The River Thames vs. Lake Van

By Alara

Do you know the River Thames and Lake Van? They are located in different countries, and one of them is a river and the other one is a lake. I will give more details about them and compare them to each other. What are we waiting for?  Let’s learn more about them.

Firstly, I am going to start with the River Thames. It is a river that flows through southern London. At 215miles (347km) in length, it is the longest river in England. Its name from Sanskrit means ‘dark’, and the water is often dark and cloudy. Another school of thought is that it is named after the Roman ‘Tiam’ meaning ‘wide’.  The source of the water is the Thames’s Head. There are 50 bridges that cross the Thames, and four of them are very famous. They are:  Tower Bridge, Millennium Bridge, London Bridge and Westminster Bridge. Also, from the sea, it is estimated that the Thames carries over 300,00 tons of sediment each year. More than 100 fish species have been recorded in the Thames over the last 30 years and many of these in the River Thames within London.

Secondly, I am going to give you more information about my country’s longest lake. It is the largest lake in Turkey, and it lies in the far east of the country. It is in the provinces of Van and Bitlis. It is a saline soda lake that receives water from numerous small streams that desend from the surrounding mountains. This lake borders Vann, Tatvan, Ercis and Ahlat. The length of the lake is 11km. Lake ‘Van’ is derived from Chayon, the name of an old capital of the Urartian Kingdom. In the biggest sodium water lake in the world, there are 103 types of phytoplankton.

Lastly, River Thames is bigger than Lake Van, and I will now compare them. My first comparison is the about the difference in their appearance. Lake Van in enclosed by land, and the River Thames is exposed more. The colour is different too. The Thames is brown and looks dirty. Lake Van is not connected to the sea like all lakes, and it is clear. Another difference between Lake Van and the Thames is the movement. River Thames basically runs and flows along, and it often flows in one direction. This is different compared to Lake Van. Lake Van is immobile. It appears that Lake Van flows very slowly, and most of the movements are influenced by the wind.

There is so much to compare when thinking about their history and how they changed the lives of people around them. There is so much more to learn about both of these bodies of water.  This is just a start.