The oldest and deepest lake. The deepest lakes in the world. Fluctuation of water in a pond

In the most big country There is the deepest lake in the world, its name is Baikal. More than one volume of books is dedicated to this lake; legends are made about this lake. Every year tourists come to admire the beauty of Lake Baikal, researchers do not ignore the lake, and politics do not forget about the national heritage. Expeditions regularly gather to these places, ending with the most interesting discoveries.

Dimensions of Baikal

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 part of the lake is 24 km, and the widest is 79 km, and total length coast - 2 thousand 100 meters.

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

The reservoir seems to be buried in the embrace 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 part is significantly softened.

Water volume

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

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

The lake has surprisingly clean water - a 40-centimeter 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. An approximate estimate of the age of Baikal is about thirty million years. And even in this it is unique! Typically, the lifespan of glacial lakes is no more than 15 thousand years, then they die under silty sediments.

But not everyone agrees with the multimillion-year 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, new species of living organisms inhabiting the deepest lake in the world continue to be discovered. On this moment There are two thousand six hundred species of animals known, and a little more than two thousand of plants. Presumably, this constitutes no more than 80% of the entire flora and fauna of Lake Baikal.

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

A unique animal lives here - the Baikal seal. This typical inhabitant of the seas, most likely during the Ice Age, sailed to these places from the Arctic Ocean and has since settled here. 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 ice up to one and a half meters thick. Uniqueness Baikal ice the fact that, firstly, it is surprisingly transparent, and secondly, sokui appear on the surface - hills of ice. Such cones, hollow inside, 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; scientists have yet to find out what this is connected with.

Legends and myths

Locals They treat the lake with respect: they believe that Baikal is a living creature, which must be handled with extreme care; harm will come to those who anger the powerful healer.

According to one legend, 336 river sons and the Angara, their only daughter, flowed into the waters of Father Baikal. In this way they replenished its waters. And it was like this until a bright feeling settled in the daughter’s heart. And the flow of the river turned back, and the Angara began to give her father’s water to her beloved Yenisei. The angry father, cursing, threw a piece of rock into the Angara. Since then, the Shaman Stone has been lying at the source of the Angara.

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

On South Eastern Siberia, where the Irkutsk region borders the Buryat Republic, is located the most on Earth - Baikal. Only the average depth of the reservoir is 744 meters, while the maximum is 1642! But this is far from its only advantage and remarkable feature.

Baikal is a unique phenomenon of its kind on planet Earth. This is the largest natural repository of the purest fresh water, which makes up one fifth of all the world's reserves and nine-tenths of Russia. The volume of water on Earth exceeds all North American waters combined. 23 thousand cubic meters are stored here. If water suddenly disappeared from Lake Baikal in an incomprehensible way, it would take rivers from all over our planet a whole year to fill it again.

Baikal is transparent like glass, and a white disk with a diameter of 20 centimeters is visible at a depth of more than 50 meters! Three hundred rivers flow into the deepest lake on Earth, and only one flows out - the majestic Angara.

Mountain ranges border the basin in which Baikal is located. Primorsky and Baikalsky surround its northwestern part, Barguzinsky - the northeastern part, and from the southeast - the Khamar-Dabansky ridge. The lake is famous for its islands. The largest among them is Olkhon - the heart of Baikal.

Not seeing the deepest lake on Earth, which is about 25 million years old, means not allowing a miracle to happen in life. Two-thirds are plant-based and endemic. You won't find a seal anywhere else! And there are more clear days on Lake Baikal per year than in the resort of Sochi. Beaches and lagoons sand dunes and foggy swamps, taiga and steppes, endless meadows and snow-white mountain ranges- this coastal world is unique!

Peschannaya Bay has the warmest Baikal water. It is located on the western shore of the lake between the Kharginsky Cape and Sredniye Khomuty. Only here you can see majestic pines and larches on unusually terrifying “stilts”. Due to the fact that sandy soil is constantly blown away from under the trees, their roots are exposed.

Whitefish, sturgeon, lenok, grayling, taimen... The list of names of fish that live in the sacred lake sounds like music to musicians for fishermen.

Baikal is beautiful at any time of the year. Winter gave him a unique range of northern colors. The sun's rays, reflected from the ice surface and refracted, shimmer with a rainbow spectrum. The thickness of the ice shell that binds the lake during the cold months reaches a meter or more, although due to the pebbles visible at the bottom of Baikal, it seems thin. But this is an illusion! Ice is very strong and can withstand a train. With the beginning of spring, the ice opens up and breaks with a roar, cracking continuously, and closer to summer, the wind and waves dump transparent blocks onto the shore, forming landscapes of unsurpassed beauty.

This is what it is, the deepest lake on Earth! It is not surprising that UNESCO did not ignore Baikal. The lake is listed World Heritage. More than three hundred thousand tourists, scientists and researchers from all over the world come annually to see and experience the extraordinary miracle created by nature - Baikal!

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 Irkutsk region, where the border of Buryatia also passes.

Natural phenomena of Lake Baikal

The natural phenomena of Lake Baikal are distinguished by their originality. Since it is near its waters, you can see various vegetation and animals. Climatic conditions perfect for them.

Throughout Lake Baikal you can see many different birds, such as gulls, common ogres, burnt eagles, white-tailed eagles, scoters and many others. These bird species 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 earth and are called musk deer. Here you can notice the only miracle when packs of bears appear on the shore of the lake, hunting several salmon at once for food.

Basic data of Lake Baikal

The total size of the deepest lake in Baikal reaches 636 km in length and 80 km in width. The entire area is equal to 31 thousand 722 square meters. This is approximately 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 and flows into it. The lake is located at a total altitude of 455 m above sea level, and its depth reaches 1 thousand 637 meters. There are approximately 30 islands in Baikal.

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

Water in Baikal

The main part of Baikal waters consists of various organic impurities, but there is very little mineral content. But here there is great amount oxygen. Lake Baikal consists of the purest waters, since its waters contain microscopic crustaceans that are responsible for the cleanliness of the reservoir. The temperature of the reservoir is constantly cold, for example, in summer period time it reaches only +8 degrees.

Video review of the deepest lakes

05/26/2015 at 18:50 · Johnny · 16 240

Top 10 deepest lakes in the world

Lakes are bodies of water that formed in natural depressions on the earth's surface. Most of them contain fresh water, but there are lakes with salt water. Lakes contain more than 67% of the planet's fresh water. Many of them are huge and greater depth. What deepest lakes in the world? We present to you the ten deepest lakes on our planet.

10. Lake Buenos Aires | 590 m

This pond is located in South America, in the Andes, on the border of Argentina and Chile. This lake appeared due to the movement of glaciers, which created the basin of the reservoir. The maximum depth of the lake is 590 meters. The reservoir is located at an altitude of 217 meters above sea level. The lake is famous for its beauty and famous marble caves, which thousands of tourists come to see every year. The lake has the purest water and is home to a large number of fish.

9. Lake Matano | 590 m

Deepest lake in Indonesia and one of the most important sources of fresh water in the country. The maximum depth of the reservoir is 590 meters, it is located in the southern part of the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. The waters of this lake are crystal clear and are home to hundreds of species of fish, plants and other living creatures. On the shores of the lake there are huge reserves of nickel ore.

The Patea River flows from Lake Matano and carries its waters to the Pacific Ocean.

8. Crater Lake | 592 m

This the most large lake in USA. It is of volcanic origin and is located in the region of the same name. national park, located in Oregon. The maximum depth of the Crater is 592 meters, it is located in the crater extinct volcano and is distinguished by unimaginable beauty. The lake is fed by rivers that originate in mountain glaciers, so the water of the Crater is amazingly clean and transparent. It has the cleanest water in North America.

Local Indians wrote about the lake big number myths and legends, they are all beautiful and poetic.

7. Great Slave Lake | 614 m

It is located in the northwestern part of Canada and has an area of ​​more than 11 thousand square miles. This deepest lake in North America, its maximum depth is 614 meters. Great Slave Lake is located in northern latitudes and is frozen for almost eight months of the year. In winter, the ice is so strong that heavy trucks can easily cross it.

There is a legend that a strange creature, very reminiscent of a dragon, lives in this lake. Many witnesses saw it, but science has not yet found evidence of the existence of a mysterious creature. In the middle of the last century, gold reserves were found in the vicinity of the lake. The shores of the lake are very picturesque.

6. Lake Issyk-Kul | 704 m

This is a high mountain lake located in Kyrgyzstan. The water in this reservoir is salty, its maximum depth is 704 meters, and the average depth of the lake is more than three hundred meters. Thanks to the salty water, Issyk-Kul does not freeze even in the most severe winters. There are very interesting legends associated with the lake.

According to archaeologists, several thousand years ago, on the site of the lake there was a very advanced ancient civilization. Not a single river flows from Issyk-Kul.

5. Lake Malawi (Nyasa) | 706 m

In fifth place among deepest lakes peace there is another African reservoir. It was also formed at the site of a fault in the earth's crust, and has a maximum depth of 706 meters.

This lake is located on the territory of three African countries: Malawi, Tanzania and Mozambique. Due to the high water temperature, the lake is home to the largest number of fish species on Earth. The fish of Lake Malawi are favorite inhabitants of aquariums. The water here is crystal clear and attracts a huge number of scuba diving enthusiasts.

4. Lake San Martin | 836 m

It is located on the border of two South American countries: Chile and Argentina. Its maximum depth is 836 meters. This deepest lake not only South, but also North America. Many small rivers flow into Lake San Martin, and the Pascua River flows from it, which carries its waters to the Pacific Ocean.

3. Caspian Sea | 1025 m

In third place on our list is the lake, which is called the sea. The Caspian Sea is largest indoor body of water on our planet. It has salt water and is located between the southern borders of Russia and northern part Iran. The maximum depth of the Caspian Sea is 1025 meters. Its waters also wash the shores of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. More than a hundred rivers flow into the Caspian Sea, the largest of which is the Volga.

Natural world The reservoir is very rich. Very valuable species of fish are found here. A large number of mineral resources have been explored on the shelf of the Caspian Sea. There is a lot of oil and natural gas here.

2. Lake Tanganyika | 1470 m

This lake is located almost in the center of the African continent and is considered the second deepest lake in the world and the deepest in Africa. It was formed at the site of an ancient fault in the earth's crust. The maximum depth of the reservoir is 1470 meters. Tanganyika is located on the territory of four African countries: Zambia, Burundi, DR Congo and Tanzania.

This body of water is considered longest lake in the world, its length is 670 kilometers. The natural world of the lake is very rich and interesting: crocodiles, hippos and a huge number of unique fish are found here. Tanganyika plays a huge role in the economy of all the states on whose territory it is located.

1. Lake Baikal | 1642 m

This is the deepest thing on Earth freshwater lake. It is also one of the largest freshwater bodies of water on our planet. Its maximum depth is 1642 meters. The average depth of the lake is more than seven hundred meters.

Origin of Lake Baikal

Formed at the site of a rupture in the earth's crust (many deep lakes have a similar origin).

Baikal is located in the eastern part of Eurasia, near the Russian-Mongolian border. This lake ranks second in volume of water and contains 20% of all fresh water that is available on our planet.

This lake has a unique ecosystem, with 1,700 species of plants and animals, most of which are endemic. Thousands of tourists come to Baikal every year - it is a real pearl of Siberia. Local residents consider Baikal a sacred lake. Shamans from all over the world regularly gather here. East Asia. Numerous myths and legends are associated with Baikal.

+ Lake Vostok | 1200 m

Separately, it is worth mentioning the unique Lake Vostok, which is located in Antarctica, not far from the Russian polar station of the same name. This lake is covered with almost four kilometers of ice, and its estimated depth is 1200 meters. This amazing reservoir was discovered only in 1996 and so far little is known about it.

Scientists believe that the water temperature in Lake Vostok is -3 °C, but despite this, the water does not freeze due to the enormous pressure exerted by the ice. It still remains a mystery whether there is life in this gloomy subglacial world. Only in 2012 were scientists able to drill through the ice and reach the surface of the lake. These studies can provide a lot new information about what our planet was like hundreds of thousands of years ago.

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