what’s the difference between a swamp, lagoon, pond, and lake?
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those are mostly all very different things
ponds and lakes are pretty identical; there is a loose distinction in how deep a lake might be vs a pond
a lagoon is basically a pond surrounded by the ocean by reefs or sand bars.
a swamp is a forrest with standing water; not considered to be an extension of the ocean
Lakes and ponds are a body of water of slow moving or still water in an inland basin. The difference between the two is their size, but the exact point of difference between the two isn’t clearly define. In general a lake would be big enough that it can be use for activities like swimming or using a boat, while a pond would be too small to do these, but that’s just a informal definition.
Lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform. For example, the Venetian Lagoon is shallower and separated from the Adriatic sea by 3 long Islands.
Swamp is a forested region permanently covered by water. Marshes is a forested region frequently flooded by nearby bodies of water. Both of those are considered wetland.
Ponds and lakes or bodies of water that are typically not flowing but there’s no universal standard on naming. Where I am ponds are small and artificially made by dams or excavation, and lakes are naturally occurring and generally larger. Lots of overlap in terms though.
[Swamps are wetlands along with bogs, marshes, and fens.](http://scienceline.ucsb.edu/getkey.php?key=4449#:~:text=Swamps%20are%20forested%2C%20marshes%20are,The%20types%20can%20overlap) Typically swamps are dominated by trees, marshes are dominated by plants, bogs are dominated by mosses and are poorly oxygenated and generally acidic so things don’t decompose in them and they accumulate peat. Fens are neutral or alkaline.
I would just recommend wikipedia for the details.
They’re all distinctly different hydrological formations.
* Swamp – a type of shallow wetland. See also: Bog, marsh, fen
* lagoon – an area of (often salt) water separated from a larger body of water by a sandbar or dune that grows and eventually cuts it off. May be reconnected at high tide.
* pond – a small body of fresh water.
* lake – a somewhat larger body of water, fully enclosed by land (apart from any inlet/outlet) usually fresh, but occasionally salty (like great salt lake).
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