List of lakes by volume

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article lists lakes with a water volume of more than 100 km³, ranked by volume. The volume of a lake is a difficult quantity to measure. Generally, the volume must be inferred from bathymetric data by integration. Lake volumes can also change dramatically over time and during the year, especially for salt lakes in arid climates. For these reasons, and because of changing research, information on lake volumes can vary considerably from source to source. The base data for this article is from The Water Encyclopedia (1990).[1] Where volume data from more recent surveys or other authoritative sources has been used it is referenced specifically in each entry.

Contents

[edit] The list

Continent colour key
Africa Asia Europe North America Oceania South America Antarctica
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
Name Country Region Water volume
1. Baikal[2] Russia Siberia 23,600 km³ (5,700 cu mi)
2. Tanganyika Tanzania, DRC, Burundi, Zambia 18,900 km³ (4,500 cu mi)
3. Superior United States, Canada 11,600 km³ (2,800 cu mi)
4. Michigan-Huron United States, Canada 8,260 km³ (1,980 cu mi)
5. Malawi Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania 7,725 km³ (1,853 cu mi)
6. Vostok Antarctica 5,400±1,600 km³ (~1300 cu mi)
7. Victoria Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda 2,700 km³ (650 cu mi)
8. Great Bear Lake[3] Canada Northwest Territories 2,236 km³ (536 cu mi)
9. Issyk-Kul Kyrgyzstan 1,730 km³ (420 cu mi)
10. Ontario United States, Canada 1,710 km³ (410 cu mi)
11. Great Slave Lake[4] Canada Northwest Territories 1,580 km³ (380 cu mi)
12. Aral Sea[5] Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan 1,020 km³ (240 cu mi)
13. Ladoga Russia 908 km³ (218 cu mi)
14. Titicaca Bolivia, Peru 710 km³ (170 cu mi)
15. Van[6] Turkey Southeast Anatolia 607 km³ (146 cu mi)
16. Kivu Rwanda, Congo 569 km³ (137 cu mi)
17. Erie United States, Canada 545 km³ (131 cu mi)
18. Khövsgöl Mongolia 480 km³ (120 cu mi)
19. Onega Russia 295 km³ (71 cu mi)
20. Turkana Kenya 204 km³ (49 cu mi)
21. Dead Sea Jordan, Israel, Palestine 188 km³ (45 cu mi)
22. Vänern Sweden 180 km³ (43 cu mi)
23. Albert Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda 132 km³ (32 cu mi)
24. Winnipeg Canada 127 km³ (30 cu mi)
25. Balkhash Kazakhstan 112 km³ (27 cu mi)
26. Athabasca Canada Alberta-Saskatchewan 110 km³ (26 cu mi)
27. Nicaragua Nicaragua 108 km³ (26 cu mi)

[edit] By continent

[edit] References

  1. ^ van der Leeden; Troise & Todd (1990), The Water Encyclopedia (2nd ed.), Chelsea, MI: Lewis Publishers, p. 198-200 
  2. ^ Lake Baikal is the deepest lake in the world and the largest freshwater lake by volume. The 78,200 km³ (18,800 cu mi) Caspian Sea is sometimes considered a lake because it is land-locked. However, geologically it is a small ocean, like the Black Sea.
  3. ^ Hebert, Paul (2007), “Great Bear Lake, Northwest Territories”, Encyclopedia of Earth, Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment, <http://www.eoearth.org/article/Great_Bear_Lake,_Northwest_Territories> 
  4. ^ Hebert, Paul (2007), “Great Slave Lake, Northwest Territories”, Encyclopedia of Earth, Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment, <http://www.eoearth.org/article/Great_Slave_Lake,_Northwest_Territories> 
  5. ^ The Aral Sea has greatly shrunk in volume since the mid-20th century as a result of diversion of water for irrigation. This volume data is from 1990.
  6. ^ 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, <http://www.springerlink.com/content/x5285613642v3665/> 

[edit] See also

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