What are the layers of a lake called?
What are the layers of a lake called? Typically stratified lakes show three distinct layers: the epilimnion, comprising the top warm layer; the thermocline (or metalimnion), the middle layer, whose depth may change throughout the day; and the colder hypolimnion, extending to the floor of the lake.
What are the three layers of a lake called?
The surface layer of warm water is called the epilimnion. The cold layer below the epilimnion is called the hypolimnion. And the two layers are separated by a thinner layer of water - the thermocline (or metalimnion) - that quickly changes temperature with depth.
What is the middle layer of a stratified lake called?
thermocline (THUR-moe-kline) The middle layer in a thermally stratified lake or reservoir. In this layer there is a rapid decrease in temperature with depth.
What is the coldest layer of a lake?
The hypolimnion is the bottom layer and is colder and denser than either the epilimnion or metalimnion. When a lake or reservoir is thermally stratified, the hypolimnion becomes largely isolated from atmospheric conditions and is often referred to as being stagnant.