10 Deepest Lakes on Earth
Tue, Jun 3, 2008
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Have you ever swam out in a deep lake and not been able to see the bottom? All you can feel is the freezing cold water beneath your feet, all you see is darkness extending to infinity.
There is nothing wrong with being afraid of deep water even if you’re the best swimmer in the world, but when you add some fantasy to the story and consider the legends and mysteries that lie underneath the murky depths, fear can eat you alive.
As with any lake, depths fluctuate with climate and in particular rainfall. Notwithstanding this, today we’ll explore the top ten deepest lakes in the world and the stories and legends behind them.
10. Lake Matano
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With a tectonic origin and located in South Sulawesi in
9. Crater Lake
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With a violent volcanic past, the caldera lake in the Crater Lake National Park, Oregon, is a place of immeasurable beauty. Surrounding cliffs of up to two thousand feet high, two small islands and spectacular blue water, make this “outdoor laboratory” the perfect place for photographers.
Crater lake is the deepest lake in the
It was created when
Llao felt in love with Loha, daughter of the Klamath Indian chief, but got rejected and decided to punish humans with the curse of fire. Skell came in to help and after a long battle he managed to defeat Llao, whom he imprisoned deep down into the Under-World, collapsing the top of the
8. Great Slave Lake
Also known as the Grand lac des Esclaves after the Slavey North American Indians, it covers 11,000 sq miles in the Northwest Territories of Canada and goes down to 2,015 feet which makes it the deepest lake in
There is currently no physical evidence to suggest that an unidentified large creature is living in the
From his house, a Roman Catholic priest even saw a large dragon-headed creature that rose six to eight feet above the water and moved rapidly on the shores of the lake. The creature was subsequently named Ol’Slavey.
7. Issyk Kul Lake
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In the
According to the legend, during pre-Islamic times, the king of the Ossounes had donkey’s ears. He managed to hide them however, by killing all his barbers to make sure the secret wouldn’t leak out, yet one day, one of the barbers escaped and yelled the secret into a well and left it uncovered, which caused water to rise and flood the kingdom.
It would be interesting to explore the truths behind this story, as archaeological finds indicated the presence of an advanced ancient civilization where the the Issyk Kul lake is currently located.
6. Lake Malawi
Also known as Lake Nyasa, Lake Malawi is the most southern lake in the East African Rift valley system, located between
Researchers have studied sediments from core samples of
5. O’Higgins/San Martín Lake
Located in Patagonia, between the Aysén Region and the
The lake is named after South American heroes José de San Martín of
4. Lake Vostok
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Out of the 140 sub-glacial lakes on earth, Vostok is the largest and the deepest, with a maximum depth of 2,950 feet. Beneath
The average water temperature is -3 °C and the reason why it is still liquid below freezing is the high pressure from the weight of the ice above it.
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Scientists also discovered that the ice core may be 420,000 years old, meaning that the lake could have been sealed for over 500,000 years and the water beneath could be doubly as old.
So far there isn’t any proof of life in LakeVostok. Notwithstanding this, in case there are species living beneath the murky depths, they are most likely to have evolved special features in order to survive the lake’s oxygen-rich environment.3. Caspian Sea
Between the southern areas of the
Fauna in the Caspian basin is very rich: great numbers of sturgeon (that’s where you get the great caviar), the Caspian seal and some fish endemic to the Caspian Sea like the Kkturn (Caspian white fish), Caspian roach, Caspian bream and an array of rare species of salmon only to be found in that area.
The
2. Tanganyika Lake
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Divided between
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A recent story on National Georgraphic talks about a cold-blooded serial killer on the shores of
1. Lake Baikal
Also known as the “blue eye of Siberia”,
However, this enormous water formation may harbor a mystery of immense proportions: a gigantic animal, either of sturgeon-like appearance or a rogue sea serpent; Baikal’s very own Loch Ness Monster. No one can tell for sure if the legend is true or not, but the creature exists in people’s minds and haunts their thoughts.
If you know of any other deep lakes worth exploring, please drop us a line in the comments.
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Keetsa Mattress Store - Keetsa! Blog - Eco-Friendly and Green News » Blog Archive » Ever Wonder What The 10 Deepest Lakes Are? Wonder No More. Says:
June 4th, 2008 at 1:45 am[...] those of you wondering which are the 10 Deepest Lakes On Earth, wonder no more, as the guys at Environment Graffiti have come up with the list. They profile the [...]
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June 4th, 2008 at 4:06 pm[...] fait Masturbate-a-thon, la fille était contente et sa mère aussi! Des animaux étranges Les lacs les plus profonds C’est beau des échangeurs d’autoroutes Encore des panneaux de signalisation étranges [...]
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meneame.net Says:
June 4th, 2008 at 11:08 pmLos 10 lagos más profundos del mundo…
¿Te has bañado alguna vez en un lago tan profundo que no podías ver el fondo?. Lo único que puedes sentir es agua helada por debajo de tus pies, todo lo que ves es oscuridad que se extiende hasta el infinito. Es lógico que uno tema las aguas profu…
June 4th, 2008 at 4:13 am
Yeah, these are all photoshopped.I know because I feel like I need to justify my existence by trying to piss people off.
June 4th, 2008 at 11:28 am
Great article!
June 4th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
Great post, thanks for the info and the great images!
June 4th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
This article is not true. The “Great Lakes” of the U.S. are deeper, particularly Lake Superior. He forgot all about the great lakes.
June 4th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
Marsha, I’m afraid you’re wrong. Lake superior (the deepest) is shallower than the first item (lake Matano), despite the volume of water it can hold> For more info see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Lakes
June 4th, 2008 at 5:16 pm
Awesome article! ‘5,369 feet’ => HOLY SHIT
June 4th, 2008 at 5:16 pm
Just a heads up, the united states does not own them, they are part of north america and are in Canada’s borders as well.
Even though Lake Superior is wider, it is not as deep as the ones on this list.
June 4th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
of the US? no, shared between the US and Canada.
June 4th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
Lake Pend Oreille here in Idaho is 1,150 ft, not as deep as any on the list but still deep enough they used to test submarines in it.
June 4th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
I disagree – I think the Great Lakes of Canada are at least as deep.
June 4th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
Ahem, the Great Lakes are North American lakes, not “of the U.S.”
June 4th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
I think that they aren’t. Whose “think” is right?
June 4th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Lake Chelan, in WA is 3rd deepest in the US, and 9th deepest in the world, at 1486 feet. If it were drained, its bottom would be 380 feet below sea level.
June 4th, 2008 at 6:40 pm
Do they mean fresh water lakes? Toxilogical tests on the soup that makes up the Great Lakes may put them in s different category.
June 4th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Very Cool stuff. Thanks for sharing.
June 4th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
What feets are? are you a traveler time from medieval age? put in meters like any modern person.
June 4th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
Last time I checked they were Canadian
June 4th, 2008 at 7:31 pm
Hey Manuel, here in the USA, we use FEET. The metric system sucks. Deal with it.
June 4th, 2008 at 7:35 pm
Great post and pictures. I enjoyed reading about Lake Vostok. The lake under the ice is really cool. I wonder if there are living creatures there?
June 4th, 2008 at 7:38 pm
They are half-and-half actually. The border goes through the middle of all of them, with the only exception being Lake Michigan, which is entirely the U.S.
June 4th, 2008 at 7:46 pm
Sorry Manuel… youre on an American website, so using the standard unit of measurement for the country the article is written in is appropriate. One could as easily critique your poor English and tell you not to post unless you can speak and phrase the language properly. Youre being a troll.
June 4th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
Well done
June 4th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
Uh.. if the author of the article is from the U.S. then they will use whatever unit of measurement the country uses. Not whatever pleases you!
June 4th, 2008 at 8:19 pm
Lago de Atitlan, in Guatemala C.A.( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lago_de_Atitl%C3%A1n ) has depths of 1968 ft, because of the a large caldera at the bottom. Which would put it in the 9th spot.
June 4th, 2008 at 8:38 pm
nevermind on my post! sorry! I think that the first paragraph under Geological history states it wrong.
June 4th, 2008 at 8:40 pm
Sorry, i think i’m wrong! I going to bet that the first paragraph under Geological history is wrong. Sorry again.
June 4th, 2008 at 10:52 pm
This is fascinating! I know of a very small lake in southern Utah, USA. It is only about a hundred feet wide but is well over 1000 feet deep and no one knows exactly how deep. The water is almost completely bereft of free oxygen, and is quite cold even in summer. It is called Hidden Lake and is located about half way between Orderville, Utah, and Glendale, Utah just off Highway 89, between Zion and Bryce Canyon national parks. I haven’t heard about any lake monsters, though.
June 4th, 2008 at 11:25 pm
Your information are false… Verify your source:
http://www.worldlakes.org/lakeprofiles.asp?anchor=deepest
90% of the world population use metrics. And for your information, that’s not all people in usa who use feet. Ask an engineer or a scientific if he want to use the imperial system when in the range of nanometers,femtometers or anything else like that…
June 4th, 2008 at 11:46 pm
1. Indeed, the Great Lakes are on the border of the US and Canada. They are not in the 10 deepest lakes in the world. You have to live with it.
2. For the unit of measurement, the metric system is now a world standard. This link gives a lot of information:
http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/index.html
As written, the metric system will take over the traditional system. However, this process takes some time. You might not have noticed, but the US official unit of measurement is metric. Still, I do think the traditional system has its place today as it is still used a lot.
June 4th, 2008 at 11:56 pm
have you guys heard of lake taupo in new zealand? its so deep no one has reached the bottom. it was formed by an eruption so huge it could be seen in china.
June 5th, 2008 at 3:09 am
Hey jacka$$, I’m from the US and I absolutely hate the Imperical system and actually use the Metric more (I’m an engineer). I’ll use the metric system any day… Maybe you should take a science class (or at least pay attention in one), then you’ll see why majority of the world uses the Metric system.
June 5th, 2008 at 3:15 am
Wikipedia’s entry on Lake Taupo says it’s 186 metres deep (or 610 feet). Not even close, even allowing for Wikipedia’s usual inaccuracy.
June 5th, 2008 at 3:30 am
You might want to check that. Wikipedia disagrees. It says 186 meters deep, and was formed over 25000 years ago.
June 5th, 2008 at 4:18 am
At OutInLF2 and ManuelMontoya :
Manuel is kind of stupid for not knowing what “feet” are, but you OutInLF2 are even dumber for ignoring the standard unit of measure. I agree, you use the imperial system or something derived from it but that doesn´t mean S***
READ THIS http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mendenhall_Order
kthxbai
June 5th, 2008 at 5:10 am
He’s right, but the author can write as they please, nonetheless. And no, the metric system does not suck. It is far superior to the nonsensical, randomness that is the imperial system.
June 5th, 2008 at 9:47 am
well..lake taupo is a huge crater aswell..it’s considered one of the few “super” volcanoes in the world..if it errupted life would’nt be possible in nz and around due to the pollution..
June 5th, 2008 at 11:08 am
Just to correct you on a minor detail – Taupo has been proven in 1976 by John Randall and Matahi Whakataka-Brightwell (two Kiwis who also made rock carvings depicting a Maori hero around the lake) to be ONLY 183 metres in max depth.
Still, the Chinese did really record bright sunsets produced from sulphur in 180 AD. Cool enough that okeroa knows more about his/her own country than most others.
Btw, I don’t know your gender, so I said his/her. Sry, okeroa! :P
June 5th, 2008 at 11:28 am
One time in ‘96 I had the pleasure to visit the south shore of Great Slavey Lake and it seemed like a freaking ocean to me! The boats moored at the docks looked like ocean going vessels to my unpracticed eye. I come from a landlocked province but I’ve seen and tasted the ocean…so….plus the Slavey didn’t call themselves that; just like the Dogrib and Chipweyans it was a derogatory name given to them by European fur traders and the Cree Indians.
June 5th, 2008 at 11:55 am
Amazing how people argue about the lake depths…
The lake Nyos in Cameroon is only 690 feet deep but it has a dramatic story that could have made it figure in the list ; you can read more about this at neatorama http://www.neatorama.com/2007/05/21/the-strangest-disaster-of-the-20th-century/
June 5th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
Great post. Excelent pics
June 5th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
If it was ‘10 Strangest Lakes on Earth’ and not ‘10 Deepest Lakes on Earth’.
June 5th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
What about Pitt Lake, in British Columbia….apparently they haven’t found the bottom?
June 5th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
Pitt Lake – 142.6m
June 5th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
Hey the lakes are pretty deep…I dont really care about the exact measurments as Im never going to the bottom of any of these lakes. Since Im very bad at any kind of math, I cant figure metric or feet…..so good thing Im not a builder! None of it makes sense to me!! And Im in the US. Go plant a tree everyone!!
June 5th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
metric system sucks !!!! the whole world is using it because its modern. Just coz, USA cant adopt to modern measures …..it sucks !! God help you americans.
June 5th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
jebeno, covjece. posebno vostok.
June 5th, 2008 at 11:05 pm
So because your brain is too small to comprehend the metric system it sucks? You are just as illogical as the crappy imperial system.
Normal people use the metric system, no wonder everything in the U.S. is large, most of you can’t measure in normal sizes. (allmost suprising that surgery isn’t done with machetes)
June 6th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
The two African rift valley lakes, among the oldest lakes in the world, are quite fascinating for their massive and diverse fish fauna. Both lakes are so old, the cichlids of these two lakes have all evolved into many different specialized species, all with unique breeding and feeding behaviors. The paedophage (Lake Malawi), for instance, will find a mouth-brooding female with its fry in its mouth, and ram it from below to dislodge the fry! There are sand-dwelling carnivores that build huge breeding hills, rock-dwelling herbivores (mbuna, as the Africans call them in Malawi), and midwater paedophages. The amazing thing about all of these fish is that 99% of them (or more) are cichlids, and only about half of the species have been identified!
Cichlids are very popular aquarium fish too, each with its own personality, and all very colorful.
Lake Tanganyika has a similar array of cichlid fauna, all different from Lake Malawi. Very fascinating to study these two lakes and their fauna as an aquarist and one-time breeder.
June 7th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
The metric system is for fags and foreigners.
June 10th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
You suck.
June 14th, 2008 at 9:59 am
You’re a fag and a foreigner.
June 15th, 2008 at 11:06 pm
Hi Guys. It would be nice if there was also a metric height in this article.
I don’t understand the “feet” system.
Greez from Switzerland
June 15th, 2008 at 11:55 pm
That doesn’t make sense…but whatever. I am an engineer in the US and hate the imperial system. The only reason that we have not switched to the metric system comes down to the cost and time of conversion. Many processes taking place will need new, calibrated equipment to replace the current ones using the imperial system. This costs money. Another reason, “That’s how we’ve always done it” tends to ride the wave until it eventually breaks. Eventually, the wave will break.
June 16th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Crater Lake looks like somewhere out of this world.
June 16th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
Hi Sepp
1 inch = 2.54 cm
1 foot = 30.48 cm
1 mile = 1.609 km
June 22nd, 2008 at 9:40 pm
Marsha, you idiot.
July 8th, 2008 at 11:36 pm
dickhead
July 15th, 2008 at 9:21 am
You’re right, man. “Feet” as unit of measurement sucks really hard.
“The United States of America signed the Metre Convention in 1878.”http://www.bipm.org/en/convention/member_states/us/It seems Americans dislike abiding by an agreement (as with eg Human Rights)…
December 6th, 2008 at 12:54 am
Articles like this remind me how wonderful our planet really is. I want to be an explorer so I can see all these beautiful things without going bankrupt. Anyone want to offer me a job?
January 20th, 2009 at 9:45 am
there is a lake in utah called fish lake it supposably is an ancient volcano crater and has no known bottom.
May 28th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
i like the pictures thatare published on the website
May 30th, 2009 at 1:19 pm
And the Red Lake in Croatia? Not wide but deep, no one reached the bottom but estimated at about 2000 feet..
June 8th, 2009 at 6:28 am
Lake Mead
June 22nd, 2009 at 2:54 pm
When comparing average depths, Crater Lake, OR is the third deepest lake in the world. Only Lakes Tanganyika and Baikal are deeper. When compared against those lakes whose basins are entirely above sea level, and when making this comparison based on average depths, Crater Lake, OR is the deepest in the world! Both Lakes Tanganyika and Baikal have basins that estend below sea level.
June 26th, 2009 at 3:53 am
NICE PICS. SPECIALLY #1. It surprised me! I’ll probably have to go there sometime with my family .
July 10th, 2009 at 2:03 am
Wow, this is such a neat resource. And to think I was thinking our lake nearby at almost 1000 ft deep was big! (Harrison Lake, BC, Canada)
Thanks for having this website!
July 10th, 2009 at 2:09 am
Oh and for those who can’t go online and use a metric converter knowing FULL well the USA is in Imperial measurement, 1000ft = aprox 300m.
July 29th, 2009 at 6:57 pm
It needs to be said that crater lake is the 7th deepest lake in the world and 2nd deepest in the northern hemisphere
August 13th, 2009 at 9:02 am
Hi!
A good article but poorly researched! Three of the deepest lakes in the world are European and one of vthem is Norwegian. Most of the lakes you have listed are American and these people can as usual not figure out vwhat meters are in feet and claim they don’t even use the metric system. They do. They’re just lazy, ignorant and think they rule the world. They don’t. I’m trying to like the Americans but comments like these they left here makes this very very hard.
August 24th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
Wronggggg man.. lot of mestakes… 1st you miss a one thing, look a bit europe map and you will see Red lake in Croatia explorers didn’t find a bottom of it… but they think that is about 2000 ft deep or even more…. look a bit on the net, and than write stuff like this…
August 26th, 2009 at 1:11 pm
If we filled a big hole with the pissing match going on here, it would be the deepest lake in the world. ;)
September 19th, 2009 at 2:50 am
At over 460m, Lake Hauroko in NZ’s Southland, is the country’s deepest lake. It would be worth a closer look at.
January 13th, 2010 at 7:40 am
Wiki claims 610 meters for Lake Quesnel in B.C. That’s 1982.5 ft. Converting metric…so easy a child can do it.
January 22nd, 2010 at 2:52 pm
“If we filled a big hole with the pissing match going on here, it would be the deepest lake in the world. ;)”
correction: Deepest “salt” lake, and it would be 1700 foot-meters deep!