Lakes are natural reservoirs formed in the depressions of the land, which store 67.4% of all fresh waters on the Earth. The sizes and depths of lakes can be very different, and some of them, in terms of these indicators, significantly exceed many seas.
This review presents ten deepest lakes in the world.
10th place: - 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 fresh water source in Indonesia, famous for its crystal clear waters, which are home to many rare species of plants, fish and crustaceans. On its shores there are deposits of nickel ore. In Matano, the Patea River takes its source, which, flowing through a waterfall, flows into Lake Mahalona.
9th place: - a crater lake, which has a depth of 594 meters. Crater - the 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. Due to the melting of snows, the water in the lake is especially clear and blue. Crater Lake has an unusual attraction - a huge log called "Lake Old Man", which has been floating in the reservoir in an upright position for more than a century. In 2005, Crater Lake was featured on the Oregon Commemorative Coin.
8th place: Great Slave Lake – the deepest lake in Canada and all of North America... Its maximum depth reaches 614 meters. For eight months of the year, the surface of the lake is frozen with ice, which in winter is so thick that a heavy truck can withstand. In the 1930s, gold was found here, which led to the founding of the city of Yellowknife on the shores of the lake.
7th place: Issyk-Kul Is a saline closed 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 kol" 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 associated 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 the warriors of Tamerlane built their famous pyramids of stones. In 2006, traces of an ancient civilization that existed 2.5 thousand years ago were found at the bottom of the lake.
6th place: Malawi(other name - Nyasa) Is the southernmost of the lakes of the East African Rift Valley, located between Mozambique, Malawi and Tanzania. It is the second deepest lake in Africa - its maximum depth is 706 meters. The tropical waters of Malawi are home to the largest fish species of any lake on 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 out of the southern part of the lake.
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5th place: San Martin(other name - O'Higgins) Is a fjord-shaped 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. it the deepest lake in South America... In Argentina, the lake is called San Martin, in Chile - O'Higgins. The lake is named after national heroes Jose de San Martín from Argentina and Bernardo O'Higgins from 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 Pascua River, which flows into the Pacific Ocean. A unique feature of the lake is the milky-blue tint of the water, which occurs due to particles of stone deposits that enter the lake along with melt water from glaciers and settle at its bottom.
4th place: Caspian Sea – the largest closed lake on the planet 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 Sea reaches 1025 meters, and its area is 371 thousand km². More than 130 rivers flow into the lake, the largest of which is the Volga. The Caspian Sea has a rich fauna - it is home to the Caspian seal, a lot of sturgeons, and some fish species are found only here. This huge reservoir is a rich source of energy resources. Today, 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 4 kilometers of ice. 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 over 1200 meters. The lake was discovered in 1996. In February 2012, Russian scientists reached the surface of Lake Vostok, the ice shell of which had been drilled for 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, besides there is an assumption that there are similar lakes on the satellites of Jupiter.
2nd place: Tanganyika- this is the 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 depression 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 - the Lukuga. Tanganyika is home to crocodiles, hippos, many waterfowl, as well as many unique fish species. Lake Tanganyika has long been an object of special interest after the story of a 9-meter killer crocodile that caused the death of several dozen people was published in National Geographic magazine.
1st place: Baikal- this is the deepest lake in Russia, Eurasia and the whole world reaching a depth of 1642 meters. Located in the south of 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 Lake Baikal is greater than in all the lakes of the United States combined. Baikal is also known as the oldest lake on Earth, formed 25-35 million years ago, although usually lakes have not existed for more than 15 thousand years. Baikal is a unique ecosystem, about 1,700 species of flora and fauna live here, and many of them are not found anywhere else. The lake is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Eternal human interest in everything the most-most in the world - big, small, long, tall, deep - is inexhaustible in the search for new curious facts and unusual records. And if it is not possible to surpass exceptional natural masterpieces, then in the spheres of construction and industrial production people from generation to generation tirelessly strive to establish at least a temporary superiority over competitors in height, size and a number of other parameters. The material below contains the most amazing sights of the world, created by nature and human hands.
The biggest country in the world
According to a 2015 estimate, its population does not exceed 1000, and almost all are subjects of the Holy See.
The next largest state (other autonomous territories are not taken into account) is Monaco with an area of 2.02 square meters. km and with a population of approximately 38,800 people, according to 2014 estimates.
The largest city in the world
The largest city in the world in terms of population and at the same time the largest seaport is Shanghai, China. This metropolis, according to 2015, is home to 24,152,700 people.
The largest urban agglomeration is Tokyo-Yokohama, 37 843 000 people. The population of Tokyo alone is 13 617 445 people (for 2016).
There is no unified assessment of cities in terms of area, since the official city line throughout the world is formed and indicated in different ways: with or without suburbs. Currently, one of the largest cities in terms of area is Beijing, 16411 sq. km (according to other sources - 16801 sq. km), of which the city itself accounts for approximately 1368 sq. km. km (and this territory is growing steadily every year due to the suburbs), to the suburbs - about 15,042 sq. km.
The largest and smallest island in the world
With such a vague definition, the volume of wood is taken as the main criterion for "calculating" the winner. The volume of the trunk of this sequoiadendron at the time of setting the record is 1487 cubic meters, while the mass of the entire tree is estimated at 1900 tons - "General Sherman" is not only the largest, but also the heaviest living organism on Earth at present, if you do not take into account the aspen poplar grove - clonal colony of Pando (about 6,000 tons). And this sequoiadendron, whose age is estimated at 2300-2700 years, continues to grow and every year adds about 1.5 cm in width. The measured height of the tree is 83.8 meters, the circumference of the trunk at the ground is 31.3 meters, the maximum trunk diameter is 11.1 meters.
However, in terms of diameter, the giant is inferior to the Mexican Thule Tree in the city of Santa Maria del Tule. According to measurements in 2005, its diameter at the ground is 11.62 meters, and its circumference is 36.2 meters. The exact height of a tree is difficult to measure due to its wide crown; according to approximate measurements - about 35.4 meters. Scientists are still arguing about its age and the actual number of trunks, but this did not prevent the Thule Tree from being included in the UNESCO list as a natural monument of international importance back in 2001.
The largest animal in the world
The largest animal on the planet is the blue whale (aka blue whale, vomited). The body length of these marine mammals reaches 33 meters, and their weight can exceed 150 tons. Historically, the area of this cetacean species was the entire World Ocean, but now their populations are scattered. All year round, blue whales are found in the equatorial waters of the Indian Ocean and can be seen from the shores of Sri Lanka, Maldives and Seychelles.
The largest whale ever caught by humans is considered a female blue whale, caught in 1926 in the waters of the South Shetland Islands. The length of its body from the fork of the caudal fin to the end of the snout is 33.27 meters, weight - 176.792 tons.
The largest animal on land is the bush elephant (a species of African elephants). As a rule, males weigh an average of 7 tons, females - about 5 tons. With a body length of about 6-7.5 meters, the height of an elephant at the shoulders is close to 3-3.8 meters. The recorded weight of the largest bush elephant was 12.24 tonnes. The animal was shot in 1974 in the village of Mukusso (Angola). Tourists can see savannah elephants in Africa in national parks and reserves.
The fastest animal in the world
The cheetah is the fastest land mammal. According to various sources, these predators can accelerate in 3 seconds to a speed of 96.6 - 112 km / h. National Geographic magazine named a female named Sarah (also - Sahara) the fastest cheetah: she ran 100 meters in 5.95 seconds. The sprint race of cheetahs for prey lasts no more than 20 seconds and is limited to a distance of 400 meters.
Moreover, among all the animals of the world, cheetahs take only 13th place in speed. The championship is for the birds. And the fastest bird and generally the fastest representative of the animal kingdom is the peregrine falcon, which develops a speed of 322 km / h in a dive flight, the record noted by researchers is 389 km / h. However, in horizontal flight, the peregrine falcon is inferior to the Brazilian foldlip (a species of bats and the fastest mammal) with its speed over 160-200 km / h and swifts (species - black, needle-tailed), capable of maximum acceleration up to 169 km / h.
Among fish, the black marlin stands out with speed: on average, these large oceanic fish are able to cut through the water column at a speed of 85 km / h, the maximum established speed of a representative of the species is 129 km / h.
Of insects, gadflies fly the fastest - on average 60 km / h, maximum - 90 km / h.
Some representatives of the reptile class can reach speeds of up to 35-40 km / h, but no more. These are bearded agamas, green iguanas, and leatherback turtles in the water.
The largest fish in the world
The largest fish of our time is the whale shark, harmless to humans, living in the warm waters of the tropics. It feeds mainly on plankton, and its average length varies between 10 and 12 meters, although such specimens are extremely rare for fishers.
The second largest species is the giant shark (giant shark). Like the whale shark, this shark feeds on small organisms - plankton. On average, adults reach 6-8 meters, and only a few sharks grow up to 9-12 meters.
Beluga is the largest freshwater fish, belongs to the sturgeon family. This species is listed in the Red Book. The largest fish caught in the Caspian Sea and at the mouth of the Volga were more than 4 meters in length and weighing about 1.5 tons.
The largest shark in the world
The size and weight of the largest sharks has been debated for decades. Currently, the existence of exceptional specimens of whale sharks over 20 meters long is allowed. In particular, reports of a shark 20 meters long and weighing 34 tons, caught near Taiwan in 1997, and a shark 17.5 meters long and weighing 15 tons, caught in the Arabian Sea off the coast of the city of Veraval, are among the information that inspires confidence among researchers. India.
A very large whale shark was last reported on February 7, 2012. Then Pakistani fishermen caught an already dead shark near Karachi, 11 to 12 meters long and weighing about 15 tons.
The largest shark that ever existed is the megalodon - an extinct species, the size of whose representatives can be judged by paleontological finds: the average length is about 15 meters, while the megalodons were predators.
The largest snake in the world
The largest snakes on the planet are representatives of boas and pythons, namely the green anaconda and the reticulated python.
The hardest snake in the world is the common or green anaconda, and the name "water boa" also belongs to it. National Geographic points out that the largest female anaconda can grow up to 8.8 meters and weigh more than 227 kg. However, at the moment, this indicator remains only a theoretical estimate. By now, there are a lot of reports about giant anacondas, but most of them do not have any material evidence and belong to legends. The largest recorded specimen of an anaconda in captivity was kept at the Pittsburgh Zoo. The snake grew to 6.27 meters, and was weighed even at a length of 5.94 meters - 91 kg.
The longest snake - a reticulated python native to Asia - grows in nature to 1.5 - 6.5 meters. The largest member of the species measured was 6.95 meters long and weighed 59 kg, but had not eaten for almost 3 months before the measurement. With pythons, as well as with anacondas, there is a lot of unconfirmed evidence, including a length of more than 8 meters.
The largest spider in the world
The world's largest spider is the goliath tarantula of the tarantula genus, in Latin - Theraphosa blondi. A specimen described in the Guinness Book of Records was discovered by members of the expedition of Pablo San Martin in the tropical forests of Venezuela in 1965. The leg span of the goliath tarantula was 28 cm. In 1998, the same size was recorded in a two-year-old spider that grew in captivity, while it weighed 170 grams.
With a leg span of about 25 cm or more, some species of the Sparassidae family grow, their sonorous often used name is giant crab spiders.
The largest spiders in Russia are the South Russian tarantula and several types of spiders. Basically, the size of the largest individuals does not exceed 2.5-3 cm.
The largest dog in the world
The title of the tallest dog in the world with a mention and photographs in the Book of Records belongs to Zeus - the Great Dane (aka Danish Great Dane), the favorite of the Durlag family from Otsego, Michigan, USA. Zeus's height is 111.8 cm, the dog weighs more than 70 kg. If Zeus stands on his hind legs, his "height" will be 224 cm. The record was set on October 4, 2011. At the same time, Zeus is not much higher than the previous record holders - Giant George (109.2 cm) and Titan (107.3 cm), which, by the way, are of the same breed - Great Dane.
Back in 1987, the English Mastiff Zorba was named the heaviest dog: a six-year-old dog weighed 142.7 kg. Two years later, when weighed again, it was even heavier: 155.6 kg at a height of 94 cm.
According to the Guinness Book of Records, the largest dog that ever existed lived on Earth about 15.3 million years ago, during the late Miocene era. The average weight of this ancient wild dog is estimated at 170 kg.
The largest cat in the world
The longest living pet cat is Maine Coon Ludo, a favorite of Kelsey Gill from Wakefield, UK. The cat was measured for the Guinness Book of Records on October 6, 2015. As expected, the measurements were carried out three times, and then the average length was calculated - 118.33 cm. At the time of the measurement, the pet was 17 months old, it weighed 11 kg. Now several active pages in social networks are devoted to news from his life.
The record of the famous predecessor of Ludo, also Maine Coon, Stewie's cat, is 123 cm, he was named the domestic cat with the longest tail. He died in 2013 at the age of 8.
Officially, the largest cat in the world of all living beings is the liger Hercules (a hybrid of a lion and a tigress). He was born in 2002 at the Institute for Endangered and Rare Species in Miami, at the time of the last measurements at the age of 11 he weighed 418.2 kg, was 3.33 meters long and 125 cm high at the withers. Hercules is mobile and does not suffer from obesity.
Tallest man in the world
The height of the tallest man in history, American Robert Pershing Wadlow, registered in the Guinness Book, is 272 cm.With this height, he weighed 199 kg. The giant was diagnosed with a pituitary tumor and acromegaly, so he grew vigorously from the age of four until his death - at the age of 22 in 1940.
The second-tallest in the entire history of observations is John Rogan, who was dubbed the "Negro giant" by contemporary newspapers. However, already in adolescence, due to his height, he began to develop ankylosis - immobility of the joints. Its exact weight was measured only posthumously, in 1905 at the age of 40, and was 267 cm with a weight of only 79 kg.
The tallest living person is the Turkish farmer Sultan Kösen, born in 1982, whose height is 251 cm. Gigantism in his case is also caused by a pituitary tumor, but as a result of treatment, doctors managed to slow down the further growth of the man.
Currently, the history of medicine knows about 17 people who have reached a height of more than 244 cm.
The fastest man in the world
Usain Bolt
Kai Pfaffenbach / Reuters / Scanpix / LETA
The fame of Usain Bolt, the Jamaican runner, has been booming since the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and now the athlete has 9 gold medals from the Olympic Games and 11 from the World Championships. The athlete, nicknamed "Lightning Bolt" (literally "Lightning Strike"), set 8 records.
The fastest man reached his first world speed record in 2008 at the age of 22 - 100 meters in 9.72 seconds. In 2009, he improved his 100m to 9.58 seconds. His world record for a distance of 200 meters is 19.19 seconds.
Tallest building in the world
The tallest building and structure ever built by mankind is the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, also known as the Dubai Tower.
The grandiose eastern skyscraper, shaped like a futuristic center or stalagmite, rises 828 meters from the ground, includes 163 floors and a sharp spire directed upward. The grand opening of the skyscraper, which thundered all over the world, took place in 2010, on January 4, then the ceremony included a light show and fireworks, and was broadcast online.
The Dubai skyscraper was built with a large margin, because the earlier record (and also not yet overcome by the third skyscraper) was correlated with the Warsaw radio mast (646.38 meters), which fell in 1991.
The tallest building in Russia and Europe is the Federation Tower (about 374 meters) as part of the Moscow City complex, followed by two more skyscrapers of the same complex - OKO (South Tower, 354 meters) and Mercury City (339 meters). The fourth tallest building in Europe after the Moscow towers remains the pyramidal London skyscraper The Shard (309 meters), which opened to tourists in 2013.
The unspoken international competition for the construction of super skyscrapers continues, and, perhaps, very soon it will be possible to learn about taking a new height.
Tallest tower in the world
Among the already built TV towers, the leader is the Tokyo Skytree, 634 meters high, towering in the special area of Sumida. It is also the second high-rise structure in the world after Burj Khalifa. The tower was built by February 29, 2012 as part of the program for the complete transition of Japanese television to digital format, since the height of the Tokyo TV Tower (332.6 meters) was insufficient for this task. Observation decks on Tokyo Skytree are located on several levels, the highest at 451 meters.
The Guangzhou TV Tower is 34 meters lower than the Tokyo Sky Tree, but from its highest observation deck you will be able to see the panorama of the metropolis from a height of 488 meters.
In the Western Hemisphere, altitude dominance remains with the famous CN Tower in Toronto, Canada, built back in 1976. Its height is 553.3 meters, and the observation deck at 447 meters annually receives more than 2 million people. By the way, the Ostankinskaya Tower in Moscow is only 13 meters lower than the Canadian CN Tower, and it has the 4th place in the world.
The longest bridge in the world
The three longest bridges are railway bridges, all of which are located in China.
The maximum length is at the Danyang-Kunshan Viaduct (164.8 km), which was put into operation at the end of June 2011. The bridge is part of the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway, about 9 km of the bridge passes over the water surface. The largest body of water crossed by the Danyang-Kunshan viaduct is Yangcheng Lake. Two other operating railway bridges of the three record lengths - the Tianjin Viaduct (113.7 km) and the Bridge over the Wei (79.732 km) - are two to three times longer than the largest comparable structures in other countries.
The longest girder bridge is the Hong Kong - Zhuhai - Macau route. The second longest girder bridge - Qingdao Bridge - is also located in China.
The 54 km long Bang Na highway in Bangkok, which opened in 2000, remains the longest of the above-ground bridge-type structures.
The largest plane in the world
Air giants make the dreams of many travelers go to new countries and even to other continents.
Passengers who frequently fly internationally have a chance to see the largest production airliner, the Airbus A380, which is operated by several leading airlines. The wingspan of the liner is 79.75 meters, length - 72.75 meters, width - 24.08 meters. The capacity of this double-deck passenger aircraft is 853 passengers or 525 passengers in a three-class configuration.
The status of the largest and heaviest airplane in the world is held by the only copy of the An-225 Mriya, which was commissioned in 1988. The board is used for cargo transportation and has already managed to break over a hundred records, including transporting the heaviest mono-cargo in the history of aviation, weighing 187.6 tons, while the maximum carrying capacity reached by it was much more - 253.8 tons.
The largest ship in the world
The infamous "Titanic", which amazed the whole world with its size at the beginning of the 20th century, today can hardly compare with new cruise ships. The Titanic, launched in 1912, was 269.1 meters long and 28.19 meters wide. At that time, these figures were record-breaking.
Currently, the leader in the size race of the cruise giants is the Harmony of the Seas with a length of 362 meters and a passenger capacity of 5,479 / 6,500, which was commissioned relatively recently - in the summer of 2015. It is noteworthy that the Harmony of the Seas is the third ship of the Oasis class and is only two meters longer than its predecessors - the twin liners Oasis of the Seas in 2008 and Allure of the Seas in 2010.
The largest floating facility currently under construction, but already launched, is the Korean floating liquefied natural gas plant Prelude FLNG. The ship-factory with a length of 488 meters in its appearance resembles other smaller-scale industrial ships.
The fastest train in the world
A new world record for the speed of a train was reached relatively recently - in April 2015. The Japanese L0 Series maglev train (maglev train) reached 603 km / h on the Shinkansen high-speed rail.
Since 2007, the French TGV POS train has held the leading position among rail trains with a speed of 574.8 km / h. Now trains of this series serve regular routes in France and Europe, not exceeding the design speed of 320 km / h.
In continuous operation, the Shanghai Maglev train maintains the highest speed - 430 km / h, but only on a number of flights (on others - 300 km / h) and at a distance of 30 km.
The largest metro in the world
When comparing the largest metros in the world, it is customary to single out several records: this is the deepest and longest metro, the subways are leaders in the number of stations and the number of passengers per year.
The longest subway (in terms of the total length of completed lines) is the Shanghai subway, the total length of the underground transport network is 588 km, and this is not the limit - the expansion of the subway is planned in stages for several decades in advance.
Most stations and routes are in the New York subway. This subway includes 472 stations (or 425 unique interchange hubs) on 36 lines.
The busiest metro (in terms of maximum daily load) is in Beijing, its daily load is an average of 9.998 million people, the peak is more than 12.69 million people, and the annual figure is 3,660 million passengers. At the same time, the consistently expanding network of the Beijing Metro maintains its position as the second longest - 574 km.
The next in terms of daily load is the Moscow Metro: by the end of 2015, the traffic volume reached 2,384.5 million people per year or 6.533 million per day, the peak load was recorded on December 9, 2014 - 9.5 million people.
The undisputed leader in terms of annual passenger traffic is the Tokyo Metro (3334 million). And Seoul ranks third and is behind Beijing - according to the latest official data, it serves 2,619 million people annually.
The depth record belongs to the Arsenalnaya station of the Kiev metro: it was laid 105.5 meters underground. Sometimes there are attempts to “calculate” the deepest metro in the world based on the average bookmark of all its stations, but the definite champion in this indicator has not yet been precisely determined.
The longest car in the world
The car recorded in the Guinness Book was assembled according to the project of Jay Orberg, a Hollywood collector, designer and creator of unique cars. It was this 100-foot (about 30.5 meters) limousine that brought Orberg worldwide fame.
The car is set on 26 wheels and inside can hardly resemble the interior of a classic car. It has a swimming pool with a diving board and a double water bed; in addition, there are about a dozen sleeping places, satellite TV, sunbathing area and other amenities. A second driver's cab is provided for safe control of this essentially exhibition model.
The fastest car in the world
The land speed record set in 1997 is astounding: it is the world's first officially confirmed sound barrier break. Briton Andy Green reached a speed of 1227.985 km / h in a Thrust SSC with turbofan engines. Velocity measurements were taken in the Black Rock Desert, USA.
The Guinness Book of Records stipulates that a Budweiser Rocket Car in 1979 at the American Edwards airbase claims to be the first to break the sound barrier, but this experience was not officially sanctioned by the USAF, and its results were never counted.
The fastest production car is the Hennessey Venom GT. The acceleration record - up to 300 km / h in 13.63 seconds was set on this car on January 21, 2013. In addition, the car showed the best result in average acceleration up to 200 mph, its indicator was 14.51 seconds. The maximum speed reached by this car is 435.31 km / h.
You can find whole volumes of information about Lake Baikal, both on the Internet and in various magazines and book publications. The lake has received attention from tourists, researchers and politicians. From year to year, stunning scientific discoveries are associated with Baikal, expeditions are constantly equipped for thorough research. I decided to devote this topic to the most interesting facts and events related to Lake Baikal. I will try to save you from boring geographical terms, only the most interesting will be here. Most of the photos in the theme are clickable (open on click)
- one of the oldest lakes on the planet and the deepest lake in the world. Baikal is one of the ten largest lakes in the world. Its average depth is about 730 meters, the maximum is 1637 meters. In 1996, Baikal was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List
Scientists disagree about the origin of Lake Baikal, as well as about its age. Scientists traditionally determine the age of the lake at 25-35 million years. This fact also makes Baikal a unique natural object, since most lakes, especially of glacial origin, live on average for 10-15 thousand years, and then they are filled with silty sediments and become swampy. 
There is also a version about the relative youth of Lake Baikal, put forward by Alexander Tatarinov, Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences in 2009, which received indirect confirmation during the second stage of the Mirov expedition to Lake Baikal. In particular, the activity of mud volcanoes at the bottom of Lake Baikal allows scientists to assume that the modern coastline of the lake is only 8 thousand years old, and the deep-water part is 150 thousand years old.
Baikal contains about 19% of the world's fresh water reserves. There is more water in Baikal than in all five Great Lakes combined and 25 times more than, for example, in Lake Ladoga
The water in the lake is so transparent that individual stones and various objects can be seen at a depth of 40 m.The purest and most transparent water of Lake Baikal contains so little mineral salts (100 mg / l) that it can be used instead of distilled 
Baikal is inhabited by 2,630 species and varieties of plants and animals, 2/3 of which are endemic, that is, they live only in this reservoir. Such an abundance of living organisms is explained by the high oxygen content in the entire thickness of the Baikal water. 
Photo of Baikal from space 
The most interesting in Baikal is the viviparous fish golomyanka, whose body contains up to 30% fat. She surprises biologists with daily forage migrations from the depths to shallow waters. 
The second, after the golomyanka, the miracle of Baikal, to which it owes its exceptional purity, is the Epishura crustacean (there are about 300 species). The Baikal Epischura is a 1 mm long copepod, a representative of plankton, found throughout the depth (it is absent in bays where the water is warming up). Baikal would not be Baikal without this copepod, barely noticeable to the eye, surprisingly efficient and numerous, which manages to filter all Baikal water ten times in a year, or even more. 
A typical marine mammal lives here - the seal, or the Baikal seal 
Baikal's water reserves would be enough for 40 years for the inhabitants of the entire Earth, and at the same time 46 x 1015 people could quench their thirst
Baikal ice presents scientists with many mysteries. So, in the 1930s, specialists from the Baikal Limnological Station discovered unusual forms of ice cover, characteristic only of Baikal. For example, "hills" are cone-shaped ice hills up to 6 meters high, hollow inside. Outwardly, they resemble ice tents, "open" to the opposite side from the coast. Hills can be located separately, and sometimes form miniature "mountain ranges"
In satellite images, dark rings 5-7 km in diameter are clearly visible on the ice of Lake Baikal. The origin of the rings is not known. Scientists believe that rings on the ice of the lake may have appeared many times, but it was impossible to see them due to their enormous size. Now, with the use of the latest technologies, this has become possible, and scientists will begin to study this phenomenon. For the first time such rings were discovered in 1999, then in 2003, 2005. As you can see, rings are not formed every year. The rings are also not in the same place. Scientists are particularly interested in the reason for the displacement of the rings in 2008 to the southwest, compared with 1999, 2003 and 2005. In April 2009, such rings were discovered again, and again in a different location than last year. Scientists suggest that the rings are formed due to the release of natural gas from the bottom of Lake Baikal. However, the exact causes and mechanisms of the formation of dark rings on the ice of Lake Baikal have not yet been studied and no one knows their exact nature.
The Baikal region (the so-called Baikal rift zone) belongs to the territories with high seismicity: earthquakes regularly occur here, the strength of most of which is one or two points on the MSK-64 intensity scale. However, strong ones also happen, so in 1862, during the ten-point Kudara earthquake in the northern part of the Selenga delta, a piece of land with an area of 200 km was submerged? with 6 uluses, in which 1,300 people lived, and the Proval Bay was formed
A unique deep-sea neutrino telescope NT-200, built in 1993-1998, was created and is operating on the lake, with the help of which high-energy neutrinos are detected. On its basis, a neutrino telescope NT-200 + with an increased effective volume is being created, the construction of which is expected to be completed no earlier than 2017.
The first dives of manned submersibles on Lake Baikal were made in 1977, when the bottom of the lake was explored on a Canadian-made Pysis deep-water submersible. The depth of 1,410 meters was reached in Listvenichny Bay. In 1991, the Paysis from the eastern side of Olkhon sank to a depth of 1,637 meters.
In the summer of 2008, the Fund for Assistance to the Preservation of Lake Baikal conducted a research expedition "Mira" on Baikal ". 52 submersions of deep-sea manned vehicles" Mir "were carried out to the bottom of Baikal. Scientists delivered water samples to the P.P.Shirshov Research Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, soil and microorganisms raised from the bottom of Lake Baikal
In 1966, production began at the Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill (BPPM), as a result of which the adjacent bottom areas of the lake began to degrade. Dust and gas emissions have a negative effect on the taiga around the BPPM, there is a dry top and drying out of the forest. In September 2008, a closed water circulation system was introduced at the plant, designed to reduce the discharge of rinsing water. According to the source, the system turned out to be inoperative and less than a month after its launch, the plant had to be shut down. 
There are many legends associated with. The most fascinating of them is associated with the Angara River:
In the old days, mighty Baikal was cheerful and kind. He deeply loved his only daughter Angara. She was not more beautiful on earth. During the day it is light - lighter than the sky, at night it is dark - darker than a cloud. And whoever drove past the Angara, everyone admired her, everyone praised her. Even migratory birds: geese, swans, cranes - descended low, but rarely sat on the water of the Angara. They said: "Is it possible to blacken the light?"
Old man Baikal took care of his daughter more than his heart. Once, when Baikal fell asleep, Angara rushed to run to the young man Yenisei. Father woke up, splashed in angry waves. A fierce storm arose, mountains sobbed, forests fell, the sky turned black with grief, animals scattered all over the earth in fear, fish dived to the very bottom, birds flew to the sun. Only the wind howled, and the sea-hero raged. The mighty Baikal hit the gray mountain, broke off a rock from it and threw it after the fleeing daughter. The rock fell to the very throat of the beauty. The blue-eyed Angara pleaded, gasping and sobbing, and began to ask:
Father, I am dying of thirst, forgive me and give me just one drop of water.
Baikal shouted angrily:
I can only give my tears!
For thousands of years, the Angara flows into the Yenisei as water-tears, and the gray-haired lonely Baikal has become gloomy and scary. The rock that Baikal threw after its daughter was called by people the Shaman stone. Rich sacrifices were made to Baikal there. People said: "Baikal will get angry, it will tear off the Shaman stone, the water will rush and flood the whole earth." Currently, the river is blocked by a dam, so only the top of the shaman's stone is visible from the water 
There is a legend among the people about the creation of Lake Baikal "The Lord looked: the earth came out unkind ... no matter how she took offense at him! And, so as not to hold offense, he took and threw out to her not some kind of bedding for her feet, but the very measure of his generosity, which measured how much to be from him. The measure fell and turned into Baikal. " 
And also anomalous creatures will emerge, which cannot be found anywhere else on Earth.
Some lakes are the sites of catastrophic events in history, such as or, while others store or unique geological layers.
We present to our readers' attention 13 of the most amazing lakes on our planet.
Boiling lake
The Boiling Lake on the island of Dominica is the second largest in the world, although you would hardly want to dive into its waters.
Along the shores, the water temperature rises to 80-90 degrees Celsius, while the central part is too hot to get close and take measurements. The lake is almost completely closed by clouds of steam, and its grayish water is constantly boiling.
Laguna Colorado
The water of this eerie lake in Bolivia is blood-red, and its surface is covered with strange islands of sodium tetraborate - the same substance that is found in many detergents.
The color of the lake is associated with the colored bottom sediments and the large number of red algae that thrive in the area. They often walk in the waters of this lake, in sharp contrast to this
Plitvice Lakes
These striking lakes in Croatia are truly unique and the national park of the same name is one of the most beautiful places in the world.
In reality, this is a complex of 16 lakes, all of them are interconnected by a series of waterfalls and caves. Each lake is separated from the rest by slender natural travertine dams - an unusual shape that slowly forms from local lichens, algae and bacteria. Travertine dams are growing at a rate of 1 centimeter per year, making the lakes extremely vulnerable.
Lake Nyos
This lake in Cameroon is one of the few exploding lakes known in the world. Directly below it is a magma cavity that fills Nyos with carbon dioxide and turns its water into carbonic acid.
Recently, in 1986, the lake produced a huge, suffocating 1,700 people and 3,500 head of livestock from nearby villages. This was the largest case of asphyxiation due to natural phenomena.
There is a danger that this could happen in one of the three exploding lakes in the world. In fact, it is Nyos that may turn out to be the most likely place for a repeated disaster, since the natural channel along which the lake flows is fragile and vulnerable to cracks.
Aral Sea
The Aral Sea, which was once one of the largest lakes in the world, is now an almost completely dried up desert. On its territory, you can see the rusted skeletons of ships that once roamed the vastness of this reservoir, emphasizing its scale.
Since 1960, the lake has been steadily decreasing in size, primarily due to irrigation projects in the former Soviet Union, which changed the river beds that fed the lake.
Today the area of the Aral Sea is only 10 percent of its former size. The region's fisheries and ecosystems have been devastated, and the tragedy has been called one of the planet's worst environmental disasters.
Peach Lake
A gloomy lake on the island of Trinidad is the world's largest natural source of bitumen. The lake covers an area of more than 40 hectares, its depth is up to 75 meters, and it is even inhabited by seemingly extraterrestrial, extremophilic organisms.
Locals claim that the waters of this lake have mystical healing properties for everyone who bathes in it, although such claims have not been proven. Interestingly, bitumen from Peach Lake has been used to cover some streets in New York City.
Lake Don Juan
Discovered in 1961 in Antarctica, Hyperhaline Lake is the saltiest body of water on the planet.
It has a salt content of over 40 percent and is so high that Don Juan Lake never freezes, even though it is near the icy South Pole.
The Dead Sea
The deepest hyperhaline lake in the world is too salty for living creatures to live in, which is why the reservoir got its name.
The surface of the lake is 415 meters below sea level, making it the lowest on Earth. Due to the salt level in the Dead Sea, it is very difficult to swim, but it is extraordinarily pleasant to drift.
In the mid-20th century, ancient biblical scrolls were discovered in caves along the Dead Sea in Israel. In part, they have survived due to the unique climate of these places. The Dead Sea also borders the state of Jordan.
Lake Taal
Lake Taal, located in the island state of the Philippines, deserves special attention, as in its center there is an island called Volcano.
Since there is also a small lake in the crater of Volcano Island, this entire complex is known as the largest lake in the world on the island, which, in turn, is also located in the lake on the island. The tongue twister doesn't end there: there is also a small island in the crater lake of Volcano Island called Volcano Point. Got it?
Lake Balkhash
Lake Balkhash, located in Kazakhstan, is the 12th largest lake in the world, but in fact it is not this feature that makes it unique. This lake is surprising in that half of it is fresh water, while the other half is salt.
In part, Balkhash maintains this balance due to the fact that its two halves are connected by a narrow piece of land 3.5 kilometers wide and 6 meters deep.
There are fears that Balkhash may dry up like the Aral Sea, since at present the channels of many of the sources feeding it are changing.
Tonle Sap
Cambodia's unique Tonle Sap ecosystem is difficult to classify as a lake or a river.
During the dry season, the Tonle Sap water flows into the Mekong River, but during the monsoon, the water flow is so intense that it literally carries it back from this river, as a result of which the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia is formed. It is especially different in that its course changes in the opposite direction twice a year.
These unusual conditions make the region a true treasure trove in plan and has been named a UNESCO Biosphere.
Crater lake
After a large-scale eruption of Mount Mazama in the center of the American state of Oregon 7,700 years ago, a huge caldera remained about 600 meters deep into the mountain. Despite the complete absence of supply sources, the crater of Mount Mazama was gradually, over millennia, filled with just sediments.
Today it is the second deepest lake in North America, and its waters are virtually the clearest, cleanest and least polluted in the world.
Lake Baikal
The huge body of water in Russia is really unusual. This is the oldest and deepest lake in the world, in addition, it is the second largest on the planet and contains almost the purest water. By unknown means, it remained full for 25 million years, and at this time the lake contains 20 percent of the entire Earth.
Two-thirds of the 1,700 species that call Baikal their home are nowhere else in the world. It is not surprising that in 1996 the region was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
two in Braslavsky district and one each in Gluboksky, Polotsky and Rossony districts
Every year on March 22, the world celebrates World Water Day. Already today in many regions of the world there is a shortage of fresh water. We do not notice this yet. Nature has generously endowed our country with surface and underground water resources.
A lake in the "Zvon Gora" family estate settlement, 35 kilometers from Vitebsk. Photo by Svetlana Vasilyeva
Belarus is often called the country of lakes, and for good reason, because their total number exceeds 11 thousand. We decided to talk about 5 truly unique lakes in the Vitebsk region, each of which deserves to be known to everyone.
Southern Voloso - the deepest
Lake Yuzhnoye Voloso is located in the Braslav district. This lake has unique characteristics: it is one of the deepest and cleanest in Belarus. Already at a depth of 1 meter, the gentle slope turns into a steep cliff.
If we add to this cold water with a high oxygen content, then it becomes clear why relict species of crustaceans (related to Pontoporea, Pallas amphipod and others) can still be found in this reservoir, which have been living in South Volos since the Ice Age, that is, already over 9000 years.
Photo by Svetlana Vasilyeva
Drivyaty is the most fishy
The fifth largest in Belarus and, perhaps, the first in beauty, Lake Drivyaty is very popular among tourists and actually unites most of the Braslav reservoirs into a single aquatic organism. Braslav is based on its southern coast, the northern coast consists of glacial deposits that rise 20 meters above the water level. The depth in some places reaches 12 meters, which gives all the possibilities for diving and surfing.
Since ancient times, this particular lake was considered the most fishy in the entire region. First of all, Drivyaty is famous for its catch of the Braslav pike perch. Rare fish of the salmon family are also caught here: stinka and mudflow.
Lake Drivyaty. Photo photocentra.ru
The longest is the oldest
Lake Dolgoe is located in the Glubokoye region, its maximum depth reaching 53.6 meters. If you look at the reservoir from a height, it will immediately become clear why it got its name: the average width of Dolgoe is almost 20 times less than its length.
This lake can also claim the title of the oldest in Belarus. During one of the underwater expeditions, a ledge was found, which, according to some experts, is the shore of a reservoir that existed at this place more than 12 thousand years ago, when there was still a glacier here.
Lake Dolgoe. Photo travel.me
The deepest is the purest
Despite its name, this lake, located in the Polotsk region, won the "cleanest" category. According to official data, the transparency of its water is 9.5 meters (it is at this depth that you can still see a special white disk, with which this indicator is measured).
It is not surprising that this lake is popular with Belarusian divers. However, the low content of mineral and organic impurities has a bad effect on the animal world of Glubokoe - it is poor in fish.
Photo by Svetlana Vasilyeva
