peipus[1][2][3][a] is the largest trans-boundary lake in Europe, lying on the international border between Estonia and Russia.[4]

The lake is the fifth-largest in Europe after Lake Ladoga and Lake Onega (in Russia), Lake Vänern (in Sweden), and Lake Saimaa (in Finland).[5]

It covers 3,555 km2 (1,373 sq mi), and it has an average depth of 7.1 m (23 ft), the deepest point being 15 m (49 ft).[6] Some 30 rivers and streams discharge into Lake Peipus, the two largest of which are Velikaya and Emajõgi. The lake drains into the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea via the Narva river.

The lake has several islands, including Kolpina (in Russia), Piirissaar (Estonia), and Kamenka (Russia).

The three towns located by the lake are Gdov (in Russia, population 4,400), Mustvee (Estonia, population 1,610), and Kallaste (Estonia, population 1,260).[7] Ship navigation is well developed and serves fishery, transport of goods and passengers and tourist tours.[8][9][10] The picturesque shores of the lake are a popular destination for tourism and recreation at several tourist camps and sanatoriums.[11][12][13] The lake is used for fishing and recreation. It has suffered significant environmental degradation, especially in the second half of the 20th century due to extensive Soviet agriculture.

The lake consists of three unequal parts:[14]

Name

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The origin of the name Peipus (Estonian: Peipsi) is uncertain. Paul Ariste suggested a pre-Finnic origin of the name, Julius Mägiste suggested a connection with peipo or peippu 'chaffinch' (or other songbird) or Votic põippõ 'chicken', Lauri Kettunen suggested derivation from a personal name, and Ruf Ageeva [ru] suggested a Baltic etymology, comparing it to Latvian piepe and Lithuanian pepis 'moisture, mold'.[15] The Russian name Chudskoye ozero (Чудское озеро) means 'Chud Lake' (i.e., 'Estonian Lake'); the ethnonym Chud (чудь) referred to various Finnic peoples in what is now Estonia, Karelia, and northwestern Russia.[15]

Basin and islands

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About 30 rivers flow into the lake.[16] The largest are Velikaya and Emajõgi; smaller rivers include Zadubka, Cherma, Gdovka, Kuna, Torokhovka, Remda, Rovya, Zhelcha, Chernaya, Lipenka, Startseva, Borovka, Abija, Obdeh, Piusa, Võhandu, Kodza, Kargaya, Omedu, Tagajõgi, and Alajõgi. The lake is drained by only one river, the Narva, into the Baltic Sea.

The lake contains 29 islands, with a total area of 25.8 km2, with 40 more islands located within the delta of the Velikaya River.[17] The islands are low wetlands, elevated above the lake surface on average by only 1–2 metres (3 ft 3 in – 6 ft 7 in) (maximum 4.5 metres (15 ft)) and therefore suffer from floods. The largest islands are Kolpina (area 11 km2) in the south, Piirissaar (area 7.39 km2 (2.85 sq mi) in the center, and Kamenka (area 6 km2). In the center of Pihkva Lake there is a group of Talabski Islands (Talabsk, Talabenets and Verkhniy).[18]

Formation

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The lake is a remnant of a larger body of water that existed in this area during a former ice age.[19] In the Paleozoic Era, 300 to 400 million years ago, the entire territory of the modern Gulf of Finland was covered by a sea. Its modern relief was formed as a result of glacier activities, the last of which, the Weichselian glaciation, ended about 12,000 years ago.

Topography and hydrography

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The banks of Lake Peipus have smooth contours and form only one large bay: Raskopelsky Bay. On the northern and northwestern shores of the lake there are sand dunes covered with pine forest and sandy beaches. Along the sandy shores, there is a 200–300 metres (660–980 ft) wide stretch of shallow waters.[7] The low shores of the lake mostly consist of peat and are bordered by vast lowland and marshes, which are flooded in the spring, with the flooding area reaching up to 1,000 km2 (390 sq mi).[20]

The relief of the bottom is uniform and flat, gradually rising near the shores and covered with silt, and in some places with sand.[21] The deepest point of 15.3 metres (50 ft) is located in the Lake Lämmijärv (Tyoploye), 300 metres (980 ft) from the coast.[17]

The lake is well-flowing, with the annual inflow of water equal to about half of the total water volume.[20]

The lake water is fresh, with a low transparency of about 2.5 metres (8 ft 2 in) due to plankton and suspended sediments caused by the river flow.[20] Water currents are weak 5–9 cm/s (2.0–3.5 in/s); generally induced by wind, so stop when it ceases. However, during the spring flood, there is a constant surface current from north to south.[21]

Water balance of Lake Peipus[20]
Water balance Volume
Inflow Precipitation 560 mm (1.9 km3)
Surface and groundwater 3150 mm (11.2 km3)
Outflow Streamflow 3390 mm (12 km3)
Evaporation 320 mm (1.1 km3)

Because of the shallow depth, the lake quickly warms and cools. Water temperature reaches 25–26 °C (77–79 °F) in July.[17] The lakes freeze in late November – early December and thaw in late April – early May, first lakes Lämmijärv and Pskovskoye and then lake Peipus proper. However, due to recent climatic changes, the lake has now commonly started to freeze later into December and thaw much earlier in April.[20]

Flora and fauna

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The lake hosts 54 species of coastal aquatic flora, including cane, calamus (Acorus calamus), bulrush, grass rush, lesser bulrush (Typha angustifolia) and water parsnip (Sium latifolium). Floating plants are rare and are of only three types: arrowhead, yellow water-lily and water knotweed.[22] The lake is home to perch, pike-perch, bream, roaches, whitefishes, smelt and other species of fish. The wetlands of the coastal strip of the lake are important resting and feeding grounds for swans, geese and ducks migrating between the White Sea and Baltic Sea and western Europe.[21][8] Lake Peipus is one of the main stopovers for Bewick's swan (Cygnus columbianus). The swans leave their breeding grounds in the Russian Arctic 1,600 kilometres (990 mi) away and the lake is the first stop for many. Bewick's rarely fly more than 1,900 kilometres (1,200 mi) without fueling so they are near to the limits of their endurance when they reach the lake.[23]

Ecology

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The ecological condition of the lake basin is, in general, satisfactory – water is mostly of grades I and II (clean), and is of grade III in some rivers due to the high content of phosphorus. The water condition of the rivers has improved since 2001–2007, but there is an increase in population of blue-green algae. The main problem of Lake Peipus is its eutrophication.[24]

History

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Lake Peipus (German: Peibus see), Livonia and Pleskovia (Pskov Land) in Cosmographia Universalis by Sebastian Münster, 1572

In 1242, the southern part of the lake witnessed the Battle on Lake Peipus, a.k.a. "Battle on the Ice", where the Teutonic Knights were defeated by Novgorod troops led by Alexander Nevsky.[25][26]

The Russian fortress near the lake, was founded in Gdov in 1431. Gdov became officially a city in 1780.[27] Nowadays, the only remains of the historical Gdov Kremlin are three fortress walls.[28]

The name of the then village of Mustvee was first recorded in 1343, at the time when the region of Estonia was part of the State of the Teutonic Order. The beginning of continuous ethnic Russian settlement in what is now Estonia dates back to the late 17th century when several thousand Eastern Orthodox Old Believers, escaping religious persecution in Russia (after the Tsardom of Muscovy had declared them outlaws in 1658) settled in Mustvee, Kallaste, and other safe haven areas then ruled by Kingdom of Sweden on the west coast of Lake Peipus.[29][30] There is still a functional Russian Orthodox Old-Rite Church in the town of Kallaste.

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  • Shoreline, south of Mustvee in Estonia
    Shoreline, south of Mustvee in Estonia
  • Kallaste
    Kallaste
  • Mustvee harbour
    Mustvee harbour
  • Shoreline in Russia, near Gdov
    Shoreline in Russia, near Gdov
  • Lake Pihkva/Pskovskoye, Estonian shoreline
    Lake Pihkva/Pskovskoye, Estonian shoreline

Notes

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  1. ^ /ˈpeɪpʊs/; Estonian: Peipsi-Pihkva järv, IPA: [ˈpei̯psʲi ˈpʲihkʋɑ ˈjærʋ]; Russian: Чудско-Псковское озеро or Псковско-Чудское озеро

References

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  1. ^ "Peipus". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (5th ed.). HarperCollins. Retrieved April 4, 2025.
  2. ^ "Peipus". Collins English Dictionary. HarperCollins. Retrieved April 4, 2025.
  3. ^ "Peipus" (US) and "Peipus". Oxford Dictionaries UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press.
  4. ^ Lake Peipus. Encyclopædia Britannica online
  5. ^ The whispering waters of Estonia – Visit Estonia
  6. ^ (in Russian) Russian lakes with area of more than 350 km². (GIF table). Retrieved on 2012-01-21.
  7. ^ a b Tourist Encyclopedia. Peipsi-Pskov Lake. Outdoors.ru. Retrieved on 2012-01-21.
  8. ^ a b Tourist portal. Svali.ru (2008-01-28). Retrieved on 2012-01-21.
  9. ^ TrevelTurs. Peipsi-Pskov lake system Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine. Traveltours.ru. Retrieved on 2012-01-21.
  10. ^ Transport of Pskov Oblast. All-transport.info. Retrieved on 2012-01-21.
  11. ^ Pskov region. Peipsi and Lake Pskov Archived 2018-02-05 at the Wayback Machine. noveltour.ru
  12. ^ More and more foreigners resting on Lake Peipus. Megatis.ru (2002-08-08). Retrieved on 2012-01-21.
  13. ^ Tourist Encyclopedia. Vladsc.narod.ru. Retrieved on 2012-01-21.
  14. ^ Gulnara Roll; Robben Romano (2001). "Challenges and opportunities for Development of an Effective Transboundary Water Management Regime in the Lake Peipus Basin: The Estonian–Russian Border Area". In Ganster, Paul (ed.). Cooperation, Environment, and Sustainability in Border Regions. San Diego: San Diego State University Press. p. 288. Lake Peipus .... consists of three unequal parts: northern Lake Peipus ...; southern Lake Pskov ...; and the narrow, strait-like Lake Lämmi
  15. ^ a b "Peipsi järv". Dictionary of Estonian Place Names. Tallinn: Eesti Keele Instituut. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
  16. ^ By Peipus pond Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine. Zachetka.ru. Retrieved on 2012-01-21.
  17. ^ a b c lakes and rivers south of Estonia, the islands [dead link‍]
  18. ^ "Публичная кадастровая карта". pkk5.rosreestr.ru. Retrieved 2018-01-08.[permanent dead link‍]
  19. ^ Encyclopedic Dictionary of Geography: Geographical names – Moscow: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1983, p. 488.
  20. ^ a b c d e Sokolov AA Hydrography of the USSR L.: Gidrometeoizdat, 1952
  21. ^ a b c study the situation of the ports on the Narva River Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine. Arhiv.ivangorod.ru. Retrieved on 2012-01-21.
  22. ^ Fish and Lake Pskov region. Lakes. Pskovfish.ru. Retrieved on 19 February 2017.
  23. ^ Newth, Julia (November 2016). "Race against time". BBC Wildlife. 34 (12): 40–6.
  24. ^ Minutes of the eleventh meeting of the Joint Russian-Estonian commission for the protection and rational use of transboundary waters [dead link‍]
  25. ^ Tony Jaques (2007). Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: F-O. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 564. ISBN 0-313-33538-9.
  26. ^ Toivo Miljan (2004). Historical dictionary of Estonia. Scarecrow Press. p. 299. ISBN 0-8108-4904-6.
  27. ^ Гдов, Great Soviet Encyclopedia
  28. ^ My Gdov Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine. mygdov.ru (in Russian)
  29. ^ Kallaste. A bit of history. Moles.ee (2000-06-28). Retrieved on 2012-01-21.
  30. ^ Old Believer community Kallaste. Starover.ee. Retrieved on 2012-01-21.
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