Lake Tanganyika

Lake Tanganyika is an African Great Lake (3° 20′ to 8° 48′ South and from 29° 5′ to 31° 15′ East). It is estimated to be the second largest freshwater lake in the world by volume, and the second deepest, after Lake Baikal in Siberia. Lake Tanganyika is divided between four countries – Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Tanzania and Zambia, with the DRC (45%) and Tanzania (41%) possessing the majority of the lake. The water flows into the Congo River system and ultimately into the Atlantic Ocean.

Geography

Lake Tanganyika is situated within the Western Rift of the geographic feature known as the Great Rift Valley formed by the tectonic East African Rift, and is confined by the mountainous walls of the valley. It is the largest rift lake in Africa and the second largest lake by surface area on the continent. It is the deepest lake in Africa and holds the greatest volume of fresh water. It extends for 673 km in a general north-south direction and averages 50 km in width.

Lake Tanganyika covers 32,900 km², with a shoreline of 1,828 km and a mean depth of 570 metres (1,900 ft) and a maximum depth of 1,470 metres (4,800 ft) (in the northern basin) it holds an estimated 18,900 km³ (4500 cubic miles).[3] It has an average surface temperature of 25 °C and a pH averaging 8.4. Additionally, beneath the 500 m of water there is circa 4,500 metres of sediment laying over the rock floor.

The enormous depth and tropical location of the lake prevent ‘turnover’ of watermasses, which means that much of the lower depths of the lake are so-called ‘fossil water’ and are anoxic (lacking oxygen). The catchment area of the lake covers 231,000 km², with two main rivers flowing into the Lake Tanganyika, numerous smaller rivers and streams (due to the steep mountains that keep drainage areas small), and one major outflow, the Lukuga River, which empties into the Congo River drainage.

The major inflows are the Ruzizi River, entering the north of the lake from Lake Kivu, and the Malagarasi River, which is Tanzania’s second largest river, entering in the east side of Lake Tanganyika. The Malagarasi pre-dates Lake Tanganyika and was formerly continuous with the Congo river. Lake Tanganyika is the third largest lake in the world for fresh water.

Biology

Lake Tanganyika holds at least 250 species of Lake Tanganyika cichlids fish and 150 non-cichlid species, most of which live along the shoreline down to a depth of approximately 180 metres (590 ft). Lake Tanganyika is thus an important biological resource for the study of speciation in evolution. The largest biomass of fish, however, is in the pelagic zone (open waters) and is dominated by six species: two species of “Tanganyika sardine” and four species of predatory lates (related to, but not the same as, the Nile perch that has devastated Lake Victoria cichlids).

Almost all (98%) of the Tanganyikan cichlids species are endemic (exclusively native) to the lake and many, such as fish from the brightly coloured Tropheus genus, are prized within the aquarium trade. This kind of elevated endemism also occurs among the numerous invertebrates in the lake, most especially the molluscs (which possess similar forms to that of many marine molluscs), crabs, shrimps, copepods, jellyfishes, leeches, etc.

Transport

Travelers who wanna enjoy this holiday at Lake Tanganyika. Here these transportation you may go with:

There are two ferries which carry passengers and cargo along the eastern shore of the lake – the MV Liemba between Kigoma and Mpulungu and the MV Mwongozo, which runs between Kigoma and Bujumbura.

• The port town of Kigoma is the railhead for the railway from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.
• The port town of Kalemie is the railhead for the D.R. Congo rail network.
• The port town of Mpulungu is a proposed railhead for Zambia.