Fresh water

Microbiology
Course code- MB

Stratification in Lakes
and Ponds

BY
Ms. JAWAIRIA KIRAN
Lakes can be described by their productivity
– amount of nutrients available in a lake
Identified tropic levels are:
• Oligotrophic:
– low nutrient concentrations
– low plant growth (e.g., Lake Superior).
– low productivity
Eutrophic:
– high nutrient concentrations
– high plant growth. (e.g., Lake Erie).
– high productivity
• Mesotrophic
– In between eutrophic and oligotrophic lakes
– Have average productivity
• In deep lake zonation or stratification may be
according to the need of light.
 Littoral Zone
– Shore area of the lake or pond
– From the dry land sloping to the open water
– Can be very narrow or very wide
– Typically oligotrophic have narrow littoral zones
– Eutrophic or old ponds have wide littoral zones
– The littoral zone is shallow
– lot of nutrients from runoff and non-point source
pollution.
– Abundance of aquatic plant and algae growth.
 Limnetic Zone
– Classified as the open water area of the lake or pond
– larger section of water in Oligotrophic than Eutrophic
– The upper portion of the limnetic zone near the
surface of the water is the Euphotic Zone or
Epilimnion
– Portion of water that receives sunlight
– The zone ends where the sunlight fails to penetrate
the water.
– Algae and other aquatic plants thrive
– Area of dense fish populations
 Profundal Zone
– Below the euphotic zone is the Profundal Zone or
Hypolimnion (cold water region).
– Located below the thermocline where the sunlight
does not penetrate
– Size of this zone depends on the age and water
clarity of the pond or lake.
– lower fish populations because of the lack of
oxygen
 Benthic Zone
– This is the bottom of the pond or lake
– consists of organic sediments and soil
– Bacteria decompose organic matter from dead
algae, aquatic plants, and fish and animal waste.
– Decomposition can take place either aerobically
(in the presence of oxygen) or anaerobically
(without oxygen).
– The benthic zone increases as the pond or lake
ages.
 Thermal Stratification
• Lake stratification is the separation
of lakes into three layers:
– Epilimnion: the top of the lake.
– Metalimnio (or thermocline): the middle layer,
which may change depth throughout the day.
– Hypolimnion: the bottom layer.

The thermal stratification of lakes refers to a change in the

temperature at different depths in the lake, and is due to the
change in water's density with temperature.
 Water Density
• Water is unique in that it is more
dense as a liquid than a solid;
therefore, ice floats
• Water is most dense at 4 C and
as water warms or cools it gets
less dense.
• This has implications for a lake’s
structure
– Denser water is heavier and will be
at the bottom of a lake
– less dense water is lighter and will
be at the top of lake.
 Summer
• the sun heats the top layer of a lake, the Epilimnion,
which causes it to become less dense.
• The bottom layer of the lake, the Hypolimnion, does
not receive sunlight and therefore remains cold.
• Epilimnion floats on top of the hypolimnion and the
two do not mix.
• Thermocline is the dividing area between the top and
bottom layers.
• Epilimnion is the only part of the lake that sunlight can
penetrate, it is where plants and algae grow.
• Around the shoreline of a
lake, the area where
sunlight penetrates and
vascular plants grow is
called the littoral zone

• In the middle of the lake,

the epilimnion is home to
Algae and zooplankton.
• When algae and zooplankton die, they sink to the
bottom of the lake.

• Invertebrates and microbes living in the benthos

recycle and decompose this dead material.

• This recycling process uses up oxygen.

• Since the lake does not mix during the summer, the
Hypolimnion is completely cut off from the Epilimnion
and does not receive a fresh supply of oxygen.

• Therefore, they Hypolimnion can become anoxic

during the summer in a Mesotrophic or Eutrophic lake
 Fall
• In the fall the sunlight is not as strong
and the nights become cooler.
• change in season allows the Epilimnion
to cool off.
• Density difference between the
Epilimnion and Hypolimnion is not as
great.
• Wind can then mix the layers.
• when the epilimnion cools it becomes
more dense and sinks to the
hypolimnion, mixing the layers.
• oxygen and nutrients distributed across
the whole water column.
 Winter
• Stratification is not quite as stable because the density
difference is much smaller
• In the winter, the lakes are covered with ice.
• Under the ice, the water cannot mix because it is not
exposed to wind.
• Most of the Hypolimnion remains 4C
• There is a thin layer of water under the ice that is colder
than 4C and therefore less dense.
• This thin layer of water floats on top of the Hypolimnion
throughout the winter
• Called Inverse stratification because cooler water is sitting
on top of warmer water.
• Hypolimnion is cut off
from oxygen
• decomposition takes
place in the benthos,
oxygen gets used up
• When the hypolimnion
becomes anoxic in the
winter it is called winter
kill because fish and
other living organisms
that need oxygen die.
• when the bottom of the lake is anoxic,
chemical processes at the sediment/water
interface cause phosphorus to be released
from the sediments
• When the ice melts in the spring and the lake
mixes again, this increased phosphorus fuels
algae growth.
 Spring
• In the spring the ice melts off
the lake
• The wind picks up and the
lake mixes again
• Called spring turnover
• Oxygen and nutrients get
distributed throughout the
water column as the water
mixes