Circulation and mixing in ice-covered lakes

Abstract

Although a lake is ice covered, there are mixing and slow currents below the ice. Currents are generated by rivers through flow, by oscillation of the ice cover, and by heat released from the sediments. There is intense convection below the ice in late spring, when the ice is free from snow and some solar radiation can penetrate the ice. The net currents are of the order mm/s, but still important for the vertical mixing and the development of the temperature profile.