Re: Lake Turning


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Posted by Paul Ehorn on March 26, 19102 at 19:42:41:

In Reply to: Lake Turning posted by Brady Schickinger on March 24, 19102 at 14:47:00:

: I'm wondering if anyone can explain the process by which inland lakes "turn" in the spring and/or fall or steer me to a good source on the web?

Brady: The turning of a lake is related to the temperatures of the water, which in turn change with the seasons. Water is most dense at 4 degrees centigrade or 39.2 degrees farenheit, with a density of 1.000. If the temperature of water is less or greater than 39.2 degrees F then the density is slightly less than 1.000. This all means that water colder or warmer than 39.2 degrees F will float above the water at 39.2F. Examples of this are ice floating in a glass and the surface water in a lake being warmer at the surface (during summer months) than that at deeper depths. The change in the seasons cause the water temps at the surface to change, which in turn causes the lake to turn over as it is called, which is really just the water conforming to it's density at the changing temperatures. I have heard many divers refer to the lake temperature at depths of 150 ft or greater as being 34 degrees F when it is much warmer at the surface. These people either have an inaccurate gauge, can not read their gauge or are just full of BS as this is an imposibility. Most good physics books will cover this topic, the density of water is quite unique as compared to other liquids and gasses and it's a good thing or we might be ice skating all year as the lakes would freeze from the bottom up and might never melt, at least in the northern regions. Hope this helps. Paul


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