Siberia's Lake Baikal. It may be hard on northern North American egos, but next to Baikal, our mighty lakes seem to shrink. Iliamna, Kluane, even Great Slave are youthful ponds in comparison to this elder giant. The combination of area and depth means that Lake Baikal holds more fresh water than all five Great Lakes combined. That helps explain its great depth, and also its great age.
Much scientific interest stems from Baikal's age.
Lake Baikal is at least a thousand times older, and the highend estimates go to 50 million years. That great age offers time for an enormous layer of sediment to build up on the lake bed. In places, it lies five kilometers thick. To most people, that might sound simply like a lot of mud. To scientists, it offers a record of tens of millions of years, recorded in layers never disturbed by glaciation.