List of lakes by depth explained

These articles lists the world's deepest lakes.

Lakes ranked by maximum depth

This list contains all lakes whose maximum depth is reliably known to exceed 400m (1,300feet)

Geologically, the Caspian Sea, like the Black and Mediterranean seas, is a remnant of the ancient Tethys Ocean. The deepest area is oceanic rather than continental crust. However, it is generally regarded by geographers as a large endorheic salt lake. Of these registered lakes; 10 have a deepest point above the sea level. These are: Issyk-Kul, Crater Lake, Quesnel, Sarez, Toba, Tahoe, Kivu, Nahuel Huapi, Van and Poso.

	Name	Country	Region	Depth	Depth2/area
(meters)	(feet)
1.	Baikal[1]		Southern Siberia: Buryatia and Irkutsk Oblast
2.	Tanganyika	Burundi Zambia	African Great Lakes
3.	(Caspian Sea[2])	Kazakhstan Turkmenistan Azerbaijan	Caspian Endorheic basin
4.	Viedma	Argentina	Santa Cruz Province	~900	~2953	N/D
4.	Vostok[3]		Under the, East Antarctic Ice Sheet	~900	~2953
6.	O'Higgins-San Martín[4]	Chile Argentina	Capitán Prat Province (Chile) and Santa Cruz Province (Argentina)
7.	Argentino	Argentina	Santa Cruz Province
8.	Malawi	Malawi Mozambique	African Great Lakes
9.	Issyk Kul	Kyrgyzstan	Tien Shan Mountains
10.	Great Slave	Canada	Northwest Territories
11.	Crater[5]	United States	Oregon
12.	Matano	Indonesia	Southern Sulawesi
13.	General Carrera-Buenos Aires	Chile Argentina	General Carrera Province (Chile) and Santa Cruz Province (Argentina)
14.	Hornindalsvatnet	Norway	Vestland
15.	Quesnel		British Columbia
16.	Sarez	Tajikistan	Gorno-Badakhshan
16.	Toba	Indonesia	Sumatra
18.	Tahoe	United States	California and Nevada
19.	Salvatnet	Norway	Trøndelag
20.	Kivu	Rwanda	African Great Lakes
21.	Grand Lake	Canada	Newfoundland			N/D
22.	Nahuel Huapi	Argentina	Río Negro Province and Neuquén Province
23.	Hauroko	New Zealand	Southland, South Island
24.	Cochrane / Pueyrredón	Chile Argentina	Capitán Prat Province (Chile) and Santa Cruz Province (Argentina)
24.	Lake Tinn	Norway	Telemark
26.	Adams	Canada	British Columbia
27.	Chelan	United States	Washington (state)
27.	Mjøsa	Norway	Innlandet and Akershus
29.	Van	Turkey	Eastern Anatolia Region
30.	Poso	Indonesia	Sulawesi
31.	Fagnano	Argentina Chile	Tierra del Fuego
32.	Great Bear	Canada	Northwest Territories
33.	Manapouri	New Zealand	Southland, South Island
34.	Como	Italy	Lombardy
34.	Te Anau	New Zealand	Southland, South Island
36.	Tazawa	Japan	Akita Prefecture, Honshu
37.	Khantayskoye		Krasnoyarsk Krai			N/D
37.	Wakatipu	New Zealand	Otago, South Island
39.	Grey	Chile	Última Esperanza Province			N/D
40.	Superior	Canada United States	Ontario (Canada) and Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin (United States)

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.^[6] A reliable volume figure requires a bathymetric survey. Therefore, mean depth figures are not available for many deep lakes in remote locations. The average lake on Earth has the mean depth 41.8 meters (137.14 feet)

The Caspian Sea ranks much further down the list on mean depth, as it has a large continental shelf (significantly larger than the oceanic basin that contains its greatest depths).

Of the 127 registered lakes; 67 are known to be cryptodepressions. These include: Vostok^{[3] [7]} (subglacial surface), Concordia (subglacial surface), (Caspian Sea^[2]) (subsea surface), Dead Sea (subsea surface) and Jökulsárlón (glacial lagoon estuary). The remaining 60 lakes have got their entire basin above the sea level.

This list contains all lakes whose mean depth is reliably known to exceed 100 metres (328 ft).

	Name	Country	Region	Depth
(meters)	(feet)
1.	Baikal		Southern Siberia: Buryatia and Irkutsk Oblast
2.	Tanganyika	Burundi Zambia	African Great Lakes
3.	Vostok		Under the, East Antarctic Ice Sheet
4.	General Carrera-Buenos Aires	Chile Argentina	General Carrera Province (Chile) and Santa Cruz Province (Argentina)
5.	Crater	United States	Oregon
6.	Tahoe	United States
7.	Adams	Canada	British Columbia, (Shuswap)
8.	Malawi	Malawi Mozambique	African Great Lakes
9.	Tazawa	Japan	Honshu
10.	Issyk Kul	Kyrgyzstan	Tien Shan Mountains
11.	Shikotsu	Japan	Hokkaido
12.	Concordia		Antarctic Plateau
13.	Crveno	Croatia	Imotski Area
14.	Kivu	Rwanda	African Great Lakes
14.	Matano[8]	Indonesia	Sulawesi
16.	Hornindalsvatnet	Norway	Vestland
17.	Quilotoa	Ecuador	Cotopaxi Province
18.	Toba	Indonesia	Sumatra
19.	Heaven	China	Ryanggang Province (North Korea) and Jilin Province (China)
20.	(Caspian Sea)	Kazakhstan Turkmenistan Azerbaijan	Caspian Endorheic basin
21.	Karakul	Tajikistan	Pamir Mountains
22.	Sarez	Tajikistan	Gorno-Badakhshan
23.	Kurile		Kamchatka Peninsula
24.	Fagnano	Argentina Chile	Tierra del Fuego
25.	Todos los Santos	Chile	Llanquihue Province
26.	Lake Tinn	Norway	Telemark
27.	Dead Sea	Jordan Israel	Middle East
28.	Llanquihue	Chile	Llanquihue Province and Osorno Province
29.	Chapo	Chile	Llanquihue Province
30.	Maggiore	Italy Switzerland	Lombardy, Piedmont (Italy) and Ticino (Switzerland)
31.	Ranau	Indonesia	Sumatra
31.	Teletskoye		Altai Mountains
33.	Brienz	Switzerland	Bern
33.	Colico	Chile	Cautín Province
33.	Traful	Argentina	Neuquén Province
36.	Lundevatnet	Norway	Rogaland and Agder
37.	Slocan	Canada	British Columbia, (West Kootenay)
37.	Van	Turkey	Eastern Anatolia Region
39.	Ilopango	El Salvador	San Salvador, La Paz and Cuscatlán
40.	Te Anau	New Zealand	Southland, South Island
41.	Lácar	Argentina	Neuquén Province
42.	Rupanco	Chile	Osorno Province
43.	Riñihue	Chile	Valdivia Province
44.	Nimpkish	Canada	British Columbia,(Vancouver Island)
45.	Azure	Canada	British Columbia, (Wells Gray)
46.	Nahuel Huapi	Argentina	Río Negro Province and Neuquén Province
46.	Quesnel	Canada	British Columbia, (Likely and Horsefly)
48.	Suldalsvatnet	Norway	Rogaland
49.	Argentino	Argentina	Santa Cruz Province
50.	Del Toro	Chile	Última Esperanza Province
50.	Ohrid	Albania	Balkans
50.	Salvatnet	Norway	Trøndelag
53.	Atitlán	Guatemala	Guatemalan Highlands of the Sierra Madre
53.	Como	Italy	Lombardy
55.	Geneva	Switzerland France	Vaud, Geneva, Valais (Switzerland) and Haute-Savoie (France)
56.	Jökulsárlón	Iceland	Vatnajökull National Park
57.	Harrison	Canada	British Columbia, (Coast Mountains)
58.	Mjøsa	Norway	Innlandet and Akershus
58.	Powell	Canada	British Columbia, (Sunshine Coast)
60.	Menéndez	Argentina	Chubut Province
61.	Manapouri	New Zealand	Southland, South Island
61.	Singkarak	Indonesia	Western Sumatra
63.	Lake Superior	Canada United States	Ontario (Canada) and Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin (United States)
64.	Chelan	United States	Washington (state)
65.	Huechulafquen	Argentina	Neuquén Province
65.	Pend Oreille	United States	Idaho
67.	Anderson	Canada	British Columbia, (Lillooet)
67.	Nemrut	Turkey	Bitlis Province
67.	Redoubt	United States	Alaska, (Baranof Island)
70.	Storsjøen	Norway	Innlandet
71.	Khövsgöl	Mongolia	Nearby the eastern, Sayan Mountains
72.	Mashū	Japan	Hokkaido
73.	Lonar	India	Deccan Plateau
73.	Ørsdalsvatnet	Norway	Rogaland
75.	Garda	Italy	Lombardy, Veneto and Trentino
75.	Thun	Switzerland	Bern
77.	Ikeda	Japan	Kyushu
77.	Yelcho	Chile	Palena Province
79.	Lugano	Switzerland Italy	Ticino (Switzerland) and Lombardy (Italy)
80.	Loch Ness	United Kingdom	, Caledonia
81.	Oppstrynsvatnet	Norway	Vestland
82.	Wakatipu	New Zealand	Otago, South Island
83.	Breimsvatnet	Norway	Vestland
84.	Mainit	Philippines	Mindanao
85.	Panguipulli	Chile	Valdivia Province
86.	Great Central	Canada	British Columbia, (Vancouver Island)
86.	Iseo	Italy	Lombardy
88.	Greve	Chile	Última Esperanza Province
89.	Ranco	Chile	Ranco Province
89.	Timiskaming	Canada	Ontario and Quebec
91.	Bandak	Norway	Telemark
91.	Maihue	Chile	Ranco Province
93.	Fyresvatnet	Norway	Telemark
93.	Kanas	China	Xinjiang, Altay Prefecture
93.	Towuti	Indonesia	Southern Sulawesi
93.	Villarrica	Chile	Cautín Province
97.	Garibaldi	Canada	British Columbia, (Coast Mountains)
98.	Caburgua	Chile	Cautín Province
98.	Toya	Japan	Hokkaido
100.	Hauroko	New Zealand	Southland, South Island
101.	Calafquén	Chile	Cautín Province
102.	Mabel	Canada	British Columbia, (Shuswap)
103.	Poteriteri	New Zealand	Southland, South Island
104.	Mascardi	Argentina	Río Negro Province
104.	Puelo	Argentina	Chubut Province
106.	Lake Taupō	New Zealand	Waikato, North Island
107.	Öskjuvatn	Iceland	Highlands of Iceland
108.	Chilko	Canada	British Columbia, (Chilcotin)
109.	Murtle	Canada	British Columbia, (Wells Gray)
109.	Titicaca	Peru	Puno Region (Peru) and La Paz Department (Bolivia)
111.	Tatlayoko	Canada	British Columbia, (Chilcotin)
112.	Gander	Canada	Newfoundland
113.	Guinas	Namibia	Oshikoto Region, Tsumeb
113.	Kauhakō Crater	United States	Hawaii, (Molokai)
113.	Maninjau	Indonesia	Central Sumatra
116.	Walen	Switzerland	St. Gallen and Glarus
117.	Lucerne	Switzerland	Central Switzerland
118.	Rivadavia	Argentina	Chubut Province
119.	Takla	Canada	British Columbia, (Mount Blanchet)
120.	Cochrane / Pueyrredón	Chile Argentina	Capitán Prat Province (Chile) and Santa Cruz Province (Argentina)
121.	Clearwater	Canada	British Columbia, (Wells Gray)
122.	Futalaufquen	Argentina	Chubut Province
123.	Hāwea	New Zealand	Otago, South Island
124.	Nueltin	Canada	Nunavut and Manitoba
124.	Rara	Nepal	Karnali Province
124.	Taal	Philippines	Southern Luzon
124.	Viedma	Argentina	Santa Cruz Province

Greatest maximum depth by continent

• Africa - 1: Tanganyika, 2: Malawi, 3: Kivu
• Antarctica - 1: Radok (surface lake). - 1: Vostok (subglacial lake),^[3] 2: Concordia (subglacial lake), 3: Ellsworth (subglacial lake).
• Asia - 1: Baikal, 2: Issyk Kul, 3: Matano
• Eurasia - 1: Baikal, 2: Caspian Sea, 3: Issyk Kul
  • Europe - 1: Hornindalsvatnet, 2: Salvatnet, 3: Lake Tinn North America - 1: Great Slave, 2: Crater, 3: Quesnel
  • Central America - 1: Atitlán, 2: Chicabal, 3: Ilopango
    • Oceania - 1: Hauroko, 2: Manapouri, 3: Te Anau Australia - 1: St Clair
• South America - 1: Viedma, 2: O'Higgins/San Martín, 3: Argentino

Greatest mean depth by continent

• Africa - 1: Tanganyika, 2: Malawi, 3: Kivu
• Antarctica - 1: Vostok^[3] (subglacial lake), 2: Concordia (subglacial lake), 3: Ellsworth (subglacial lake).
• Asia - 1: Baikal, 2: Tazawa, 3: Issyk-Kul
• Europe - 1: Crveno, 2: Hornindalsvatnet, 3: Lake Tinn
• North America - 1: Crater, 2: Tahoe, 3: Adams
• Oceania - 1: Te Anau, 2: Manapouri, 3: Wakatipu
• South America - 1: General Carrera-Buenos Aires, 2: Quilotoa, 3: Fagnano

See also

• List of lakes by area
• List of lakes by volume
• List of largest lakes of Europe

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.

Sources

• Worldlakes.org, Deepest lakes

External links

• Environmentalgraffiti.com - 10 deepest lakes with pictures

Notes and References

1. Lake Baikal is also the largest freshwater lake by volume.
2. The Caspian Sea is generally regarded by geographers, biologists and limnologists as a huge inland salt lake. However, the Caspian's large size means that for some purposes it is better modeled as a sea. Geologically, the Caspian, Black, and Mediterranean seas are small oceans, remnants of the ancient Tethys. Politically, the distinction between a sea and a lake may affect how the Caspian is treated by international law.
3. [Lake Vostok]
4. • CECS, Depth sounding of Lake O'Higgins/San Martín
5. [Crater Lake]
6. Cael. B. B.. Heathcote. A. J.. Seekell. D. A.. 2017. The volume and mean depth of Earth's lakes. Geophysical Research Letters. en. 44. 1. 209–218. 10.1002/2016GL071378. 2017GeoRL..44..209C . 1944-8007. 1912/8822. 132520745 . free. 2021-09-11. 2021-08-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20210824114754/https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/2016GL071378. dead.
7. News: The Conversation . What Lies Beneath Antarctica's Ice? Lakes, Life and the Grandest of Canyons . July 17, 2016 . Christine . Dow. Felicity . McCormack. Sue . Cook . June 25, 2018.
8. Book: Walter K. Dodds. Matt R. Whiles. Freshwater Ecology: Concepts and Environmental Applications of Limnology. 22 February 2012. 23 September 2010. Academic Press. 978-0-12-374724-2. 141–142.