The deepest places on earth. Lake Baikal

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Baikal is a great miracle of nature, a generous gift from heaven. Always so different, many-sided and charming, it fascinates with its 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 oldest and deepest 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 water area of ​​the lake includes 26 islands. The largest and most picturesque among them is Olkhon Island. Baikal is one of the largest natural fresh water reservoirs 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 parts of the bottom are visible at depths of up to 40 meters. Such purity of the lake is largely due to one of its important inhabitants - the crustacean epishura. These amazing animals are a kind of biological filter, and are able to purify up to 450 km3 of water per year. In addition, epishura serves as the most important link in the food chain of the lake, being food for juvenile fish.

The water here is cold, rich in oxygen, ideal for the development of living organisms and plants in it. There is no other lake in the world that could be compared with Baikal in terms of biological diversity and uniqueness of the fauna. It is inhabited by more than 2,600 animal species and over 1,000 plant species. Most of them are pronounced endemics that exist 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. Of great interest to scientists is the golomyanka fish. She is viviparous, her body is translucent, 30% consisting of one fat. The golomyanka population is very large. If we compare the biomass of these fish with all the rest inhabiting the lake, then 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 mass of 150 kg. Seals are excellent swimmers and very curious creatures, as evidenced by their constant escort of drifting ships. They feed mainly on golomyanka, eating more than a ton of this fish per year. The number of seals on Baikal is quite large, about 100 thousand individuals. The seal is hunted annually, as a result of which up to 6 thousand animals are hunted. Seal meat and fat is highly valued among the local population. Meat is used in cooking, and fat is used in medical and domestic needs.

Baikal has become a cozy home for many birds. Here in large numbers there are different types of ducks, gulls, cormorants, geese, screaming swans. The eagle enjoys special respect among the local population, and these are mainly Buryats. It is sung in legends and ancient myths, it is considered a cult bird here. Seven species of eagles live in these protected areas, including the most majestic - the burial eagle. This is a huge bird, with a wingspan of about 2 meters, sometimes living up to 100 years.

Not only the most voluminous. It is the deepest and one of the most ancient. Baikal is located in the deepest cleft on the surface of the planet. This cleft is the most complex and least understood fault zone in the earth's crust. The depth of the lake is on average 745 meters, and the deepest point reaches 1637 meters. The lake stretches for 636 km, and its width reaches 80 km. The surface of the lake is 31,000 km2.

This ancient lake arose 20-30 million years ago as a result of tectonic shifts. Fresh and clean water in the lake is preserved due to two factors. Firstly, the endemic Baikal epishura lives in it - a microscopic crustacean that filters a huge amount of algae and bacteria. In addition, most of the watershed of Lake Baikal is supported by rocks. Thus, the inflow of water on the way to the lake almost does not come into contact with sediments and minerals. This is an oligotrophic lake, and the water in it has excellent drinking qualities.

365 rivers flow into Baikal, among which the Yenisei is the most major river Siberia. The lake contains 20% of the fresh water on the surface of the Earth. The volume of fresh water in the lake is 26,000 cubic kilometers. The ancient reservoir is considered one of the cleanest in the world. Water extracted from the depths of the lake can be drunk without pre-treatment. In winter, the lake freezes and is covered with ice.

The most oligotrophic lake in the world

Lake Superior, belonging to the system of freshwater lakes in North America, is the largest freshwater lake in the world in terms of water surface area. Its surface occupies 82,170 km2. It contains as much water as all the Great Lakes combined: 11,600 cubic kilometers. The fresh water reserve of the lake is 10% of the total supply on the surface of the planet Earth.

A rare thing is connected with Lake Superior - the snow effect of the lake, when the winter air over the warm surface of the water is saturated with steam, turns into clouds, and then precipitation falls in the form of snow.

The amount of water in the lake is enough to flood North and South America to a depth of 30 cm. The deepest mark in the lake is 400 m. More than 300 rivers and streams flow into Lake Superior.

If stretch coastline lakes in a straight line, then she could connect Bahamas and Duluth, a city in Minnesota, USA.

On average, the transparency of the water in the lake reaches 8 meters in depth. This is the cleanest and most transparent of the Great Lakes and the most oligotrophic lake in the world. The lake is 563 km long and 257 km wide. In summer, the sun sets on the western shore of the lake 35 minutes later than on its southeastern shore.

The largest lake in the world by area is the Caspian Sea. But it is not freshwater. The salinity of the water in it is approximately one third of the salinity of the water in the seas of the planet.

Lake Superior is one of the youngest lakes in the world. He is only 10,000 years old.

Eternal human interest in everything very, very in the world - big, small, long, high, deep - inexhaustible in the search for new curious facts and unusual records. And if it is not possible to outdo exceptional natural masterpieces, then in the fields 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. In the material below - 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 1,000, and almost all are subjects of the Holy See.

The next largest state in terms of territory (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 a 2014 estimate.

The largest city in the world

The largest city in the world in terms of population and at the same time the largest sea ​​port— Shanghai, China. In this metropolis, according to 2015, 24,152,700 people live.

The largest urban agglomeration is Tokyo-Yokohama, 37,843,000 people. The population of Tokyo alone is 13,617,445 people (as of 2016).

There is no single assessment of cities by area, since the official city limits around the world are 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 proper accounts for approximately 1368 sq. km. km (and this territory is steadily growing every year due to the suburbs), the suburbs - about 15042 square meters. km.

The largest and smallest island in the world

With such a vague definition, the volume of wood was 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 the present time, if you do not take into account the aspen poplar grove - clonal colony Pando (about 6000 tons). And this sequoiadendron, whose age is estimated at 2300-2700 years, continues to grow and adds about 1.5 cm in width every year. The measured height of the tree is 83.8 meters, the trunk circumference at the ground is 31.3 meters, and the maximum trunk diameter is 11.1 meters.

However, in terms of diameter, the giant is inferior to the Mexican Tule Tree in the city of Santa Maria del Tule. According to the measurements of 2005, its diameter at the ground is 11.62 meters, the circumference is 36.2 meters. The exact height of the tree is difficult to measure due to its wide crown; according to approximate measurements - about 35.4 meters. Scientists still argue about its age and the actual number of trunks, but this did not prevent the Tule Tree from being included in the UNESCO list in 2001 as a natural monument of international importance.

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 the weight can exceed 150 tons. Historically, the range 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, they can be seen from the shores of Sri Lanka, the Maldives and the Seychelles.

The largest whale ever taken by people is considered to be a female blue whale, caught in 1926 in the waters of the South Shetland Islands. The length of her body from the fork of the tail fin to the end of the snout is 33.27 meters, and her weight is 176.792 tons.

The largest animal on land is the bush elephant (a type of African elephant). 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 the elephant at the shoulders is close to 3-3.8 meters. The recorded weight of the largest bush elephant was 12.24 tons. 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. Journal national geographic called the fastest cheetah a female named Sarah (also Sahara): she ran 100 meters in 5.95 seconds. The sprint run of cheetahs for prey lasts no more than 20 seconds and is limited to a distance of 400 meters.

At the same time, among all the animals of the world, cheetahs occupy only 13th place in terms of speed. The championship is for the birds. And the fastest bird and, in general, the fastest representative of the animal kingdom is the peregrine falcon, which in a dive flight develops a speed of 322 km / h, the record noted by the researchers is 389 km / h. However, in horizontal flight, the peregrine falcon is inferior to the Brazilian folded lip (a species of bats and the fastest mammal) with its speed over 160-200 km / h and swifts (species - black, needle-tailed), capable of accelerating to a maximum of 169 km / h.

Among the fish, black marlin stands out for its speed: on average, these large oceanic fish are able to cut through the water column at a speed of 85 km / h, the maximum set speed of a representative of the species is 129 km / h.

Of the insects, horseflies fly the fastest - on average 60 km / h, maximum - 90 km / h.

Some representatives of the class of reptiles can reach speeds of up to 35-40 km / h, but no more. These are bearded dragons, green iguanas, and leatherback turtles in the water.

The biggest 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 fishermen.

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, part of 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 over 4 meters long and weighed about 1.5 tons.

The biggest shark in the world

The debate about the size and weight of the largest sharks has been going on for decades. Currently, the existence of exceptional specimens of whale sharks over 20 meters long is allowed. In particular, information credible by researchers includes 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, India.

The last report of a very large whale shark was 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 considered to be the megalodon, an extinct species, the size of whose representatives can be judged by paleontological finds: the average length is about 15 meters, while megalodons were predators.

The biggest 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 heaviest snake in the world is the common or green anaconda, and the name "water boa" also applies to it. National Geographic indicates that the largest female anacondas can grow up to 8.8 meters and weigh more than 227 kg. However, at the moment this indicator remains only a theoretical estimate. There have been a lot of reports of giant anacondas by now, but most of them do not have any material evidence and are 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 at a length of 5.94 meters - 91 kg.

The longest snake, the reticulated python, is native to Asia and grows up to 1.5-6.5 meters in nature. The largest measured representative of the species 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, a lot of unconfirmed evidence is associated, including about a length of more than 8 meters.

The biggest spider in the world

The largest spider in the world is the goliath tarantula tarantula, in Latin - Theraphosa blondi. The specimen described in the Guinness Book of Records was discovered by members of the expedition of Pablo San Martin in tropical forests 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 grown 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 crosses. Basically, the sizes of the largest individuals do not exceed 2.5-3 cm.

The biggest 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, a Great Dane (aka Great Dane), a pet of the Durlag family from Otsego, Michigan, USA. The height of Zeus 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 taller than the previous record holders - Giant George (109.2 cm) and Titan (107.3 cm), which, by the way, are the same breed - Great Dane.

by the most heavy dog back in 1987, the English mastiff Zorba was named: a six-year-old dog weighed 142.7 kg. Two years later, when weighed again, he was even heavier: 155.6 kg at a height of 94 cm.

According to the Guinness Book of Records, the largest dog ever lived lived on Earth about 15.3 million years ago, during the Late Miocene. The average weight of this ancient wild dog is estimated at 170 kg.

The biggest cat in the world

The longest living pet cat is the Maine Coon Ludo, pet of Kelsey Gill from Wakefield, UK. The cat was measured for the Guinness Book of Records on October 6, 2015. As expected, measurements were taken three times, and then the average length was calculated - 118.33 cm. At the time of 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 a Maine Coon, the cat Stewie, 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 living cat in the world is the liger Hercules (a hybrid of a lion and a tigress). He was born in 2002 at the Institute of 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.

The tallest man in the world

Registered in the Guinness Book of growth of the tall man in history, the American Robert Pershing Wadlow, 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 largest in the history of observations remains John Rogan, whom the newspapers of his day dubbed the "Negro giant." However, already in adolescence, due to growth, he began to develop ankylosis - immobility of the joints. His exact weight was measured only posthumously, in 1905 at the age of 40, and amounted to 267 cm with a weight of only 79 kg.

The tallest living person is 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 glory of Usain Bolt, the Jamaican runner, thunders from the Beijing Olympics in 2008, and now the athlete has 9 gold medals from the Olympic Games and 11 from the World Championships. The athlete, nicknamed "Lightning" (Lightning Bolt - literally "Thunderbolt"), set 8 records.

The fastest person reached his first world speed record in 2008 at the age of 22 - 100 meters in 9.72 seconds. In 2009, he improved the 100m to 9.58 seconds. His world record for the 200 meters is 19.19 seconds.

The 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 a stalagmite, rises 828 meters from the ground, includes 163 floors and a sharp spire directed upwards. 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 (and also not yet overcome by the third high-rise) record 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 tacit international competition for the construction of super-skyscrapers continues, and, perhaps, very soon it will be possible to learn about taking a new height.

The tallest tower in the world

Among the TV towers already built, the Tokyo Skytree (634 meters high), towering in the special Sumida area, is in the lead. It is also the second high-rise building in the world after the Burj Khalifa. The tower was completed by February 29, 2012 as part of a program to completely convert Japanese television to digital format, as the height of the Tokyo TV Tower (332.6 meters) was insufficient for this task. Observation decks on the Tokyo Skytree are located on several levels, the highest is at 451 meters.

The Guangzhou TV Tower is 34 meters lower than the Tokyo Skytree, but with 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, height superiority remains with the famous CN Tower in Toronto, Canada, built back in 1976. Its height is 553.3 meters, and the observation platform at 447 meters annually receives more than 2 million people. By the way, the Ostankino 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), 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. The other two existing railway bridges among the three record-breaking ones, the Tianjin Viaduct (113.7 km) and the Wei Bridge (79.732 km), are two to three times longer than the largest structures of comparable type in other countries.

The longest marine girder bridge was laid along the route Hong Kong - Zhuhai - Macau. The second longest beam bridge - Qingdao - is also located in China.

The longest among the above-ground structures of the bridge type currently remains the Bang Na highway in Bangkok, opened in 2000, 54 km long.

The largest aircraft in the world

Air giants fulfill the dreams of many travelers traveling to new countries and even to other continents.

Passengers who frequently fly internationally have the chance to see the largest production airliner, the Airbus A380, which is operated by several leading airlines. The wing span of the liner is 79.75 meters, length - 72.75 meters, width - 24.08 meters. The capacity of this two-deck passenger aircraft- 853 passengers or 525 passengers with a three-class configuration.

The status of the largest and heaviest aircraft in the world is held by the only copy of the An-225 Mriya, which was put into operation in 1988. The board is used for cargo transportation and has already managed to break over a hundred records, including transporting the heaviest monocargo in the history of aviation weighing 187.6 tons, while the maximum load capacity it reached was much more - 253.8 tons.

The largest ship in the world

The infamous Titanic, which struck the whole world with its size at the beginning of the 20th century, can hardly be compared with the new ones today. 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.

Harmony of the Seas is currently leading the cruise giant size race at 362 meters and passenger capacity 5479 / 6500 people, which was put into operation relatively recently - in the summer of 2015. Notably, Harmony of the Seas is the third ship in the Oasis class and is only two meters longer than its predecessors, the 2008 Oasis of the Seas and 2010 Allure of the Seas twins.

The largest floating facility currently under construction is the Korean floating liquefied natural gas plant Prelude FLNG, which has already been launched. The ship-factory with a length of 488 meters resembles other smaller industrial ships in its appearance.

The fastest train in the world

A new world train speed record was achieved relatively recently - in April 2015. A Japanese L0 Series maglev train (maglev train) reached a high-speed railway Shinkansen speed 603 km/h.

Since 2007, the championship among rail trains has been held by the French train TGV POS, which has reached 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 constant 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 subways in the world, it is customary to single out several records: this is the deepest and longest subway, the leading subways in terms of the number of stations and the number of passengers per year.

The longest subway (in terms of the total length of completed lines) is Shanghai, 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 to come.

Most of the stations and routes are in the New York subway. This subway includes 472 stations (or 425 unique interchange nodes) on 36 branches.

The busiest subway (in terms of maximum daily load) is in Beijing, its daily load is on average 9.998 million people, the peak is more than 12.69 million people, the annual figure is 3660 million passengers. At the same time, the consistently expanding network of the Beijing Subway holds the position of the second longest - 574 km.

The next in terms of daily load is the Moscow Metro: at the end of 2015, the traffic volume reached 2384.5 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 behind Beijing - according to the latest official figures, 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 by the average bookmark of all its stations, but the unambiguous champion for this indicator has not yet been precisely determined.

The longest car in the world

Recorded in the Guinness book, the car was assembled according to the project of Jay Orberg, a Hollywood collector, designer and creator of unique cars. It was the 100-foot (about 30.5 meters) limousine that brought Orberg worldwide fame.

The car is put on 26 wheels and inside can hardly resemble the interior of a classic car. It is equipped with a swimming pool with a springboard and a double waterbed; in addition, there are about a dozen beds, satellite TV, a platform for taking sunbathing and other amenities. For safe control of this, in fact, an exhibition model, a second driver's cabin is provided.

The fastest car in the world

The land speed record set in 1997 is astonishing: it is the world's first officially confirmed breaking of the sound barrier. In a Thrust SSC car with turbofan engines, Briton Andy Green reached a speed of 1227.985 km / h. Speed ​​measurements were taken in the Black Rock Desert, USA.

The Guinness Book of Records stipulates that a Budweiser Rocket Car race in 1979 at the American Edwards Air Force Base claims to be the first to break the sound barrier, but this experience was not officially sanctioned by the USAF, 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 to 200 mph, its figure was 14.51 seconds. The maximum speed reached by this car is 435.31 km/h.

Plitvice Lakes are 16 lakes interconnected beautiful waterfalls, which are located deep in the forest thicket, where deer, bears, wolves, wild boars and rare species of birds live.

The Plitvice Lakes are on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Known for their unique colors, from azure to green, gray or blue. The colors change constantly, depending on the concentration of minerals or microorganisms in the water, as well as how the sun's rays fall.

2. Boiling Lake (Dominica): flooded geyser

Boiling Lake is located in the Morne Trois Pitons National Park, which is included in the World Heritage List of Dominica. It is a submerged geyser, or depression in earth's surface, 10.5 km east of Roseau, Dominica, on the islands Caribbean. The lake is filled with greyish-blue water with bubbles, usually shrouded in a cloud of steam. The lake is about 60 m wide.

3. Red Lagoon (Bolivia): red (algae) + white (borax)

The Red Lagoon of Colorado (Laguna Colorada) is a shallow salt lake, which is located in the southwestern part of the Altiplano plateau, in Bolivia, near the Chilean border. In the lake there are islands of borax, whose white color contrasts beautifully with the reddish color of the water, which it acquires from seaweed - algae, growing on the bottom of the lake.

4. Five Flower Lake (China): A beautiful multi-colored lake with fallen tree trunks.

Five Flower Lake (Wuhua Hai) - beautiful place in the national park national park Jiuzhaigou, in China. The lake is quite shallow, and the trunks of fallen trees lie at its bottom. The water is so clear that you can clearly see these logs. The color of the water shimmers with different shades of turquoise, from yellowish to green and blue. The lake is located at an altitude of 2472 m, below Panda Lake and above the Pearl Shoal waterfall.

5. Dead Sea (Israel and Jordan): the lowest point on the globe

The Dead Sea is a salt lake located between Israel and the West Bank to the west, and Jordan to the east. It is located 420 m below sea level and its shores are the lowest point on the Earth's surface on land. The Dead Sea reaches a depth of 330 m and is the deepest hypersaline lake in the world. It is also the second most saline body of water in the world, after Lake Assal in Djibouti, with 30% salinity. The Dead Sea is 8.6 times saltier than the ocean. This salinity is the cause of harsh conditions environment where animals cannot live and ships cannot sail. The Dead Sea is 67 km long and 18 km wide in its widest part.

For thousands of years, the Dead Sea has attracted travelers from the Mediterranean basin. According to the Old Testament, this was the place of refuge for King David. It was here that one of the first health resorts in the world (for King Herod) was opened, and it was thanks to the minerals Dead Sea there were such products as balms for Egyptian mummification, as well as various cosmetics.

6. Lake Baikal (Russia): The deepest and oldest lake in the world

Lake Baikal is located in the southern part of Siberia, in Russia. It is also called the "Blue Eye of Siberia". It contains more water than all the Great Lakes North America taken together. Reaching a depth of 1,637 m, Lake Baikal is the deepest lake in the world, and the largest reservoir of fresh water by volume in the world, containing approximately 20% of the world's fresh water. Be that as it may, Lake Baikal contains only 1/3 of the amount of water contained in the Caspian Sea, which is the largest large lake in the world. Lake Baikal was formed in the valley of an ancient fault, so it is long and shaped like a crescent with a surface (31,500 sq. km) somewhat smaller than, for example, Lake Victoria in North America. More than 1,700 species of animals and plants live on the territory of the lake, 2/3 of which can be seen only in this place. In 1996 Baikal was declared a World Heritage Site. This lake is also considered the oldest in the world, as its age is more than 25 million years.

7. Lake Titicaca (Bolivia and Peru): The highest navigable lake in the world

Lake Titicaca is located on the border of Bolivia and Peru. It sits at 3,812 meters above sea level, making it the highest navigable lake in the world. This lake is also the largest lake in terms of water volume. South America. Lake Titicaca is filled with tropical rainfall and meltwater from glaciers that rise on top of the mountain ranges bordering the Altiplano plateau.

8. Caspian Sea (Russia): The largest lake in the world

The Caspian Sea is the largest lake or the largest inland body of water in the world and accounts for 40 to 44% of the total lake water in the world. Since the surface area of ​​the lake is 394.299 sq. km, the area of ​​the Caspian Sea is many times larger than the previous 6 great lakes combined.

9. Crater Lake (USA): The water in this lake is considered one of the cleanest in the world

Crater Lake is a crater lake located in Oregon, USA. The waters of Crater Lake are considered one of the cleanest in the world, as it has no tributaries and bays. The lake partially fills a 1,220 m deep caldera formed approximately 7,700 years ago after Mount Mazama collapsed. The maximum depth of the lake reaches 594 m, which makes this lake the deepest in the United States, and the 9th deepest in the world.

10. Lake Karachay (Russia): the most polluted point on the globe

Lake Karachay is a small lake in the southern part Ural mountains in the western region of Russia.

Beginning in 1951, the Soviet Union used the lake to dump radioactive waste from the Mayak plant, which stored and processed nuclear waste. The Mayak plant was located in the city of Ozersk. According to a report published by the Washington-based Nuclear Waste Observatory, Karachay is "the world's most polluted spot." The lake accumulated 4.44 becquerels of radioactive particles per liter, including 3.6 becquerels of caesium-137 and 0.74 becquerels of strontium-90. For comparison, the Chernobyl disaster resulted in the release of 5 to 12 becquerels of radioactivity, but these radioactive particles were not concentrated in one place.

Lakes are natural reservoirs formed in the recesses of the land, which store 67.4% of all fresh water on the Earth. The size and depth of lakes can be very different, and some of them significantly exceed many seas in these indicators.

This review presents ten deepest lakes in the world.

10th place: - lake 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 source of fresh water in Indonesia, famous for its crystal clear clear waters, which is home to many rare species of plants, fish and crustaceans. On its banks there are deposits of nickel ore. In Matano, the Patea River takes its source, which, flowing through the 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 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 Mount Mazama volcano. Thanks to the melting of snow, the water in the lake is particularly clean and blue. Crater Lake has an unusual attraction - a huge log called "Lake Old Man", which has been floating in a reservoir in an upright position for more than a century. In 2005, Crater Lake was featured on an 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 covered with ice, which in winter is so thick that it can support a heavy truck. In the 1930s, gold was found here, which led to the founding of the city of Yellowknife on the shore of the lake.

7th place: Issyk-Kul- it's salty drainless 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 got this name due to the fact that its brackish water does not freeze even in severe winters. Issyk-Kul is connected with several 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 that existed 2.5 thousand years ago.

6th place: Malawi(other name - Nyasa) - the southernmost of the lakes of East African rift valley located between Mozambique, Malawi and Tanzania. This is the second deepest lake in Africa - its maximum depth is 706 meters. The tropical waters of Malawi contain the largest species diversity of fish among all the lakes of the 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 from the southern part of the lake.

5th place: San Martin(other name - O'Higgins) is a fjord-like 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. This deepest lake in 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 Pasqua River, which flows into the Pacific Ocean. A unique feature of the lake is the milky-blue hue of the water, which occurs due to particles of stone deposits that enter the lake along with the melt waters of glaciers and settle on its bottom.

4th place: Caspian Sea – the largest closed lake in the world 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 reaches 1025 meters, and its area is 371 thousand km². More than 130 rivers flow into the lake, the largest of them is the Volga. The Caspian Sea has a rich fauna - the Caspian seal is found in it, there are many sturgeons, and some species of fish are found only here. This huge reservoir is a rich source of energy resources. To date, 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, after which it got 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, the drilling of the ice shell of which lasted 20 years. Lake research can give a lot useful information world, because the conditions in it are similar to those that existed many millions of years ago, in addition, there is an assumption that there are similar lakes 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 (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 basin 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 - Lukuga. Tanganyika is home to crocodiles, hippos, many waterfowl, and many unique fish species. After a National Geographic magazine published a story about a 9-meter killer crocodile that caused the deaths 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. The reservoir located in the south of Eastern Siberia 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 lakes in the United States 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, home to about 1,700 species of flora and fauna, many of which are found nowhere else. The lake is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.