Simulated heat storage in a perennially ice-covered high Arctic lake: Sensitivity to climate change
Perennially ice-covered, meromictic lakes occur along the northern coast of Ellesmere Island in the Canadian high Arctic and have distinctive conductivity and temperature profiles. They are salinity stratified and have deep thermal maxima that persist throughout the year at temperatures up to 60°C a...
Published in: | Journal of Geophysical Research |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
2008
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://ir.library.carleton.ca/pub/25920 https://doi.org/10.1029/2007JC004360 |
id |
ftcarletonunivir:oai:carleton.ca:25920 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftcarletonunivir:oai:carleton.ca:25920 2023-05-15T14:54:44+02:00 Simulated heat storage in a perennially ice-covered high Arctic lake: Sensitivity to climate change Vincent, A.C. (Aaron C.) Mueller, D. (Derek) Vincent, W.F. (Warwick F.) 2008-04-08 https://ir.library.carleton.ca/pub/25920 https://doi.org/10.1029/2007JC004360 en eng https://ir.library.carleton.ca/pub/25920 doi:10.1029/2007JC004360 Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans vol. 113 no. 4 info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2008 ftcarletonunivir https://doi.org/10.1029/2007JC004360 2022-02-06T21:51:19Z Perennially ice-covered, meromictic lakes occur along the northern coast of Ellesmere Island in the Canadian high Arctic and have distinctive conductivity and temperature profiles. They are salinity stratified and have deep thermal maxima that persist throughout the year at temperatures up to 60°C above the winter minimum in the overlying atmosphere. Heat transfer in one of these lakes (Lake A, latitude 83.0°N, longitude 75.4°W) was simulated using a high spatial resolution model based on a one-dimensional heat diffusion and radiative transfer equation, which was solved through numerical integration. Boundary conditions were forced using climate data from an automated weather station installed next to the lake. There was a good fit between simulated and observed water column temperatures, including the midwater temperature maximum of 8.5°C, after 63 years of heating (RMSE = 0.10°C). This suggests that Lake A became ice-free in the 1940s, a known period of intense warming of the circumpolar Arctic. The model was sensitive to forcing by photosynthetically active radiation (PAR, 400-700 nm), in addition to optically related parameters such as surface reflectance, snow and ice cover, and the PAR diffuse attenuation coefficient. The unusual thermal structure is affected by stratified layers of pigmented microbial communities, which enhance the absorption of solar radiation. Simulation of ice-free summers revealed that the lake's thermal profile would lose its characteristic shape over several decades and that ongoing climate change could reduce the thermal maximum from 8.5° to 4°C within 50 years. Copyright 2008 by the American Geophysical Union. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Climate change Ellesmere Island Carleton University's Institutional Repository Arctic Arctic Lake ENVELOPE(-130.826,-130.826,57.231,57.231) Ellesmere Island Journal of Geophysical Research 113 C4 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Carleton University's Institutional Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftcarletonunivir |
language |
English |
description |
Perennially ice-covered, meromictic lakes occur along the northern coast of Ellesmere Island in the Canadian high Arctic and have distinctive conductivity and temperature profiles. They are salinity stratified and have deep thermal maxima that persist throughout the year at temperatures up to 60°C above the winter minimum in the overlying atmosphere. Heat transfer in one of these lakes (Lake A, latitude 83.0°N, longitude 75.4°W) was simulated using a high spatial resolution model based on a one-dimensional heat diffusion and radiative transfer equation, which was solved through numerical integration. Boundary conditions were forced using climate data from an automated weather station installed next to the lake. There was a good fit between simulated and observed water column temperatures, including the midwater temperature maximum of 8.5°C, after 63 years of heating (RMSE = 0.10°C). This suggests that Lake A became ice-free in the 1940s, a known period of intense warming of the circumpolar Arctic. The model was sensitive to forcing by photosynthetically active radiation (PAR, 400-700 nm), in addition to optically related parameters such as surface reflectance, snow and ice cover, and the PAR diffuse attenuation coefficient. The unusual thermal structure is affected by stratified layers of pigmented microbial communities, which enhance the absorption of solar radiation. Simulation of ice-free summers revealed that the lake's thermal profile would lose its characteristic shape over several decades and that ongoing climate change could reduce the thermal maximum from 8.5° to 4°C within 50 years. Copyright 2008 by the American Geophysical Union. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Vincent, A.C. (Aaron C.) Mueller, D. (Derek) Vincent, W.F. (Warwick F.) |
spellingShingle |
Vincent, A.C. (Aaron C.) Mueller, D. (Derek) Vincent, W.F. (Warwick F.) Simulated heat storage in a perennially ice-covered high Arctic lake: Sensitivity to climate change |
author_facet |
Vincent, A.C. (Aaron C.) Mueller, D. (Derek) Vincent, W.F. (Warwick F.) |
author_sort |
Vincent, A.C. (Aaron C.) |
title |
Simulated heat storage in a perennially ice-covered high Arctic lake: Sensitivity to climate change |
title_short |
Simulated heat storage in a perennially ice-covered high Arctic lake: Sensitivity to climate change |
title_full |
Simulated heat storage in a perennially ice-covered high Arctic lake: Sensitivity to climate change |
title_fullStr |
Simulated heat storage in a perennially ice-covered high Arctic lake: Sensitivity to climate change |
title_full_unstemmed |
Simulated heat storage in a perennially ice-covered high Arctic lake: Sensitivity to climate change |
title_sort |
simulated heat storage in a perennially ice-covered high arctic lake: sensitivity to climate change |
publishDate |
2008 |
url |
https://ir.library.carleton.ca/pub/25920 https://doi.org/10.1029/2007JC004360 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-130.826,-130.826,57.231,57.231) |
geographic |
Arctic Arctic Lake Ellesmere Island |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Arctic Lake Ellesmere Island |
genre |
Arctic Climate change Ellesmere Island |
genre_facet |
Arctic Climate change Ellesmere Island |
op_source |
Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans vol. 113 no. 4 |
op_relation |
https://ir.library.carleton.ca/pub/25920 doi:10.1029/2007JC004360 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2007JC004360 |
container_title |
Journal of Geophysical Research |
container_volume |
113 |
container_issue |
C4 |
_version_ |
1766326494272946176 |