Knowra Lake ice Lake ice Lake ice is freshwater ice that forms at a lake’s surface when water cools to its freezing point. Its seasonal growth and breakup affect lake mixing, ecosystems, and human activity.
Freshwater : Water with low concentrations of dissolved salts, including most lakes and rivers. Its density changes near freezing, helping explain why lake surfaces freeze before deeper water.
Lake stratification : The layering of lake water into regions with different temperatures and densities. Ice suppresses wind-driven mixing and helps maintain winter layering beneath the surface.
Lake Baikal : A deep freshwater lake in Siberia, noted for its exceptional depth, biodiversity, and seasonal ice cover. Its extensive winter ice has distinctive patterns and supports long-running scientific observations.
Lake ice phenology change : Long-term shifts in the seasonal timing of lake freeze-up and breakup. Earlier breakup and later freeze-up are widely observed, but their local causes and impacts vary.
Water density anomaly : Water reaches its greatest density near 4 °C and becomes less dense as it cools further. This lets colder water remain above warmer, denser water as a lake approaches freezing.
Spring turnover : The seasonal mixing of lake water as surface and deep waters reach similar densities in spring. Ice breakup allows wind to mix the lake as it warms through roughly 4 °C.
Lake Suwa : A lake in Nagano, Japan, known for winter ice and the historical appearance of a ridge called the omiwatari. Its ice records have been used to investigate changes in winter conditions over centuries.
Climate change effects on lakes : Changes in lake temperature, mixing, chemistry, and ecosystems driven by a changing climate. Warmer winters alter ice duration and can reorganize conditions beneath the ice.
Latent heat of fusion : The energy absorbed or released when a substance changes between solid and liquid without changing temperature. Water must release this energy as ice forms, slowing the advance of freezing.
Lake ecosystem : The interacting organisms and physical environment within a lake. The ice cover changes light, gas exchange, and habitat conditions for lake organisms.
Show all 22