Lake Teletskoye, one of Siberia’s prime tourist destinations, is a large lake that is nestled in a narrow valley between the snow-capped Al-tyntu (west, at top) and Korbu (east, at bottom) mountain ridges of the Altai Mountains. The lake is nearly 80 kilometers long by 5 kilometers wide and 325 meters deep; it is one of the deepest lakes in the world. But Lake Teletskoye is more than a large, deep lake. It is located within the 9,000 km² Altaisky Zapovednik nature reserve, which helps protect its unspoiled waters.
Published Oct 11, 2004
Straddling Austria and Hungary, the lake is also known as the “Sea of the Viennese.”
Published Apr 10, 2017
In the desert, a lake shows a long fight between water, wind, and climate.
Published Feb 20, 2012
Roughly the same size of Belgium, Canada’s Great Slave Lake runs nearly 2,000 feet deep.
Published May 24, 2019
At an average elevation of 3,812 meters (12,507 feet), Lake Titicaca is one of the highest lakes in the world. The lake is positioned between two major ranges of the Andes Mountain chain and has very limited drainage. The limited outflow of the lake allows for the accumulation of nutrients derived primarily from surrounding communities’ agricultural and sewage waste. The increased nutrient levels can lead to plankton blooms. This astronaut photograph, taken from the International Space Station, captures two such blooms along the eastern shoreline of the lake.
Published Sep 20, 2004
Lake Sambhar, India’s largest salt lake, sits west of the Indian city of Jaipur (Rajasthan, NW India). On the eastern end, the lake is divided by a 5-kilometer long dam made of stone. East of the dam are salt evaporation ponds where salt has been farmed for a thousand years. This image, taken by astronauts aboard the International Space Station, shows Lake Sambhar’s eastern saltworks in detail. Today, they are operated by a joint venture between Hindustan Salts and the Government of Rajasthan. East of the dam is a railroad, built by the British before India’s independence, that provides access from Sambhar Lake City to the salt works.
Published Dec 13, 2004
Long and short. Deep and shallow. Salty and fresh. Blue and brown. These are Africa’s Lake Tanganyika and Lake Rukwa.
Published Jun 20, 2019
One of the smaller lakes of the East African Rift is rich with mud, fish, and geologic beauty.
Published Jul 12, 2020
The light tan oval in this image is the floor of a lake in central Italy that has been drained by a tunnel dug through the surrounding hills. Numerous rectangular fields occupy the former lake bottom—now one of the most fertile regions of Italy. The area is still referred to as “Fucine Lake,” even though the lake has been dry for nearly 150 years.
Published Mar 17, 2008
Italy’s largest lake is situated where the southern Alps meet the Po River Valley.
Published Mar 5, 2018
Located within the Rocky Mountain Trench, it is one of the largest freshwater lakes west of the Mississippi River.
Published Jun 2, 2019
Shaped like an evergreen conifer, Lake Dukan is the largest lake in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Published Dec 25, 2018
At the juncture of the border between China and Russia sits Lake Khanka, also known as Lake Xinghai. Due to their importance to plant and animal species, the lake and the surrounding wetlands are protected by the Ramsar Convention, an international treaty for the protection and sustainable use of wetlands. Migratory birds that frequent this lake include several endangered species, such as the Japanese crane.
Published Feb 18, 2007
Sitting atop the Andes plateau on the border between Peru and Bolivia, the lake is the highest major body of navigable water in the world and the largest lake in South America.
Published Nov 23, 2015
The largest freshwater lake in Mongolia is known as the “sister” to Lake Baikal. Together they hold 20 percent of the fresh water on the planet.
Published Dec 18, 2017
Lake Titicaca, at an elevation of 12,507 feet (3,812 meters) in the Andean Altiplano, is the highest large lake in the world. More than 120 miles long and 50 miles wide, it was the center of the Incan civilization, and today straddles the boundary between Peru and Bolivia.
Published Dec 22, 2003
The largest lake on the Balkan Peninsula is colored by sediments eroded from the surrounding highlands.
Published May 31, 2020
Declining water levels in this saline lake in northwestern China have exposed playa prone to producing dust storms.
Published Nov 25, 2014
Rich in carbonate species and salts, the basin is the largest alkaline lake in the world.
Published Aug 12, 2018
Meltwater from glaciers to the east and west drains into Lake Morari, a large lake that lies at an altitude of 4,521 meters (14,830 feet) on the Tibetan Plateau. A stream on the west side provides the lake’s main inflow. Mud from this river gives the light blue hues to the lake water. The well-formed alluvial fan (image center), built by sediment from the main inflow river, is the reason the lake has formed at this point in the valley.
Published Dec 18, 2006
