ABSTRACT
The lake basins exhibit a variety of types, including the very deep, elongated and steep-sided troughs of Lakes Tanganyika and Malawi, and the more nearly circular, relatively shallow basin on Lake Victoria, with its highly complex, indented shoreline. Hydrologic and hydrodynamic data from these lakes are scarce, fragmentary and often not easily accessible. Victoria is, however, relatively shallow compared with both the North American lakes and the other East African lakes. The North American Great Lakes, although elongated, have larger width to length aspect ratios than the deep, narrow African rift lakes, and more gently sloping sides. Groundwater flows have been neglected in the balances for all African lakes, and have been incorporated into the inflow term for Lake Ontario. The water balances of Lakes Tanganyika, Malawi and Victoria are dominated by rainfall on the lakes and evaporation, with river inflow and outflow making minor contributions.
