What is the difference between a pond and a lake?

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. … Lakes have aphotic zones, which are deep areas of water that receive no sunlight, preventing plants from growing.

How big is a pond before it becomes a lake?

A pond is a body of water less than 0.5 acres (150 square meters) in an area or less than 20 feet (6 meters) in depth. A lake is defined as a body of water bigger than 1 acre (4,000 m²), although size is not a reliable indicator of its water quality.

What is a simple definition of lake?

A lake is a body of water that is surrounded by land. There are millions of lakes in the world. They are found on every continent and in every kind of environment—in mountains and deserts, on plains, and near seashores. Lakes vary greatly in size.

What is the legal definition of a lake?

Lake means a body of standing inland surface water. … Lakes do not include springs, wetlands, or streams (except portions of streams that exhibit lake-like characteristics, such as long water residence time, increased width, or predominance of biological taxa typically found in non-flowing conditions).

What makes a lake a lake?

A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and set apart from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger oceans, they do form part of the Earth’s water cycle.

How deep are lakes usually?

about 10 meters
Most lakes have an average depth of about 10 meters. Depth can frequently predict the productivity of the lake, or how much photosynthesis it fosters, since a shallow lake will have greater exposure to both sunlight and nutrients3.