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A portal dedicated to Lakes

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P:LAKES

Lac Gentau in the Ossau Valley of the Pyrenees, France

A lake is an often naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from the ocean, although they may be connected with the ocean by rivers. Most lakes are freshwater and account for almost all the world's surface freshwater, but some are salt lakes with salinities even higher than that of seawater. Lakes vary significantly in surface area and volume of water.

Lakes are typically larger and deeper than ponds, which are also water-filled basins on land, although there are no official definitions or scientific criteria distinguishing the two. Lakes are also distinct from lagoons, which are generally shallow tidal pools dammed by sandbars or other material at coastal regions of oceans or large lakes. Most lakes are fed by springs, and both fed and drained by creeks and rivers, but some lakes are endorheic without any outflow, while volcanic lakes are filled directly by precipitation runoffs and do not have any inflow streams.

Natural lakes are generally found in mountainous areas (i.e. alpine lakes), dormant volcanic craters, rift zones and areas with ongoing glaciation. Other lakes are found in depressed landforms or along the courses of mature rivers, where a river channel has widened over a basin formed by eroded floodplains and wetlands. Some lakes are found in caverns underground. Some parts of the world have many lakes formed by the chaotic drainage patterns left over from the last ice age. All lakes are temporary over long periods of time, as they will slowly fill in with sediments or spill out of the basin containing them. (Full article...)

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Pink Lake at sunset

Pink Lake (previously known as Lake Spencer) is a salt lake in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia. Although historically the water in the lake was visibly pink, as of 2017 it had not been pink for over ten years. Salt concentration is vital to Pink Lake's pink hue, and Pink Lake may turn pink again as conditions change. It lies about 3 kilometres (2 mi) west of Esperance and is bounded to the east by the South Coast Highway.

The dynamics of why a lake turns pink are very complex. External changes and weather conditions can affect the colour of the lake. Esperance's Pink Lake has lost its pink colour due to salinity changes caused by human activity. (Full article...)

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The following are images from various Lake-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1View of Lake Toba in Sumatra, Indonesia which is the largest volcanic lake in the world (from Volcanogenic lake)
Image 2An illustration of ice core drilling above subglacial Lake Vostok. These drilling efforts collected re-frozen lake water that has been analyzed to understand the lake's chemistry. Image credit: Nicolle Rager-Fuller / US National Science Foundation (from Subglacial lake)
Image 3The Caspian Sea is either the world's largest lake or a full-fledged inland sea (from Lake)
Image 4Lac Gentau in the Ossau Valley of the Pyrenees, France (from Lake)
Image 5Lake Teletskoye, Siberia (from Lake)
Image 6Lake Eyre's shape and depth as a gradient map (from Lake)
Image 7Badwater Basin dry lake, 15 February 2007. Landsat 5 satellite photo (from Lake)
Image 8Russian scientist Peter Kropotkin first proposed the idea of fresh water under Antarctic ice. (from Subglacial lake)
Image 9Satellite image of subglacial Lake Vostok in Antarctica. Image credit: NASA (from Subglacial lake)
Image 10Round Tangle Lake, one of the Tangle Lakes, 2,864 feet (873 m) above sea level in interior Alaska (from Lake)
Image 11An artist's depiction of the subglacial lakes and rivers beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Image credit: Zina Deretsky / US National Science Foundation (from Subglacial lake)
Image 12Lakes can have significant cultural importance. The West Lake of Hangzhou has inspired romantic poets throughout the ages, and has been an important influence on garden designs in China, Japan and Korea. (from Lake)
Image 13A schematic cross-section of the subglacial pool beneath Taylor Glacier and its outflow, Blood Falls. Image credit: Zina Deretsky / US National Science Foundation (from Subglacial lake)
Image 14Cross sectional diagram of limnological lake zones (left) and algal community types (right) (from Lake)
Image 15Lava lake at Mount Nyiragongo in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (from Volcanogenic lake)
Image 16Ephemeral 'Lake Badwater', a lake only noted after heavy winter and spring rainfall, Badwater Basin, Death Valley National Park, 9 February 2005. Landsat 5 satellite photo (from Lake)
Image 17Lura Lakes are the glacial lakes of the Lurë Mountains, Albania (from Lake)
Image 18The Nowitna River in Alaska. Two oxbow lakes – a short one at the bottom of the picture and a longer, more curved one at the middle-right. (from Lake)
Image 19A view of the southern polar plain of Mars. The area where a subglacial lake has been detected is highlighted. Image credit: USGS Astrogeology Science Center, Arizona State University (from Subglacial lake)
Image 20Crater Lake in Oregon, USA (from Volcanogenic lake)
Image 21Titan's north polar hydrocarbon seas and lakes, as seen in a false-color Cassini synthetic aperture radar mosaic (from Lake)
Image 22Lake Michigan during a storm near the Ludington Lighthouse (from Lake)
Image 23Lake Mapourika, New Zealand (from Lake)
Image 24Ice melting on Lake Balaton in Hungary (from Lake)
Image 25Garibaldi Lake in British Columbia, Canada, is impounded by lava flows comprising The Barrier (from Volcanogenic lake)
Image 26These kettle lakes in Alaska were formed by a retreating glacier. (from Lake)
Image 27Lake Kaniere is a glacial lake in the West Coast region of New Zealand. (from Lake)
Image 28The first view of the sediment at the bottom of subglacial Lake Whillans, captured by the WISSARD expedition. Image credit: NASA/JPL, California Institute of Technology (from Subglacial lake)
Image 29The crater lake of Mount Rinjani, Indonesia (from Lake)
Image 30Lusatian Lake District, Germany, Europe's largest artificial lake district. (from Lake)
Image 31Five Flower Lake in Jiuzhaigou, Sichuan (from Lake)
Image 32Soda Lakes in Nevada, USA (from Volcanogenic lake)

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Tulainyo Lake is a freshwater alpine lake in the eastern Sierra Nevada in the U.S. state of California

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v t e Hydrography of Alberta
Rivers	Athabasca Battle Beaver Bow Brazeau Clearwater Crowsnest Elbow Ghost Hay Little Bow Milk North Saskatchewan Oldman Peace Pembina Red Deer Slave Smoky South Saskatchewan	Rivers and lakes in Alberta
Waterfalls	Athabasca Bow Bridal Veil Crescent Crypt Elbow Lundbreck Panther Sunwapta
Lakes	Amisk Athabasca Beaverhill Bistcho Claire Cold Crowsnest Des Arcs Garner Hubbles Jackfish La Biche St. Cyr Lesser Slave Miquelon North Wabasca Lake Pigeon Santé Ste. Anne Sylvan Utikuma Wabamun
Reservoirs	Abraham Barrier Brazeau Chestermere Kananaskis Little Bow Lake Reservoir McGregor Minnewanka Glenmore Milk River Ridge Sikome Gleniffer
Glaciers	Athabasca Bow Columbia Icefield Crowfoot Hector Peyto Saskatchewan Vulture Wapta Waputik Icefield
Other	Hay-Zama Wetlands Peace–Athabasca Delta Whooping Crane Summer Range (wetlands)
Rivers portal Lakes portal

v t e Lakes on the Altiplano
Present-day lakes and salt pans	Lake Titicaca Lake Poopó Salar de Uyuni Salar de Coipasa
Lake expansions of Lake Titicaca	Lake Ballivián Cabana Mataro
Ancient lakes	Lake Tauca Sajsi Lake Minchin Salinas Inca Huasi Ouki Lake Escara
Other paleolakes and lake expansions in the region	Cancosa paleolake
Lakes portal

v t e Lakes of Carinthia
Main lakes	Faaker See Keutschacher See Klopeiner See Millstätter See Ossiacher See Weissensee Wörthersee
Secondary lakes	Afritzer See Aichwaldsee Baßgeigensee Brennsee Dietrichsteiner See Dösener See Egelsee Falkertsee Farchtensee Ferlacher Badesee Flatschacher See Flattnitzer See Forstsee Goggausee Gösselsdorfer See Hafnersee Haidensee Hörzendorfer See Jeserzer See Kleinsee Kraiger See Längsee Magdalensee Maltschacher See Moosburger Mitterteich Penkensee Pressegger See Rauschelesee Silbersee Sonnegger See Stappitzer See Turnersee Turracher See Urbansee Vassacher See Zmulner See
Lakes portal

v t e Bodies of water of Azerbaijan
Rivers	Ağstafa Araz Arpa Astarachay Bargushad Bolgarchay Cəhriçay Damiraparanchay Garachay Girdimanchay Hakari Khachinchay Khrami Kür Kurekchay Pirsaatçay Qabırlı Qanıx Qarqarçay Qudyal Samur Samur–Absheron channel Shamkirchay Tərtərçay Ağdabançay Levçay Turağayçay Türyançay Viləş Oxçu
Lakes	Ağgöl Ajinohur Alagöl Bulbula Boyukshor Göygöl Hajikabul Jandari Maralgöl Masazir Mehman Sarysu
Reservoirs	Aghstafachay Araz Giz Galasi Jeyranbatan Khanbulanchay Khudafarin Mingachevir Sarsang Shamkir Varvara Vileshchay Yenikend
Lakes portal Rivers portal

v t e Lakes of China
Five Great Lakes	Poyang Dongting Chao Tai Hongze
Notable freshwater lakes	Xingkai Poyang Dongting Tai Hulun Hongze Nansi Bosten Chao Gaoyou Ngoring Gyaring Sayram Baiyangdian Honghu Longgan Liangzi Dianchi Manasarovar Ulansuhai Luoma Erhai Junshan Fuxian Shiju Wabu Nanyi Dongping Ge Yangcheng Chenghai Dianshan Yangzong Xingyun Qilu Yilong Ayding Buir Chagan Daming Diexi Dongqian Heaven (Changbai Tianchi) Baihua Karakul Kunming Lugu Ruyi South Tangjiashan Baiyun Xuanwu Yueya Kanas Dushu
Notable salt lakes	Qinghai Namtso Siling Zhari Namco Tangra Yumco Ulungur Yamdrok Pangong Rakshastal (La-Ang Tso) Aibi
National Parks	Jingpo Wudalianchi Tai West (Hangzhou) East Lake (Wuhan) Tianshan Tianchi Songhua Jingyue Slim West Dongting Hongfeng Dianchi Jin Crescent Qinghai Chao Fairy West (Huizhou) Qiong Bosten Feiyun Huguang Rock Bailong Sayram Huating Zhelin
Protected wetlands	Dongting Poyang Hulun South Dongting West Dongting Xingkai Bita Napa Lashi Nygoring Gyaring
Nature Reserves	Hengshui Xingkai Wudalianchi Yinglong Caiyun Shengjin Poyang Dongting Erhai Serling West (Dunhuang) Gahai Qinghai Caohai Hulun Kanas Hongze Haba
Major urban lakes	West (Hangzhou) East (Wuhan) Tangxun Lake Kunming Jinji Yuyuantan West (Huizhou) Slim West Taiye Dianchi Daming Yueya Ruyi South Xuanwu Qujiangchi Lotus Pond Baiyun Yinglong Caiyun Moon
Reservoirs	Three Gorges Longtan Longyangxia Danjiangkou Supung Thousand Islands Xinfengjiang Liujiaxia Changshou Yantan Jiangkou Guanting Miyun Yuqiao Beidagang See also: List of dams and reservoirs in China
Lakes portal China portal