The dependence of the consumption of dissolved oxygen on lake morphology in ice covered lakes

Abstract

The consumption of oxygen in ice-covered lakes is analyzed and related to biological oxygen demand and sediment oxygen demand. An approach for computing dissolved oxygen concentration is suggested assuming horizontally mixed waters and negligable vertical dispersion. It is found that the depletion of dissolved oxygen is mainly due to the transfer of oxygen at the water/sediment interface. The morphology of a lake is very important for how fast the dissolved oxygen concentration is reduced during winter.

Keywords

• convection
• dissolved oxygen
• ice covered lakes
• lake morphology
• sediment oxygen demand