Largest Lakes of the World

Lakes are formed by collapsing volcanic craters and the movement of tectonic plates in the earth’s crust. Lakes can be man-made too.

Lakes are fresh water bodies surrounded by land. They are mainly formed by the process of glacial action. During the Pleistocene epoch, the glaciers brought in large ice sheets eroding the land.

Caspian Sea

Area:143,000 sq miles (371,000 sq km)

Maximum depth : 3,120 ft (950 m) Elevation 100 ft (30 m) below sea level

Location: Longest border is with Kazakhstan

Northern areas of the sea freeze in winter.

Once part of the Mediterranean Sea, the Caspian Sea was cut off when sea levels fell during the last ice age. Its water is still salty, and in places much saltier than the oceans.

This is because it has no outflow, so the salty minerals carried into it by the Volga and Ural Rivers have nowhere to go.

Lake Superior, North America

Area 51,159 sq miles (82,367 sq km)

Maximum depth 1,333 ft (406 m) Elevation 600 ft (183 m) above sea level

Location US-Canada border

It is one of the five Great Lakes of North America, created by ice hollowing out the landscape during the last ice age. The Great Lakes were once one lake, but when the heavy mass of ice melted, the land rose up and divided them.

Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake on Earth so large that it is like an ocean.

Lake Nakuru East Central Africa

Location Kenya Area 15 sq miles (40 sq km) Maximum depth 10 ft (3 m) Elevation 5,780 ft (1,760 m) above sea level This shallow lake lies in Africa’s Great Rift Valley, where the heat constantly evaporates the water, concentrating dissolved minerals to create a soda lake with a high level of sodium carbonate. The very alkaline water supports specialized microbes that are eaten by dazzling flocks of flamingos. It is one of several lakes that lie in the Rift Valley, including the very deep Lake Malawi.

Crater Lake North America

Area 21 sq miles (53 sq km)

Location Oregon

Maximum depth 1,934 ft (589 m) Elevation 8,159 ft (2,847 m) above sea level

After an eruption about 7,700 years ago, the peak collapsed into the empty magma chamber to form a broad caldera. This is flooded with rainwater, and is very pure because there are no streams carrying impurities into the lake.

Famous for its clear, deep blue water, Crater Lake lies within a dormant volcano called Mount Mazama.

Lake Titicaca Andes, South America

Location Bolivia-Peru border

Area 3,386 sq miles (8,772 sq km)

Maximum depth 923 ft (281 m)

Elevation 12,516 ft (3,812 m)

It is fed by more than 20 rivers flowing off the surrounding mountains.

above sea level Lying high in the Andes between Bolivia and Peru, this is the highest large lake in the world and the largest lake in South America.

Some parts of the shore have dense beds of totora reeds, which the local people use to make boats and even floating villages.

Also Read : List of indian river and their origin