Ebi Lake

Ebi Lake^[a] is a rift lake in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in Northwestern China, near the border of Kazakhstan. Lying at the southeast end of the Dzungarian Gate, Ebi Lake is the center of the catchment of the southwestern part of the Dzungarian Basin. The lake previously covered 1200 km² (400 miles²), which is now down to under 1000 km² with an average depth of less than 2 meters (6.5 feet). In August 2007, the Chinese government designated the adjoining Aibi Lake wetland as a National Nature Reserve.

Ebi Lake
Satellite image of Aibi Lake
Ebi Lake
Location	Börtala, Xinjiang, China
Coordinates	44°53′N 83°00′E / 44.883°N 83.000°E / 44.883; 83.000
Type	Rift lake
Primary inflows	Kuitun River, Bortala River, Jinghe River (intermittent)
Primary outflows	None
Basin countries	China
Surface area	805 km2 (311 sq mi) (2018)
Average depth	1.4 m (4 ft 7 in)
Max. depth	2.8 m (9 ft 2 in)
Water volume	760 million cubic metres (620,000 acre⋅ft)
Surface elevation	189 m (620 ft)

The high salt concentration (87 g/L) of its water prevents plants and fish from living in the actual lake, though many kinds of fish do live in the mouths of its source rivers.

In 2007, the lake had a surface area of only 500 km².^[1]