Reference #393: Thinking in Systems
Stocks that are big relative to their flows are more stable than small ones. These big, stabilising stocks are called buffers. A lake, with its large stock and comparatively low (slow) flows, is very stable. Compare this with a river; owing to high (fast) flows compared to its stock, rivers flood more frequently than lakes.
Meadows. Thinking in Systems, 2008. (149-150)