Why is Lake Baikal, the world's deepest lake, as deep as a kilometer, getting deeper every year?

When it comes to Lake Baikal, people who have studied geography or those who like to listen to songs may understand it. In the early Qing Dynasty, Lake Baikal was also considered China's territory, but it was later divided. For Lake Baikal, the first thing people think of is the world's deepest lake and huge freshwater resources.

> > According to estimates by geologists, the area of ​​Lake Baikal reaches 31,000 square kilometers, and the water storage capacity accounts for 17% to 20% of the total water volume of the freshwater lake, which is 23.6 trillion cubic meters. Although Lake Baikal is just one lake, even if all the lakes in China are added together, it is only 1/33 of Lake Baikal. So such a huge water demand, according to scientists' calculations, can be used by 5 billion people to drink. >

Why does Lake Baikal deepen every year?

The fresh water resources of Lake Baikal are huge, which mainly comes from the deep depth of Lake Baikal , the deepest can reach 1741 meters . In fact, when we look at the many lakes in the world, we will find that there are very few lakes with a depth of more than 1,000 meters like Lake Baikal . Generally, our common lakes are not higher than the terrain, otherwise they will flow out like floods, and eventually they will gradually form outflow rivers, thereby draining the water resources in the lakes.

Rivers carry part of the sediment when they flow. If the river flows into a calm river, the sediment will continue to accumulate. Even if the depth of the lake is very deep, the continuous accumulation of sediment will eventually lead to the lake being filled, even In severe cases, it will become a wetland . However, the fate of many lakes is constantly being filled, why Lake Baikal is very special.

In fact, this is mainly because the water source of the lake does not come from several rivers, but 336 . Among so many rivers, the one that provides a large amount of water to Lake Baikal is the Selenga River . Because the terrain in the river basin is relatively flat, the sediment in the river is also filtered to the river bed. When the river flows into Lake Baikal, the sediment has been filtered and there is very little left.

In addition, before the Selenga River enters Lake Baikal, a delta of sediment accumulation has been formed at the mouth of the lake . When the river water is ready to be injected, the delta will intercept the sediment in Hanoi. Therefore, a large amount of clear river water is poured into Lake Baikal, which is why the visibility of the lake can reach about 30 meters.

Although the area where Lake Baikal is located is relatively high, the formation of Lake Baikal is actually caused by earthquakes. And after investigating and analyzing the sediments in the lake, scientists also discovered that Lake Baikal has existed for 25 million years . This may be the reason for the abundance of water. After all, it has been hoarded for 25 million years.

Will Lake Baikal be called an ocean in the future?

The area where Lake Baikal is located is located at the junction of plates, so earthquakes in this area are relatively frequent. When the earthquake shakes, it will cause the rift valley of Lake Baikal to continue to expand. According to calculations, it will expand by about 2cm every year , so Lake Baikal will only be deeper and bigger in the future. The water storage and water area of ​​Lake Baikal have surpassed all lakes in the world, so will Lake Baikal be called an ocean in the future?

If you look at the speed at which Lake Baikal has been expanding, perhaps one day in the future, Lake Baikal will be eligible to be called an ocean . However, some scientists say that Lake Baikal is the result of the degradation of the ocean, because the remains of marine life have been found in the sediments at the bottom of the lake. After this conclusion was put forward, there was a lot of discussion in the scientific community, and it was finally proved by evidence that no marine biological sediment was found at the bottom of the lake. Therefore, Lake Baikal was not created by the degradation of the ocean.

Why do seals live in Lake Baikal?

Scientists believe that the seals followed the food to Lake Baikal when they were catching food, so the seals would also follow the river into the ocean. There is also an ice age in Lake Baikal . When the ice age comes, the seals will be charged in Lake Baikal, and they will live in the area for a while.