5 ms·
Getting further afield, water's density actually changes considerably with a change in temperature. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Properties_of_water#Density_of_
by jbattle 13y ago
Getting further afield, water's density actually changes considerably with a change in temperature.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Properties_of_water#Density_of_water_and_ice http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Properties_of_water#Density_of_...
I'm not sure how common this is but I know Lake Michigan goes through an annual cycle where the water alternately mixes and segregates (by temperature). In the summer, the warm, less dense water rises to the top and stays there. In the winter, very cold water is actually lighter than slightly warmer water and a similar stratification happens. In spring and autumn the water temperatures near the surface equalize with water deeper in the lake and much if not all of the lake water circulates ("turns over").
http://www.lakeaccess.org/ecology/lakeecologyprim4.html http://www.lakeaccess.org/ecology/lakeecologyprim4.html
- b_emery 13y agoVery common - this is one of the basic mechanisms that mix lakes. To clarify, the summer surface waters are heated by the sun, causing stratification. This is usually broken down in the fall by the combination of wind mixing and heat extraction (leading to denser surface waters which sink). This is an important component of ocean surface dynamics as well. The mechanism just described can mix the top few hundred meters of the North Atlantic in winter.