Thermal structure and circulation in the great lakes

Abstract

Large enough to include many oceanic phenomena, the Laurentian Great Lakes are more accurately described as inland seas. With the exception of the shallow Western Basin of Lake Erie, the lakes are thermally stratified in summer, homogeneous in winter, with average temperatures passing through the temperature of maximum density of fresh water (4°C) in both the spring and the fall. The circulation is mainly powered by the wind but is strongly modified by thermal stratification and basin geometry. Effects of the earth's rotation are present in all large‐scale flows. Current speeds are typically 10 cm s⁻¹; they are too small, with rare exceptions, to present difficulties to navigation but a knowledge of the patterns of water movement is essential for interpreting the behaviour of these valuable lakes as complex ecosystems. This paper will review more than a century of physical study of the Great Lakes.