Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Faulted southeastern side of Svyatoy Nos peninsula, Lake Baikal – active faulting shown by faceted spurs. Artificial rendering of the Albertine Rift showing four of its rift lakes A rift lake is a lake formed as a result of subsidence related to movement on faults within a rift zone, an area of extensional tectonics in the continental crust .
The Rift Valley lakes are a series of lakes in the East African Rift valley that runs through eastern Africa from Ethiopia in the north to Malawi in the south, and includes the African Great Lakes in the south. These include some of the world's oldest lakes, deepest lakes, largest lakes by area, and largest lakes by volume.
In Nebraska and South Dakota it is also classified as the Ogallala Group. [2] Notably, it records the North American Land Mammal Ages (NALMAs) Hemphillian , Clarendonian , and Barstovian . [ 3 ] It also includes an excellent record of grass seeds and other plant seeds, which can be used for biostratigraphic dating within the formation.
Tectonic lakes are lakes formed by the deformation and resulting lateral and vertical movements of the Earth's crust. These movements include faulting, tilting, folding, and warping. Some of the largest lakes on Earth are rift lakes occupying rift valleys, e.g. Central African Rift lakes and Lake Baikal.
Depending on its formation, these systems can exist in one of two primary forms: pools or caves. The primary differentiating characteristics between pools and caves is the availability of light; cave systems are generally aphotic while pools are euphotic. The difference in light availability has a large influence on the biology of a given system.
A volcanogenic lake is a lake formed as a result of volcanic activity. [1] They are generally a body of water inside an inactive volcanic crater ( crater lakes ) but can also be large volumes of molten lava within an active volcanic crater ( lava lakes ) and waterbodies constrained by lava flows, pyroclastic flows or lahars in valley systems. [ 2 ]
Lakes can be formed in a variety of ways, but the most common are discussed briefly below. The oldest and largest systems are the result of tectonic activities. The rift lakes in Africa, for example are the result of seismic activity along the site of separation of two tectonic plates.
Due to their unstable environments, some crater lakes exist only intermittently. Caldera lakes in contrast can be quite large and long-lasting. For instance, Lake Toba in Indonesia formed after its eruption around 75,000 years ago. At around 100 kilometres (62 mi) by 30 kilometres (19 mi) in extent and 505 metres (1,657 ft) deep at its deepest ...