Lakes: Their Birth, Life, and Death
“Lakes is my favorite kind of natural history: meticulously researched, timely, comprehensive, and written with imagination and verve.”—Jerry Dennis, author of The Living Great Lakes
 
Lakes might be the most misunderstood bodies of water on earth. And while they may seem commonplace, without lakes our world would never be the same. In this revealing look at these lifegiving treasures, John Richard Saylor shows us just how deep our connection to still waters run.  
 
Lakes is an illuminating tour through the most fascinating lakes around the world. Whether it’s Lake Vostok, located more than two miles beneath the surface of Antarctica, whose water was last exposed to the atmosphere perhaps a million years ago; Lake Baikal in southern Siberia, the world’s deepest and oldest lake formed by a rift in the earth’s crust; or Lake Nyos, the so-called Killer Lake that exploded in 1986, resulting in hundreds of deaths, Saylor reveals to us the wonder that exists in lakes found throughout the world. Along the way we learn all the many forms that lakes take—how they come to be and how they feed and support ecosystems—and what happens when lakes vanish. 




 
1139915477
Lakes: Their Birth, Life, and Death
“Lakes is my favorite kind of natural history: meticulously researched, timely, comprehensive, and written with imagination and verve.”—Jerry Dennis, author of The Living Great Lakes
 
Lakes might be the most misunderstood bodies of water on earth. And while they may seem commonplace, without lakes our world would never be the same. In this revealing look at these lifegiving treasures, John Richard Saylor shows us just how deep our connection to still waters run.  
 
Lakes is an illuminating tour through the most fascinating lakes around the world. Whether it’s Lake Vostok, located more than two miles beneath the surface of Antarctica, whose water was last exposed to the atmosphere perhaps a million years ago; Lake Baikal in southern Siberia, the world’s deepest and oldest lake formed by a rift in the earth’s crust; or Lake Nyos, the so-called Killer Lake that exploded in 1986, resulting in hundreds of deaths, Saylor reveals to us the wonder that exists in lakes found throughout the world. Along the way we learn all the many forms that lakes take—how they come to be and how they feed and support ecosystems—and what happens when lakes vanish. 




 
27.95 In Stock
Lakes: Their Birth, Life, and Death

Lakes: Their Birth, Life, and Death

by John Richard Saylor
Lakes: Their Birth, Life, and Death

Lakes: Their Birth, Life, and Death

by John Richard Saylor

Hardcover

$27.95 
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Overview

“Lakes is my favorite kind of natural history: meticulously researched, timely, comprehensive, and written with imagination and verve.”—Jerry Dennis, author of The Living Great Lakes
 
Lakes might be the most misunderstood bodies of water on earth. And while they may seem commonplace, without lakes our world would never be the same. In this revealing look at these lifegiving treasures, John Richard Saylor shows us just how deep our connection to still waters run.  
 
Lakes is an illuminating tour through the most fascinating lakes around the world. Whether it’s Lake Vostok, located more than two miles beneath the surface of Antarctica, whose water was last exposed to the atmosphere perhaps a million years ago; Lake Baikal in southern Siberia, the world’s deepest and oldest lake formed by a rift in the earth’s crust; or Lake Nyos, the so-called Killer Lake that exploded in 1986, resulting in hundreds of deaths, Saylor reveals to us the wonder that exists in lakes found throughout the world. Along the way we learn all the many forms that lakes take—how they come to be and how they feed and support ecosystems—and what happens when lakes vanish. 




 

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781643260488
Publisher: Timber Press, Incorporated
Publication date: 06/07/2022
Pages: 240
Sales rank: 993,510
Product dimensions: 6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

John Richard Saylor, PhD, is a professor of mechanical engineering at Clemson University. He has spent the better part of his career studying fluid mechanics, specifically researching phenomena that occur at the interface between air and water. In addition to lakes, his scientific interests include the physics of drops, bubbles, and waves, and he has applied his research to applications such as the use of water sprays and ultrasonics to clean diesel exhaust and methods for using radar to study raindrops. He was a student at the Santa Fe Science Writing Workshop in 2017. He lives in Clemson, South Carolina.
 

Table of Contents

Introduction 9

Part I Birth

1 Glaciers The Master Creator 15

2 Volcanic Lakes An Inherited Violence 29

3 DAMS Natural and Manmade 45

4 The Carolina Bays 59

5 Oriented Lakes 81

6 Subglacial Lakes 95

7 Salt Lakes 107

Part II Life

8 Lake Overturning 119

9 Dissolved Gas Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide 135

10 Ice 151

11 Surface Tension 161

12 Evaporation 173

Part III Death

13 Death by Human 183

14 Tectonics 193

Metric Conversions 203

Bibliography 204

Acknowledgments 229

Index 230

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