The USGS Water Science School
When choosing a picture of a lake for this Web site, I naturally chose the type of lake (there are many) that I like best—a high mountain lake in an alpine setting. This picture shows Hidden Lake in Glacier National Park, Montana, USA. Being far away from any urban setting, the water in this lake is probably very pure and certainly very cold. In lower elevations, many lakes get their water both directly from precipitation and runoff from the surrounding landscape, along with water entering from streams. High in the mountains, it is doubful there is much input from large streams to fill up this lake. This lake is kept full of water mainly from precipitation runoff from the surrounding hills and, in the spring, from snowmelt (this picture was taken in the "warm" month of August; the view in April must be much different).
Back to: Glaciers and icecaps | Snowmelt runoff | The water cycle, freshwater
Credit: Lisa McKeon, USGS