The Great Lakes Of U.S.

I remember as a kid learning that Lake Superior was, by surface area, the largest fresh water lake in the world. I don't recall talk about volume. When volume enters the picture Superior is only #3 behind Baikal (in Russia) and Tanganyika (in Tanzania).

Along with Superior are the other U.S. Great Lakes, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, five lakes that are too big to see across.

That makes five big lakes that are very deep. Superior, for example, has a maximum depth of 1,333 feet. And an average depth of 483 feet. That's a lot of water.

But what comes after the U.S. Great Lakes? What lake is #6 in water volume?

You guessed it. The 6th largest fresh water lake by volume in the U.S. is Tahoe. How could a relatively small lake be on the list of most-voluminous lakes? Because it is very deep, with a maximum depth of 1635 feet and an average depth of 1000 feet! That's a hole deep enough to hold a lot of water. (Yes, Tahoe's volume is substantially less than most of the Great Lakes. But #6 is still significant.)

On the list of voluminous lakes, Tahoe stands out as #1 in one way - possibly of all the substantial lakes in the world - and that's its purity of water, meeting many standards for distilled water.

A special lake indeed.