Lake Paiku
Lake Paiku (or Peiku, Tibetan: Paiku-Tso or -Tsho) is a lake at 4,591 meters (15,062 ft) elevation on the Tibetan Plateau at 28°55′N 85°35′E, 18 kilometers (11 mi) south of the Yarlung Tsangpo (Brahmaputra) River. The lake is 27 kilometers (17 mi) long and 6 kilometers (3.7 mi) wide at its narrowest. It is surrounded by mountains reaching 5,700 to 6,000 meters (18,700 to 19,700 ft). Streams fed by glaciers cascade to the valley floor, but most sink into alluvial deposits before reaching the lake.
| Lake Paiku | |
|---|---|
 From space, May 1997. North is down. | |
| Location | Tibet Autonomous Region Shigatse Prefecture Gyirong County and Nyalam County |
| Coordinates | 28°55′N 85°35′E |
| Type | brackish |
| Primary outflows | None (endorheic). |
| Max. length | 27 km (17 mi) |
| Surface elevation | 4,591 m (15,070 ft) |
The surrounding catchment is an endorheic basin with no outlet. It would overflow into the Yarlung Tsangpo with a water level about 100 meters (330 ft) higher. The lake's brackish water is evidence that it has not overflowed in hundreds if not thousands of years.
Climate
| Climate data for Lake Paiku | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | −0.2 (31.6) |
0.6 (33.1) |
3.6 (38.5) |
7.6 (45.7) |
10.7 (51.3) |
13.6 (56.5) |
12.8 (55.0) |
12.3 (54.1) |
11.2 (52.2) |
7.9 (46.2) |
3.3 (37.9) |
1.4 (34.5) |
7.1 (44.7) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −8.1 (17.4) |
−7.0 (19.4) |
−3.6 (25.5) |
0.0 (32.0) |
3.3 (37.9) |
7.1 (44.8) |
7.7 (45.9) |
7.3 (45.1) |
5.5 (41.9) |
0.8 (33.4) |
−4.2 (24.4) |
−6.5 (20.3) |
0.2 (32.3) |
| Average low °C (°F) | −15.9 (3.4) |
−14.6 (5.7) |
−10.8 (12.6) |
−7.5 (18.5) |
−4.0 (24.8) |
0.6 (33.1) |
2.7 (36.9) |
2.3 (36.1) |
−0.1 (31.8) |
−6.2 (20.8) |
−11.7 (10.9) |
−14.3 (6.3) |
−6.6 (20.1) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 12 (0.5) |
9 (0.4) |
13 (0.5) |
10 (0.4) |
7 (0.3) |
25 (1.0) |
81 (3.2) |
86 (3.4) |
34 (1.3) |
16 (0.6) |
1 (0.0) |
4 (0.2) |
298 (11.8) |
| Source: Climate-Data.org | |||||||||||||