Consider the following statements regarding the volumetric capacity of global freshwater lakes: 1. Lake Baikal contains more fresh water than all five North American Laurentian Great Lakes combined. 2. The downward global sequence of freshwater lakes by total liquid volume is Lake Baikal, followed by Lake Tanganyika, and then Lake Superior. 3. Due to intense subglacial freezing, Lake Vostok in Antarctica holds a smaller volume of liquid water than Lake Ontario in North America. Which of the statements given above are correct? |ForumIAS

[A] 1 and 2 only

[B] 2 and 3 only

[C] 1 and 3 only

[D] 1, 2 and 3

Answer: A

Notes:

Explanation:

Statement 1 is correct: Lake Baikal’s immense depth allows it to hold 23,600 cubic kilometers of water, which exceeds the combined volume of all five Great Lakes (~22,684 cubic kilometers).
Statement 2 is correct: The global volume leaderboard for freshwater lakes is topped by Lake Baikal (1st), followed by Lake Tanganyika (2nd), and Lake Superior (3rd).
Statement 3 is incorrect: Even though it is sealed beneath 4 kilometers of ice, Lake Vostok is a massive subglacial lake containing roughly 5,400 cubic kilometers of liquid fresh water, making it significantly larger by volume than Lake Ontario (~1,640 cubic kilometers).