Lake Paiku

Lake Paiku
alt_lake From space, May 1997. North is down.
Location	Tibet Autonomous Region    Shigatse Prefecture       Gyirong County and Nyalam County
Coordinates
Type	brackish
Primary outflows	None (endorheic).
Max. length	27 km (17 mi)
Surface elevation	4,591 m (15,070 ft)

Lake Paiku (or Peiku) -- in Tibetan Paiku-Tso or -Tsho—is at 4,591 meters (15,070 ft) elevation on the Tibetan Plateau at , 18 km south of the Yarlung Tsangpo (Brahmaputra) River. The lake is 27 km (17 mi) long and 6 km (3.7 mi) wide at its narrowest. It is surrounded by mountains reaching 5,700 to 6,000 meters (19 to 20,000 ft). Streams fed by glaciers cascade to the valley floor but most sink into alluvial deposits before reaching the lake.

The surrounding catchment is an endorheic basin with no outlet. It would overflow into the Yarlung Tsangpo with a water level about 100 meters higher. The lake's brackish water is evidence that it has not overflowed in hundreds if not thousands of years.

References

• National Aeronautics and Space Administration