also Chita Lakes or Shakshinskoe Lakes, a group of lakes in Chita Oblast, RSFSR, west of Chita. The lakes are located on a high, marshy plateau (maximum elevation, 1,000 m) which serves as a watershed between the Vitim and Selenga basins. The largest lakes are Arakhlei (area, 65 sq km, depth 19 m) and Shakshinskoe (area, 51 sq km, depth about 6 m). The water is sweet and weakly mineralized. The lakes change in size with the seasons, being fed primarily in the spring by melting snow; the waters recede substantially by autumn.