Lake Isom is a small natural

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

located in Lake County, Tennessee immediately south of Reelfoot Lake. It is fed by Running Reelfoot Bayou, the outlet stream of Reelfoot Lake. Like Reelfoot, it was formed in the 1811–1812 New Madrid earthquakes and it is very shallow and

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

y. The entire lake and its environs, covering comprise the Lake Isom National Wildlife Refuge and have been such since 1938. Lake Isom has suffered from considerable

silt Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension (chemistry), suspension with water. Silt usually ...

ation in the past, making it even shallower and swampier than it already was. Improved

agricultural Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...

practices in the area are slowing this development, however. Due to the long-term federal ownership and its smaller size, Lake Isom is almost entirely undeveloped and is not surrounded with parks, restaurants, and hunting and fishing camps as is Reelfoot. Motors on boats on the lake are also limited to 10 horsepower.

References

External links

* 1938 establishments in Tennessee Protected areas of Lake County, Tennessee National Wildlife Refuges in Tennessee Isom Wetlands of Tennessee Isom {{Tennessee-protected-area-stub