Limnology...Let's Learn About Some Lakes Online Trivia | Geography

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. We'll start out rather easy. Tell me the world's oldest lake, a deep body of water found in the northern area of the globe in the land of the Buryats.

Answer: Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal, in Siberia, Russia, is approximately 25 - 30 million years old and is not only the oldest but the world's deepest lake. It is also one of the clearest lakes, and was formed from a rift valley, thus is a rather long, crescent-shaped lake. Sediment cores have been taken which show the climatic variations over the past 250,000 years.

It is expected that longer and deeper cores will be taken in the future.

2. Next we'll go south and to the other side of the globe, to a lake almost 400 miles north of Mount Aconcagua, and on the edge of a salt desert, to look at the world's highest crater lake. What is it?

Answer: Crater of Ojos del Salado

Crater of Ojos del Salado is a permanent crater lake, about 22,000 feet high on the stratovolcano Ojos del Salado, located on the border of Chile and Argentina border. The lake is approximately 300 feet in diameter. The mountain itself is dry with snow on the peak only in the winter due to being near the Atacama desert.

3. Now we'll go way back north again, to the world's largest lake on an island, in the land of the Inuit. What is this lake's name?

Answer: Lake Nettilling

Lake Nettilling, on the southern end of Baffin Island, in Nunavut, Canada, is also the largest lake in Nunavut. The name comes from the native word for the adult ringed seal which lives in the lake. As a fishery, the lake contains only Arctic char and two varieties of stickleback. It is frozen most of the year.

4. Next, we're off to the far side of the world again, to the highest large body of freshwater in the world. Its name is Lake Manasarovar. In what high country is this lake oriented?

Answer: Tibet, China

Lake Manasarovar is almost 15,000 feet above sea level, with an area of roughly 120 square miles, and is approximately 500 miles from Lhasa. In the Hindu religion it is believed to be a place of purity. If one drinks of it, one will go to the home of Lord Shiva and be forgiven of all of one's sins, even over multiple lifetimes.

5. Now we go back to Canada again, to a lake that is said to be the largest in the world without an island in it. Tell me what lake that is, please.

Answer: Lake Bernard

Although Lake Bernard is not huge, with dimensions of 1.5 miles across and 4.3 miles long, it holds the record of being the largest freshwater lake in the world not holding an island. Because of its depth, fishing is poor for bass, but good for the cold water species such as trout.

It allegedly holds the "Bernard Monster" although no one has yet to photograph said "Monster". It is located between Toronto and North Bay, Ontario.

6. As long as we're in Canada, let's stay here for one more lake. This one is said to be the northernmost named lake in the world. Do you know its rather weighty name?

Answer: Upper Dumbell Lake

Upper Dumbell Lake is Ellesmere Island, Nunavut. It is located just a few miles from Canada's northernmost settlement, Alert, which is located on a sea of the Arctic Ocean. Lake Dumbell is a rocky, rather than sandy, beached lake.

7. Ah, let's go to Oceania. Tell me the name of the largest freshwater lake in the land which was known to its aborigines as Aotearoa.

Answer: Lake Taupo

Lake Taupo is on the North Island of New Zealand. It is also the second largest freshwater lake in Oceania following only Lake Murray, Papua New Guinea. It is known for its brown and rainbow trout fishing, the species having been introduced to New Zealand from Europe and the US, respectively. Geologic records show the super volcano in whose caldera the lake lies has erupted 28 times during the last 27,000 years.

The largest eruption, the one that brought the lake into being, happened approximately 26,500 years ago.

8. The Dominican Republic has the largest lake, which is also the lowest point, in the Caribbean. It also has crocodiles. What is the name of that lake?

Answer: Lake Enriquillo

Lake Enriquillo is also the lowest point on any ocean island. It is in a rift valley in the fault that was responsible for the 2010 Haitian earthquake. It covers 102 square miles with its lowest point being 129 feet below sea level. It has no outlet so its level varies according to rain and evaporation.

The crocodiles inhabit the islands in the lake, the largest of which is a national park. It's one of the few saltwater lakes in which crocodiles live.

9. In what lake in the Americas can you find Manitoulin Island, the largest island found in a freshwater lake?

Answer: Lake Huron

Lake Huron is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is named for the native people who lived along the lake. It borders both Canada and the US. It is separated from Lake Michigan by a narrow strait, which really makes them one lake. When the two are added together they constitute the Michigan-Huron Lake, the largest freshwater lake of the Great Lakes.

At one time all of the Great Lakes were under the Laurentide Ice Sheet which, as it retreated, left water in their low-lying depressions.

10. In May, 2005, a lake in Russia disappeared in only a few minutes. What was the name of that lake that is no longer?

Answer: Lake Beloye

Lake Beloye is a freshwater lake near the village of Bolotnikovo, which translates to "boggy", that disappeared overnight in 2005. Some years ago a number of houses were destroyed, and in the 17th century a church also disappeared into the ground. According to what I can find, it is thought that the lake may have simply dropped into the lower aquifer, or some other geologic structure below the earlier lake bottom.

However, there is hope that the lake, like others that have "disappeared", may come back. See the other answers for lakes that have done just that.

Source: Author habitsowner

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Tizzabelle before going online.
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Limnology...Let's Learn About Some Lakes Quiz

Limnology is the study of inland bodies of water. Let's take a look at some of the more interesting ones.

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