fresh water lake.
Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. With a surface area of approximately 59,947 km2 (23,146 sq mi), Lake Victoria is Africa’s largest lake by area, the world’s largest tropical lake, and the world’s second-largest fresh water lake by surface area after Lake Superior in North America.
Is Lake Victoria a Rift Valley lake?
Lake Victoria (elevation 1,134 metres (3,720 ft)), with an area of 68,800 square kilometres (26,600 sq mi), is the largest lake in Africa. It is not in the rift valley, instead occupying a depression between the eastern and western rifts formed by the uplift of the rifts to either side.
Is Lake Victoria a salt water lake?
Background Lake Victoria
It is the worlds largest tropical lake and the second largest freshwater lake. Lake Victoria touches the Equator in its northern side. It covers a total area of 68,800 sq. km [km²] and with a maximum depth of 80 m it is relatively shallow.
Is Lake Victoria a basin?
The Lake Victoria Basin is located in the upstream part of the Nile River Basin and is shared among 5 countries, with a total area of about 251,000 km2.
Is Lake Victoria a swampy lake?
The wetlands of Lake Victoria comprise about 37% of the total sur- face area of wetlands in Kenya and about 13% of the same in Uganda. The Lake is fringed by an extensive system of swamps and wetlands, which provide habitat to a host of wildlife species.
What is Rift Valley lakes?
The Rift Valley Lakes refer to a cluster of lakes lying within the East African Rift which spans all the way from Ethiopia to Malawi. Most of these lakes are among the largest, oldest, and deepest lakes on the planet today.
Which lakes are part of the Great Rift Valley?
The lakes are; Lake Elementaita (6,300 ha), Lake Nakuru (18,800ha) and Lake Bogoria (10,700ha) all of which lie in basins on the floor of the Great Rift Valley which transects Kenya North-South. All the three lakes are shallow, alkaline and are hydro-geologically connected through sub surface seepage of water.
Do any lakes have salt water?
Lakes cover about 4 percent of the Earth’s land surface. Many of the largest ones (by area) are salty: Utah’s Great Salt Lake, the Caspian Sea (arguably the world’s biggest lake), Iran’s Lake Urmia, and the Dead Sea. Unlike marine and brackish waters, saline lakes typically form inland, and do not connect to the ocean.
Can you swim in a salty lake?
Short Answer? YES! The salt level in the Great Salt Lake is high enough to make a body float. However, to get out to where the water is deep enough to see if you can float will take time.
Why is Lake Victoria so special?
Alongside its rich history, cultural wealth, and spectacular wildlife, Lake Victoria is special for being one of only two places in East Africa where it’s possible to watch the sunset over water without being on the coast! Lake Turkana in Northern Kenya is the other.
Is Lake Victoria a Dimictic lake?
LNC is a large dimictic lake with a high altitude (4,731 m).
How would you describe Lake Victoria?
Lake Victoria, also called Victoria Nyanza, largest lake in Africa and chief reservoir of the Nile, lying mainly in Tanzania and Uganda but bordering on Kenya. Its area is 26,828 square miles (69,484 square km). Among the freshwater lakes of the world, it is exceeded in size only by Lake Superior in North America.
What is a basin lake?
A basin is a natural depression in the surface of the land. A lake basin is a geographic land area draining into a lake; also referred to as drainage basin or watershed.
Does Lake Victoria have crocodiles?
Hippos and crocodiles in Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria is home to large populations of hippo and crocodiles. They are both highly dangerous and responsible for hundreds of fatalities every year in Africa.
When did Lake Victoria dry up?
“Historically, the level of Lake Victoria has dropped pretty drastically,” and past research has shown that the lake twice dried out completely, 15,000 and 17,000 years ago. The team’s research showed that the lake also dried out at least once more in the past 100,000 years.
What are the 3 largest lakes in Africa?
These include the 3 largest lakes in Africa – Victoria, Tanganyika and Malawi – as well as lakes Turkana, Albert, Edward, Kivu and several others. The lakes are important habitats for a number of fish and amphibian species, abundant birdlife and numerous crocodiles.
Where is the largest lake in Europe?
Lake Ladoga, Russian Ladozhskoye Ozero, orLadozhskoe Ozero, largest lake in Europe, located in northwestern Russia about 25 miles (40 km) east of St. Petersburg.
How was Lake Victoria formed?
Lake Victoria is thought to have formed about 400,000 years ago by down-warping of land between the two arms of the Great Rift Valley. Westward-flowing rivers were dammed by an upthrown crustal block, reversing their flow into the down warped land.
Which is the deepest lake in Africa?
Lake Tanganyika
Lake Tanganyika is the deepest lake in Africa and is the largest among the Albertine Rift lakes.
What is the second largest lake in Africa?
Lake Tanganyika is the second-largest lake in Africa. Crossing four African countries, namely, Tanzania, Zambia, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lake Tanganyika is the second-largest lake in the continent and the second deepest lake in the world, next to Russia’s Lake Baikal.
What is the largest rift valley in the world?
the Great Rift Valley
The longest rift on Earth’s surface, the Great Rift Valley is a long, deep depression with steep, wall-like cliffs, extending from Jordan in southwestern Asia southward through Africa to Mozambique.