puddle

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The title of this article is ambiguous. Further meanings are listed under Puddle (disambiguation) .

Puddle on a path

Winter puddle

A puddle , even pool (. Austrian varnishes , low German partially Lusche .., U pfälzisch a flop , swiss German Glungge or Gunte ) is a collection of fluids - usually water  - to the earth's surface, which for itself. B. forms after a rain and seeps away or evaporates a few days later. Puddles are the smallest form of standing water .

The word puddle ( ahd. Pfuzza, puzza; ndd. Putte; ndl. Put ) is borrowed from the Latin puteus for "pit, well".

For individual traffic (e.g. pedestrians ), puddles on traffic routes are considered to be a nuisance. Therefore, paths are paved or asphalted whenever possible. Even in green areas, such as lawns and pastures, attempts are made to level depressions as well as small elevations. Puddles offer play opportunities for children.

From an ecological point of view , puddles of water represent small temporary bodies of water . Antoni van Leeuwenhoek discovered around 1668 that microscopic puddles contain life. For many small creatures, such as insects , sinks provide coolness, moisture, and water, while elevations provide more sunlight and a few degrees Celsius more warmth. In deeper forest puddles amphibians and newts in particular thrive or stop on their hikes. The natterjack toad needs puddles with little vegetation, e.g. B. in gravel pits , for propagation. For birds, puddles are places to drink and swim. Swallows use moist clay from puddles to build their nests . One reason for the decline of the Barn Swallow is also the disappearance of puddles from the landscape, the agricultural by expanding roads ( rural roads ) as part of the agricultural structural support of the European Union or measures of collectivization was carried out.

Puddles tend to get bigger and more permanent ( self-reinforcement ). The standing water softens the ground, when driving through the puddle, muddy water is splashed, and coarser parts of the ground remain in the area. The puddle gets deeper and bigger. In addition, the finest clay particles flow back into the puddle with the water and seal it more and more against the subsurface so that the water in the puddle can hardly seep away.

Web links

Commons : Puddle  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Wiktionary: puddle  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

1. ^ Dictionary network of the University of Trier
2. ↑ Duden | Puddle | Spelling, meaning, definition, origin. Retrieved February 25, 2020 .