Characteristics Of Lakes And Ponds: A Must Read!

Ponds and lakes have been a vital source of water supply, sporting activities, trading, and traveling.

Dam reservoirs on lakes are often used to produce hydroelectric energy. The water from the lake drives the turbines that are responsible to generate power.

A lake is a basin filled with water that is surrounded by land, and it is separate from any other water outlet like river ecosystems that would either drain or feed a lake. A lake is also not a part of any ocean, however, it is a part of the water cycle on our Earth, like large oceans.

Lakes are deeper and larger than ponds and are separate from lagoons. Most of the lakes are drained and fed by streams and rivers. There are both natural and artificial lakes.

The term lake originates from Middle English, lacu of Old English, root 'leg-' from Proto-Indo-European, and 'lako' from Proto-Germanic. Other related derivations include German, Dutch, Icelandic, and Middle Low German.

A pond is a water body that is smaller than a lake, either artificial or natural, and can be called a small lake. A pond is a small freshwater body with still shallow water, aquatic plants, and a marsh.

Ponds are created by various natural processes, like volcanic activity or glacial processes, in coastal dune systems and peatland formation or just an isolated depression filled with precipitation, groundwater, or runoff. Ponds are divided into four zones, open water, surface film, vegetation zone, and bottom mud.

Originally, the term pond is a variant of the term pound, which means confining enclosure. Artificial ponds are created by human intervention for industrial settings, ornamental and recreational use, or local environment.

If you enjoy reading these facts about the characteristics of lakes and ponds, then make sure to read some more interesting facts about Lake Erie in Canada, and five great lakes here at Kidadl.

Key Characteristics Of Lakes And Ponds

A key characteristic of lakes and ponds is that the water temperature of both these bodies is affected by wind and light.

Lakes and ponds are found all around the world. An artificial lake is created by flooding a river valley or building a dam with the same qualities as natural lakes and rivers.

Even though ponds and lakes form only 2% of our Earth's surface, they have most of Earth's fresh water. Lakes and ponds are of various sizes. Endorheic lakes (inland seas) are saline lakes that are formed when at the endpoint of a river flow, even though a lot of freshwater lakes and rivers drain into oceans.

Saline lakes are found in arid regions. Although lakes and ponds can form due to tectonic, glacial, and volcanic activity, most are formed by glacial activity. North America's Great Lakes were also formed this way.

Due to tectonic plate movements, Siberia's Lake Baikal was formed. Lake Baikal is the oldest lake in the world, followed by Tanzania's Lake Tanganyika.

The largest freshwater lake by surface area and the second-largest lake by surface area is the Lake Michigan-Huron, which is a single lake and is hydrological. The Dead Sea is the lowest lake in the world at 1,371 ft (418 m) below sea level.

There are around 307 million lakes and just as many ponds in the world. There are also not many lakes in mountains - have you wondered why? Well, it is because of gravity as it pulls the water downwards through rivers and streams.

Types And Characteristics Of Lakes And Ponds

An important characteristic of lakes and ponds is that there are 11 types of major lakes.

There are 76 subtypes of lakes as well. Some major types of lakes are volcanic lakes, tectonic lakes, organic lakes, shoreline lakes, and glacial lakes.

Lakes that are formed due to deformation caused by vertical and lateral movements of Earth's crust are tectonic lakes. Lakes that either occupy larger basins like calderas or local depressions like maar and crater lake.

A crater lake is formed within volcanic calderas and craters that fill up rapidly via precipitation than they empty due to groundwater discharge, evaporation, or both.

Different types of ponds include bowl or mini ponds, fish ponds, wildlife, swimming ponds, vernal ponds, spring-fed ponds, kettle ponds, and mountain ponds. The most popular pond is the fish pond and is easy to construct and maintain.

Wildlife ponds are man-made and have become invaluable sources of wildlife. With melting snow and increasing rainfall, vernal ponds or vernal pools are formed around spring. These ponds have a short lifespan.

Natural Characteristics Of Lakes And Ponds

A natural characteristic of lakes and ponds is that both water bodies have a variety of living organisms.

A study of inland bodies of water is called limnology. Three types of the habitat of lakes and ponds, as per limnology are the littoral zone, benthic zone, and pelagic zone.

The open water area is a pelagic zone. Pelagic zones in larger lakes make most of the lakes' volume.

The inshore area where light can penetrate to the bottom is the littoral zone. This zone usually has big rooted plants known as macrophytes. The benthic zone is an area at the bottom of a pond or a lake that is not a part of the littoral zone.

This zone has sediment, which is free of any plant life as the low light levels do not support plant growth. Many aquatic organisms present in ponds and lakes are tiny, hence, they must be viewed under a microscope.

The most common microscopic organisms are plankton and other species are zooplankton, algae, and bacteria. Other species that make use of ponds and lakes are mammals like beavers, birds like ducks, and reptiles like snakes.

Lakes that are larger are able to support over four trophic levels or several groups of organisms, which get energy all in the same way. The major trophic level in the open water regions or the pelagic zone are zooplankton, phytoplankton, piscivorous fish, and planktivorous. Protists and bacteria are vital for nutrient recycling and decomposition in ponds and lakes.

Cool Characteristics Of Lakes And Ponds

An easy-going characteristic of lakes and ponds is that both water bodies are formed in the same way.

There are no internationally accepted meanings of lakes or ponds.

Limnologists defined lakes as water bodies that are larger versions of ponds.

Some characteristics of lakes as per a hydrology book are that - there is no regular seawater intrusion, lakes completely or partially fill up basins that are connected by straits, it has the same water levels in all its parts, the area at the mean water level is more than the chosen threshold, and an ample amount of sediment that is suspended in the water is collected by basins.

Many lakes undergo thermal stratification creating three unique zones of water temperature, The shallowest layer of water in summer is warm, but the deepest layer of water is cold, while the middle layer of water undergoes quick temperature change.

Ponds are great sources of biodiversity. They are home to the early stages of many species and are also a popular breeding ground.

Ponds have many uses in a society like sediment and nutrient retention, agriculture irrigation, aesthetic appeal, wildlife, fish, livestock production and protection, and recreation. Two types of ponds are permanent and temporary. Threats to the quality of ponds are acid rain, invasive species, pollution, and nutrient loading.

Did you know that Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, is the only other planet believed to have large lakes?

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestion for the characteristics of lakes and ponds, then why not take a look at fun facts about Lake Michigan or Lake Ontario facts?