The winter treasures of Russia's Lake Baikal

By Daniel Allen

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The deepest lake in the world
One of the world’s natural wonders, Lake Baikal is an immense, crescent-shaped chasm in the earth, nearly 640km long and up to 80km wide. Situated in Russia's great Siberian wilderness, its record-breaking size is matched only by its remoteness; the lake is roughly 3,200km west of the Pacific Ocean, 5,100km east of Moscow and 200km north of the Mongolian border.

Plunging downwards for more than a kilometre, Baikal is the deepest lake in the world, holding about 23,000 cubic kilometres of water – more than the five North American Great Lakes combined. More than 300 rivers flow into Lake Baikal, but only one – the Angara – flows out, eventually draining into the Arctic Ocean far to the north. Geological activity means the lake’s floor keeps dropping a little each year, and the water is so clear in places that you can often see objects 40m below the surface. (Daniel Allen) ___________________________________________________________________________________ Correction: A previous version of this slide misnamed the location of the Great Lakes. This has been corrected.

The deepest lake in the world

One of the world’s natural wonders, Lake Baikal is an immense, crescent-shaped chasm in the earth, nearly 640km long and up to 80km wide. Situated in Russia's great Siberian wilderness, its record-breaking size is matched only by its remoteness; the lake is roughly 3,200km west of the Pacific Ocean, 5,100km east of Moscow and 200km north of the Mongolian border.

Plunging downwards for more than a kilometre, Baikal is the deepest lake in the world, holding about 23,000 cubic kilometres of water – more than the five North American Great Lakes combined. More than 300 rivers flow into Lake Baikal, but only one – the Angara – flows out, eventually draining into the Arctic Ocean far to the north. Geological activity means the lake’s floor keeps dropping a little each year, and the water is so clear in places that you can often see objects 40m below the surface. (Daniel Allen) ___________________________________________________________________________________ Correction: A previous version of this slide misnamed the location of the Great Lakes. This has been corrected.