ju tianyi wrote: > Dear Professors: > > Here is a sentence I read days ago. > --------------------------------------------------------------- > Today tropical swamps and marshes are undergoing the most rapid > accumulation of peat, with rates in Borneo of 17m in 4000 years. > --------------------------------------------------------------- > I wonder how to distinguish the "swamp " and "marsh" here. As I know they > are all different kinds of geographical phenomena ( but quite similar ) in > this sentence. But they are of the same meaning according to my dictionary > ( wet and lower land or the land with shallow water and grass ). Could you > tell me what is the tiny difference? > > TIA > > Tianyi Tianyi-- I would guess that most native speakers would have difficulty making the distinction between "marsh" and "swamp." I know I did. From what I found in Webster's Dictionary, it looks like they are both areas of wet land, but a swamp is characterized by having woody vegetation (such as trees) and a marsh is characterized by having grassy vegetation (weeds, cattails, etc.). I don't know of any other distinction other than this one. Maybe someone else could add some more insight. I hope this helps. Darrin Jones