Ecosystems
Lake Tanganyika
Wetland and Freshwater
Citation Formats
General Reference
APA Style
BibTeX
Lake Tanganyika lies in the Albertine Rift of East-Central Africa, shared among Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi and Zambia, stretching about 676 kilometers north to south and plunging past 1,470 meters, the world's second deepest lake. It holds roughly sixteen percent of all the fresh water on Earth's surface, more volume than any other lake but Baikal, and its deep waters are alkaline and permanently oxygen free below a few hundred meters. Nearly 250 cichlid fish species live in the lake, about 98 percent of them found nowhere else, one of the most extensive examples of adaptive radiation known in vertebrates.
Facts
Area (sq km) Cross-Tradition Connections
Demonstrates
Seasonal wind driven upwelling brings nutrient rich deep water to the surface of Lake Tanganyika, sustaining the fisheries that shoreline communities depend on.
Sources
1. Lake Tanganyika (Wikipedia)
WikipediaLead section, first paragraph, lake surface area figureQuote, Lead section, first paragraph, lake surface area figure
The lake covers 32,000 km2 (12,000 sq mi), with a shoreline of 1,900 km (1,200 mi), a mean depth of 572 m (1,877 ft) and a maximum depth of 1,471 m (4,826 ft) (in the northern basin).
Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.Demonstrates: Adaptive RadiationView the Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.
View At A Past Year
The atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.