Slough (wetland)

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The term slough (in the UK, pronounced /ˈslaʊ/ as in "cow"; in the US and Canada, pronounced /ˈsluː/ as in "slew") has several meanings related to wetland or aquatic features that seem to derive from local experience. For example:

1 Descriptive meanings
2 Examples
3 In literature
4 See also
5 References

[edit] Descriptive meanings

In the UK, a slough is a muddy or marshy area (for example see the probable derivation of Slough in Berkshire and other place names called Slough).
In eastern and southeastern United States, a slough is a type of swamp or shallow lake system, typically formed as or by the backwater of a larger waterway. It is similar to a bayou with trees being present (that is, a swamp), and unlike a bog or marsh that lacks trees. It can also refer to the area of deeper water between a sandbar and a beach or between two sandbars.
The term slough appears as well in the names of oxbow lakes, e.g. Meadowbrook Slough of Snoqualmie River in Washington State.
In the western U.S., a slough is a secondary channel of a river delta or a narrow channel in a shallow salt-water marsh, usually flushed by the tide. While this is in essence the same application of the term as used in the eastern U.S., a singular difference is that there exist no native trees in the west that would grow out into the waterway to form a swamp, such as the Elkhorn Slough
In the northern Great Plains of the U.S., a slough is a pond (often alkaline) usually the result of glaciation (see kettle (geology)); also called a pothole, whence Prairie Pothole Region to describe the area where these sloughs are abundant.^{[citation needed]}
Similarly, in the Canadian Prairies, slough (pronounced like slew) refers to a naturally formed shallow freshwater pond, usually habitat for waterfowl.

[edit] Examples

Seal Slough, San Mateo, California
Famosa Slough, San Diego County, California
Lost Lake Slough, Gunnison County, Colorado

[edit] In literature

A deep bog known as the Slough of Despond is found in The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan.
Slough is commonly used in Laura Ingall Wilder's book "By The Shores Of Silver Lake"