What is the difference between a lake and a pond, river, stream, and brook?
• Lake – an inland body of water occupying a depression in the earth’s surface, generally of appreciable size • Pond – a natural body of standing water, occupying a small surface depression, usually smaller than a lake. • River – a natural freshwater surface stream of considerable volume and a permanent or seasonal flow. • Stream – any body of moving water that moves under gravity to progressively lower levels, in a relatively narrow but clearly defined channel on the surface of the ground. • Brook – a small stream or rivulet, commonly swiftly flowing in rugged terrain, of lesser length and volume than a creek. A term used in England and New England for any tributary to a small river or to a larger stream. Source: Glossary of Geology, R.L. Bates and J.A. Jackson (eds.), 1987, American Geological Institute, Third Edition.
