Salt concentration

Water salinity based on dissolved salts in parts per thousand (ppt)

Freshwater Brackish water Saline water Brine
< 0.5 0.5 - 35 35 - 50 > 50

Water salinity based on % and ppm

Water salinity based on dissolved salts in parts per thousand (ppt)
Fresh water Brackish water Saline water Brine
Freshwater Brackish water Saline water Brine
< 0.05 % 0.05 - 3 % 3 - 5 % > 5 %
< 0.5 0.5 - 35 35 - 50 > 50
< 500 ppm 500 - 30 000 ppm 30 000 - 50 000 ppm > 50 000 ppm
Lakes
• These regions range in size from just a few square meters to thousands of
square kilometres.
Scattered throughout the Earth. They are found on every continent and in
every kind of environment—in mountains and deserts, on plains, and
near seashores
Many ponds are seasonal,lasting just a couple of months while lakes may exist
for hundreds of years or more.
Ponds and lakes may have limited species diversity since they are often
isolated from one another and from other water sources like rivers and oceans.
.
• The Caspian Sea, in Europe and Asia, is the world’s largest lake, with
an area of more than 370,000 square kilometers (143,000 square
miles).

Lakes also vary greatly in depth. The world’s deepest lake is Lake
Baikal, in Russia. Its bottom is nearly 2 kilometers 
• The water in lakes comes from rain, snow, melting ice, streams,
and groundwater seepage. Most lakes contain freshwater. 
• All lakes are either open or closed. If water leaves a lake by a river or
other outlet, it is said to be open. All freshwater lakes are open. If
water only leaves a lake by evaporation, the lake is closed. Closed
lakes usually become saline, or salty. This is because as the water
evaporates, it leaves behind solids—mostly salts. The Great Salt Lake,
in the U.S. state of Utah, is the largest saline lake in North America. Its
water is saltier than the ocean
How Lakes Are Formed

•Formed by glacial erosion and deposition,

•Tectonic movement e.g. Baikal and Caspian
•shifts in Earth’s crust, uplifting ,mountains or displacing rockstrata,
•craters of some extinct volcanoes,
•landslides
•By nongeologic activity beaver dams streams to
make shallow but often extensive ponds; humans
create lakes by rivers and streams for power,
irrigation or water shortage and smaller ponds for recreating
fishing and wildlife
Formation of Lakes and Ponds:
Some of the oldest lakes and ponds
(more than three hundred thousand
years old) were formed by tectonic
activity related to movement of Earth's
crust.

EXAMPLE: Lake Baikal in Siberia formed

from the movement of tectonic plates
and is the largest freshwater lake by
volume in the world.
Formation of Lakes and Ponds:

Lakes and ponds are formed through a

variety of events, including glacial,
tectonic, and volcanic activity.

Most lakes and ponds form as a result of

glacial processes.
As a glacier retreats, it may leave
behind an uneven surface containing
hollows that fill with water.
Formation of Lakes and Ponds:

Volcanic activity can also lead to lake and

pond formation.

EXAMPLE: the collapse of a volcanic cone

of Mount Mazama in Oregon led to the
formation of Crater Lake, the seventh
deepest lake in the world.
• Lake, as an ecosystem has several budgets as heat budget, water
budget and biomass budget. There are about 1350 lakes and
reservoirs in the world.
 Light penetration-influenced by silt and other
materials and natural attenuation
 Temperature-vary seasonally and with depth
 Oxygen-can be limiting especially in summer,
because only a small proportion of of the
water is in direct contact with air and
respiration by decomposers.
 These three strongly influence the
distribution and adaptations of life in lakes
and ponds
Lake Classification

There are three basic ways that limnologists classify lakes: how
many nutrients lakes have, how their water mixes, and what
kinds of fish live in them.
Oligotrophic lake Eutrophic Lake
1. Epilimnion
 the top-most layer in a thermally
stratified lake.
It is warmer and typically has a
higher pH and dissolved oxygen
concentration than the hypolimnion.
It typically mixed as a result of surface
wind-mixing.
Free to exchange dissolved gases (ie
O2 and CO2) with the atmosphere.
It contains the most phytoplankton.
2. Thermocline
(sometimes metalimnion) is a thin but distinct
layer in a large body of fluid (e.g. water, such as
an ocean or lake, or air, such as an atmosphere).
Temperature changes more rapidly with depth than
it does in the layers above or below.
Thermoclines may be a semi-permanent feature of
the body of water in which they occur, or they may
form temporarily in response to phenomena such
as the radiative heating/cooling of surface water
during the day/night.
Factors that affect the depth and thickness of a
thermocline include seasonal weather variations,
latitude, and local environmental conditions, such
as tides and currents.
3. Hypolimnion
The hypolimnion is the dense, bottom layer of
water in a thermally-stratified lake. It is the layer
that lies below the thermocline.
Typically the hypolimnion is the coldest layer of a
lake in summer, and the warmest layer during
winter. Being at depth, it is isolated from surface
wind-mixing during summer, and usually receives
insufficient irradiance (light) for photosynthesis to
occur.
In deep, temperate lakes, the bottom-most
waters of the hypolimnion are typically close to
4°C throughout the year. The hypolimnion may
be much warmer in lakes at warmer latitudes.
 Ponds and Lakes
Temperature varies seasonally.
During summer the temp. is from
4°C near the bottom to 22°C at the
top.
During winter the temp. is from 4° C
while the top is 0° C (ice).
during the spring and fall seasons is
a mixing of the top and bottom
layers resulting in a uniform water
temperature of around 4° C.
Once dissolved oxygen levels drop below 2mg/l, the water is described
as hypoxic. As it approaches 0mg/l, it becomes anoxic. A dead
zone is an area within a lake that is either hypoxic or anoxic, and in
which few organisms can survive. Oxygen-consuming organisms within
dead zones either suffocate or leave the area. According to the
Michigan water quality standards, a minimum oxygen concentration of
7mg/l is needed for cold-water fish and minimum of 5 mg/l is needed
for warm water fish (MDEQ, 1994).
Conditions in Lakes
• The zone, which is closet to the shore is host to a wide
variety of species due to its warm, shallow
environment. Various species of invertebrates,
crustaceans, plants and amphibians thrive in this
environment, and in turn provide food for predators
such as birds, reptiles and other creatures inhabiting
the shoreline.
• The open water near the surface of a lake or pond, is
home to a variety of phytoplankton, and zooplankton,
which play an important role in the food chain. Several
species of freshwater fish such as bass and lake trout
can also be found this area, mainly feeding on insects
and plankton.
• The deeper region of a lake is shrouded in darkness,
and serves as a repository for dead plankton, and is
inhabited by creatures which feed mostly on decaying
organisms.
The Life Cycle of Lakes

Once formed, lakes do not stay the same. Like people, they go
through different life stages—youth, maturity, old age, and
death. All lakes, even the largest, slowly disappear as their
basins fill with sediment and plant material. The natural aging
of a lake happens very slowly, over the course of hundreds and
even thousands of years. But with human influence, it can take
only decades. 
Lake plants
• Underwater plants need to stay close to the water's
surface so sunlight can reach them. Some freshwater
plants, such as water lilies, grow flowers and leaves
that float on the water's surface.
Lake animals
• Many types of animals live in ponds because they are not
in danger of being swept away by a current.
Insects, birds, turtles, frogs, and fish are some of the
animals you can find in ponds and lakes.
• In regions with colder climate some animals have to
hibernate during winter.

The largest fish found in lakes is the sturgeon, which can

grow to 6 meters (20 feet) and weigh more than 680
kilograms (1,500 pounds). 
Endotherms are animals that primarily
produces its own heat. Ectotherms are
animals that primarily gains heat through
the environment. Homeotherms are
animals that have a constant body
temperature.Poikilotherms are animals
whose body temperature adjusts
depending on the environment.
plants growing along the lakeshore may
include mosses, ferns, reeds, rushes, and cattails. Small
animals such as snails, shrimp, crayfish, worms, frogs,
and dragonflies live among the plants and lay their
eggs on them both above and below the waterline.
Farther from the shore, floating plants such as water
lilies and water hyacinths often thrive. They have air-
filled bladders, or sacs, that help keep them afloat.
These plants shelter small fish that dart in and out
under their leaves. Waterbugs, beetles, and spiders
glide and skitter across the surface or just below it
Other animals live near the lake, such as bats and semi-
aquatic animals, such as mink, salamanders, beavers, and
turtles. Semi-aquatic animals need both water and land to
survive, so both the lake and the shore are important to
them.
Many kinds of water birds live on lakes or gather there
to breed and raise their young. Ducks are the most
common lake birds. Others include swans, geese, loons,
kingfishers, herons, and bald eagles. 

Many people think of fish when they think of lakes.

Some of the most common fish found in lakes are tiny
shiners, sunfish, perch, bass, crappie, muskie, walleye,
perch, lake trout, pike, eels, catfish, salmon, and
sturgeon. Many of these provide food for people.