A body of water or waterbody[1] is any significant accumulation of water on the surface of Earth or another planet. The term most often refers to oceans, seas, and lakes, but it includes smaller pools of water such as ponds, wetlands, or more rarely, puddles. A body of water does not have to be still or contained; rivers, streams, canals, and other geographical features where water moves from one place to another are also considered bodies of water.[2]
Most are naturally occurring geographical features, but some are artificial. There are types that can be either. For example, most reservoirs are created by engineering dams, but some natural lakes are used as reservoirs. Similarly, most harbors are naturally occurring bays, but some harbors have been created through construction.
Bodies of water that are navigable are known as waterways. Some bodies of water collect and move water, such as rivers and streams, and others primarily hold water, such as lakes and oceans.
Bodies of water are affected by gravity, which is what creates the tidal effects.[3] Moreso, the impact of climate change on water is likely to intensify as observed through the rising sea levels, water acidification and flooding. This means that climate change has pressure on water bodies.[4]
Climate change significantly affects bodies of water through rising temperatures, altered precipitation patterns, and sea-level rise. Warmer temperatures lead to the melting of glaciers and polar ice, contributing to rising sea levels and affecting coastal ecosystems. Freshwater bodies, such as rivers and lakes, are experiencing more frequent droughts, affecting water availability for communities and biodiversity. Moreover, ocean acidification, caused by increased carbon dioxide absorption, threatens marine ecosystems like coral reefs.[5] Collaborative global efforts are needed to mitigate these impacts through sustainable water management practices.[6]
a coastal landform. Earth scientists generally use the term to describe a circular or round inlet with a narrow entrance, though colloquially the term is sometimes used to describe any sheltered bay.
A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams, or water reservoir resulting from placing such a structure.
Either a narrow artificial channel off a river or broad for access or mooring, or a ditch (a water-filled drainage trench); not to be confused with Dyke (embankment)
an artificially-created body of water, by damming a source. Often used for flood control, as a drinking water supply (reservoir), recreation, ornamentation (artificial pond), or other purpose or combination of purposes. The process of creating an "impoundment" of water is itself called "impoundment."
a body of water, usually seawater, which has characteristics of one or more of the following: bay, cove, estuary, firth, fjord, geo, sea loch, or sound.
a wetland featuring grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, and other herbaceous plants (possibly with low-growing woody plants) in a context of shallow water. See also salt marsh.
a mostly enclosed sea that has a limited exchange of deep water with outer oceans and where the water circulation is dominated by salinity and temperature differences rather than winds
a place outside a harbor where a ship can lie at anchor; it is an enclosed area with an opening to the sea, narrower than a bay or gulf (often called a "roads").
a large expanse of saline water connected with an ocean, or a large, usually saline, lake that lacks a natural outlet such as the Caspian Sea and the Dead Sea. In common usage, often synonymous with the ocean.
a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material, and rises from the bed of a body of water to near the surface.
a large sea or ocean inlet larger than a bay, deeper than a bight, wider than a fjord, or it may identify a narrow sea or ocean channel between two bodies of land.
a lake that is permanently covered by ice and whose water remains liquid by the pressure of the ice sheet and geothermal heating. They often occur under glaciers or ice caps. Lake Vostok in Antarctica is an example.
a wetland that features permanent inundation of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water, generally with a substantial number of hummocks, or dry-land protrusions.
an environment "at the interface between truly terrestrial ecosystems and truly aquatic systems making them different from each yet highly dependent on both".[41]
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), a University of Oxford publishing house. The dictionary, which published its first edition in 1884, traces the historical development of the English language, providing a comprehensive resource to scholars and academic researchers, and provides ongoing descriptions of English language usage in its variations around the world.
A fen is a type of peat-accumulating wetland fed by mineral-rich ground or surface water. It is one of the main types of wetland along with marshes, swamps, and bogs. Bogs and fens, both peat-forming ecosystems, are also known as mires. The unique water chemistry of fens is a result of the ground or surface water input. Typically, this input results in higher mineral concentrations and a more basic pH than found in bogs. As peat accumulates in a fen, groundwater input can be reduced or cut off, making the fen ombrotrophic rather than minerotrophic. In this way, fens can become more acidic and transition to bogs over time.
A sweater or pullover, also called a jersey or jumper, is a piece of clothing, typically with long sleeves, made of knitted or crocheted material that covers the upper part of the body. When sleeveless, the garment is often called a slipover, tank top, or sweater vest.
This is a list of American words not widely used in the United Kingdom. In Canada and Australia, some of the American terms listed are widespread; however, in some cases, another usage is preferred.
A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has died and has usually not remarried. The male form, "widower", is first attested in the 14th century, by the 19th century supplanting "widow" with reference to men. The adjective for either sex is widowed. These terms are not applied to a divorcé(e) following the death of an ex-spouse.
An aunt is a woman who is a sibling of a parent or married to a sibling of a parent. Aunts who are related by birth are second-degree relatives. Alternate terms include auntie or aunty. Children in other cultures and families may refer to the cousins of their parents as aunt or uncle due to the age and generation gap. The word comes from Latin: amita via Old French ante and is a family relationship within an extended or immediate family.
The littoral zone, also called litoral or nearshore, is the part of a sea, lake, or river that is close to the shore. In coastal ecology, the littoral zone includes the intertidal zone extending from the high water mark, to coastal areas that are permanently submerged — known as the foreshore — and the terms are often used interchangeably. However, the geographical meaning of littoral zone extends well beyond the intertidal zone to include all neritic waters within the bounds of continental shelves.
A tidal creek or tidal channel is a narrow inlet or estuary that is affected by the ebb and flow of ocean tides. Thus, it has variable salinity and electrical conductivity over the tidal cycle, and flushes salts from inland soils. Tidal creeks are characterized by slow water velocity, resulting in buildup of fine, organic sediment in wetlands. Creeks may often be a dry to muddy channel with little or no flow at low tide, but with significant depth of water at high tide. Due to the temporal variability of water quality parameters within the tidally influenced zone, there are unique biota associated with tidal creeks which are often specialised to such zones. Nutrients and organic matter are delivered downstream to habitats normally lacking these, while the creeks also provide access to inland habitat for salt-water organisms.
The word(s) of the year, sometimes capitalized as "Word(s) of the Year" and abbreviated "WOTY", refers to any of various assessments as to the most important word(s) or expression(s) in the public sphere during a specific year.
Lexico was a dictionary website that provided a collection of English and Spanish dictionaries produced by Oxford University Press (OUP), the publishing house of the University of Oxford. While the dictionary content on Lexico came from OUP, this website was operated by Dictionary.com, whose eponymous website hosts dictionaries by other publishers such as Random House. The website was closed and redirected to Dictionary.com on 26 August 2022.
In basketball, an air ball is an unblocked shot that misses the basket, rim and backboard entirely.
The Wilma H. Schiermeier Olentangy River Wetland Research Park is an experimental wetland complex located adjacent to the campus of Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, United States and is part of the School of Environment and Natural Resources at the university. Begun in 1992, the park has developed into a multitude of different habitats and setups which are used by OSU faculty and students for research. Additionally, the general public is welcome to enjoy independent tours of the area during daylight hours. Guided tours are also available upon request.
A stream is a continuous body of surface water flowing within the bed and banks of a channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to by a variety of local or regional names. Long, large streams are usually called rivers, while smaller, less voluminous and more intermittent streams are known as streamlets, brooks or creeks.
William Mitsch is an ecosystem ecologist and ecological engineer who was co-laureate of the 2004 Stockholm Water Prize in August 2004 as a result of a career in wetland ecology and restoration, ecological engineering, and ecological modelling.
The Oxford Dictionary of English (ODE) is a single-volume English dictionary published by Oxford University Press, first published in 1998 as The New Oxford Dictionary of English (NODE). The word "new" was dropped from the title with the Second Edition in 2003. The dictionary is not based on the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) – it is a separate dictionary which strives to represent faithfully the current usage of English words. The Revised Second Edition contains 355,000 words, phrases, and definitions, including biographical references and thousands of encyclopaedic entries. The Third Edition was published in August 2010, with some new words, including "vuvuzela".
A slough is a wetland, usually a swamp or shallow lake, often a backwater to a larger body of water. Water tends to be stagnant or may flow slowly on a seasonal basis.
Freshwater acidification occurs when acidic inputs enter a body of fresh water through the weathering of rocks, invasion of acidifying gas, or by the reduction of acid anions, like sulfate and nitrate within a lake, pond, or reservoir. Freshwater acidification is primarily caused by sulfur oxides (SOx) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) entering the water from atmospheric depositions and soil leaching. Carbonic acid and dissolved carbon dioxide can also enter freshwaters, in a similar manner associated with runoff, through carbon dioxide-rich soils. Runoff that contains these compounds may incorporate acidifying hydrogen ions and inorganic aluminum, which can be toxic to marine organisms. Acid rain also contributes to freshwater acidification. A well-documented case of freshwater acidification in the Adirondack Lakes, New York, emerged in the 1970s, driven by acid rain from industrial sulfur dioxide (SO₂) and nitrogen oxide (NOₓ) emissions.
References
Sources
Mitsch, W.J. and J.G. Gosselink. 2007. Wetlands, 4th ed., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 582 pp.[44]
Citations
↑ "waterbody noun (pl. -ies) a body of water forming a physiographical feature, for example a sea or a reservoir." New Oxford Dictionary of English
↑ Langbein, W.B.; Iseri, Kathleen T. (1995). "Hydrologic Definitions: Stream". Manual of Hydrology: Part 1. General Surface-Water Techniques (Water Supply Paper 1541-A). Reston, VA: United States Geological Survey..
↑ "creek". oxforddictionaries.com. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on September 24, 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2019. British...especially an inlet...(whereas) NZ, North American, Australian...stream or minor tributary.
↑ "(US) creek". English Oxford Living Dictionaries. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on September 24, 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2019. North American, Australian, NZ...A stream, brook, or minor tributary of a river.
↑ "creek". Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, LLC. Retrieved 18 May 2019. U.S., Canada , and Australia...a stream smaller than a river.
↑ "creek". Collins. Retrieved 18 May 2019. US, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand a small stream or tributary
↑ "creek". Macmillan Dictionary. Springer Nature Limited. Retrieved 18 May 2019. a narrow stream
↑ "creek". oxforddictionaries.com. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on September 24, 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2019. British...especially an inlet
↑ "creek". Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, LLC. Retrieved 18 May 2019. Chiefly Atlantic States and British...a recess or inlet in the shore of the sea.
↑ "creek". Macmillan Dictionary. Springer Nature Limited. Retrieved 18 May 2019. BRITISH a long narrow area of ocean stretching into the land
↑ "creek". Collins. Retrieved 18 May 2019. Chiefly British a narrow inlet or bay
↑ The first edition of Wetlands by Mitsch and Gosselink was published in 1986 by Van Nostrand Reinhold. Second, third, and fourth (current) editions were published in 1993, 2000, and 2007 respectively by John Wiley & Sons. "Wiley: Wetlands, 4th Edition". Archived from the original on 3 July 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
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