How lakes form
A visual guide to glacial, volcanic, tectonic, oxbow, reservoir, crater, and coastal lake formation.
How lakes form
Lakes can form when ice carves basins, rivers abandon bends, volcanoes collapse into craters, faults pull land apart, dunes block drainage, or people build reservoirs.
Formation explains why one lake is round and deep, another is long and narrow, and another is shallow and marshy. Shape is often a clue to history.
This page should connect simple diagrams with real lake examples as the site grows.
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