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So what is World's largest underground lake? Whomever wrote that shold at least tellu s what it is —Preceding unsigned comment added by 158.111.4.25 (talk) 19:41, 14 September 2007 (UTC)
Lake Levels
editThe underground lake in The Lost Sea corresponds to the local water table. Therefore, it fluctuates up and down seasonally. In Tennessee the summer and fall are the dry season and the lake will reach its lowest level by the end of the dry season. The winter and spring are the wet season and the lake will reach its highest level by the end of the wet season.
The natural crawlway that led to the lake was frequently flooded during high water conditions. Therefore, in order to open the lake to tourists, the developers of the cave had to drill a well that intersected the lake and install pumps so that excess water could be pumped out to maintain access to the lake. This period of developments occured during the early 1960s. The crawlway itself was enlarged to comfortable walking dimensions, so that the tourists could easily reach the lake.
During the extreme drought of 2007, the lake level dropped 28 feet below normal. When I visited the cave in March, 2008, the lake was still 26 feet below normal. Normally, the lights in the Lake Room hang approximately 10 feet below the surface of the lake, but when I took the boat tour on March 12, 2008, they were hanging in the air, high above the boats.
Larry E. Matthews (talk) —Preceding comment was added at 18:13, 18 June 2008 (UTC)
A quote from the article, "The surface of the lake measures 800 feet long and 220 feet wide (4.5 acres) at normal "full" capacity." A rectangle 800 feet by 220 feet is about 4.04 acres. Which value is correct the length and width, or the area? Gatortpk (talk) 03:32, 25 June 2009 (UTC)
- Good question. I found both figures on their website[1]. Maybe the width and length are at the longest measurable points and the acreage is the actual surface area, including odd-shaped spots?Narthring (talk • contribs) 04:00, 25 June 2009 (UTC)