Kara-Kul is a 25-kilometer (16-mile) diameter lake in the Pamir Mountains in Tajikistan, and lies at an altitude of 6,000 meters (20,000 feet) above mean sea level. Kara-Kul was formed from a meteorite impact approximately 5 million years ago, leaving a crater with a rim diameter of 45 kilometers (28 miles).

A peninsula projecting from the south shore and an island off the north shore divide it into two basins, a smaller eastern one which is shallow, 13 to 19 meters, and a larger western one, which has depths of 221 to 230 meters. It has no drainage outlet. Interestingly, the Kara-Kul impact structure remained unidentified until it was discovered though studies of imagery taken from space.

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Astroblemes | Craters of Tajikistan | Lakes of Tajikistan | Pliocene

Karakul | Kara-Kul | Kara-Kul