Lagoon vs. Lake

Water has been a source of providing beauty for people in many ways, and people love to spend time on beaches, rivers and other places that have water involved. The two terms lake and lagoon are different from each other in a precise manner. The main one can be termed that a lagoon is a place which is separated from the river or sea with the help of small land and is not as deep while a lake is a place which has no surrounding water or connection with a river or sea and has land around it.

Comparison Chart

Basis	Lagoon	Lake
Definition	A shallow piece of land with water which is separated from a larger piece of land with water and islands or reefs.	An area that has water in it and is surrounded by land from outside.
Basis	Do not have any land near them.	Do not have any river or sea near them.
Dependence	Depend on sea or river for water.	Depend on a stream of water.
Size	Bigger but not too deep.	Smaller but extremely deep.
Types	Coastal Lagoons and Atoll Lagoons.	Tectonic Lake, Landside Lake, Salt Lake, Carter Lake, Glacial Lakes, and Oxbow Lakes.
Examples	Blue Lagoon, Washdyke Lagon and Glenrock Lagoon.	Lake Baikal, Lake Saiful Maluk and Lake Huron.

What is Lagoon?

It is usually the case that when you see a small portion of water at a place, it is termed as a lake, but in actual, that is not the case. Therefore, lagoon can be defined as a shallow piece of land with water which is separated from a larger piece of land with water and islands or reefs. There are two main types of them which can be called the coastal lagoons and the atoll lagoons. The coastal ones are formed along the sea or rivers where there is an island, and they can be separated by reefs.

They are just along the sea level and are rising towards the land along the shore. They cannot be formed at places where the size of tides is more than 4 meters or places where there are rocks. They mostly are the ones who have smooth surfaces under them and are connected to the open sea. They can have tidal currents in them which will not be too strong. Another type is the one in which the coral reef is grown upwards while the land surrounding them is outside and have water within them.

In simple words, it can be said that a lagoon is smaller than a lake and the main difference can be told when the deepness is measured. They cannot be too deep because of the nature of the place they are at such as flat land or reefs present on the surface. There are many important one presents around the world, and few of them are the Glenrock Lagoon in Australia, the Blue Lagoon in Turkey and the Washdyke Lagon in New Zealand.

What is Lake?

A lake is an area that has water in it and is surrounded by land from outside. If there is more water around the place, then it cannot be characterized as a lake. They are usually found in the area, especially in hilly areas or between the two mountains and form a beautiful view for people.

They are not part of the ocean or any river, and that is why they are mostly seen by individuals who find them safe. That said, lakes can be extremely deep some as deep as 200 meters. In some cases, they can be fed by rivers, but mostly it is the streams that result in a lake.

Most of the natural lakes are found between the hills and are there for centuries while many artificial ones have been created in areas where there is no water or for recreation purposes, and they have to be filled on their own. The word has been derived from the English language itself and is loosely associated with the pond. Most of the lakes are of freshwater and are present in the northern hemisphere.

Some countries are rich in the way that they have thousands of lakes. For example, Canada is a place which as around 32000 lakes while Finland has 200,000 different lakes although the country itself is relatively smaller than Canada. There are various ways in which a lake can be categorized, but the most common ones are the tectonic lake, landside Lake, Salt Lake, Carter Lake, glacial lakes and the oxbow lakes.

Key Differences between Lagoon and Lake

1. A lagoon can be defined as a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by barrier islands or reefs. On the other hand, a lake can be defined as a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land.
2. Lagoons do not have any land near them and are dependent on the sea or river for their water while Lakes do not have any water near them and depend on streams for their water.
3. Lakes are considered deeper in comparison can be as deep as a river sometimes while a lagoon is considered not deep and is covered by reefs from the inside.
4. The main types of lakes include a tectonic lake, landside Lake, Salt Lake, Carter Lake, glacial lakes and the oxbow lakes. On the other hand, the main type of Lagoons is coastal lagoons and the atoll lagoons.
5. The best examples of the lagoon are Glenrock Lagoon in Australia, the Blue Lagoon in Turkey and the Washdyke Lagon in New Zealand. While the best examples of lakes are Lake Baikal, Lake Saiful Maluk and Lake Huron.