Is it true Maryland is the only US state that has no natural lakes?
According to Geography Realm:
The only state in the US with no natural lakes is Maryland. Although Maryland has rivers and other freshwater ponds, no natural body of water is large enough to qualify as a lake. The state’s largest lakes are artificially made and include Lake Habee and Deep Creek Lake, which is Maryland’s largest inland body of water.
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It seems to be true, yes.
Natural lakes tend to form from glacial activity, which Maryland has a distinct lack of. Delaware apparently has only one small natural lake.
I was always aware that there are few natural lakes in Southern California; most of the well-known ones are reservoirs. If you exclude man-made ones, there are not many lakes in much of the southern half of the U.S.
I grew up in Maryland and had no idea.
But where do they draw the line between ponds and lakes? I have been in Maryland ponds that looked lake-ish to me.
Thanks for this question, now I know. I had a feeling all of the lakes I had seen so far were man-made. This explains it.
@elbanditoroso
“But where do they draw the line between ponds and lakes?”
Good question. I’ll try to see if Geo Realm mentions any parameters regarding that.
Here’s a more definable one for you: where do you draw the line between an island and a continent?
Tennessee only has one natural lake. It was formed during the new Madrid earthquakes in the 1800’s. Prior to that event there were none.
I couldn’t find the delineation at Geo Realm.
According to the Lilly Center for Lakes & Streams, all the water in a pond is in the photic zone, meaning ponds are shallow enough to allow sunlight to reach the bottom. Lakes have aphotic zones, which are deep areas of water that receive no sunlight, preventing plants from growing.
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