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Lake and its classification - Major Lakes in India
A lake is a large body of natural water accumulated in a depression. Lake basins are formed due to endogenous geological processes like tectonism and volcanism and exogenous activities like landslides, glaciation, solution, river and wind action.
Classification of Lakes
Lakes are classified based on size, shape, depth and mode of formation.Tectonic Lakes
These lakes are formed due to the folding and faulting of plates in earth's Crust.Caspian Sea, Lake Baikal, Tso Moriri and Pangong Tso (Ladakh) are some examples of such lakes.
Crater Lakes
These lakes are formed when caldera and craters are filled with water.Lonar lake in Maharashtra is one such example.
A caldera or crater is a large hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcanic eruption.
When large volumes of magma erupt over a short time, structural support for the rock above the magma chamber is lost.
The ground surface then collapses downward into the emptied or partially emptied magma chamber, leaving a massive depression at the surface.
Glacial Lake
These lakes are formed by the erosion/melting of glaciers.They are formed when a glacier erodes the land, and then melts, filling the depression created by the glacier. Most of the glacial lakes are found in the Himalayan region in India.
Roopkund (Uttarakhand), Satopanth Tal (Uttarakhand), Chandra Taal (Himachal Pradesh), Suraj Tal (Himachal Pradesh and Lake Tsomgo (Sikkim) are some Glacial Lakes in India.
Ox-Bow Lakes
An oxbow lake is a U-shaped lake that forms when a wide meander of a river is cut off, creating a free-standing body of waterIt is formed due to the depositional and erosional activities of the River.
Kanwar lake (Bihar) is the largest oxbow lake in India and in Asia.
Lagoons
A lagoon is a shallow body of water protected from a larger body of water (usually the ocean) by sandbars, barrier islands, or coral reefs.Lagoons are often called estuaries, sounds, bays, or even lakes.
Chilika Lake is a brackish water lake with estuarine character and also the largest lagoon in India.
Pulicat Lake (Andhra Pradesh) and Vembanad Lake (Kerala) are some of the famous Lagoons in India.
Artificial Lakes
Formed by Humans for recreational, hydrological, ecological, economical purposes.Popular Man-made Lakes in India are - Bhojtal Lake (MP), Gobind Sagar (HP), Bhimtal Lake (Uttarakhand) and Rana Pratap Sagar (HP).
Major Lakes in India
| State | Name | Type of Lakes | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
Andhra Pradesh |
Pulicat Lake (Lagoon) | Brackish Water | It is shared by Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. |
| Kolleru Lake | Freshwater | - | |
| Nagarjuna Sagar | Freshwater | - | |
Assam |
Haflong Lake | Freshwater | High altitude lake |
| DeeporBeel | Freshwater | - | |
| Son Beel | Freshwater | Tectonically formed | |
| Chandubi lake | Freshwater | - | |
| Chapanala Lake | - | - | |
| Bihar | Kanwar Lake | Oxbow (freshwater) | Asia's largest freshwater oxbow lake; |
Gujarat |
Hamirsar lake | Artificial | - |
| Kankaria lake | Artificial | During 14th century by Muhammed Shah II | |
| Narayan Sarovar | Artificial Freshwater | - | |
| Thol Lake | Lentic lake | - | |
| Vastrapur (वस्त्रापुर) | Freshwater | Narmada River | |
Haryana |
Badkal Lake | Artificial Freshwater | - |
| Blue Bird Lake | Freshwater | - | |
| Surajkund | Artificial lake | - | |
| Brahma Sarovar | Freshwater | - | |
| Damdama Lake | Freshwater | - | |
| Karna | Freshwater | - | |
| Tilyar | Freshwater (canal inflow) | - | |
Himachal Pradesh |
Chandra Taal | Sweetwater lake | - |
| Suraj Taal | Freshwater (High Altitude) | - | |
| Maharana Pratap Sagar | Freshwater | - | |
| Prashar lake | Holomitic (Freshwater) | It has a floating Island | |
| Ghepan lake | glaciers feed | - | |
Jammu & Kashmir |
Dal lake | Warm monomitic | - |
| Wular lake | Tectonic lake (Freshwater) | Largest freshwater lake in India | |
| Anchar Lake | - | connected with "Dal Lake" via a channel "Amir Khan Nallah" | |
| Ladakh | Pangong Tso (Ladakh) | Endorheic Lake (saline water) | Indo-China Border |
| TsoMoriri | Saltwater | - | |
Karnataka |
Agara lake | Freshwater | - |
| Bellandur Lake | Freshwater | - | |
| Karanji lake | - | - | |
| Ulsoor lake | Stale water | - | |
| Kukarahalli lake | Freshwater | - | |
| Honnamana | Freshwater | - | |
| Pampa Sarovar | Freshwater | Tungabhadra river | |
Kerala |
Ashtamudi Kayal (Lagoon) | Brackish water | - |
| Kuttanad | - | - | |
| Vembanad | Brackish Water | - | |
| Shashtamkotta (सस्थमकोट्टा) | Freshwater | - | |
| Madhya Pradesh | Bhojtal | Freshwater | - |
Maharashtra |
Salim Ali | Freshwater | Birdwatching |
| Shivsagar | Freshwater | - | |
| Lonar lake | Crater lake | - | |
| Manipur | Loktak lake | Lenticular Freshwater | Phumdis (Floating Islands) |
| Meghalaya | Umiam | Freshwater | - |
| Mizoram | Tam Dil | Freshwater | - |
Orissa |
Chilika lake (Lagoon) | Brackish water | India's largest brackish water lake; largest lagoon lake |
| Kanjia lake | Freshwater | - | |
Punjab |
Harike | Freshwater | - |
| Rupar | Freshwater | - | |
| Kanjli | Freshwater | - | |
Rajasthan |
Sambhar lake | Saltwater | Largest inland saltwater (saline) lake in India |
| Rajsamand | Freshwater | - | |
| Nakki | Manmade lake | - | |
| Uday Sagar | - | - | |
| Didwana (Namak lake) | Saltwater | - | |
Sikkim |
Tsomgo lake | Freshwater | - |
| Khecheoplari (खेचेओपलरी) | Freshwater | ||
| Tamil Nadu |
Ooty lake | Freshwater | - |
| Chembarambakkam (चेम्बरमबक्कम) | Artificial lake | - | |
Telangana |
Hussain Sagar | Artificial lake | - |
| Badrakali lake | Freshwater Artificial lake | - | |
| Uttar Pradesh | Govind Ballabh Pant Sagar (Rihand Dam) | Man-made lake | - |
| Belasagar | Freshwater | - | |
| Fulhar Lake | - | - | |
| Uttarakhand | Bhimtal | Freshwater | - |
| Roop Kund | - | Skeleton Lake or Mystery Lake | |
| Dodital | Freshwater | - | |
| Arunachal Pradesh | Sala Lake | - | - |
| West Bengal | East Calcutta wetlands | Brackish water | - |
The Suez Canal is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia.
The canal is part of the Silk Road that connects Europe with Asia.
It utilizes saveral lakes - from North to South: Lake Manzala, Lake Timsha, Great Bitter Lake and Little Bitter Lake.
| Lakes in the World | ||
|---|---|---|
| Lake | Location | Notes |
| Baikal | Russia | Deepest |
| Tanganyika | Africa | Second Deepest and longest fresh-water lake |
| Superior Lake | North America | Largest fresh-water lake, near "Duluth" lake |
| Caspian Sea | Largest by area and volume | |
| Great Bear Lake | Canada | |
| Lake Michigan | US | Lies entirely in USA |
| Lake Huron | North America | |
| Lake Erir | North America | |
| Victoria | Africa | |
| Titicaca | Bolvia-Peru | |
| Karda | ||
| Lincanbur | ||
| Finger Lake | USA | |
| Boiling Lake | Dominica | |
| River flower Lake | China | |
| Red Lagoon | Bolivia | |
| Slave Lake | Canada | |
| Lake Urmia | Iran | |
| Lake Reindeer | Canada | |
| Lake Athabasca | Canada | |