# lake (geographic)

A region of space containing water and enclosed by a boundary that holds the water within.

- Computed level: L16 (depth in the emergence graph, not abstraction)
- Status: review  ·  Domain: earth  ·  Arena: physical

## Emergence
**Emerges from:** [water](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-water.liquid), [region](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-region.spatial), [boundary](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-boundary.limit), [liquid](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-liquid.state), [limit](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-limit.boundary)

**Through:** The boundary retains the liquid water within the spatial region, preventing dispersal.

**Novel properties:**
- contained body of water
- stable water boundary interface
- persistent spatial localization of water

## Examples
- Lake Superior contains 12,100 cubic kilometers of water within its rocky shoreline boundary. *(geography)*
- The Aral Sea shrank by 90% after rivers feeding it were diverted for irrigation. *(environment)*
- Lake Vostok remains liquid under 4 kilometers of Antarctic ice due to geothermal pressure. *(geophysics)*

---
*Canonical: https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-lake.geographic*  
*Structured data: https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-lake.geographic.json*  
*Every definition provably resolves to space, time, energy and pattern.*