Largest Fresh Water Lake Baikal

On Earth, Lake Baikal is the largest fresh water lake in terms of volume. It is situated in Siberia, Russia. Lake Baikal is also the oldest and deepest fresh water lake of the world. It was recently in news because of environmental concerns due to the proposed East Siberia- Pacific Ocean oil pipeline.

The largest fresh water lake of the world contains twenty percent of total surface fresh water on earth with a water volume of 23,600 km3. The shore line of the Lake Baikal is 2,100 km and the surface area is 31,494 km2 with a maximum width of 80 km and length of 636 km, which is also the second longest in the world. It is the deepest lake in the world, both in terms of average depth (758m) and maximum depth (1,637m). With a catchment area of about 560,000 km3, the lake receives water from 330 inflowing rivers and drains into river Angara.

Completely surrounded by mountains, the largest fresh water lake of the world is situated in the gorge of a rift valley formed due to faulting and extension in the earth's crust. Although its average bottom is 758m, it has a sediment thickness of about 7 kilometers, thus, placing the floor of the rift valley over 8 kilometers deep. Geologically, it is a young and active rift valley, which is widening about 2cm per year. It is seismically active and experiences notable earthquakes every year.

Estimated geological age of the largest fresh water lake is 25-30 million years making it one of the most ancient lakes on earth. The lake water has a residence time of 350 years and is well oxygenated and thoroughly mixed. This water property and isolated nature of the lake supports the most diverse and unusual freshwater flora and fauna whose two third varieties are not found elsewhere in the world. Its biodiversity is unique with 1,085 plant species and 1,550 animal species, two third of which is endemic. The Baikal Seal is the only freshwater seal in the world.

Also called the Pearl of Siberia, the largest fresh water lake has a booming tourist industry. The area around it has been given the status of 'special economic zone' by the Russian Government. The lake was given the World Heritage Site status by UNESCO in 1996.

The Baykalsk Pulp and Paper Mill on the shores of the lake since 1966 is a major source of pollution of this largest fresh water lake. The planned Eastern Siberia-Pacific ocean pipeline project by the Russian state-owned company, Transneft, within 800 meters of the lake shore line, which is also seismically active, has invited heavy criticism from the Greenpeace environmental activists of Russia as well local citizens. This forced the Russian president Vladimir Putin to order the Transneft to reroute the pipeline 40kms north of original layout to avoid ecological risks to this lake. Within two days of presidential order, work commenced on December 4, 2007. Wikipedia