How do Lake Tanganyika's deep waters limit life in the lake?

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East African mountains and lakes — East African lakes Mountains and lakes of East Africa.

Lake Tanganyika is a deep lake in the Western Rift Valley that experiences permanent deoxygenation in its deeper waters. Because these depths lack oxygen, they function as a biological desert, accounting for approximately three-fourths of the lake's total volume.12

Furthermore, the deeper waters of the lake contain lethal concentrations of hydrogen sulfide, which further limits the ability of aquatic life to inhabit these regions. In tropical regions like this, the absence of seasonal turnover—a mechanism that would otherwise replenish oxygen—contributes to the persistent anoxic conditions found in the lake's depths.23