This article lists lakes with a water volume of more than 100 km³, ranked by volume. The volume of a lake is a difficult quantity to measure. Generally, the volume must be inferred from bathymetric data by integration. Lake volumes can also change dramatically over time and during the year, especially for salt lakes in arid climates. For these reasons, and because of changing research, information on lake volumes can vary considerably from source to source. The base data for this article are from The Water Encyclopedia (1990). Where volume data from more recent surveys or other authoritative sources has been used, it is referenced in each entry.
Contents
The list
The volume of the lakes by varies little by season. This list does not include reservoirs; if it did, six reservoirs would appear on the list: Lake Kariba at 26th, Bratsk Reservoir, Lake Volta, Lake Nasser, Manicouagan Reservoir, and Lake Guri.
Two bodies of water commonly considered to be lakes are hydrologically ocean (Maracaibo) or geologically ocean (the Caspian Sea).
The following are geological as well as geographical lakes.
In 1960, the Aral Sea was the world's twelfth-largest known lake by volume, at 1,100 km3 (260 cu mi). However, by 2007 it had shrunk to 10% of its original volume and was divided into three lakes; none of them is large enough to appear on this list.