Glaciers carved most of the lakes in the park thousands of years ago. As the glaciers moved they gouged out the valley floor. When the glaciers melted they left behind a depression in the ground that filled with water from melting glacial ice. These depressions became the lakes that we see today. Jackson Lake, the park's largest lake, is a natural lake raised by a 39-foot tall man-made dam. Many different processes form ponds. Ponds may form due to glaciers gougin out a shallow depression, meltwater piling up sediment around a block of ice that later melts forming a depression, part of a river becoming blocked, beavers building a dam, natural sinkholes in the ground, or even human activity. The plant and animal life in a pond area is very diverse and productive.
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