Lakes adapted to landscapes and climate

Abstract

Lakes may be considered from a geomorphological aspect investigating the processes which have formed the depressions and basins, from a hydrological perspective examining water balance, and from an ecological point of view understanding flora and fauna interrelationships (and their uses for fishing, energy supply, irrigation and much more). The existence of lakes in certain landscapes, in particular, lakes formed by volcanoes, those in high mountain ranges and in the inner tropics, can also be analyzed by their distribution, number, size and climate dependencies to name a few. This chapter presents examples of lakes (and ponds, swamps/wetlands or pans) associated to desert dune landscapes and regions of permafrost. Both are extraordinary regions; the first is permeable (sand) and arid (lack of water), the second landscape has an impermeable underground where even low precipitation results in surface water accumulation due to reduced evaporative processes in cold climates. As there is a lack of scientific research around these special features with only exceptional examples of lakes in these regions and latitudes being studied in detail (in particular the lakes in deserts), this chapter focuses on several examples based on satellite image interpretation.