Baikal Facts. (The Deepest lake in the world)

Lake Baikal is between 51 29'N and 55 46'N latitude and 103 41'E and 109 57'E longitude. It is about 636 km long and about 80 km wide. Its broadest point is located between the villages of Onguryon on the Western shore and Ust-Barguzin on the eastern shore, and its narrowest point is between the Selenga River Delta and the opposite Western shore. The length of the coastline is about 2,100 km. There are 30 rocky islands on the lake, the biggest one being Olkhon Island which is more than 130 km2 in area. Legend has it that Olkhon Island is the birthplace of Mongolian ruler Genghis Khan. Compared with the other great lakes of the world, Lake Baikal is enormous. Lake Tanganyika is half of Baikal's size, and Lake Ladoga is 23 times smaller. Baikal's volume, at 23,600 km3, is greater than any other fresh water lake and makes approximately 20 percent of the world's surface fresh water. As a point of comparison, if you were to drain Lake Baikal, it would take the Great Lakes of the United States: Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario to refill the empty basin. At 1,620 meters, nearly a mile deep, it is without doubt the world's deepest lake. The surface area of all the tributaries that feed lake Baikal is about 560,000 km2. Of the 336 rivers and streams flowing into Baikal, only one, the Angara, flows out from it. At different times, researchers have counted varying numbers of tributaries, up to 544 depending on the amount of precipitation during the year. The creation of Lake Baikal began following a geological cataclysm. Thermal energy deep within the Earth produced tectonic movements, shifting the Earth both horizontally and vertically and producing faults and rifts. These movements created the system of mountainous ridges and deep valleys extending from the North to the East and carved the lake's deep stone basin. Over thousands of years, the basin was filled by water from rain, rivers and streams. The Lake Baikal basin includes three underwater depressions. The first, in the South, extends from Kultuk Bay to the Selenga River Delta (6,890 km2). The Middle Baikal Depression reaches from the Selenga River Delta to the underwater Academic Mountain Ridge (11,295 km2). The Northern Baikal Depression extends from the Ridge to Baikal's northern shore (13,315 km2). These conditions create a large deep-water lake, with a relatively small number of shallow areas. Three factors, the depth of the lake, its huge volume of water, and its geographical position permit Baikal's somewhat unusual process of self-purification. This process produces unbelievably clear water. In fact, travel guides report that this has caused some problems with tourists susceptible to vertigo; some visitors feel uncomfortable when they peer over the side of a boat and are able to see 50 meters downward. The water clearness of Baikal probably concedes only to Crater Lake in Oregon, USA. Baikal's water, long famous for its spiritual and medicinal qualities, is called "living water." Unlike all other deep lakes of the world where the lower depths are dead, asphyxiated by hydrogen sulfide and other gases, Lake Baikal's deep waters are blanketed in fresh oxygen. It has only been in the past five years that scientists have discovered thermal springs beating up from the bottom of Baikal. The release of hot, oxygenated water from underwater vents mixed by two horizontal currents and by rising and falling vertical currents may explain why the water is alive with aquatic life. Besides being exceptionally clear and rich with aquatic life, Baikal's water is cold. Overall, the average temperature of the water is +4 C, but varies like many micro climates depending on location and season. The surface temperature in August in the middle of the lake is about 8 to 10 C and along the coastal line, 14 to 16 C. Below the surface, the water temperature plunges. In August, at a depth of 50 meters, the temperature is about 5 to 6 C, even in summertime. In Kultuk Bay, Chivyrkuysky Bay, Proval Bay, Peschanay Bay and the area called the Small Sea, temperatures climb to between 6 and 18 C, and can reach a balmy 20-24 C. In the winter, Baikal freezes gradually. By the end of October, shallow bays are covered with ice and after the first few months of winter, the entire surface of the lake freezes. The ice on Baikal's surface is comparatively thin, only one meter thick in most places. The melting process begins in the northwestern part of the lake at the end of April before spreading to other parts of the lake.