Skip to main content
Dryad

Data from: Differential cooling of a freshwater body below the temperature of maximum density

Everard, Kelsey1; Tedford, Edmund2; Laval, Bernard2; Parlange, Marc3; Lawrence, Gregory2

Published Jan 26, 2026 on Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.s1rn8pkjj

Data files

Jan 26, 2026 version files 91.75 MB

Click names to download individual files

Abstract

We propose a simplified model for the time rate of change of average basin temperature for a freshwater lake which has two connected basins: a shallow littoral zone of depth D1, and a deeper main basin of depth D2. This system is cooled below the temperature of maximum density (Tmd) with a constant and uniform outgoing surface heat flux, Ho. The differential cooling that is established via this setup gives rise to an exchange flow between the two basins, which we approximate as a time-dependent heat flux controlled by the strength of the time-dependent density difference between the two basins. Our model is a coupled system of two ordinary differential equations, which allows for a process-based investigation into the importance of exchange on the timing of ice-onset for a lake with a shallow littoral zone. While basin geometry plays a role in the overall timing of ice-onset for the system, it is the relative strength of Ho to the exchange flow-related heat flux due to the density anomaly of fresh water, ρ*, which dictates the behaviour of the cooling system. We show that at sufficiently large values of the heat flux ratio, Φ, the difference in timing of ice onset between the littoral zone and main basin becomes insensitive to the initial conditions in the lake. We use data from Base Mine Lake, Canada, to both verify our model assumptions and evaluate the predictions made by our simple model.