These articles lists the world's deepest

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

Lakes ranked by maximum depth

This list contains all lakes whose maximum depth is reliably known to exceed '' Geologically, the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...

, like the

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

and

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

seas, is a remnant of the ancient

Tethys Ocean The Tethys Ocean ( el, Τηθύς ''Tēthús''), also called the Tethys Sea or the Neo-Tethys, was a prehistoric ocean that covered most of the Earth during much of the Mesozoic Era and early Cenozoic Era, located between the ancient continents ...

. The deepest area is oceanic rather than continental crust. However, it is generally regarded by geographers as a large

endorheic An endorheic basin (; also spelled endoreic basin or endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water, such as rivers or oceans, but drainage converges instead into lakes ...

salt lake A salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of water that has a concentration of salts (typically sodium chloride) and other dissolved minerals significantly higher than most lakes (often defined as at least three grams of salt per litre). ...

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 Bathymetry (; ) is the study of underwater depth of ocean floors (''seabed topography''), lake floors, or river floors. In other words, bathymetry is the underwater equivalent to hypsometry or topography. The first recorded evidence of water de ...

survey. Therefore, mean depth figures are not available for many deep lakes in remote locations. The average lake on Earth has the mean depth 41.8 meters (137.14 feet) The

ranks much further down the list on mean depth, as it has a large

continental shelf A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an island ...

(significantly larger than the oceanic basin that contains its greatest depths). This list contains all lakes whose mean depth is reliably known to exceed 100 metres (328 ft).

Greatest maximum depth by continent

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

— 1:

Tanganyika Tanganyika may refer to: Places * Tanganyika Territory (1916–1961), a former British territory which preceded the sovereign state * Tanganyika (1961–1964), a sovereign state, comprising the mainland part of present-day Tanzania * Tanzania Main ...

, 2:

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...

, 3:

Kivu Kivu was the name for a large "region" in the Democratic Republic of the Congo under the rule of Mobutu Sese Seko that bordered Lake Kivu. It included three "Sub-Regions" ("Sous-Régions" in French): Nord-Kivu, Sud-Kivu and Maniema, correspondin ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

— 1: Radok (surface lake);

Vostok Vostok refers to east in Russian but may also refer to: Spaceflight * Vostok programme, Soviet human spaceflight project * Vostok (spacecraft), a type of spacecraft built by the Soviet Union * Vostok (rocket family), family of rockets derived from ...

(subglacial lake) *

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

— 1:

Baikal Lake Baikal (, russian: Oзеро Байкал, Ozero Baykal ); mn, Байгал нуур, Baigal nuur) is a rift lake in Russia. It is situated in southern Siberia, between the federal subjects of Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the Repub ...

, (2:

), 3:

Issyk Kul Issyk-Kul (also Ysyk-Köl, ky, Ысык-Көл, lit=warm lake, translit=Ysyk-Köl, , zh, 伊塞克湖) is an endorheic lake (i.e., without outflow) in the Northern Tian Shan mountains in Eastern Kyrgyzstan. It is the seventh-deepest lake in th ...

, (3: Matano) *

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

— 1:

Hornindalsvatnet Hornindalsvatnet is Norway's and Europe's deepest lake, and the world's twelfth deepest lake, officially measured to a depth of . Its surface is above sea level, which means that its bottom is below sea level. The village of Grodås lies at ...

, 2:

Salvatnet Salvatnet is a lake in the List of municipalities of Norway, municipalities of Namsos and Nærøysund in Trøndelag counties of Norway, county, Norway. With its deepest depth of , it is Norway's and Europe's Lakes in Norway#Deepest lakes, second- ...

, 3:

Lake Tinn A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

— 1: Great Slave , 2:

Crater Crater may refer to: Landforms *Impact crater, a depression caused by two celestial bodies impacting each other, such as a meteorite hitting a planet *Explosion crater, a hole formed in the ground produced by an explosion near or below the surfac ...

, 3:

Quesnel Quesnel or Quesnell means "little oak" in the Picard dialect of French. It is used as a proper name and may refer to: Places * Le Quesnel, a commune the Somme department in France * Quesnel, British Columbia, a city in British Columbia, Canada ...

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

— 1: Atitlán, 2: Chicabal *

Oceania Oceania (, , ) is a region, geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern Hemisphere, Eastern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of ...

— 1: Hauroko, 2:

Manapouri Manapouri is a small town in Southland / Fiordland, in the southwest corner of the South Island, in New Zealand. The township is the westernmost municipality in New Zealand. Located at the edge of the Fiordland National Park, on the eastern ...

, 3:

Te Anau Te Anau is a town in the Southland region of the South Island of New Zealand. In Maori, Te-Anau means the Place of the Swirling Waters. It is on the eastern shore of Lake Te Anau in Fiordland. Te Anau is 155 kilometres north of Invercargill an ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

— 1: St Clair *

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

— 1: Viedma 2: O'Higgins/San Martín, 3: General Carrera-Buenos Aires,

Greatest mean depth by continent

— 1:

, 2:

, 3:

— 1:

, 2: Tazawa, 3:

Issyk-Kul Issyk-Kul (also Ysyk-Köl, ky, Ысык-Көл, lit=warm lake, translit=Ysyk-Köl, , zh, 伊塞克湖) is an endorheic lake (i.e., without outflow) in the Northern Tian Shan mountains in Eastern Kyrgyzstan. It is the seventh-deepest lake in th ...

— 1: Crveno, 2:

, 3:

— 1:

, 2: Tahoe, 3: Adams *

— 1:

, 2:

, 3: Wakatipu *

— 1: General Carrera-Buenos Aires, 2: Quilotoa, 3: Fagnano

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.'' {{reflist, 2

Sources

Worldlakes.org, Deepest lakes

External links

Environmentalgraffiti.com - 10 deepest lakes with pictures
*

Lakes A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

Vertical position

Lakes ranked by maximum depth

Lakes ranked by mean depth

Greatest maximum depth by continent

Greatest mean depth by continent

See also

Notes

Sources

External links