Pluvial lake

A lake formed or greatly expanded during a wetter climatic period, often in an arid region where rainfall and runoff exceeded evaporation.

Lake basin: A depression in the land surface that collects and holds lake water. A basin stores runoff when precipitation exceeds evaporation and outflow.
Lake Bonneville: A large Pleistocene lake that occupied much of the Great Basin in western North America. Its shorelines record a major pluvial lake's changing levels and eventual overflow.
Paleolake: A former lake known from geological, geomorphological, or archaeological evidence. Pluvial lakes are a climate-linked subset of ancient lakes.
Lake overflow: The release of lake water across a basin's lowest rim when its level rises sufficiently. Overflow can connect formerly separate basins and alter regional river routes.
Water balance: An accounting of water inputs, outputs, and storage changes in a system. Pluvial expansion occurs when inflows exceed evaporation and other losses.
Lake Lahontan: A Pleistocene lake system that covered large areas of northwestern Nevada. Its former shorelines and deposits reveal repeated highstands in the Great Basin.
Lake terrace: A bench or step along a lake basin marking a former shoreline or lake level. Terraces preserve positions of past pluvial lake shorelines.
Pleistocene megafauna: Large-bodied animal species that lived during the Pleistocene, many of which later became extinct. Expanded lakes and wetlands changed habitat and resources for large animals.
Paleoclimate: The climate of Earth or a region during a period before modern instrumental records. Past climate determines when lake-forming wet periods occurred.
Lake Agassiz: A vast proglacial lake that occupied central North America as the Laurentide Ice Sheet retreated. Its immense meltwater-fed extent illustrates how climatic conditions can expand lakes.

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Dry lakeRelated: Climate-driven expansion and retreat can create the former lake beds that later dry out.