Modeling Thermal Stratification in Transparent Adirondack Lake

Abstract

A mixed‐layer thermal stratification model was calibrated for Woods Lake, a shallow acidic transparent lake located in the Adirondack region of New York, for most of the non‐ice‐cover period of 1985. The model was also used to simulate the stratification regime of the lake for the following year, in which environmental conditions were similar to 1985. For both years the model adequately depicted those stratification features previously identified as sensitive to acidification‐induced increases in transparency, including the thickness of the hypolimnion, the temperature of the hypolimnion, and the duration of stratification. Thus the model may facilitate assessments of the impact of acidification on the thermal characteristics of lakes. Model sensitivity analyses indicate that shallow lakes lose continuous summer stratification if they experience the increases in light penetration reportedly associated with acidification. Further, it was found that accurate specification of light attenuation coefficients and lake bathymetry were critical to the effective application of a stratification model to transparent shallow lakes.