Chimney‐Like Intense Pelagic Upwelling in the Center of Basin‐Scale Cyclonic Gyres in Large Lake Geneva

Basin-scale quasi-geostrophic gyres are common features of large lakes subject to Coriolis force. Cyclonic gyres are often characterized by dome-shaped thermoclines that form due to pelagic upwelling that takes place in their center. At present, the dynamics of pelagic upwelling within the surface mixed layer (SML) of large lakes are poorly documented. A unique combination of high-resolution 3D numerical modeling, satellite imagery and field observations allowed confirming, for the first time in a lake, the existence of intense pelagic upwelling in the center of cyclonic gyres under strong shallow (summer) and weak deep (winter) stratified conditions/thermocline. Field observations in Lake Geneva revealed that surprisingly intense upwelling from the thermocline to the SML and even to the lake surface occurred as chimney-like structures of cold water within the SML, as confirmed by Advanced Very High-Resolution Radiometer data. Results of a calibrated 3D numerical model suggest that the classical Ekman pumping mechanism cannot explain such pelagic upwelling. Analysis of the contribution of various terms in the vertically averaged momentum equation showed that the nonlinear (advective) term dominates, resulting in heterogeneous divergent flows within cyclonic gyres. The combination of nonlinear heterogeneous divergent flow and 3D ageostrophic strain caused by gyre distortion is responsible for the chimney-like upwelling in the SML. The potential impact of such pelagic upwelling on long-term observations at a measurement station in the center of Lake Geneva suggests that caution should be exercised when relying on limited (in space and/or time) profile measurements for monitoring and quantifying processes in large lakes.

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Lake

A lake is a naturally occurring, relatively large body of water localized in a basin surrounded by dry land. A lake generally has a slower-moving flow than the inflow or outflow stream(s) that serve to feed or drain it. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from the ocean, although, like the much larger oceans, they form part of the Earth's water cycle by serving as large standing pools of storage water. Most lakes are freshwater and account for almost all the world's surface freshwater, but some are salt lakes with salinities even higher than that of seawater.

Ocean gyre

In oceanography, a gyre (ˈdʒaɪər) is any large system of circulating ocean surface currents, particularly those involved with large wind movements. Gyres are caused by the Coriolis effect; planetary vorticity, horizontal friction and vertical friction determine the circulatory patterns from the wind stress curl (torque). Gyre can refer to any type of vortex in an atmosphere or a sea, even one that is human-created, but it is most commonly used in terrestrial oceanography to refer to the major ocean systems.

Finger Lakes

The Finger Lakes are a group of eleven long, narrow, roughly north–south lakes located directly south of Lake Ontario in an area called the Finger Lakes region in New York, in the United States. This region straddles the northern and transitional edge of the Northern Allegheny Plateau, known as the Finger Lakes Uplands and Gorges ecoregion, and the Ontario Lowlands ecoregion of the Great Lakes Lowlands. The geological term finger lake refers to a long, narrow lake in an overdeepened glacial valley, while the proper name Finger Lakes goes back to the late 19th century.