turnover?

[ikeslayer]

So is there a magic water temperature in which this happens or not? I was reading an article about Kelly jordan and lake fork texas turning over and he said it usually happened around Sept 15th down there. Is it already happening up here? And do shallow lakes turn over first and then deep? Lets talke turn over!!!

ike

[TonkaBass]

yeah, the lake will turn over when the top of the thermocline reaches the same temp as the bottom of the thermocline. We've got a while.

[Deitz Dittrich]

Ike as far s I know, there is no hard set temp that is turnover.. but its somewhere in the really high 50's and really low 60's... Wind, lake depth, water clarity all play a roll in which temp it takes place in.

[EBass]

I found this on the net when I goggled turn over. I think it sums it up nicely.

As the days get shorter and cooler, and energy is transported away from/out of the lake, mixing becomes easier. At about 50, the cooler water at the surface begins to sink into and through the thermocline, forcing warmer and less dense water to the surface and erasing the temperature stratification built up over the summer. At some point, the majority of the water in the lake reaches an approximately uniform temperature. Now storms and sustained high winds can begin to perform the task of overturning and mixing all of the water in the lake -- referred to as fall turnover. The deep water contains an abundance of decaying matter and sulfurous gases; when it reaches the surface, it produces a telltale odor that indicates the process has begun. Eventually the turnover mixes fresh oxygen into the entire lake mass, replenishing the deep waters with the life-giving stuff and cleansing the sulfurous fumes from the water, allowing fish to return to the depths where they will spend the winter months.

As winter approaches, the water that has now reached 39 sinks to the bottom, allowing colder and less dense, buoyant water to remain at the surface to freeze. The ice thickens because it is not a good insulator; water in contact with the underside of the ice cools further and freezes, adding to the surface layer.