Limnology (2+1)

Unit 2- Lakes

2.3.1. Lakes of the world
Largest by continent
The largest lakes (surface area) by continent are:
• Australia - Lake Eyre (salt lake)
• Africa - Lake Victoria, also the third-largest freshwater lake on Earth. It is one of the Great Lakes of Africa.
• Antarctica - Lake Vostok (sub-glacial)
• Asia - Lake Baikal (if the Caspian Sea is considered a lake, it is the largest in Eurasia, but is divided between the two geographic continents)
• Oceania - Lake Eyre when filled; the largest permanent (and freshwater) lake in Oceania is Lake Taupo.
• Europe - Lake Ladoga, followed by Lake Onega, both located in northwestern Russia.
• North America - Lake Michigan-Huron, which is hydrologically a single lake. However, lakes Huron and Michigan are often considered separate lakes, in which case Lake Superior would be the largest.
• South America - Lake Titicaca, which is also the highest navigable body of water on Earth at 3,821 m above sea level. The much larger Lake Maracaibo is considered by some to be the second-oldest lake on Earth, but since it lies at sea level and nowadays is a contiguous body of water with the sea, others consider that it has turned into a bay.

Notable lakes
• Lake Michigan-Huron is the largest lake by surface area 117,350 km². It also has the longest lake coastline in the world: 8,790 km. Compared to Huron and Michigan lakes, the Lake Superior alone comprises of 82,414 km². However, Huron still has the longest coastline of 6,157 km.
• The world's smallest geological ocean, the Caspian Sea having a surface area of 394,299 km² which is greater than the six largest freshwater lakes combined, and it's frequently cited as the world's largest lake.
• The deepest lake is Lake Baikal in Siberia, with a depth of 1,637 m and the mean depth is also the greatest in the world (749 m). It is also the world's largest lake by volume (23,600 km³, though smaller than the Caspian Sea at 78,200 km³), and the second longest (about 630 km from tip to tip).
• The longest lake is Lake Tanganyika, with a length of about 660 km (measured along the lake's center line). It is also the second largest by volume and second deepest (1,470 m) in the world, after lake Baikal.
Note : The world's oldest lake is Lake Baikal, followed by Lake Tanganyika (Tanzania).
• The world's highest lake is the Crater lake of Ojos del Salado, located at 6,390 m (20,965 ft). The Lhagba pool in Tibet at 6,368 m (20,892 ft) comes second.
• The highest large freshwater lake in the world is lake Manasarovar in Tibet an autonomous region of China.
• The world's highest commercially navigable lake is Lake Titicaca in Peru and Bolivia located at 3,812 m (12,507 ft) above sea level. It is also the largest freshwater (and second largest overall) lake in South America.
• The world's lowest lake is the Dead Sea, bordering Israel and Jordan located at 418 m (1,371 ft) below sea level. It is also one of the lakes with highest salt concentration.
• Lake Huron has the longest lake coastline in the world of about 2980 km, excluding the coastline of its many inner islands.
• The largest island in a freshwater lake is Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron, with a surface area of 2,766 km².