In search of unknown lakes

At the beginning of June, 2018, the staff and students of the Department of Tourism and Hospitality organized a fieldtrip to the State Biological Reserve "Vedensky" in Vedeno District of the Chechen Republiс. The main objective of the fieldtrip was to locate and study a small lake, near the source of the Arzh-Akhk River. This lake has never been described in academic journals. It was discovered during the study of satellite maps by Selikhov Rasul – a junior assistant at the Department of Tourism and Hospitality. During the fieldtrip, participants had managed to measure the diameter of the lake (52 meters) and its depth (7 meters). It is assumed, that this lake could have formed as a result of the manifestation of karst-suffusion processes in the local karst region. There is also an opinion that the shape of the lake was formed as a result of meteorite impact. The lake is located in the basin of a round shape and it is surrounded by aquatic vegetation. The lake and its surroundings have significant potential for the development of active tourism in the Vedeno district. At the moment, work has already started on the creation of a new tourist route for hiking in the “Vedensky” Reserve which is considered as one of the largest biodiversity hotspot in the Eastern Caucasus region.