Pluvial lake

Pluvial lake

A pluvial lake is a lake that experiences significant increase in depth and extent as a result of increased precipitation and reduced evaporation. The word pluvial comes from the Latin "pluvia", which means "rain". Such lakes are likely to be endorheic (reduced outflow).

They represent changes in the hydrological cycle - wet cycles generate large lakes, whereas dry cycles cause the lakes to dry up leaving large flat plains.

Several pluvial lakes formed in the western United States during the glaciation of the late Pleistocene epoch, including Lake Bonneville in Utah and Lake Lahontan in Nevada. Today, these lakes are much smaller (e.g., the Great Salt Lake) or have become dry playas.

Formation

Most of the pluvial lakes developed in arid locations where there was insufficient rain to establish an integrated, through-flowing drainage system to the sea, prior to the glacial epoch. Instead, stream runoff in those areas flowed into closed basins and formed playa lakes. With increased rainfall, the playa lakes enlarged.

ee also

*Proglacial lake
*Lake Eyre, Australia


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  • pluvial lake —    I.    A lake formed in an extended period of exceptionally heavy rainfall.    Compare: pluvial lake [ relict ], glacial lake, proglacial lake.    SW & GG    II.    [ relict ]    A lake formed in an extended period of exceptionally heavy… …   Glossary of landform and geologic terms

  • Lake Bonneville — was a prehistoric pluvial lake that covered much of North America s Great Basin region. Most of the territory it covered was in present day Utah, though parts of the lake extended into present day Idaho and Nevada. Formed about 32,000 years ago,… …   Wikipedia

  • Lake Lewis — was a temporary lake in the Pacific Northwest region of North America, largely formed by the Missoula Floods in about the 14th millennium B.C.The restricted flow of waters [Flow was restricted by a hydraulic dam a restriction to the flow rate… …   Wikipedia

  • Lake Eyre — Infobox lake lake name = Lake Eyre image lake = NEO lake eyre big.jpg caption lake = Composite Landsat 7 satellite image using shortwave infrared, near infrared, and blue wavelengths image bathymetry = caption bathymetry = location = northern… …   Wikipedia

  • Lake Manly — was a large freshwater lake which filled the Death Valley (United States) basin prior to the dry climatic period which has prevailed since the last ice age. Lake Manly receded due to increased evaporation, and to isolation from the Colorado River …   Wikipedia

  • Pluvial — Ein Pluvial (aus lat. pluvialis = regenbringend, vgl. franz. il pleut = es regnet, pluvieux = regnerisch) ist in der Klimatologie und in den Geowissenschaften eine erdgeschichtliche Periode mit höheren Regenmengen als im langzeitlichen… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Lake Bonneville — Felsblöcke, die von der Flut rund 100 km transportiert wurden Lake Bonneville ist der Name für einen ehemaligen See im Westen der heutigen Vereinigten Staaten. Er existierte in einem Pluvial im späten Pleistozän, während der letzten Eiszeit… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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  • proglacial lake —    I.    A type of glacial lake which formed just beyond the margin of an advancing or retreating glacier; generally in direct contact with the ice.    Compare: glacial lake, pluvial lake.    GG    II.    [ relict ]    Remnant features of a… …   Glossary of landform and geologic terms

  • Great Salt Lake — Infobox lake lake name = Great Salt Lake image lake = Great Salt Lake ISS 2003.jpg caption lake = Satellite photo in summer 2003 after five years of drought, reaching near record lows. image bathymetry = caption bathymetry = location = Utah,… …   Wikipedia

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