The oldest and deepest. The deepest places on planet earth

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Baikal is a great miracle of nature, a generous gift from heaven. Always so different, multifaceted and charming, he fascinates with his pristine beauty. It is impossible to talk about Baikal without admiration. This lake is unique; it simply has no analogues in the world.

Baikal is the most ancient and deep lake on the planet, located in the south of Eastern Siberia. Its approximate age, according to some scientists, is about 25-35 million years. The entire perimeter of the lake is surrounded by hills and mountain ranges. Its dimensions are impressive: length - 636 km, width - 80 km, depth - 1642 meters, and total area water surface - 31.5 thousand km2.

Baikal is fed by about 400 large and small rivers, and only one, the great Angara, originates from it. The lake's waters include 26 islands. The largest and most picturesque among them is Olkhon Island. Baikal is one of the largest natural reservoirs of fresh water on Earth. It contains up to 19% of the world's reserves of crystal clear, almost distilled water.

Baikal water certainly deserves the highest epithets and ratings. She
so transparent and clean that some areas of the bottom can be seen at depths of up to 40 meters. The lake owes this purity largely to one of its important inhabitants - the epishura crustacean. These amazing animals are a kind of biological filter and are capable of purifying up to 450 km3 of water per year. In addition, epishura serves as the most important link in the lake’s food chain, providing food for young fish.

The water here is cold, rich in oxygen, ideal for the development of living organisms and plants. There is no other lake in the world that can compare with Baikal in terms of biological diversity and uniqueness of fauna. It is inhabited by more than 2,600 species of animals and over 1,000 species of plants. Most of them are clearly endemic, existing only in the local biocenosis.

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Baikal waters are rich in fish. They are home to such commercial species as: omul, grayling, whitefish, taimen, lenok, sturgeon and others. The fish called golomyanka is of great interest to scientists. She is viviparous, her body is translucent, consisting of 30% fat alone. The Golomyanka population is very large. If we compare the biomass of these fish with all the others inhabiting the lake, it will exceed them by more than 2 times.

Another unusual representative of the fauna is the Baikal seal - the only seal in the world that lives in fresh water. This is a large animal. Males reach a length of up to 1.8 meters and a weight of 150 kg. Seals are excellent swimmers and very curious creatures, as evidenced by their constant accompaniment of drifting ships. They feed mainly on golomyanka, eating more than a ton of this fish per year. The number of seals on Lake Baikal is quite large, about 100 thousand individuals. An annual hunt for seals is carried out, as a result of which up to 6 thousand animals are caught. Seal meat and fat are highly valued among the local population. Meat is used in cooking, and fat is used for medical and household needs.

Baikal has become a cozy home for many birds. Here in large quantities There are different types of ducks, seagulls, cormorants, geese, and screaming swans. The eagle is especially respected among the local population, who are mainly Buryats. It is glorified in legends and ancient myths, it is considered a cult bird here. These protected areas are home to 7 species of eagles, including the most majestic, the Imperial Eagle. This is a huge bird, with a wingspan of about 2 meters, sometimes living up to 100 years.

You can find entire volumes of information about Baikal, both on the Internet and in various magazines and book publications. The lake is not deprived of attention from tourists, researchers and politicians. From year to year, stunning scientific discoveries are associated with Baikal; expeditions are constantly being equipped for thorough research. I decided to devote this topic to the most interesting facts and events related to Lake Baikal. I'll try to save you from boring geographical terms, only the most interesting things will be here. Most of the photos in the topic are clickable (open by clicking)

– 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 list World Heritage UNESCO

Scientists disagree about the origin of Lake Baikal, as well as about its age. Scientists traditionally estimate the age of the lake at 25-35 million years. This fact also makes Baikal unique natural object, since most lakes, especially those of glacial origin, live on average 10-15 thousand years, and then fill with silty sediments and become swampy


There is also a version about the relative youth of Baikal, put forward by Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences Alexander Tatarinov in 2009, which received indirect confirmation during the second stage of the “Worlds” expedition on Baikal. In particular, the activity of mud volcanoes at the bottom of Lake Baikal allows scientists to assume that modern coastline the lakes are only 8 thousand years old, and the deep-sea part is 150 thousand years old

Baikal contains about 19% of the world's reserves fresh water. 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 clear 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 few mineral salts (100 mg/l) that it can be used instead of distilled water.





Baikal is home to 2,630 species and varieties of plants and animals, 2/3 of which are endemic, that is, they live only in this body of water. This abundance of living organisms is explained by the high oxygen content in the entire thickness of Baikal water


Photo of Baikal from space

The most interesting fish in Baikal is the viviparous golomyanka fish, whose body contains up to 30% fat. She surprises biologists with her daily feeding migrations from the depths to shallow waters

The second, after the golomyanka, is a miracle of Baikal, to which it owes its exceptional purity, the crustacean epishura (there are about 300 species). Baikal epishura is a copepod, 1 mm long, a representative of plankton, found throughout the entire depth (it is not found in bays where the water warms up). Baikal would not be Baikal without this copepod, barely noticeable to the eye, amazingly efficient and numerous, managing to filter all the Baikal water ten times or even more in a year

A typical marine mammal lives here - the seal, or 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. Thus, in the 1930s, specialists from the Baikal Limnological Station discovered unusual forms of ice cover, characteristic only of Lake Baikal. For example, “hills” are cone-shaped ice hills up to 6 meters high, hollow inside. In appearance, they resemble ice tents, “open” in the direction opposite to the shore. The hills can be located separately, and sometimes form miniature " mountain ranges»

Satellite images clearly show dark rings with a diameter of 5-7 km on the ice of Lake Baikal. The origin of the rings is unknown. Scientists believe that rings on the ice of the lake may have appeared many times already, but it was impossible to see them due to huge size. Now, with the use of the latest technologies, this has become possible, and scientists will begin to study this phenomenon. Such rings were first discovered in 1999, then in 2003, 2005. As you can see, rings do not form every year. The rings are also not located in the same place. Scientists were especially interested in the reason for the shift of the rings in 2008 to the southwest, compared to 1999, 2003 and 2005. In April 2009, such rings were discovered again, and again in a different place 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 reasons and mechanisms for 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) is an area with high seismicity: earthquakes regularly occur here, most of which are one or two points on the MSK-64 intensity scale. However, strong ones also happen, so in 1862, during the ten-magnitude Kudarin earthquake in the northern part of the Selenga delta, a section of land with an area of ​​200 km went under water? with 6 uluses, in which 1,300 people lived, and Proval Bay was formed

A unique deep-sea neutrino telescope NT-200, built in 1993-1998, was created and operates on the lake, with the help of which high-energy neutrinos are detected. On its basis, the NT-200+ neutrino telescope 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 vehicles on Baikal were made in 1977, when the bottom of the lake was explored on the Canadian-made Paisis deep-sea vehicle. In Larch Bay, a depth of 1,410 meters was reached. In 1991, "Pysis" on the eastern side of Olkhon sank to a depth of 1,637 meters.

In the summer of 2008, the Foundation for Assistance to the Conservation of Lake Baikal conducted a research expedition “Worlds” on Baikal. 52 dives of the deep-sea manned vehicles “Mir” were carried out to the bottom of Lake Baikal. Scientists delivered water samples to the Scientific Research Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences named after P. P. Shirshov. 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 negatively affect the taiga around the BPPM, and the forest becomes dry and dry. In September 2008, the plant introduced a closed water circulation system designed to reduce the discharge of wash 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 stopped

There are many legends associated with. The most fascinating of them is connected with the Angara River:
In the old days, mighty Baikal was cheerful and kind. He deeply loved his only daughter Angara. There was no more beautiful woman on earth. During the day it is light - brighter than the sky, at night it is dark - darker than a cloud. And no matter who drove past the Angara, everyone admired it, everyone praised it. Even migratory birds: geese, swans, cranes descended low, but the Angaras rarely landed on the water. They said: “Is it possible to blacken something light?”

Old man Baikal took care of his daughter more than his heart. One day, when Baikal fell asleep, Angara rushed to run to the young man Yenisei. The father woke up and splashed his waves angrily. A fierce storm arose, the mountains began to weep, forests fell, the sky turned black with grief, animals scattered in fear all over the earth, fish dived to the very bottom, birds flew away to the sun. Only the wind howled and the heroic sea raged. The mighty Baikal hit the gray mountain, broke off a rock from it and threw it after the fleeing daughter. The rock fell right on the beauty's throat. The blue-eyed Angara begged, gasping and sobbing, and began to ask:

Father, I am dying of thirst, forgive me and give me at least one drop of water.

Baikal shouted angrily:

I can only give you my tears!

For thousands of years, the Angara has been flowing into the Yenisei like tear-water, and gray, lonely Baikal has become gloomy and scary. The rock that Baikal threw after his daughter was called the Shaman Stone. Rich sacrifices were made there to Baikal. People said: “Baikal will be angry, it will tear off the Shaman’s stone, the water will gush and flood the whole earth.” Currently, the river is blocked by a dam, so only the top of the shaman 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 unkindly... as if she would not take offense at him! And, so as not to hold a grudge, he took and waved for her not some kind of bedding for her feet, but the very measure of his bounties, with which measured how much to be from him. The measure fell and turned into Baikal."

And also anomalous creatures are born that cannot be found anywhere else on Earth.
Some lakes are the sites of catastrophic events in history, such as or, while others contain unique geological strata.
We present to our readers the 13 most amazing lakes on our planet.

Boiling Lake

Boiling Lake on the island of Dominica is the second largest in the world, although you probably wouldn't 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 covered with clouds of steam, and its grayish water is constantly seething.
Laguna Colorado

The water of this eerie lake in Bolivia is blood red and its surface is covered strange islands made from sodium tetraborate - the same substance that is included in many detergents.
The color of the lake is associated with colored bottom sediments and a large number of red algae that grow rapidly in this place. People often walk in the waters of this lake, in sharp contrast
Plitvice Lakes

These amazing lakes in Croatia are truly unique, and the namesake national park represents one of the most beautiful places in the world.
In reality, it is a complex of 16 lakes, all interconnected by a series of waterfalls and caves. Each lake is separated from the others by thin natural dams of travertine - an unusual shape that is slowly formed 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 known exploding lakes in the world. Directly below it is a cavity of magma, which fills Nyos with carbon dioxide and turns its waters into carbonic acid.
Recently, in 1986, the lake produced a huge explosion that suffocated 1,700 people and 3,500 head of livestock from nearby villages. This was the largest case of asphyxia due to a natural phenomenon.
There is a danger that this could happen on one of the three exploding lakes in the world. In fact, it is Nyos that may be the most likely place for a repeat disaster, since the natural channel along which the lake flows is fragile and vulnerable to cracks.
Aral Sea

The Aral Sea, once one of the world's largest lakes, is now an almost completely dry desert. On its territory you can see the rusted skeletons of ships that once plied the expanses of this reservoir, emphasizing its scale.
Since 1960, the lake has steadily decreased in size, primarily as a result of irrigation projects of the former Soviet Union, which changed the courses of the rivers that fed the lake.
Today the area of ​​the Aral Sea is only 10 percent of its previous 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

Dismal 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 extraterrestrial, extremophile organisms.
Local residents claim that the waters of this lake have mystical properties. medicinal properties for everyone who bathes in it, although such claims have not been proven. Interestingly, bitumen obtained from Peach Lake was used to pave some New York City streets.
Lake Don Juan

The hypersaline lake, discovered in 1961 in Antarctica, is the saltiest body of water on the planet.
Its salt content is more than 40 percent, so high that Lake Don Juan never freezes, even though it lies near the icy south pole.
Dead Sea

The deepest hyperhaline lake in the world is too salty for living creatures to live in it, 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. The salt levels in the Dead Sea make it very difficult to swim, but extremely pleasant to drift.
In the mid-20th century, in caves along Dead Sea, located in Israel, ancient biblical scrolls were discovered. They have been preserved partly due to the unique climate of these places. The Dead Sea also borders the state of Jordan.
Taal Lake

Taal Lake, located in island state The Philippines deserves special attention, since in its center there is an island called Volcano.
Since in the crater of Vulcan Island there is also no big lake, this entire complex is known as largest lake in a world on an island, which in turn is also in a lake on an island. The tongue twister doesn't end there: there is also a small island in Vulcan Island Crater Lake called Vulcan Point. Got it?
Lake Balkhash

Lake Balkhash, located in Kazakhstan, is the 12th largest lake in the world, but this is not actually what makes it unique. This lake is surprising in that half of it consists of fresh water, while the other half is salt water.
Balkhash partly 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 could dry up like the Aral Sea, since the beds of many of the sources that feed it are currently being changed.
Tonle Sap

The unique Tonle Sap ecosystem in Cambodia is difficult to classify as a lake or a river.
During the dry season, the waters of the Tonle Sap flow into the Mekong River, but during the monsoon period the flow of water is so intense that it is literally carried back out of this river, resulting in the formation of the largest freshwater lake V Southeast Asia. It is especially different in that its course changes in the opposite direction twice a year.
Because of these unusual conditions, the region is a real treasure trove in terms of , 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 about 600 meters deep into the mountain was left. Despite the complete absence of feeding sources, the crater of Mount Mazama gradually, over thousands of years, was filled with simply sediment.
Today it is the second deepest lake in North America, and its waters are nearly the clearest, cleanest, and least polluted in the entire world.
Lake Baikal

The huge body of water in Russia is truly 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 filled for 25 million years, and in given time The lake contains 20 percent of the entire Earth.
Two thirds of the 1,700 species that call Baikal home cannot be found anywhere else in the world. It is not surprising that in 1996 the region was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

two in Braslav district and one each in Glubokoe, Polotsk and Rossony districts

Every year on March 22 the world celebrates World Day water resources. Already today, many regions of the world experience a shortage of fresh water. We don't notice this yet. Nature has generously endowed our country with surface and underground water resources.

Lake in the settlement family estates“Ringing Mountain”, which is 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

In the Braslav region, Lake South Volos is located. 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, it becomes clear why in this reservoir you can still find relict species of crustaceans (related Pontoporea, Pallas amphipod and others), which have lived in Southern Volos since the Ice Age, that is, already more than 9000 years.

Photo by Svetlana Vasilyeva

Drivyaty - the fishiest

The fifth largest in Belarus and, perhaps, the first in beauty, Lake Drivyaty is very popular among tourists and actually unites most of Braslav’s reservoirs into a single aquatic organism. on his south coast Braslav is founded, the northern coast consists of glacial deposits that rise 20 meters above the water level. The depth in some places reaches 12 meters, which provides every opportunity 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 catches of Braslav pike perch. Rare fish of the salmon family are also caught here: stink and selyava.

Lake Drivyaty. Photo photocentra.ru

The longest is the oldest

In the Glubokoe district there is Lake Dolgoye, whose maximum depth reaches 53.6 meters. If you look at the reservoir from above, it will immediately become clear why it got its name: the average width of Dolgogo 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 in this place more than 12 thousand years ago, when a glacier still stood here.

Lake Long. 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 among Belarusian divers. However, the low content of mineral and organic impurities has a bad effect on the fauna of Glubokoye - it is poor in fish.

Photo by Svetlana Vasilyeva

Lakes are natural bodies of water formed in depressions on land that store 67.4% of all fresh water on Earth. The sizes and depths of lakes can be very different, and some of them are significantly superior to many seas in these indicators.

IN this review presented ten deepest lakes in the world.

10th place: – lake tectonic origin, located in the south Indonesian island 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 plants, fish and crustaceans. On its banks there are deposits of nickel ore. The Patea River has its source in Matano, which, flowing through a 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 same name 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 the Mount Mazama volcano. Thanks to the melting snow, the water in the lake is especially clean and blue. Crater Lake has an unusual attraction - a huge log called the "Old Man of the Lake", which has been floating in a vertical position in the reservoir 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 throughout North America . Its maximum depth reaches 614 meters. For eight months of the year, the surface of the lake is covered with ice, which in winter is so thick that it can support a heavy truck. In the 1930s, gold was discovered here, which led to the founding of the city of Yellowknife on the shores of the lake.

7th place: Issyk-Kul is a salty 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 kel” is translated as “hot lake”. It received this name due to the fact that its brackish water does not freeze even in severe winters. There are several connections with Lake Issyk-Kul 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 Tamerlane’s warriors built their famous cairns. In 2006, traces were found at the bottom of the lake ancient civilization, which existed 2.5 thousand years ago.

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

5th place: San Martin(another name is 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 its depth is 836 meters. This 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 Pascua River, which flows into Pacific Ocean. A unique feature of the lake is the milky blue hue of the water, which occurs due to particles of rock sediments that fall into the lake along with the meltwater of glaciers and settle on its bottom.

4th place: Caspian Sea – the largest endorheic lake on the planet with salt water, called the sea due to the fact that its base is made up of 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, many sturgeon, and some species of fish are found only here. This huge body of water 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 a thickness of ice of 4 kilometers. The unique reservoir is located in Antarctica, next to the Russian Antarctic station "Vostok", in honor of which it received 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, drilling into the ice shell of which lasted 20 years. Lake research can reveal a lot useful information world, because the conditions there are similar to those that existed many millions of years ago, and there is also an assumption that similar lakes exist 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 lake in the world (673 km), belonging to four countries - Tanzania, Congo, Burundi and Zambia. The lake is located in the deepest tectonic depression in Africa. It was discovered by chance 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 National Geographic magazine published a story about a 9-meter killer crocodile that caused the death 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. 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 Baikal is greater than in all US lakes 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; about 1,700 species of flora and fauna live here, many of which are found nowhere else. The lake is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.