The deepest and cleanest lake on earth. The deepest lake on earth

In the big country world is the most deep lake, his name is Baikal. More than one volume of book production is devoted to this lake; legends are made up about this lake. Every year, tourists come to admire the beauty of Baikal, researchers do not ignore the lake, do not forget about the national heritage of politics. Expeditions regularly gather in these places, ending with the most interesting discoveries.

Baikal dimensions

To walk along the bottom of the deepest lake in the world, you will have to descend to a depth of 1642 meters - this is the maximum low point Baikal. The average value is 744 meters. You can’t get around Baikal on foot, the narrowest point of the lake is 24 km, and the widest is 79 km, and the total length of the coast is 2,100 meters.

If you add up two countries, such as Belgium and the Netherlands, you can get an area equal to the area of Baikal.

The pond seems to be buried in the arms of mountain ranges. Moreover, if in the western part the coast is literally lined with a fence of rocks, then the relief of the eastern one is significantly softened.

Water volume

No other lake contains so many reserves fresh water. Just think about these figures - 23 thousand 615 km3 - this is one fifth of all world reserves.

Baikal is second only to the Caspian Sea in terms of water reserves. If we take water from the five Great Lakes - Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario and pour it into one giant vat, we still won't get Baikal. It is so roomy!

The lake has surprisingly clear water - a 40-cm water surface allows you to see the contents of the bottom.

Origin of the lake

The deepest lake in the world keeps the secret of its origin - scientists still do not know how old it is or where it was formed from. A rough estimate of the age of Baikal is about thirty million years. And even in this it is unique! Usually life expectancy glacial lakes no more than 15 thousand years, then they die under muddy sediments.

But not everyone agrees with the multi-million age of Baikal, Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences Alexander Tatarinov is ready to argue with his colleagues. According to his calculations, the lake is no more than 150 thousand years old.

Flora and fauna

Surprisingly, they still continue to discover new types of living organisms that inhabit the deepest lake in the world. On this moment known about two thousand six hundred species of animals, and a little more than two thousand - plants. Presumably, this makes up no more than 80% of the entire world of flora and fauna of Baikal.

Baikal is fully populated both on the surface and in the depths. Moreover, almost half of all creatures inhabiting the reservoir cannot be found anywhere else. Most of animals, and slightly less than half of the plants, are endemic. The lake has become home to two hundred species of birds, 58 species of fish.

A unique animal lives here - the Baikal seal. This typical inhabitant of the seas, most likely in glacial period, sailed to these places from Arctic Ocean and has been living here ever since. At the moment, there are several tens of thousands of seals in the lake.

Baikal ice

Every year, in winter, Lake Baikal is covered with an ice cover up to one and a half meters thick. Uniqueness Baikal ice in the fact that, firstly, it is surprisingly transparent, and secondly, sokui appear on the surface - hills of ice. Such hollow cones can reach six meters in height.

Another mystery that scientists are struggling with is that circles form on the ice of the deepest lake - they are clearly visible on satellite images. Every year they appear in a new place, what this is connected with, scientists have yet to find out.

Legends and myths

The locals treat the lake with respect: they believe that Baikal is a living creature that must be handled with extreme care, not good for anyone who angers a powerful healer.

According to one of the legends, 336 sons-rivers flowed into the waters of the father of Baikal, and Angara - the only daughter. So they replenished its waters. And it was so until a bright feeling settled in the daughter's heart. And the course of the river turned back, the Angara began to give the water of her father to her beloved Yenisei. An angry father cursed and threw a piece of rock into the Angara. Since then, at the source of the Angara lies the Shaman-stone.

And people still believe that if you anger the priest of Baikal, he will tear off the Shaman stone from the place, water will gush and flood everything around. Currently, a dam has been built on the Angara, so only the top of the Shaman Stone is visible.

Lakes are natural reservoirs formed in the recesses of the land, which store 67.4% of all fresh water on the Earth. The size and depth of lakes can be very different, and some of them significantly exceed many seas in these indicators.

This review presents ten most deep lakes in the world.

10th place: - lake tectonic origin located in the south of the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. Its depth is 590 meters. Matano is the deepest lake in Indonesia. Lake Matano is an important source of fresh water in Indonesia, famous for its crystal clear clear waters, which is home to many rare species of plants, fish and crustaceans. On its banks there are deposits of nickel ore. In Matano, the Patea River takes its source, which, flowing through the waterfall, flows into Lake Mahalona.

9th place: - crater lake, which has a depth of 594 meters. Crater - deepest lake in the usa and the second deepest in North America. This lake is the main attraction of the national park located in Oregon. Crater Lake was formed in a deep volcanic basin (caldera) more than 7 thousand years ago due to the destruction of Mount Mazama volcano. Thanks to the melting of snow, the water in the lake is particularly clean and blue. Crater Lake has an unusual attraction - a huge log called "Lake Old Man", which has been floating in a reservoir in an upright position for more than a century. In 2005, Crater Lake was featured on an Oregon commemorative coin.

8th place: Great Slave Lake – the deepest lake in Canada and all of North America. His maximum depth reaches 614 meters. For eight months of the year, the surface of the lake is covered with ice, which winter period so thick that it can support a heavy truck. In the 1930s, gold was found here, which led to the founding of the city of Yellowknife on the shore of the lake.

7th place: Issyk-Kul- it's salty drainless lake in the northern part of the Tien Shan mountains in Kyrgyzstan. The maximum depth of this deepest lake Central Asia- 702 meters. From the Kyrgyz language "Ysyk Kel" is translated as "hot lake". It got this name due to the fact that its brackish water does not freeze even in severe winters. Issyk-Kul is connected with several interesting legends and stories. According to one of them, an ancient Armenian monastery with the relics of St. Matthew is kept in the lake. Another legend says that it was in this place that the soldiers of Tamerlane laid down their famous pyramids from stones. In 2006, traces were found at the bottom of the lake ancient civilization that existed 2.5 thousand years ago.

6th place: Malawi(other name - Nyasa) - the southernmost of the lakes of East African rift valley located between Mozambique, Malawi and Tanzania. This is the second deepest lake in Africa - its maximum depth is 706 meters. The tropical waters of Malawi contain the largest species diversity of fish among all the lakes of the Earth. Scientists have come to the conclusion that over the past 100 thousand years, the depth of the lake has decreased by more than 100 meters. The causes of water losses are surface evaporation (up to 80%) and the Shire River flowing from the southern part of the lake.

5th place: San Martin(other name - O'Higgins) is a fjord-like lake in Patagonia, located on the border of Argentina and Chile at an altitude of 250 meters above sea level. The area of the lake is 1058 km², and the depth is 836 meters. This the deepest lake South America . In Argentina, the lake is called San Martin, in Chile - O'Higgins. The lake is named after national heroes José de San Martin of Argentina and Bernardo O'Higgins of Chile who fought together for the freedom of South America. The lake is fed by the waters of the Mayer River and small glacial streams, and flows into the Pasqua River, which flows into Pacific Ocean. Unique feature lakes - this is a milky-blue hue of water, which occurs due to particles of stone deposits that enter the lake along with the melt water of glaciers and settle on its bottom.

4th place: Caspian Sea – the largest closed lake in the world with salt water, called the sea due to the fact that its base is the earth's crust of the oceanic type. Located between Europe and Asia, the lake washes the shores of five countries - Russia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. The maximum depth of the Caspian reaches 1025 meters, and its area is 371 thousand km². More than 130 rivers flow into the lake, the largest of them is the Volga. The Caspian Sea has a rich fauna - the Caspian seal is found in it, there are many sturgeons, and some species of fish are found only here. This huge reservoir is a rich source of energy resources. To date, the total cost of oil and gas in the sea is 12 trillion. dollars.

3rd place: East – the deepest and largest of all subglacial lakes on Earth, covered with a thickness of ice of 4 kilometers. The unique reservoir is located in Antarctica, next to the Russian Antarctic station Vostok, after which it got its name. The estimated maximum depth of the lake is more than 1200 meters. The lake was opened in 1996. In February 2012, Russian scientists reached the surface of Lake Vostok, the drilling of the ice shell of which lasted 20 years. Lake research can give a lot useful information world, because the conditions in it are similar to those that existed many millions of years ago, in addition, there is an assumption that there are similar lakes on the satellites of Jupiter.

2nd place: Tanganyika- This deepest lake in africa and the second deepest (1470 meters) in the world. It is also the first longest (673 km.) Lake in the world, belonging to four countries at once - Tanzania, Congo, Burundi and Zambia. The lake is in the deepest tectonic basin Africa. It was accidentally discovered in 1858 by British explorers John Speke and Richard Burton, who discovered it while searching for the source of the Nile. The lake is fed by several channels, and only one river flows out of it - Lukuga. Tanganyika is home to crocodiles, hippos, many waterfowl, and many unique fish species. After a National Geographic magazine published a story about a 9-meter killer crocodile that caused the deaths of several dozen people, Lake Tanganyika has long been an object of special interest.

1st place: Baikal- This the deepest lake in Russia, Eurasia and the whole world, reaching a depth of 1642 meters. South located Eastern Siberia the reservoir is the largest natural reservoir of fresh water - it stores 20% of the total supply of surface fresh water on the planet. The volume of water in Baikal is greater than in all lakes in the United States combined. Baikal is also known as the most ancient lake on Earth, formed 25-35 million years ago, although usually lakes do not exist for more than 15 thousand years. Baikal is a unique ecosystem, home to about 1,700 species of flora and fauna, many of which are found nowhere else. The lake is included in the list of objects world heritage UNESCO.

Below is a list of the ten deepest lakes in the world, based on their maximum depth.

Matano - 590 m.

Lake located in the south of Sulawesi province. It is the deepest lake in Indonesia (by maximum depth) and 10 deepest in the world. It has an area of 164.1 km. sq., the maximum depth is 590 meters, the average is 37 meters. Its age is estimated to be between one and four million years. The water in the lake is extremely poor in minerals and nutrients. But, despite this, the ecosystem of Lake Matano abounds, especially with endemic species of flora and fauna. On its shores there are reserves of nickel ore.

Crater - 594 m.

Crater is a crater lake located in the center of Oregon, USA. The area of the lake is 53.2 km. square, the average depth is 300 m, the maximum is 594 meters. It is considered one of the strangest lakes in the world. famous for its incredible clean water which has a very beautiful dark blue color.

Great Slave Lake - 614 m.

The lake, located in northwestern Canada, is the deepest lake in North America, and the tenth largest in the world. Its area, together with the islands, is 28,400 km2. sq. (excluding islands 27,048 km2). Average depth- 41 meters.

Issyk-Kul - 702 m.

Seventh place in the ranking of the ten deepest lakes in the world is Issyk-Kul - a closed lake, the largest in Central Asia. It is located in the eastern part of Kyrgyzstan. It is the second largest salt lake in the world, after the Caspian Sea. Its area is 6,236 km. square, the maximum depth is 702 meters, the average is 278 meters. Although Issyk-Kul is surrounded snow-capped peaks, it never freezes, hence its name, which in Kyrgyz means "hot lake".

Nyasa (Malawi) - 706 m.

Malawi is the world's third largest lake in terms of area (29,600 km2) containing 7% of the world's fresh water reserves. Located in Africa between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. The average depth is 292 meters. The ecosystem of Lake Malawi is extremely rich in animal diversity in terms of the number of species, most of which are endemic.

San Martin - 836 m.

San Martin is a lake located in Patagonia on the border of the Aisen region and the province of Santa Cruz in Argentina. This is the deepest lake in America with an area of 1,013 km2. Seen from above, it consists of a series of finger-shaped flooded valleys, of which 554 km. sq. are in Chile and 459 km. sq. in Argentina.

Lake Vostok - more than 900 m.

It is the largest of nearly 400 known subglacial lakes in Antarctica. Lake Vostok with an estimated area of 15,690 km. sq. and an average depth of 344 meters is under ice sheet about 4 km thick in the area of the Vostok Antarctic station.

Caspian Sea - 1025 m.

The Caspian Sea is the largest drainless lake on the planet with an area of 371,000 km2. sq. Located at the crossroads of Europe and Asia. It borders with Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. The average depth is 211 m. The ancient inhabitants living on its coast perceived the Caspian Sea as an ocean, probably because of its salinity and seeming boundlessness.

Tanganyika - 1470 m.

Tanganyika - large lake located in central Africa. It was opened in 1858. Is the longest freshwater lake on Earth, as well as the second in volume of fresh water and the second in depth (in both cases after Baikal). It is divided among four countries - Burundi, Democratic Republic Congo, Tanzania and Zambia. The largest parts belong to the Congo (45%) and Tanzania (41%). Lake with an area of 32,900 km. sq. and an average depth of 570 meters enters the basin of the Congo River, one of largest rivers peace.

Baikal - 1642 m.

Baikal is a lake of tectonic origin located in the southern part of Eastern Siberia, on the border between the Irkutsk region and the Republic of Buryatia. It is the deepest lake in the world and the largest natural reservoir of fresh water (approximately 22% of the world's reserves). Counts the oldest lake on a planet that is approximately 25 million years old. The average depth is 744.4 meters. Area - 31,722 sq. km.

Share on social networks

Baikal is considered the deepest, but few people know where the deepest lake in the world is located. It is located in the southeast of Siberia. Located on in Irkutsk region, where the border of Buryatia also passes.

Natural phenomena Lake Baikal

The natural phenomena of Lake Baikal are original. Since it is near its waters, you can see various vegetation and animals. Climatic conditions great for them.

Throughout the territory of Baikal, you can see many different birds, such as gulls, bald eagles, shelducks, white-tailed eagles, scourges and many others. These species of birds are among the rarest and some of them have been added to the Red Book. The smallest deer are found on the mountainous part of the Baikal coast. They are considered the rarest on the whole earth and they are called musk deer. Here you can see the only miracle when bear flocks appear on the coast of the lake, which for the sake of food hunt several salmon at once.

Basic data of Lake Baikal

The total size of the deepest lake of Baikal reaches 636 km in length and 80 km in width. The entire area is equal to 31 thousand 722 square meters. This is about the same area as Belgium. The indigenous people of these places often call it a small sea. Approximately 336 rivers flow into the waters of Lake Baikal. The river called Selenga supplies the most water to the lake, flows into it. The lake is located on overall height 455 m above sea level, and its depth reaches 1,637 meters. There are about 30 islands in Baikal.

The total age of the lake has not yet been determined, but according to scientific studies, its age is about 20-30 million years. A small study was also carried out during which it turned out that the lake, like the others, arose due to tectonic processes. Seismicity is usually increased in the Baikal areas, moreover, there are many different thermal springs on its territory.

Water in Baikal

Main part Baikal waters consists of various organic impurities, but there are very few mineral contents. But there is a huge amount of oxygen here. Lake Baikal consists of the purest waters, as there are microscopic crustaceans on its waters, which are responsible for the purity of the reservoir. The temperature of the reservoir is constantly cold, for example, in the summer it reaches only +8 degrees.

Video review of the deepest lakes

Matano

10th place: Matano- a lake of tectonic origin, located in the south of the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. Its depth is 590 meters. Matano is the deepest lake in Indonesia. Lake Matano is an important source of fresh water in Indonesia, famous for its crystal clear waters, which are home to many rare species of plants, fish and crustaceans. On its banks there are deposits of nickel ore. In Matano, the Patea River takes its source, which, flowing through the waterfall, flows into Lake Mahalona.

Crater

9th place: Crater- crater lake, which has a depth of 594 meters. Crater - deepest lake in the usa and the second deepest in North America. This lake is the main attraction of the national park of the same name, located in Oregon. Crater Lake was formed in a deep volcanic basin (caldera) more than 7 thousand years ago due to the destruction of Mount Mazama volcano. Thanks to the melting of snow, the water in the lake is particularly clean and blue. Crater Lake has an unusual attraction - a huge log called "Lake Old Man", which has been floating in a reservoir in an upright position for more than a century. In 2005, Crater Lake was featured on an Oregon commemorative coin.

Great Slave Lake

Lazy="" lazy-hidden="" title="NewPix.ru - The deepest lakes in the world. Issyk-Kul Photo">!}

7th place: Issyk-Kul is a salty drainless lake in the northern part of the Tien Shan Mountains in Kyrgyzstan. The maximum depth of this deepest lake in Central Asia is 702 meters. From the Kyrgyz language "Ysyk Kel" is translated as "hot lake". It got this name due to the fact that its brackish water does not freeze even in severe winters. Several interesting legends and stories are connected with Issyk-Kul lake. According to one of them, an ancient Armenian monastery with the relics of St. Matthew is kept in the lake. Another legend says that it was in this place that Tamerlane's warriors built their famous cairns. In 2006, traces of an ancient civilization that existed 2.5 thousand years ago were found at the bottom of the lake.

Malawi

6th place: Malawi(other name - Nyasa) - the southernmost of the lakes of the East African Rift Valley, located between Mozambique, Malawi and Tanzania. This is the second deepest lake in Africa - its maximum depth is 706 meters. The tropical waters of Malawi contain the largest species diversity of fish among all the lakes of the Earth. Scientists have come to the conclusion that over the past 100 thousand years, the depth of the lake has decreased by more than 100 meters. The causes of water losses are surface evaporation (up to 80%) and the Shire River flowing from the southern part of the lake.

San Martin

5th place: San Martin(other name - O'Higgins) is a fjord-like lake in Patagonia, located on the border of Argentina and Chile at an altitude of 250 meters above sea level. The area of the lake is 1058 km², and the depth is 836 meters. This deepest lake in south america. In Argentina, the lake is called San Martin, in Chile - O'Higgins. The lake is named after national heroes José de San Martin of Argentina and Bernardo O'Higgins of Chile who fought together for the freedom of South America. The lake is fed by the waters of the Mayer River and small glacial streams, and flows into the Pasqua River, which flows into the Pacific Ocean. A unique feature of the lake is the milky-blue hue of the water, which occurs due to particles of stone deposits that enter the lake along with the melt waters of glaciers and settle on its bottom.

Caspian Sea

East

3rd place: East – the deepest and largest of all subglacial lakes on Earth, covered with a thickness of ice of 4 kilometers. The unique reservoir is located in Antarctica, next to the Russian Antarctic station Vostok, after which it got its name. The estimated maximum depth of the lake is more than 1200 meters. The lake was opened in 1996. In February 2012, Russian scientists reached the surface of Lake Vostok, the drilling of the ice shell of which lasted 20 years. Studies of the lake can give a lot of useful information to the world, because the conditions in it are similar to those that existed many millions of years ago, in addition, there is an assumption that there are similar lakes on the satellites of Jupiter.

Tanganyika

2nd place: Tanganyika- This deepest lake in africa and the second deepest (1470 meters) in the world. It is also the first longest (673 km.) Lake in the world, belonging to four countries at once - Tanzania, Congo, Burundi and Zambia. The lake is located in the deepest tectonic basin in Africa. It was accidentally discovered in 1858 by British explorers John Speke and Richard Burton, who discovered it while searching for the source of the Nile. The lake is fed by several channels, and only one river flows out of it - Lukuga. Tanganyika is home to crocodiles, hippos, many waterfowl, and many unique fish species. After a National Geographic magazine published a story about a 9-meter killer crocodile that caused the deaths of several dozen people, Lake Tanganyika has long been an object of special interest.

Baikal

1st place: Baikal- This the deepest lake in Russia, Eurasia and the whole world, reaching a depth of 1642 meters. The reservoir located in the south of Eastern Siberia is the largest natural reservoir of fresh water - it stores 20% of the total supply of surface fresh water on the planet. The volume of water in Baikal is greater than in all lakes in the United States combined. Baikal is also known as the oldest lake on Earth, formed 25-35 million years ago, although lakes usually do not exist for more than 15 thousand years. Baikal is a unique ecosystem, home to about 1,700 species of flora and fauna, many of which are found nowhere else. The lake is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.