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in the world with an area of 68,000 km (26,300 sq mi). By 1997, it had shrunk to 10% of its original size due to water that was diverted in the Soviet Era. It is now split into 4 smaller lakes. As of 2023, the Aral Sea has become mostly desert.
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Most of the hundreds of thousands of inland water bodies on our planet are less than 18,000 years old, but a few lakes and inland seas have existed continuously for more than 1 million years. I present a database of the 20 ancient lakes of the
264:
are studied in ancient lakes due to their prolonged existence and general geographic isolation. Most of the research has been associated with the endemic fauna and diatoms that exist in these isolated lakes, concentrating on
108:. This active rift zone creates lakes that are extremely deep and difficult to naturally fill with sediment. Due to the prolonged life of ancient lakes, they serve as models for isolated evolutionary traits and
1170:
Situated in south-east
Siberia, the 3.15-million-ha Lake Baikal is the oldest (25 million years) and deepest (1,700 m) lake in the world. It contains 20% of the world's total unfrozen freshwater reserve.
244:, which have subsided between two parallel plates. The location of the graben above the active rift zone results in a lake bottom that is constantly dropping in depth and walls increasing in height.
134:, estimated to be 20–36 million years old. In ancient times it was indisputably a true lake, but today it is saline and directly connected to the sea, leading many to consider it a large
130:
origin and at least 66 million years old (most likely around 70 million years), but its exact age is controversial and labelled with some uncertainty. Another contender for oldest is
100:
is a lake that has consistently carried water for more than one million years. 12 of the 20 ancient lakes have existed for more than 2.6 million years, the full
1362:
Patterns and
Processes of Speciation in Ancient Lakes: Proceedings of the Fourth Symposium on Speciation in Ancient Lakes, Berlin, Germany, September 4–8, 2006
252:
Ancient lakes allow scientists to study the mechanisms of environmental changes over glacial-interglacial timescales. Evolutionary characteristics including
951:
Historically it was an ancient lake. Now a large tidal bay / inlet rather than a lake in the traditional sense. It is saline and directly connected to the
1124:
1367:
Vaillant, J. J., G. D. Haffner, and M. E. Cristescu. "The
Ancient Lakes of Indonesia: Towards Integrated Research on Speciation."
150:, sediment deposited from a river into a lake over thousands of years. Factors that influence the water level decreasing include
1418:
Hoffmann, N., K. Reicherter, T. Fernández-Steeger, and C. Grützner. "Evolution of
Ancient Lake Ohrid: A Tectonic Perspective."
1097:
240:. Formation occurs within a graben that is located on an active rift zone. Grabens are sections of land, formed along
1342:
162:
processes. Ancient lakes have a prolonged life when compared to younger, more ordinary lakes due to the local active
68:
46:
39:
739:
146:
There are six major types of lakes (listed below). The majority of lakes dry up as the result of the filling with
1403:
1300:
185:
which is 25–30 million years old and 5,387 feet (1,642 m) deep. This is compared to the North
American
1278:
193:
which are 14,000 years old and have maximum depths ranging from 200–1,300 feet (60–400 m) deep.
33:
1182:
1128:
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261:
50:
1206:"Dinosaur eggshell and Cretaceous-Paleogene Boundary in the Zaysan Basin, eastern Kazakhstan"
297:
These are the 20 ancient lakes in the world that have existed for more than 1 million years.
122:
is often considered the oldest, as clear evidence shows that it is 25–30 million years old.
1391:
1250:
215:
116:
are less than 18,000 years old. There are only 20 ancient lakes over 1 million years old.
8:
1377:"Stratigraphic Classification of Ancient Lakes: Balancing Tectonic and Climatic Controls"
278:
274:
151:
147:
1395:
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639:
257:
241:
189:, which were formed by the last glacial period by glacial scouring and the pooling of
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225:
920:
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131:
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inundated the lake, thus, in some sources the lake is considered a reservoir.
1457:
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911:
478:
409:
400:
113:
1352:
181:
in Russia, the deepest lake in the world, is an ancient lake created by the
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220:
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517:
469:
270:
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237:
186:
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123:
119:
85:
104:. Ancient lakes continue to persist due to plate tectonics in an active
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444:
374:
210:
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109:
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105:
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The
Diatoms: Applications for the Environmental and Earth Sciences
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171:
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1364:. Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Springer, 2009. 126–28. Print.
1404:
10.1130/0091-7613(1999)027<0099:SCOALB>2.3.CO;2
786:
508:
81:
1375:
Carroll, Alan R.; Bohacs, Kevin M. (February 1, 1999).
1239:"Zaysan-the Only Surviving Cretaceous Lake-May be Lost"
277:. Information is derived from the associations of the
955:, leading many to consider it a large lagoon or bay.
1430:
1271:
1203:
141:
1337:. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP. pp. 209–212.
1455:
1118:
1116:
1183:"Lake Baikal: Protection of a unique ecosystem"
236:Ancient lake formation is similar to that of a
1374:
1360:Wilke, Thomas, Risto Väinölä, and F. Riedel.
1236:
1113:
231:
1332:
1158:"Lake Baikal – UNESCO World Heritage Centre"
1230:
247:
1333:Stoermer, Eugene F.; Smol, J. P. (2001).
1293:
1262:
1221:
69:Learn how and when to remove this message
1197:
292:
92:is one of the oldest lakes in the world.
80:
32:This article includes a list of general
1456:
1422:7.10 (2010): 3377–386. Web. Nov. 2015.
1322:Soviet Encyclopedic Dictionary, Moscow
1301:"Lake Maracaibo – Lakes of the World"
1127:. Christopher M. Free. Archived from
1123:Free, Christopher (April 23, 2016).
1122:
18:
16:Lakes at least one million years old
1371:51.4 (2011): 634–43. Web. Nov. 2015
1369:Integrative and Comparative Biology
13:
1204:Lucas; Bray; Emry; Hirsch (2012).
38:it lacks sufficient corresponding
14:
1485:
1426:
1415:. Download from researchgate.net.
1433:
682:saline, intermittent, endorheic
23:
1449:Species in Ancient Lakes (SIAL)
1279:"The Oldest Lakes in the World"
1243:Procedia Environmental Sciences
928:saline, permanent, coastal bay
142:Ancient lakes vs. younger lakes
1315:
1175:
1150:
1:
1281:. World Atlas. 25 August 2017
1106:
1038:fresh, permanent, subglacial
764:saline, permanent, endorheic
1264:10.1016/j.proenv.2011.09.220
1223:10.1016/j.proenv.2011.09.220
1185:. ScienceDaily. 26 July 2017
1125:"Ancient lakes of the world"
7:
202:Landslide and ice dam lakes
10:
1490:
242:divergent plate boundaries
232:Formation of ancient lakes
349:fresh, permanent, crater
1096:The construction of the
417:soda, permanent, crater
170:sections of land called
1210:Journal of Stratigraphy
248:Importance to evolution
158:, natural drainage and
53:more precise citations.
1237:Dorfman, B.F. (2011).
262:punctuated equilibrium
126:may be even older, of
112:. Most of the world's
93:
675:Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre
293:List of ancient lakes
283:fluctuating profundal
84:
842:Formerly the fourth
1396:1999Geo....27...99C
1255:2011PrEnS..10.1376D
1134:on February 9, 2020
301:
275:African Great Lakes
154:sediment build-up,
148:lacustrine deposits
1357:Chapter 11.1–11.2.
1003:saline, permanent
815:saline, permanent
300:
287:evaporative facies
279:fluvial-lacustrine
258:adaptive radiation
152:fluvial-lacustrine
94:
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1103:
1073:fresh, permanent
968:fresh, permanent
895:fresh, permanent
860:fresh, permanent
717:fresh, permanent
647:fresh, permanent
604:fresh, permanent
568:fresh, permanent
525:fresh, permanent
486:fresh, permanent
452:fresh, permanent
382:fresh, permanent
102:Quaternary period
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254:sexual selection
226:Subglacial lakes
183:Baikal Rift Zone
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49:this article by
40:inline citations
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1474:Ancient lakes
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1469:Lakes by type
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1390:(2): 99–102.
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1441:Lakes portal
1419:
1407:. Retrieved
1387:
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1305:. Retrieved
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1283:. Retrieved
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1199:
1187:. Retrieved
1177:
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1162:. Retrieved
1152:
1143:
1136:. Retrieved
1129:the original
1076:65+ million
971:25+ million
931:20+ million
863:5–6 million
844:largest lake
818:5.5 million
799:Turkmenistan
767:5.5 million
720:3–6 million
650:2–5 million
640:Lake Hovsgol
607:2–5 million
420:1–2 million
385:1–2 million
352:1.5 million
296:
251:
235:
216:Crater lakes
176:
145:
118:
98:ancient lake
97:
95:
65:
56:
37:
1160:. 1992–2024
1066:Lake Zaysan
1035:subglacial
1031:Lake Vostok
1006:25 million
961:Lake Baikal
757:Caspian Sea
597:Lake Malawi
518:Lake Prespa
470:Philippines
271:Caspian Sea
267:Lake Baikal
238:rift valley
211:Oxbow lakes
187:Great Lakes
179:Lake Baikal
160:geophysical
156:evaporation
124:Lake Zaysan
120:Lake Baikal
86:Lake Zaysan
51:introducing
1458:Categories
1409:20 January
1164:20 January
1138:20 January
1107:References
1092:Kazakhstan
1057:Antarctica
1022:Kyrgyzstan
838:Uzbekistan
834:Kazakhstan
791:Kazakhstan
783:Azerbaijan
627:Mozambique
561:Lake Ohrid
489:3 million
455:2 million
445:Lake Lanao
375:Lake Tahoe
333:Countries
327:Depth max
206:Salt lakes
198:Rift lakes
164:rift zones
128:Cretaceous
110:speciation
90:Kazakhstan
59:March 2015
34:references
1464:Limnology
1132:(website)
1070:tectonic
1000:tectonic
996:Issyk-Kul
965:tectonic
947:Venezuela
925:tectonic
892:tectonic
888:Lake Tule
857:tectonic
853:Lake Biwa
812:tectonic
761:tectonic
714:tectonic
701:Australia
679:tectonic
644:tectonic
601:tectonic
565:tectonic
522:tectonic
483:tectonic
449:volcanic
379:tectonic
191:meltwater
106:rift zone
1353:39515848
808:Aral Sea
744:Tanzania
666:Mongolia
631:Tanzania
586:Albania
273:and the
168:subsided
138:or bay.
1392:Bibcode
1384:Geology
1307:8 March
1285:8 March
1251:Bibcode
1189:8 March
770:374000
736:Burundi
583:163.71
574:358.18
544:Albania
505:Bolivia
308:Origin
172:grabens
47:improve
1351:
1341:
1145:world.
1044:12500
987:Russia
977:23000
974:31500
934:13010
821:64500
795:Russia
773:78200
748:Zambia
726:17800
723:32000
623:Malawi
610:29600
580:286.7
577:53.63
548:Greece
366:Canada
336:Notes
322:Volume
269:, the
136:lagoon
36:, but
1380:(PDF)
1079:5510
1047:5400
1012:1738
1009:6236
980:1741
943:25.9
879:Japan
869:27.5
776:1025
740:Congo
729:1471
691:30.1
688:9690
653:2770
613:8400
540:18.7
492:8372
466:60.3
436:Ghana
426:2.24
324:(km)
319:(km)
311:Type
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1191:2018
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1140:2024
1053:432
1050:510
1018:270
1015:668
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937:280
872:104
866:674
824:625
787:Iran
779:182
732:572
662:138
659:267
656:381
619:292
616:705
534:4.8
531:259
509:Peru
501:107
498:281
495:893
463:112
458:375
397:313
394:505
391:156
388:499
360:267
317:Area
314:Age
285:and
260:and
166:and
1400:doi
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1218:doi
1085:10
1082:53
940:60
904:40
901:53
875:41
830:16
827:67
537:54
432:45
429:81
423:49
96:An
88:in
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1115:^
1088:5
836:,
797:,
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697:3
694:6
629:,
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