List of lakes by depth

This page lists the world's deepest lakes.

Lakes ranked by maximum depth

This list contains all lakes whose maximum depth is reliably known to exceed 400 metres (1,300 ft)

Geologically, the Caspian Sea, like the Black and Mediterranean seas, is a remnant of the ancient Tethys Ocean. The deepest area is oceanic rather than continental crust. However, it is generally regarded by geographers as a large endorheic salt lake.

Continent color key
Africa Asia Europe North America Oceania South America Antarctica
Name Country Region Depth
(meters) 		Depth
(feet)
1. Baikal[1]  Russia Siberia 1,642 5,387
2. Tanganyika  Tanzania,  Democratic Republic of the Congo,  Burundi,  Zambia Central Africa 1,470 4,823
3. (Caspian Sea[2])  Iran,  Russia,  Turkmenistan,  Kazakhstan,  Azerbaijan 1,025 3,363
4. Vostok[3]  Antarctica ~1,000 ~3,300
5. O'Higgins-San Martín[4]  Chile,  Argentina Aysén (Chile), Santa Cruz (Argentina) 836 2,742
6. Malawi/Nyasa/Niassa  Mozambique,  Malawi,  Tanzania 706 2,316
7. Issyk Kul  Kyrgyzstan 668 2,192
8. Great Slave  Canada Northwest Territories 614 2,015
9. Clearwater Lake  Canada British Columbia 600 1,968
10. Crater[5]  United States Oregon 594 1,949
11. Matano  Indonesia Sulawesi 590 1,936
12. General Carrera-Buenos Aires[6]  Chile,  Argentina 586 1,923
13. Hornindalsvatnet  Norway Sogn og Fjordane 514 1,686
14. Quesnel  Canada British Columbia 506 1,660
15. Toba  Indonesia Sumatra 505 1,657
16. Sarez  Tajikistan 505 1,657
17. Tahoe  United States California, Nevada 501 1,645
18. Argentino  Argentina Santa Cruz (Patagonia) 500 1,640
19. Kivu  Democratic Republic of the Congo,  Rwanda 480 1,575
20. Grand  Canada Newfoundland 475 1,558
21. Mjøsa  Norway Hedmark, Oppland and Akershus counties 468 1,535
22. Salsvatnet  Norway Nord-Trøndelag county 464 1,523
23. Nahuel Huapi  Argentina Rio Negro, Patagonia 464 1,523
24. Hauroko  New Zealand Southland (South Island) 462 1,516
25. Cochrane / Pueyrredón[6]  Chile,  Argentina Aysén (Chile), Santa Cruz (Argentina) 460 1,509
26. Lake Tinn  Norway Telemark county 460 1,509
27. Adams  Canada British Columbia 457 1,499
28. Chelan  United States Washington (state) 453 1,486
29. Van[7]  Turkey 451 1,480
30. Poso  Indonesia Sulawesi 450 1,476
31. Fagnano  Argentina,  Chile Tierra del Fuego 449 1,473
32. Great Bear  Canada Northwest Territories 446 1,463
33. Manapouri  New Zealand Southland (South Island) 444 1,457
34. Te Anau  New Zealand Southland (South Island) 425 1,390
35. Tazawa  Japan Akita Prefecture 423 1,387
36. Wakatipu  New Zealand South Island 420 1,378
37. Como  Italy Lombardy 410 1,345
38. Superior  Canada,  United States Ontario, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin 406 1,332

Lakes ranked by mean depth

Mean depth can be a more useful indicator than maximum depth for many ecological purposes. Unfortunately, accurate mean depth figures are only available for well-studied lakes, as they must be calculated by dividing the lake's volume by its surface area. A reliable volume figure requires a bathymetric survey. Therefore, mean depth figures are not available for many deep lakes in remote locations.

The Caspian Sea ranks much further down the list on mean depth, as it has a large continental shelf (significantly larger than the oceanic basin that contains its greatest depths).

Continent colour key
Africa Asia Europe North America Oceania South America Antarctica
Name Country Region Depth
(meters) 		Depth
(feet)
1. Baikal[1] Russia Siberia 744.4 2,442
2. Tanganyika Tanzania, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Zambia Africa 570 1,870
3. Crater[5] United States Oregon 350 1,148
4. Vostok[3] Antarctica 344 1,129
5. Tahoe United States California, Nevada 301 989
6. Adams Canada British Columbia 299 981
7. Malawi Mozambique, Tanzania, Malawi 292 958
8. Issyk Kul Kyrgyzstan 278.4 913.4
9. Kivu Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda 240 787
10. Matano[8] Indonesia Sulawesi 240 787
11. Hornindalsvatnet[8] Norway Sogn og Fjordane 237 778
12. Toba[8] Indonesia Sumatra 216 707
13. Karakul Tajikistan 210 689
14. Sarez Tajikistan 202 662
15. (Caspian Sea[2]) Iran, Russia, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan 184 604
16= Lake Teletskoye Russia 174 571
16= Ranau Indonesia Sumatra 174 571
18. Slocan Canada British Columbia 171 561
19. Como[9] Italy Lombardia 161 528
20. Azure Canada British Columbia 157.2 515.7
21. Quesnel Canada British Columbia 157 515
22= Ohrid Macedonia, Albania 155 508
22= Mjøsa Norway Hedmark, Oppland and Akershus counties 155 508
24. Geneva[8] Switzerland, France 153 502
25. Singkarak Indonesia West Sumatra 149 489
26. Lake Superior United States, Canada Ontario, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin 147 483
27. Loch Ness[8] United Kingdom Scotland 133 436
28. Great Central Canada British Columbia 124 407
29. Garibaldi Canada British Columbia 119 390
30. Dead Sea Jordan, Palestine, Israel 118 387
31. Titicaca Peru, Bolivia 107 351
32. Gander Canada Newfoundland 105.4 346
33. Kauhakō Crater[10][11] United States Hawaii 105 344

Greatest maximum depth by continent

Greatest mean depth by continent

See also

Notes

Note: Lake depths often vary depending on sources. The depths used here are the most reliable figures available in recent sources. See the articles on individual lakes for more details and data sources.

  1. 1 2 Lake Baikal is also the largest freshwater lake by volume.
  2. 1 2 The Caspian Sea is generally regarded by geographers, biologists and limnologists as a huge inland salt lake. However, the Caspian's large size means that for some purposes it is better modeled as a sea. Geologically, the Caspian, Black, and Mediterranean seas are small oceans, remnants of the ancient Tethys. Politically, the distinction between a sea and a lake may affect how the Caspian is treated by international law.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Lake Vostok in Antarctica is a subglacial lake with a depth ranging from 400 to more than 900 meters.
  4. ↑
  5. 1 2 Crater Lake in Oregon has a maximum depth of 594m, based on its USGS benchmark surface elevation of 1883m. The US National Park Service publishes different values (1881m for surface elevation, and 592m for the maximum depth). The technical basis of the values determined by the USGS is documented in Bacon, C. R.; Gardner, J. V.; Mayer, L. A.; Buktenica, M. W.; Dartnell, P.; Ramsey, D. W.; Robinson, J. E. (2002). "Morphology, volcanism, and mass wasting in Crater Lake, Oregon". GSA Bulletin. 114 (6): 675–692. doi:10.1130/0016-7606(2002)114<0675:MVAMWI>2.0.CO;2. ISSN 0016-7606. OCLC 4642976847, 196656627. Retrieved 2013-07-08. (subscription required)
  6. 1 2 Murdie, Ruth E.; Pugh, David T.; Styles, Peter; Muñoz, Miguel (1999), "Heatflow, Temperature and Bathymetry of Lago General Carrera and Lago Cochrane, Southern Chile" (PDF), Extended Extracts of the Fourth International Symposium on Andean Geodynamics, Gottingen, Germany 04-06/10/1999, Paris: Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, pp. 539–542
  7. ↑ Degens, E.T.; Wong, H.K.; Kempe, S.; Kurtman, F. (June 1984), "A geological study of Lake Van, eastern Turkey", International Journal of Earth Sciences, Springer, 73 (2): 701–734, doi:10.1007/BF01824978
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Walter K. Dodds; Matt R. Whiles (23 September 2010). Freshwater Ecology: Concepts and Environmental Applications of Limnology. Academic Press. pp. 141–142. ISBN 978-0-12-374724-2. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  9. ↑ Buzzi, Documento dell'Istituto italiano di idrobiologia
  10. ↑ Maciolek, J. A. (April 30, 1982), Lakes and Lake-like Waters of the Hawaiian Archipelago (PDF), Occasional Papers of Berenice P. Bishop Museum, 25 (1)
  11. ↑ Terrestrial analogs to lunar sinuous rilles - Kauhako Crater and channel, Kalaupapa, Molokai, and other Hawaiian lava conduit systems

Sources

External links

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