What characteristics make a lake?

The 5 Key Features that Define a Lake
  • Lakes are inland depressions filled with water. ...
  • Lakes are standing, slow-moving bodies of water. ...
  • Lakes have vast surface areas. ...
  • Lakes are homes to complex ecosystems. ...
  • Lakes are mostly freshwater, but some can be a little salty.




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lake, Relatively large body of slow-moving or standing water that occupies an inland basin. Lakes are most abundant in high northern latitudes and in mountain regions, particularly those that were covered by glaciers in recent geologic times.

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Some used thermal stratification: a lake is a body of water that is deep enough to thermally stratify into two or three layers during the summer in temperate regions such as New Hampshire.

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Lakes are normally much deeper than ponds and have a larger surface area. All the water in a pond is in the photic zone, meaning ponds are shallow enough to allow sunlight to reach the bottom. This causes plants (sometimes too many) to grow at the bottom of ponds as well as on their surface.

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The 5 Key Features that Define a Lake
  • Lakes are inland depressions filled with water. ...
  • Lakes are standing, slow-moving bodies of water. ...
  • Lakes have vast surface areas. ...
  • Lakes are homes to complex ecosystems. ...
  • Lakes are mostly freshwater, but some can be a little salty.


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During the summer, if a waterbody is deep enough to stratify into three distinct layers, with one warm layer on top, one cold layer at the bottom and a layer of rapidly changing temperature in between (called a “thermocline”), then it is a “lake,” while a waterbody with one or two weakly defined layers is a “pond.”

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There are 117 million lakes on Earth, covering 3.7 percent of the continental land surface. Most lakes are relatively small – 90 million lakes are less than two football fields in size. Most lakes lie low — 85 percent are at elevations less than 1,600 feet (500 meters) above sea level.

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Lakes are divided into three trophic categories: oligotrophic, mesotrophic and eutrophic. The prototypic oligotrophic lake is a large deep lake with crystal clear waters and a rocky or sandy shoreline.

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Lakes are classified based on productivity, or how much photosynthesis is occurring in the water.
  • Oligotrophic lakes have low levels of productivity, these are often clearer water.
  • Mesotrophic lakes have a middle level of productivity. ...
  • Eutrophic lakes are high in productivity, so high they can be green in color.


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Salty or fresh, lakes are some of the only freely available water sources on land. Aside from rivers and streams, the rest of the world's freshwater is locked up in ice or trapped underground.

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A reservoir is an artificial lake where water is stored. Most reservoirs are formed by constructing dams across rivers.

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Top 10 States with the Most Lakes
  • #1: Alaska Lakes (3,000,000) ...
  • #2: Wisconsin Lakes (15,000) ...
  • #3: Minnesota Lakes (11,842) ...
  • #4: Michigan Lakes (11,000) ...
  • #5: Washington Lakes (8,000) ...
  • #6: New York Lakes (7,600) ...
  • #7: Florida Lakes (7,500) ...
  • #8: Texas Lakes (6,700)


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Every Pond or lake has several different zones that divide the water column from top to bottom and side to side. These zones consist of the Littoral Zone, Limnetic Zone, Profundal Zone, Euphotic Zone, and Benthic Zone.

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