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Definition of Lakes
 What is a lake? Most people would have firsthand impression. It is nothing but a low-lying land that stores water on the land! Absolutely right, any science definition comes from practice, and the above-mentioned understanding about the lake of most people is a kind of ocular perceptual knowledge. However, any scientific definition should have not only the distillation of the theory but also the strict defining.
Then what is a lake?
Its scientific definition is as follows: a lake is a natural complex composing of lake basin, lake water, and also substance contained in the water (such as minerals, solutes, organic matter and aquatic organisms), which participates in the material and energy cycles of the nature. (See the preface of Memoirs of Chinese Lakes by Wang Sumin and Dou Hongshen, which was published in September of 1998 by Science Press)
Oh,  the lake is made up of three key elements: lake basin, later water, and substances in the water. Now you should be clear that the lake is not an unalterable static thing, but an incessant dynamic complex exhibiting materials and energy cycles. Certainly, countless connection and interaction between lakes and mankind also take place in the places where mankind lives. Generally speaking, the lakes refer to a large amount of water stored in the low-lying land but not directly connected with the ocean, so any low-lying land, when less-drained, can store up water and develop into lakes. Rreservoirs are man-made lakes.
 Shallow lakes are usually a part of wetlands. Wetlands include shallow lakes, marshes, mud flats and paddy fields, etc.
Lakes are a component of the hydrosphere on the earth. The hydrosphere refers to waters in the earth's surface, underground and atmosphere in three states, i.e. liquid, solid and gas. Therefore, a lake is a natural complex that is closely linked with water.
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Various Titles for Lakes >>
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