Book chapter
Introduction: General Approach, and a Short Look at the Diversity of Lakes
Lakes of the World with Google Earth, pp.1-48
Coastal Research Library, Springer International Publishing
06/2016
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Abstract
Although continental water represents only a very small percentage of all our global water, it occurs in a multitude of different facets and whether hidden under the surface as groundwater, in the lithosphere, the biosphere or the atmosphere, a larger part of all continental water is transformed into snow and glacier ice, and only a small part can be found in rivers and lastly in lakes, which is the focus of this book. The number of lakes exceeding 300 Mio is beyond our imagination. After presenting quantitative data on the largest lakes, the simple shape of lakes is our first objective. Frequently it offers a first insight into the origin of a lake or at least toward the origin of the basin in which it lies. Clusters of lakes comprise more information on the environment and the processes under which large groups of lakes (often with the same size or contours) are formed. The colour appearance of a lake helps in identification of surface conditions, the water depth, content and concentration of suspension materials, or solutions such as salt. In addition, tiny organisms may give a lake its characteristic colour, particularly if the water is saline or if only a salty pan remains. The latter can often be found in lakes that have no through-flow but are endorheic (ending in a basin without outflow). Following, we present succinct chapters on groups of formations with special characteristics such as former Ice Age lakes that stored a huge amount of meltwater for a short period of geological time, and sub-glacial lakes as they occur in Antarctica and ephemeral meltwater ponds on glacier ice. The main focus will then follow the genetic types of lakes, combined with the origin of the lake basins or topographic depressions.
Details
- Title
- Introduction: General Approach, and a Short Look at the Diversity of Lakes
- Creators
- Anja M Scheffers - Department of Geoscience, Southern Cross University, Lismore, AustraliaDieter H Kelletat - Department of Geography and Education, University of Cologne, Köln, Germany
- Publication Details
- Lakes of the World with Google Earth, pp.1-48
- Series
- Coastal Research Library
- Publisher
- Springer International Publishing; Cham
- Identifiers
- 991012927063802368
- Copyright
- (c) Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2016
- Academic Unit
- Science; Faculty of Science and Engineering; National Centre for Flood Research
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Book chapter