Lead
Russian scientists announced that the depth of Lake Baikal reached 1,637 meters, the latest measurement of the depth of Lake Baikal by scientists since the 19th century, which is 4 meters more than the previous maximum measurement.
As a result, Baikal remains the deepest lake in the world, and it is deeper than many oceans.
But as a freshwater lake, why is the depth of Lake Baikal deepening?
How is its depth formed?
1. The formation of Lake Baikal.
Lake Baikal is a very old lake, formed 150 million years ago in the Mesozoic Era, less than 100 million years ago, and is one of the oldest lakes in the world.
At that time, the earth was in the era of dinosaurs, and the variety of life on the earth was gradually enriched, and the area of Lake Baikal was much larger than it is now, about twice as large as it is now.
At that time, the shape of Lake Baikal was somewhat similar to that of the north-south trend it is today, but it was much larger and deeper, more than 2 million square kilometers, and the depth of the lake was more than 2,200 meters.
However, with the change of the earth's crust, the area and depth of Lake Baikal gradually decreased, and the area of Baikal is now about 49,000 square kilometers, and the deepest point is only 1,637 meters.
Although the size of the lake has shrunk a lot, it is still known for its "great depth", due to the fact that Lake Baikal now has huge reserves of fresh water, which is deeper and larger than many oceans.
The formation of Lake Baikal is associated with crustal changes and tectonic plate movements, and the predecessor of Baikal was an ancient land mass, which is somewhat similar in morphology to the present Altai Mountains.
But as the African plate moved closer to the Russian part of the Eurasian plate, the Eurasian plate bent a little eastward, so that the Siberian region of Russia extended a large area to the east.
The topography between them presents a "fault" that spans the past, separating the two crusts, with the east side being low and the west side being high, so the west side is sloping to the east.
As a result, a lake gradually formed in the low-lying area in the east, and some "folds" in the high-lying area in the west, so that the area in the east gradually became larger and the area in the west gradually became smaller.
After 100 million years of evolution, the area of Lake Baikal has gradually become what it is now, and in the process of its formation, the depth of Lake Baikal has gradually deepened, which is one of the reasons why the depth of Lake Baikal has remained "the largest in the world".
And why is the depth of Lake Baikal constantly increasing?
This is related to geological formations and plate movements.
2. Why the depth of Lake Baikal is still deepening.
At the bottom of Lake Baikal there is a fault called the Angara Gully, and the depth of the Angara Gully has reached 8,400 meters, which is deeper than the depth of Lake Baikal.
Due to the interconnection of a fault between the Angara Gully and Lake Baikal, tectonic plate movements lead to the gradual subsidence of the western terrain to the east, while the eastern terrain gradually rises, and the depth of the Baikal Lake is gradually deepened.
And there is another reason for the depth of Lake Baikal, that is, its surface area is relatively small, and the rate of evaporation and outflow of water from the lake is relatively slow, but there are many rivers that flow into the lake, such as the Angara, Sakman, and Tasur, and these rivers are also the "great replenishment" of Baikal.
As a result, the volume of Baikal water is increasing faster than it is being lost from the lake, so that the depth of the lake is gradually deepening.
The water of Lake Baikal is one of the clearest freshwater on the planet, rich in oxygen and minerals, which is why Baikal is home to a large number of unique deep-water organisms.
However, with the development of industry in the surrounding cities, some untreated industrial wastewater will be discharged into the lake, causing the lake water to become turbid, which poses a threat to the ecology of the lake.
Lake Baikal is still an important tourist attraction in Russia, and a large number of tourists visit it every year, but these tourists also have the potential to throw household garbage into the lake, which will further pollute the lake.
The Russian government has realized the importance of Lake Baikal and has implemented a number of conservation programs to address the pollution of the lake's water.
A large number of protected areas have been built around Lake Baikal, and in addition to them, Russia has built national parks around Lake Baikal.
In this way, it plays a very good role in ecological protection, so that the ecological environment of Lake Baikal can be effectively protected.
epilogue
The continuous increase in the depth of Lake Baikal may have some impact on the ecosystem of the lake bottom, but due to evolutionary adaptation, these organisms may gradually adapt to the new environment.
Water scarcity is a global problem, and the experience of Lake Baikal's conservation and management can serve as a lesson for other regions, especially in dealing with water pollution and preserving biodiversity.
However, when developing a conservation plan, it is still necessary to consider it holistically, after all, industrial and tourism activities have a very large impact on the lake ecosystem, and it is important to develop sustainable development plans and conservation policies.
At the same time, it is also necessary to intensify the control of environmental pollution, which has a serious impact on human health, and strengthening environmental monitoring and management is the key measure to protect the health of residents in Lake Baikal and its surroundings.
At the same time, geological structures and plate movements have an important impact on the formation and evolution of lakes, and exploring the geological processes behind the increase in the depth of Lake Baikal can help to better understand the evolutionary history of the Earth.