> > Actually, you'd be surprised. I've been to the Atlantic and Canadian lakes, and I can say that a Canadian mountain lake (or stream) formed out of fresh glacial melt is pretty DARN cold. I didn't set foot in them... because I didn't dare. Just a dipping in a finger was enough for that. Brrrrr. Of course, whether it's ACTUALLY colder than the ocean... I don't know. But it's REALLY cold.
>
> A couple of things: First, your defense of my cold lake is appreciated, but it was a nice lowland temperate lake in the heat of the summer for each incident that I can call to mind, so I have no such excuse there. :-) Second, mountain lakes are VERY cold, but if they are pure, they can't get any colder than 0ºC (32ºF). The salty ocean could theoretically get a fair bit colder than that (adding a solute drops the freezing temperature, which is why salting roads is one way to remove ice), so the ocean could be much colder. It would depend mainly on currents and the time of year, I think. In any case, I suspect that the Atlantic Ocean would usually be colder than my lake, and I'm just be a chilly hunk of girly-wuss. ;-)
>


Good point. Now I'm all curious as to which one really is colder... I vaguely remember something said about Lake Louise having a water temperature below freezing, because it ISN'T pure... it's filled with glacial stuff (there's a technical name for it, but I can't remember what it is... silt? Something that starts with an s...) that supposedly allows the water to be so very cold and also gives the water a vivid, translucent icy aqua color. When you look into the water, you can clearly see the particles in it. It's pretty neat. (Link below to a photo of the lake.)

Of course, I suppose to be fair, one would have to take the average temperature of the Atlantic, since the temperature varies so much over it's huge expanse...

> > Sosi"wouldn't mind seeing that again"qui
>
> Don "Needs to get up that way some time..." Monkey

Sosi"yes you do"qui