Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
9.4 OVERVIEW OF ORIGIN AND SIZE
Lakes and reservoirs vary widely in size and number. Inland lakes comprise only approximately
0.02% of the water in the hydrosphere (in contrast to 0.00008% in rivers; Schwoerbel 1987). In con-
trast, 1.6% is immobilized as ice. However, because of the accessibility of lakes, and their frequent
replenishment, they are one of the most important sources of water for humans and wildlife.
TABLE 9.2
Examples of Lakes Greater than 6,000 km 2
Name
Continent
Surface Area (km 2 )
Maximum Depth (m)
Volume (km 3 )
Caspian Sea
Asia
436,400
946
79,319
L. Superior
N. America
83,300
307
12,000
L. Victoria
Africa
68,800
79
2,700
Aral Sea
Asia
62,000
68
970
L. Huron
N. America
59,510
223
4,600
L. Michigan
N. America
57,850
265
5,760
L. Tanganyika
Africa
34,000
1,470
23,100
L. Baikal
Asia
31,500
1,620
23,000
L. Malawi
Africa
30,800
758
8,400
Gt. Slave Lake
N. America
30,000
614
7,000
Gt. Bear Lake
N. America
29,500
137
L. Erie
N. America
25,300
64
470
L. Winnipeg
N. America
24,530
19
31,000
L. Ontario
N. America
18,760
225
1,720
L. Ladoga
Europe
18,734
250
920
L. Balkhash
Asia
17,575
27
112
L. Chad
Africa
16,500
12
24
L. Onega
Europe
9,836
124
300
L. Rudolf
Africa
8,600
73
360
L. Nicaragua
C. America
8,400
91
80
L. Volta
Africa
8,300
74
165
L. Titicaca
S. America
8,400
281
893
L. Issyk Kul
Asia
6,200
702
1,732
L. Vanern
Europe
5,570
89
180
L. Kariba
Africa
5,364
93
167
L. Albert
Africa
5,340
48
140
L. Peipus
Europe
2,276
13.4
2.1
L. Kivu
Africa
2,700
489
538
L. Vattern
Europe
1,898
119
72
L. Malaren
Europe
1,163
64
10
Total volume of all lakes
280,000
Freshwater lakes
150,000
Reservoirs
5,000
Salt lakes
125,000
Source: Martin, J.L. and McCutcheon, S.C., Hydrodynamics and Transport for Water Quality Modeling , Lewis
Publishers, Boca Raton, FL, 1999. Modiied from Loucks and van Beek, Water Resources Systems
Planning and Management , Appendix A: Natural system processes and interactions, United Nations
Educational, Scientiic and Cultural Organization, Delft, 2005; and Schwoerbel, J., Handbook of
Limnology , Ellis Horwood, Chichester, UK, 1987.
 
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