If it were a country, it would still be bigger than Belgium, and it reaches far deeper than any other lake on the planet. But size and depth aren't the only impressive feats of this ancient body of water — it's also the oldest existing freshwater lake on Earth. Compared with the Great Lakes in North America, which are estimated to be roughly 20,000 years old and didn't reach their present volumes until about 3,000 years ago, Lake Baikal's history stretches back far further. The lake formed roughly 25 million years ago from glacial meltwater due to receding ice. Scientists believe that Lake Baikal's lakebed is actually an ancient rift valley. Caused by a divergent plate boundary, the geologic rift likely deepened from erosion and filled with water.
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