Why is Lake Baikal a wonder?

Only 20 lakes, worldwide, are ancient: more than 1 million years old. Lake Baikal is not only Earth's oldest lake, at 25–30 million years of age, but also the largest, and the one with the most potential for revealing new discoveries at the frontiers of astroparticle physics.



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Not only is Lake Baikal safe to swim in, but it also boasts some of the purest water in the world. The only drawback is the temperature - even during the warmer months, a dip in the lake is pretty invigorating.

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The first humans to explore the bottom of Lake Baikal wasn't until 2008, and not much research has commenced since then. So, truthfully, we still don't know what lurks down there. Rest assured, though, that the lake is flourishing with extraordinary life.

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Roopkund (locally known as Mystery Lake or Skeleton Lake) is a high altitude glacial lake in the Uttarakhand state of India. It lies in the lap of Trishul massif.

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1. Mount Everest. Mount Everest is renowned as the highest spot on earth, at 8,848.86 metres above sea level. It is parked right on the border between Nepal and Tibet, and it is protected by Sagarmatha National Park in the Himalayas.

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Situated in south-east Siberia, the 3.15-million-ha Lake Baikal is the oldest (25 million years) and deepest (1,700 m) lake in the world. It contains 20% of the world's total unfrozen freshwater reserve.

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At 1,943 feet (592 meters), Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States and one of the deepest in the world. The depths were first explored thoroughly in 1886 by a party from the U.S. Geological Survey.

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While the Marianas Trench is the deepest place of the planet's oceans, Lake Baikal is the deepest of all the lakes in the world. Its depth is 1 642 meters (5 387 feet). Compared to Lake Baikal, the depth of the Great Lakes is more modest.

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The largest species is the Siberian sturgeon, which sometimes measures more than 6 1/2 feet (2 meters) long. The only mammal is the Baikal seal. The first hydrothermal vents, or hot-water springs, ever discovered in a freshwater lake were found at the bottom of Lake Baikal in 1990.

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Situated in south-east Siberia, the 3.15-million-ha Lake Baikal is the oldest (25 million years) and deepest (1,700 m) lake in the world. It contains 20% of the world's total unfrozen freshwater reserve.

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Forming c. 12 million years ago, the largest lake ever known to have existed on Earth is Megalake Paratethys, which extended from the eastern Alps of Europe to what is now Kazakhstan in central Asia.

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