Water science news, explainers, and statistics covering freshwater, hydrology, lakes, rivers, groundwater, ice, and Earth’s connected water systems.
NOAA’s estuary food-pyramid material starts with a simple observation that governs ponds, rivers, marshes and seas: every bite carries energy that entered the ecosystem earlier. An aquatic food chain traces one possible route for that energy. A tiny alga may be eaten by a zooplankton animal, which may be eaten by a small fish, which…
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Lake Michigan holds about 1,180 cubic miles of water. That equals about 4,920 cubic kilometers. The number describes a reservoir so large that it is hard to picture from any beach or harbor. It is the second-largest individual Great Lake by volume, behind Lake Superior. For a lake surrounded entirely by the United States, it…
Yes. The Great Lakes form a linked freshwater system that carries water through a sequence of lakes, straits, rivers and waterfalls before it reaches the Atlantic Ocean. The five lakes keep their own shorelines, depths, temperatures and habitats. Their outlets and connecting waters also make them parts of one moving network. That network starts high…
To identify plants in the ocean, begin by asking whether an organism has the structures of a flowering plant. Roots and stems are important clues. Leaves, flowers and seeds point to true flowering plants such as seagrasses. The same process places mangroves and salt-marsh grasses among coastal plants. Seaweed and drifting phytoplankton follow a different…
