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The thermal stratification of lakes is a vertical isolation of parts of the water body from mixing caused by variation in the temperature at different depths in the lake, and is due to the density of water varying with temperature. [14]
Lake stratification is the tendency of lakes to form separate and distinct thermal layers during warm weather. Typically stratified lakes show three distinct layers: the epilimnion, comprising the top warm layer; the thermocline (or metalimnion), the middle layer, whose depth may change throughout the day; and the colder hypolimnion, extending to the floor of the lake.
Once this new stratification establishes itself, it lasts until the water warms enough for the 'spring turnover,' which occurs after the ice melts and the surface water temperature rises to 4 °C. During this transition, a thermal bar may develop.
In particular, during periods of thermal stratification, gas exchange between the epilimnion and hypolimnion is limited by the density difference between these two layers. Consequently, decomposition of organic matter in the water column and sediments can cause oxygen concentrations to decline to the point of hypoxia (low oxygen) or anoxia (no ...
Ocean stratification is the natural separation of an ocean's water into horizontal layers by density. This is generally stable stratification , because warm water floats on top of cold water, and heating is mostly from the sun, which reinforces that arrangement.
Only near the poles does the coldest and saltiest water sink. The deep ocean waters slowly warm and freshen through internal mixing (a form of double diffusion [4]), and then rise back to the surface. Examples: Stratification (water) Ocean stratification, the formation of water layers based on temperature and salinity in oceans
The development of thermal stratification during winter is then defined by two periods: Winter I and Winter II. [16] During the early winter period of Winter I the major heat flux is due to heat stored in sediment; during this period the lake heats up from beneath forming a deep layer of 4 °C water. [16]
In the water column, the epilimnion sits above all other layers. The epilimnion is only present in stratified lakes. On the topside of the epilimnion it is in contact with air, which leaves it open to wind action, which allows the water to experience turbulence. Turbulence and convection work together to make waves which increases aeration.