monisyisempiä

Monisemiä is a Finnish word that refers to a group of large bodies of saltwater on Earth that are linked by ice that grows in the winter and melts in the summer. They cover about one-twentieth of Antarctica and their surface altitude is up to 600 m higher than the surrounding land.

The monisemiä typically form in a landscape where there is a consistent source of moisture, with permafrost or however it results in ice sheets that expand across the landscape. This process usually occurs in cold, dry climates like Antarctica, but areas in other parts of the world, including the Sahara Desert in North Africa, have monisemiä in the winter.

However, the distinction between monisemiä and other types of lakes and water bodies is based on the size of the water bodies and not their type. Many of the world's major lakes began from the melting of monisemiä though most are incredibly small.