Sally McIntyre, University of California at Santa Barbara
A lake's overall biological productivity depends on the supply of nutrients and light. Turbulence, which mediates rates of supply, is intensified when frontal systems with increased winds pass through a region and over a lake surface. The amplitude of internal waves, whose breaking causes turbulence, increases and varies with the slope characteristics of the lake's bottom. In addition, frontal systems bring precipitation that induces stream inflows which spread into lakes at various depths. The proposed work will build upon this conceptual knowledge to design and conduct experiments in order to detect hot spots where solute fluxes and metabolic activity are intensified, and accurately quantify bacterial and phytoplankton productivity. Linkages between weather patterns, hydrodynamics, and biological activity will be established and will enable accurate predictions of the responses of lakes of various sizes and in different geographic areas to changes in climate.
The hydrodynamics of lakes influence biological and biogeochemical processes in a multitude of ways, yet the field of physical limnology is under-represented in the United States. The proposed work will contribute to the development of students and scientists with training in physical limnology. The results will also be disseminated as conceptual knowledge, computer software, and models. New techniques will include the transmission and analysis of data from moored instrumentation in the lakes in real time.
