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List of lakes by depth

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This page lists the world's deepest lakes.

Lakes ranked by maximum depth

Currently, this list contains all lakes whose maximum depth is reliably known to exceed 400m.

Continent colour key
Africa Asia Europe North America Oceania South America Antarctica
Name Country Region Depth
(meters) 		Depth
(feet)
1. Baikal[1] Russia Siberia 1,637 5,369
2. Tanganyika Tanzania, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Zambia Africa 1,470 4,823
3. Caspian Sea[2] Iran, Russia, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan 1,025 3,363
4. Vostok[3] Antarctica >900 >2,950
5. O'Higgins-San Martín[4] Chile, Argentina Aysén (Chile), Santa Cruz (Argentina) 836 2,742
6. Nyasa[5] Mozambique, Tanzania, Malawi 706 2,316
7. Issyk Kul Kyrgyzstan 668 2,192
8. Great Slave Canada Northwest Territories 614 2,015
9. Crater[6] United States Oregon 594 1,949
10. Matano Indonesia Sulawesi 590 1,936
11. General Carrera Chile, Argentina 586 1,923
12. Hornindalsvatnet Norway Sogn og Fjordane 514 1,686
13. Quesnel Canada British Columbia 506 1,660
14= Toba Indonesia Sumatra 505 1,657
14= Sarez Tajikistan 505 1,657
16. Tahoe United States California, Nevada 501 1,644
17. Argentino Argentina Santa Cruz (Patagonia) 500 1,640
18. Chelan United States Washington (state) 489 1,419
19. Kivu Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda 480 1,575
20. Mjøsa Norway Hedmark, Oppland and Akershus counties 468 1,535
21. Salsvatn Norway Nord-Trøndelag county 464 1,523
22. Hauroko New Zealand Southland (South Island) 462 1,516
23. Tinnsjå Norway Telemark county 460 1,509
24. Adams Canada British Columbia 457 1,499
25. Van[7] Turkey 451 1,480
26. Poso Indonesia Sulawesi 450 1,476
27. Fagnano Argentina, Chile Tierra del Fuego 449 1,473
28. Great Bear Canada 446 1,463
29. Manapouri New Zealand Southland (South Island) 444 1,457
30. Nahuel Huapi Argentina 438 1,437
31. Te Anau New Zealand Southland (South Island) 425 1,390
32. Wakatipu New Zealand South Island 420 1,378
33. Como Italy 410 1,300
34. Superior Canada, United States 406 1,333

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.

Continent colour key
Africa Asia Europe North America Oceania South America Antarctica
Name Country Region Depth
(meters) 		Depth
(feet)
1. Baikal[1] Russia Siberia 758 2,487
2. Tanganyika Tanzania, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Zambia Africa 570 1,870
3. Crater[6] United States Oregon 350 1,148
4. Lake Vostok[3] Antarctica 344 1,129
5. Tahoe United States California, Nevada 301 989
6. Nyasa[5] Mozambique, Tanzania, Malawi 292 958
7. Issyk Kul Kyrgyzstan 270 886
8. Kivu Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda 240
9. Kara-Kul Tajikistan 210 689
10. Sarez Tajikistan 201.8
11. Caspian Sea[2] Iran, Russia, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan 184 604
12. Quesnel Canada British Columbia 157
13. Dead Sea Jordan, Israel, Palestinian territories 120 394

Greatest maximum depth by continent

Greatest mean depth by continent

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. ^ a b Lake Baikal is also the largest freshwater lake by volume.
  2. ^ a b The Caspian Sea is generally regarded by geographers, biologists and limnologists as a huge inland salt lake. It is endorheic (having no outlet), and can be compared to other large (but still much smaller) endorheic salt lakes, such as the Aral Sea, Great Salt Lake and Lake Van. However, the Caspian's large size means that for some purposes it is better modeled as a sea. Geologically, the Caspian, Aral, Black and Mediterranean seas are generally all seen as remnants of the ancient Tethys Ocean. Politically, the distinction between a sea and a lake may affect how the Caspian is treated by international law.
  3. ^ a b c d Lake Vostok in Antarctica is a subglacial lake with a depth ranging from 400 to more than 900 meters.
  4. ^ *CECS, Depth sounding of Lake O'Higgins/San Martín
  5. ^ a b Lake Nyasa is also known as Lake Malawi
  6. ^ a b 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, et al. (2002) Morphology, volcanism, and mass wasting in Crater Lake, Oregon. GSA Bulletin 114:675-692.
  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, 73 (2), Springer: 701-734, doi:10.1007/BF01824978

See also

Sources

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