You ’re call for a summertime amble along a nice lead when you arrive across a body of water . “ That ’s a beautiful lake , ” you suppose to yourself . Or … wait . Is that a beautifulpond?What ’s the difference between the two , anyway ?
Guess what ? Thereisno prescribed scientific difference between a lake and a pond [ PDF ] . In fact , the only real measure to categorise something as a lake or pond is that the domain in question must be a standing or slow - locomote body of H2O besiege by land .
Attempting to get more specific from there raises some semantic problems . The Geographic Names Information System ( GNIS ) , a U.S. regime - patronize database that attempts to standardise the naming of geographical feature article , defines a lake as a “ natural consistence of inland water system , ” but also includesgeographical termsthat could also be define as natural bodies of inland body of water , including pond , backwater , laguna , oxbow , and tarn .
Naming conventionality between lakes and pond are ultimately arbitrary as well , but the generally swallow consensus for the two involves sizing . Bodies of water that are knight lake seem to make larger area , while pool seem to be smaller . Limnologists — or scientists who canvass freshwater , including lake and ponds — be given to on the side differentiate between the two for various reason , most of them involving the unofficial size distinction .
According to many limnologist , a water physical structure that has rooted plants growing in it should be classified as a pond because it is shallow — and small — enough to allow sunlight to sink in to the bottom , appropriate photosynthesis . In this case , a lake would be toowide and deepfor sunshine to reach its bottom , and instead is on the side categorized by a little shoreline surrounded by botany .
Other loose distinctions demand temperature . lake typically have stratified hot and cold temperatures between layer of their water in summer months , while ponds usually have ordered temperature throughout .
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A reading of this story was published in 2014 ; it has been update for 2024 .
