| 翻訳と辞書 |
| ancient lake ： ウィキペディア英語版 |
ancient lake
An ancient lake is a lake that carried water without interruption for more than one million years. The vast majority of lakes, including very large ones such as the North American Great Lakes, are of much more recent origin. The short life of most lakes is due to continued sedimentation by their tributaries, which typically leads to complete siltation after several thousand years. In contrast, the longevity of ancient lakes can mostly be attributed to geological factors such as plate tectonics, which can counteract siltation.
== Importance of ancient lakes' ecospheres ==
With respect to evolutionary biology, ancient lakes serve as natural isolation laboratories. In analogy to the Galápagos Islands, ancient lakes form isolated 'water islands' in the midst of 'oceans of land'. An ancient lake's long lifespan may give rise to the evolution of endemic species (species that are particular to their location). In comparison with the expanse of the oceans, ancient lakes allow evolutionary biologists to examine the circumstances that conditioned the evolution of new species within a reasonably circumscribed area. In Lake Tanganyika, for instance, scientists study the adaptive radiation of cichlids, while in Lake Ohrid, research focuses on endemic mollusca.
抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』
■ウィキペディアで「ancient lake」の詳細全文を読む
スポンサード リンク
| 翻訳と辞書 : 翻訳のためのインターネットリソース |
Copyright(C) kotoba.ne.jp 1997-2016. All Rights Reserved.
|
|