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Table of Contents
Any massive body of water that is either still or flowing slowly and fills a sizable inland basin is referred to as a lake. Many lakes on earth may be found in every environment, including mountains, deserts, plains, and seashores, on every continent. The size of lakes varies; small lakes are occasionally referred to as ponds.
See the fact file below for more information about Lakes, or download the comprehensive worksheet pack, which contains over 11 worksheets and can be used in the classroom or homeschooling environment.
Key Facts & Information
Lakes
- The word “lake” is occasionally used to describe a feature such as Lake Eyre, which is mostly dry but can fill up during severe rainfall. Large lakes are often referred to as “inland seas,” and small seas are sometimes referred to as lakes.
- A lake may be filled from one or more below sources: melting ice, streams, rivers, aquifers, and direct rainfall or snowfall. Glaciers also cut out deep valleys, and tons of dirt, stones, and boulders were left behind as they melted.
- Solution hollows are carved out of limestone by the rainwater’s solvent effect. Lakes may emerge in them if they fill up with trash. Long, narrow lakes that were originally subterranean may be exposed due to the collapse of limestone cavern ceilings.
- Lakes are freshwater entities that are surrounded by land. Lakes may be found on every continent and in every environment.
- Glaciers, lakes, reservoirs, ponds, rivers, streams, marshes, and even groundwater contain fresh water. These freshwater environments account for less than 1% of the world’s surface area, yet they are home to 10% of all known animals and up to 40% of all known fish species.
- It is called open when water escapes a lake by a river or other outlet. A lake is closed if all of its water evaporates. Closed lakes frequently become saline or salty. This is because as water evaporates, it leaves behind particles, typically salts.
- Due to the variety of organisms it sustains, a lake has its unique ecosystem. It alters the environment and temperature of the area by regulating wind temperature. It manages the stream’s flow if it is fed by one.
- People frequently benefit from lakes as sources of freshwater that may be used for drinking and irrigation of land. It can also be used for recreational activities. Certain saltwater lakes are advantageous because of the minerals they contain. Some lakes have been constructed or changed intentionally to provide hydroelectric power and industrial use.
Origins of natural lakes
- A lake can form as a result of several natural processes. For example, the recent tectonic uplift of a mountain range may generate bowl-shaped depressions that collect water and form lakes. One of the most well-known instances is North America‘s Great Lakes.
- Landslides or glacial obstructions can also result in the formation of lakes. The latter happened, for instance, in the American state of Washington during the last ice age, when a sizable lake developed behind a glacier flow.
- Salt lakes can develop in areas without a natural outlet, where water evaporates quickly, or where the water table’s drainage surface has a greater salt content than usual. The Dead Sea, Aral Sea, Caspian Sea, and the Great Salt Lake are a few examples of salt lakes. Some lakes, like Lake Jackson in Florida, were created due to sinkhole activity.
- Oxbow lakes are tiny, crescent-shaped lakes that can develop in river valleys as a result of meandering.
- In volcanic calderas that receive precipitation more quickly than it evaporates, crater lakes are created. Crater Lake in Oregon, situated inside Mount Mazama’s crater, serves as an illustration.
Types of Lake
- Many lakes are man-made. They may be built for a variety of uses, including the production of hydroelectric power, outdoor leisure, commercial usage, agricultural use, or residential water supply. A man-made lake can be made in various ways, including flooding land behind a dam, excavating deliberately, or flooding an excavation due to mining activity.
- A Crater lake is a lake that develops in a volcano after the volcano has been dormant for some time. This kind of lake’s water may be fresh or highly acidic and include different dissolved minerals. Geothermal activity can be seen in some crater lakes, especially if the volcano is only dormant rather than extinct.
- A lake that has little or no surface or subsurface diffusion discharge is said to be endorheic. In an endorheic basin, water cannot exit the system other than through evaporation or seepage. Examples of this kind of lake, which is more common in arid areas, are the Aral Sea in central Asia and Lake Eyre in central Australia.
- An eolic lake is a lake that developed in a depression caused by wind action.
- A fjord lake is a lake located in a glacially carved valley below sea level.
- A former lake is one that no longer exists. This category contains ancient lakes and those that have dried up permanently due to evaporation or human intervention. Former lakes include Owens Lake in California, USA, and former lakes are a frequent feature of southwestern North America’s Basin and Range region.
- A glacial lake is a lake produced by the melting of a glacier.
- A lava lake is a pool of molten lava located in a volcano crater or other depression. After the lava has partially or hardened, the phrase lava lake may be employed.
- Meromictic lakes are lakes with layers of water that do not combine. In such a lake, the lowest layer of water has no dissolved oxygen. Because there are no live organisms to disrupt the sediment layers at the bottom of a meromictic lake, they stay largely undisturbed.
- Oxbow lakes, which have a characteristic curving shape, are produced when a large meander from a stream or river is cut off.
- Periglacial lake: An ice sheet, ice cap, or glacier forms part of the lake’s border, obstructing the natural drainage of the land.
- A rift lake is a lake generated by subsidence along a geological fracture in the Earth‘s tectonic plates. Rift Valley lakes in eastern Africa and Lake Baikal in Siberia are two examples.
- A seasonal lake is a body of water that exists only for part of the year.
- Shrunken lake: A lake that has significantly diminished in size through geological time is closely connected to previous lakes. A notable illustration of a shrinking lake is Lake Agassiz, which formerly covered a large portion of central North America. The lakes Lake Winnipeg and Lake Winnipegosis are two noteworthy relics of this lake.
- Lake that is permanently covered in ice is known as a subglacial lake. These lakes may be found beneath glaciers, ice sheets, or ice caps.
- A lake that forms underneath the crust of the Earth is an underground lake. Such a lake may be near springs, aquifers, or caverns.
Notable lakes
- With a surface size of more than 370,000 square kilometers, the Caspian Sea in Europe and Asia is the biggest lake in the world.
- Lake Baikal in Russia is the deepest lake in the world. Some locations have their bottom at a depth of about two miles.
- Lake Titicaca, located in the Andes Mountains between Bolivia and Peru, is one of the highest lakes in the world. 3,810 meters above sea level, roughly.
- The Dead Sea is the lowest lake halfway between Israel and Jordan. It is situated at a depth of 1,300 feet below sea level.
- Lake Tanganyika, which runs for around 660 kilometers, is the longest freshwater lake. After Lake Baikal, it boasts the second-deepest depth on the whole planet (1,470 m).
- At 6,390 meters, an unnamed lake atop Ojos del Salado near the borders of Chile and Argentina is the highest lake in the world. At 6,368 meters, the Lhagba Pool in Tibet comes in second.
Lake Worksheets
This bundle includes 11 ready-to-use Lake worksheets that are perfect for students to learn about a lake, which is any massive body of water that is either still or flowing slowly and fills a sizable inland basin.
This download includes the following worksheets:
- Lake Facts
- The Birth of Lakes
- Glacial Activity – Glacial Storyboard
- Tectonic Movement – Graben Match
- Volcanic Activity – Color Me Lake
- Types of Lakes – Lakes Word Find
- Letters Jumble
- Caring for Lakes
- Explore the Giants – Lakes by Area
- They’re Deep!
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a lake by means?
Any massive body of water that is either still or flowing slowly and fills a sizable inland basin is referred to as a lake. Many lakes on earth may be found in every sort of environment, including mountains, deserts, plains, and seashores, on every continent. The size of lakes varies; small lakes are occasionally referred to as ponds.
What kind of water is a lake?
Lakes are freshwater entities that are surrounded by land. Lakes may be found on every continent and in every environment.
Why is there a lake?
A lake may be filled from one or more below sources: melting ice, streams, rivers, aquifers, and direct rainfall or snowfall. Glaciers also cut out deep valleys, and tons of dirt, stones, and boulders were left behind as they melted.
Is lake freshwater?
Glaciers, lakes, reservoirs, ponds, rivers, streams, marshes, and even groundwater contain fresh water. These freshwater environments account for less than 1% of the world’s surface area, yet they are home to 10% of all known animals and up to 40% of all known fish species.
How is a lake formed?
Solution hollows are carved out of limestone by the rainwater’s solvent effect. Lakes may emerge in them if they fill up with trash. Long, narrow lakes that were originally subterranean may be exposed due to the collapse of limestone cavern ceilings.
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Link will appear as Lake Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, January 15, 2018
Use With Any Curriculum
These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.