Transport processes in a sound of a large lake

Abstract

There are some problems in modelling the water exchange between a bay and the main body of a large lake. The objective of this study was to clarify which processes are important in the water exchange and must be taken into account in modelling. The study was mainly based on current measurements in the outlet of a bay system (Tiirinselkä-Lehesselkä) of lake Päijänne with an acoustic current profiler and recordings of temperature profile. High currents in the hypolimnion were observed during periods of high stratification, when the flow in the hypolimnion is caused by the horizontal pressure gradient associated with the thermocline slope in the sound. In some cases the large water exchange was due to the seiches in main body of the lake. Water exchange and current velocity in the sound were clearly smaller when the water was homogeneous. This paper gives quantitative results of water exchange and its dependence on different factors for summer 1989.