Holomictic lakes are
lake
A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...
s that have a uniform temperature and density from surface to bottom at a specific time during the year, which allows the lake waters to mix in the absence of
stratification.
Details
Holomictic lakes mix at least occasionally, in contrast to
meromictic lakes. Most lakes on Earth are holomictic; meromictic lakes are rare, although they may be less rare than commonly thought.
Amictic lakes are sealed off by ice and never mix.
There are five types of holomictic lakes:
*
Polymictic (mixing many times annually)
* Cold
Monomictic (mixing once annually; exhibiting negative stratification)
* Warm Monomictic (mixing once annually; exhibiting positive stratification)
*
Dimictic (mixing twice annually)
* Oligomictic (mixing less than once annually)
See also
*
Thermocline
A thermocline (also known as the thermal layer or the metalimnion in lakes) is
a distinct layer based on temperature within a large body of fluid (e.g. water, as in an ocean or lake; or air, e.g. an atmosphere) with a high gradient of distinct te ...
*
References
External links
"Circulation: annual patterns of dimictic lakes" at Encyclopædia Britannica Online
Lakes by type
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