Which lake is the deepest in the world, with a floor lying more than 1,600 meters — about a mile — below its surface?
- Lake Baikal
- Lake Superior
- The Caspian Sea
- Lake Tanganyika
Why A? And why not the others?
Correct answer: A. Lake Baikal
Lake Baikal in Siberia is the world's deepest lake, plunging more than 1,600 meters, and also its oldest, at an estimated 20 to 25 million years. The astonishing payoff: that single rift-valley lake holds about one-fifth of all the fresh water on Earth's surface. Lake Tanganyika is the classic near-miss, since it genuinely is the second-deepest lake on the planet, roughly two hundred meters shallower. The Caspian Sea tempts because it is the largest lake on Earth by surface area — a 'sea' in name only — but it is broad rather than deep. Lake Superior, the largest freshwater lake by surface area, reaches only around 400 meters at its deepest, roughly a quarter of Baikal's depth. Surface area and depth are very different records.
Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: 'Lake Baikal' (britannica.com/place/Lake-Baikal)