Lake Baikal, Russia, July 24, 2008—The Russian submarine MIR-2 is lowered into the deepest body of freshwater on Earth during a test-run for a diving expedition.

Lake Baikal formed 25 million years ago and contains 20 percent of the world's unfrozen freshwater. Its deepest point is 5,371 feet (1,637 meters).

Russian officials retracted a July 29 claim that one of the expedition's two submarines plunged to the deepest point after its maximum recorded depth was just 5,183 feet (1,580 meters).

—John Roach

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—Photograph by Zorikto Dagbaev/Reuters