Meromictic
Encyclopedia
A meromictic lake
Lake
A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...

 has layers of water that do not intermix. In ordinary, "holomictic
Holomictic
Holomictic lakes are lakes, which, at some time during the year, have a uniform temperature and density from top to bottom, allowing the lake waters to completely mix. Holomictic lakes are non-meromictic lakes....

" lakes, at least once each year there is a physical mixing of the surface and the deep waters. This mixing can be driven by wind, which creates waves and turbulence at the lake's surface, but wind is only effective at times of the year when the lake's deep waters are not much colder or warmer than its surface waters.

The term "meromictic" was coined by the Austrian Ingo Findenegg in 1935, apparently based on the older word "holomictic". The concepts and terminology used in describing meromictic lakes were essentially complete following some additions by G. Evelyn Hutchinson
G. Evelyn Hutchinson
George Evelyn Hutchinson FRS was an Anglo-American zoologist known for his studies of freshwater lakes and considered the father of American limnology....

 in 1937.

Characteristics

Most lakes are holomictic
Holomictic
Holomictic lakes are lakes, which, at some time during the year, have a uniform temperature and density from top to bottom, allowing the lake waters to completely mix. Holomictic lakes are non-meromictic lakes....

; that is, at least once a year, physical mixing occurs between the surface and the deep waters. In monomictic
Monomictic
Monomictic lakes are holomictic lakes that mix from top to bottom during one mixing period each year. Monomictic lakes may be subdivided into Cold and Warm types.-Cold monomictic lakes:...

 lakes the mixing occurs once a year; in dimictic
Dimictic lake
Dimictic lakes are lakes that mix from top to bottom during two mixing periods each year. Dimictic lakes are holomictic, a category which includes all lakes which mix one or more times per year. During winter they are covered by ice...

 lakes the mixing occurs twice a year (typically spring and autumn), and in polymictic
Polymictic
Polymictic lakes are holomictic lakes that are too shallow to develop thermal stratification; thus, their waters can mix from top to bottom throughout the ice-free period...

 lakes the mixing occurs several times a year. In meromictic lakes, the layers of the lake water remain unmixed for years, decades, or centuries.

Among the consequences of this stable layering (or stratification) of lake waters is that the deeper layer (the "monimolimnion") receives little oxygen from the atmosphere. The monimolimnion becomes depleted of oxygen. While the surface layer (the "mixolimnion") may have 10 mg/l or more dissolved oxygen in summer, the monimolimnion in a meromictic lake has less than 1 mg/l. Very few organisms can live in this oxygen-poor environment. One exception is purple sulfur bacteria
Purple sulfur bacteria
The purple sulfur bacteria are a group of Proteobacteria capable of photosynthesis, collectively referred to as purple bacteria. They are anaerobic or microaerophilic, and are often found in hot springs or stagnant water. Unlike plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, they do not use water as their...

. These bacteria, which are commonly found at the top of the monimolimnion in meromictic lakes, use sulfur
Sulfur
Sulfur or sulphur is the chemical element with atomic number 16. In the periodic table it is represented by the symbol S. It is an abundant, multivalent non-metal. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with chemical formula S8. Elemental sulfur is a bright yellow...

 compounds for photosynthesis
Photosynthesis
Photosynthesis is a chemical process that converts carbon dioxide into organic compounds, especially sugars, using the energy from sunlight. Photosynthesis occurs in plants, algae, and many species of bacteria, but not in archaea. Photosynthetic organisms are called photoautotrophs, since they can...

; sulfur compounds are one of the products of sediment decomposition in "anoxic" (oxygen poor) environments.

This type of lake may form for a number of reasons:
  • the basin is unusually deep and steep-sided compared to the lake's surface area
  • the lower layer of the lake is highly saline
    Salinity
    Salinity is the saltiness or dissolved salt content of a body of water. It is a general term used to describe the levels of different salts such as sodium chloride, magnesium and calcium sulfates, and bicarbonates...

     and denser than the higher levels of water


The layers of sediment at the bottom of a meromictic lake remain relatively undisturbed because there is very little physical mixing and few living organisms to stir them up, and very little oxygen or chemical decomposition. For this reason corings of the sediment at the bottom of meromictic lakes are important research tools in tracing climate history at the lake.

When the layers do mix for whatever reason the consequences can be devastating for organisms that normally live in the mixolimnion. This layer is of a much smaller volume than the monimolimnion and therefore when they mix the oxygen concentration in mixolimnion will decrease dramatically. This may result in the death of many organisms such as fish that require oxygen.

Occasionally carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...

 (CO2) or other dissolved gases
Gas
Gas is one of the three classical states of matter . Near absolute zero, a substance exists as a solid. As heat is added to this substance it melts into a liquid at its melting point , boils into a gas at its boiling point, and if heated high enough would enter a plasma state in which the electrons...

 can build up relatively undisturbed in the lower layers of a meromictic lake. When the stratification is disturbed, as could happen due to an earthquake
Earthquake
An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...

, a limnic eruption
Limnic eruption
A limnic eruption, also referred to as a lake overturn, is a rare type of natural disaster in which carbon dioxide suddenly erupts from deep lake water, suffocating wildlife, livestock and humans. Such an eruption may also cause tsunamis in the lake as the rising CO2 displaces water. Scientists...

 may result. In 1986, a notable event of this type took place at Lake Nyos
Lake Nyos
Lake Nyos is a crater lake in the Northwest Region of Cameroon, located about northwest of Yaoundé. Nyos is a deep lake high on the flank of an inactive volcano in the Oku volcanic plain along the Cameroon line of volcanic activity...

 in Cameroon
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...

, causing nearly 1,800 deaths.

While it is mainly lakes that are meromictic, the world’s largest meromictic basin is the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...

. Here the deep waters below 50 metres (150 feet) do not mix with the upper layers that receive oxygen from the atmosphere. As a result, over 90% of the deeper Black Sea volume is anoxic water
Anoxic sea water
Anoxic waters are areas of sea water or fresh water that are depleted of dissolved oxygen. This condition is generally found in areas that have restricted water exchange....

. The Caspian Sea
Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. The sea has a surface area of and a volume of...

 is anoxic below 100 metres (300 feet). The Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea hypoxia
Baltic Sea hypoxia refers to low levels of oxygen in bottom waters, also known as hypoxia, occurring regularly in the Baltic Sea. The total area of bottom covered with hypoxic waters with oxygen concentrations less than 2 mg/l in the Baltic Sea has averaged 49,000 km2 over the last 40 years...

 is persistently stratified with large hypoxic sediment areas below its halocline
Halocline
In oceanography, a halocline is a subtype of chemocline caused by a strong, vertical salinity gradient within a body of water. Because salinity affects the density of seawater, it can play a role in its vertical stratification...

.

List of meromictic lakes

There are meromictic lakes all over the world. The distribution appears to be clustered, but this may be due to incomplete investigations. Depending on the exact definition of "meromictic", the ratio between meromictic and holomictic lakes are between 1:1000 and 1:3000.

Africa

  • Lake Nyos
    Lake Nyos
    Lake Nyos is a crater lake in the Northwest Region of Cameroon, located about northwest of Yaoundé. Nyos is a deep lake high on the flank of an inactive volcano in the Oku volcanic plain along the Cameroon line of volcanic activity...

     and Lake Monoun
    Lake Monoun
    Lake Monoun is a lake in West Province, Cameroon, that lies in the Oku Volcanic Field . On August 15, 1984, the lake exploded in a limnic eruption, which resulted in the release of a large amount of carbon dioxide that killed 37 people. At first, the cause of the deaths was a mystery, and...

     in Cameroon
    Cameroon
    Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...

  • Lake Kivu
    Lake Kivu
    Lake Kivu is one of the African Great Lakes. It lies on the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, and is in the Albertine Rift, a part of the Great Rift Valley. Lake Kivu empties into the Ruzizi River, which flows southwards into Lake Tanganyika...

     in Rwanda
    Rwanda
    Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...

  • Lake Tanganyika
    Lake Tanganyika
    Lake Tanganyika is an African Great Lake. It is estimated to be the second largest freshwater lake in the world by volume, and the second deepest, after Lake Baikal in Siberia; it is also the world's longest freshwater lake...

     in Burundi
    Burundi
    Burundi , officially the Republic of Burundi , is a landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Its capital is Bujumbura...

    , The DRC
    Democratic Republic of the Congo
    The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...

    , Tanzania
    Tanzania
    The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...

     and Zambia
    Zambia
    Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....


Asia

  • Pantai Keracut (Keracut Beach) Lake, Penang National Park
    Penang National Park
    Penang National Park was declared a national park by the then Deputy Prime Minister Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on April 2003. It was formerly known as the Pantai Acheh Forest Reserve. Covering an area of , it is the smallest national park in the world...

    , northwest Penang
    Penang
    Penang is a state in Malaysia and the name of its constituent island, located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca. It is bordered by Kedah in the north and east, and Perak in the south. Penang is the second smallest Malaysian state in area after Perlis, and the...

     island, Malaysia
  • Jellyfish Lake
    Jellyfish Lake
    Jellyfish Lake is a marine lake located on Eil Malk island in Palau. Eil Malk is part of the Rock Islands, a group of small, rocky, mostly uninhabited islands in Palau's Southern Lagoon, between Koror and Peleliu. There are about 70 other marine lakes located throughout the Rock Islands. Jellyfish...

     (Ongeim'l Tketau), on Eil Malk
    Eil Malk
    Eil Malk or Mecherchar is the main island of the Mecherchar Islands, an island group of Palau in the Pacific Ocean. In a more narrow sense, just the southeastern peninsula of Mecherchar is called Eil Malk...

     in Palau
    Palau
    Palau , officially the Republic of Palau , is an island nation in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Philippines and south of Tokyo. In 1978, after three decades as being part of the United Nations trusteeship, Palau chose independence instead of becoming part of the Federated States of Micronesia, a...


Australia

  • Lake Fidler, in Tasmania
    Tasmania
    Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...

    's Wilderness World Heritage Area, Australia
    Australia
    Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

    .

Europe

  • Kärntner Seen (Alpine lakes in the Austrian province of Carinthia
    Carinthia (province)
    Slovenian Carinthia or Slovene Carinthia, most commonly simply Carinthia is a traditional region in the north of Slovenia. It has no official status as an administrative unit within Slovenia, although the association with an informal province is still quite common.The region is referred to as...

    ; studied by Ingo Findenegg in the 1930s).
  • Lake Vähä-Pitkusta in Finland
    Finland
    Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

    .
  • Salsvatnet, Kilevann, Tronstadvatn, Birkelandsvatn, Rørholtfjorden, Botnvatn, Rørhopvatn and Strandvatn lakes in Norway
    Norway
    Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

    .
  • Lake Cadagno
    Lake Cadagno
    Lake Cadagno is a meromictic lake in the Piora valley , Switzerland. As one of a few meromictic lakes in Europe, it is the object of numerous scientific studies...

     is a "crenogenic" meromictic lake in Switzerland, and the location of the Alpine Biology Center (Centro Biologia Alpina).
  • Lac Pavin
    Lac Pavin
    Lac Pavin is a meromictic crater lake located in the Puy-de-Dôme department of France, between Besse-en-Chandesse and Super-Besse....

     and Lac du Bourget
    Lac du Bourget
    The lac du Bourget is a lake in the Savoie department of France. It is the largest and the deepest lake located entirely within France. The most important town on its shore is Aix-les-Bains. Chambéry, the capital of Savoie, lies about 10 km south of the lake. The lake is named after the town Le...

     in France
  • The Black Sea
    Black Sea
    The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...

     is also considered to be meromictic.

North America

  • Ballston Lake, 30 km NNW of Albany, New York
    Albany, New York
    Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...

  • Crawford Lake near Milton, Ontario
    Milton, Ontario
    Milton is a town in Southern Ontario, Canada, and part of the Halton Region in the Greater Toronto Area. Milton received a tremendous amount of awareness following the release of the results of the 2006 Census, which indicated that Milton is the fastest growing municipality in the Greater Golden...

  • Fayetteville Green Lake
    Green Lake (New York)
    Green Lake is the larger of the two lakes in Green Lakes State Park, which lies about east of downtown Syracuse in Onondaga County, New York. Round Lake is the smaller lake located west of Green Lake. Both lakes are meromictic, which means that there is no seasonal mixing of surface and bottom...

     and Round Lake, in Green Lakes State Park
    Green Lakes State Park
    Green Lakes State Park is a New York State Park located east of Syracuse in the Town of Manlius. The park is strikingly scenic, and has a "masterpiece" golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones very early in his career. Green Lake itself is perhaps the most studied meromictic lake – one in...

     near Syracuse, New York
    Syracuse, New York
    Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...

  • Glacier Lake, in Clark Reservation State Park
    Clark Reservation State Park
    Clark Reservation State Park is a state park in Onondaga County, New York. The park is in the Town of DeWitt, south of Syracuse. It was the site of a large waterfall at the end of the last Ice Age; the plunge basin at the base of the old falls is now a small lake...

     near Syracuse, New York
    Syracuse, New York
    Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...

  • Great Salt Lake
    Great Salt Lake
    The Great Salt Lake, located in the northern part of the U.S. state of Utah, is the largest salt water lake in the western hemisphere, the fourth-largest terminal lake in the world. In an average year the lake covers an area of around , but the lake's size fluctuates substantially due to its...

     near Salt Lake City, Utah
    Utah
    Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

  • Irondequoit Bay
    Irondequoit Bay
    Irondequoit Bay is a large body of water located in northeastern Monroe County, New York. The bay, roughly wide and in length, is fed by Irondequoit Creek to the south and flows into Lake Ontario at its northern end...

     near Rochester, New York
    Rochester, New York
    Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...

     is also considered meromictic; use of road salt has been cited as the main reason for its change
  • Lower Mystic Lake
    Mystic Lakes
    The Mystic Lakes, consisting of Upper Mystic Lake and Lower Mystic Lake, are closely linked bodies of water in the northwestern suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts....

     in Arlington
    Arlington, Massachusetts
    Arlington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, six miles northwest of Boston. The population was 42,844 at the 2010 census.-History:...

     and Medford, Massachusetts
    Medford, Massachusetts
    Medford is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States, on the Mystic River, five miles northwest of downtown Boston. In the 2010 U.S. Census, Medford's population was 56,173...

  • McGinnis Lake in Petroglyphs Provincial Park
    Petroglyphs Provincial Park
    Petroglyphs Provincial Park is a historical-class provincial park situated in Woodview, Ontario, Canada, northeast of Peterborough. It has the largest collection of ancient First Nations petroglyphs in Ontario...

    , Ontario
  • Mahoney Lake
    Mahoney Lake
    -External links:*...

     in the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
    British Columbia
    British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

  • Pink Lake
    Pink Lake
    Pink Lake is a meromictic lake located in Gatineau Park, Quebec, Canada. The surface of the waters are a deep green due to the abundance of algae in the water. The lake is in danger of eutrophication due to human activities...

     in Gatineau Park
    Gatineau Park
    Gatineau Park is a park located in the National Capital Region, in Quebec's Outaouais region, just north of Ottawa, Ontario. Administered by the National Capital Commission, the park is a 361 km² wedge of land to the west of the Gatineau River...

    , Quebec
    Quebec
    Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

  • Redoubt Lake
    Redoubt Lake
    Redoubt Lake, or Kunaa Shak Áayi, is a long, narrow lake on Baranof Island, near Sitka, Alaska. It is located in a glacially-carved valley in Tongass National Forest. It was named Ozero Glubokoye, meaning "deep lake", in 1809 by the Russian navigator Ivan Vasilyev.Redoubt Lake is one of the largest...

     near Sitka, Alaska; one of North America's largest meromictic lakes.
  • Soap Lake
    Soap Lake
    Soap Lake is a meromictic lake in the town of Soap Lake, Washington formed by the Missoula Floods at the foot of the Grand Coulee. The lake gets its name from the naturally occurring foam that gives its water a soapy appearance and because the lake's mineral-rich waters have a slick, soapy feel...

     in Washington
  • Sunfish Lake
    Sunfish Lake (Ontario)
    Sunfish Lake is a small, 25 hectare meromictic lake located north-west of Waterloo, Ontario in the village of St. Agatha in northern Wilmot Township, and is the source of Laurel Creek. It is one of a few meromictic lakes in Ontario, that is, its deep bottom waters are totally devoid of oxygen...

     near Waterloo, Ontario
    Waterloo, Ontario
    Waterloo is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada. It is the smallest of the three cities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, and is adjacent to the city of Kitchener....

  • Devil's Bathtub near Rochester, New York
    Rochester, New York
    Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...

     in Mendon Ponds Park
    Mendon Ponds Park
    Mendon Ponds Park is a county park located southeast of Rochester, New York, within the suburban towns of Mendon and Pittsford. At over 2500 acres , it is the largest park in Monroe County...

  • Blackcat Lake near Dorset, Ontario
    Dorset, Ontario
    Dorset is a small community located on the boundary between the Lake of Bays Municipality in Muskoka District and the Algonquin Highlands Township in Haliburton County, Ontario, Canada. Dorset was originally called Cedar Narrows. In 1859 Francis Harvey became the first white settler here....

     in Frost Centre
  • Chapel Lake, in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
    Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
    Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is a U.S. National Lakeshore on the shore of Lake Superior in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, United States. It extends for 42 miles along the shore and covers...

    , near Munising, Michigan
    Michigan
    Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....


External links

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