COOL CLEAR WATER

I recently read an article about Lake Baikal in Russia. I had not previously known of this incredible fresh water lake.

“Lake Baikal is a rift lake. 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. They are often found within rift valleys and may be very deep. Rift lakes may be bounded by large steep cliffs along the fault margins.” (Yeah, well whatever…who didn’t know that?)

Lake Baikal is located in southern Siberia, Russia. It is the largest freshwater lake by volume in the world, containing 22 to 23% of the world’s fresh surface water. With 5,670 cubic miles of fresh water, it contains more water than all of the North American Great Lakes combined. With a maximum depth of 5,387 feet, (there are 5,280 feet in a mile!) Baikal is the world’s deepest lake. It is among the world’s clearest lakes and is the world’s oldest lake at 25–30 million years. It is the seventh-largest lake in the world by surface area.

Lake Baikal formed as an ancient rift valley and has a long, crescent shape, with a surface area of 12,248 square miles, slightly larger than Belgium. Baikal is home to thousands of species of plants and animals, many of them endemic to the region. 

The Lake is ancient, huge, pure, clear, fresh and deep. Reminds me of Jesus the Living Water.

“If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Jesus