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CLASSIFICATION OF LAKES

Presentation · July 2015

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.19008.33282

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 CLASSIFICATION OF LAKES
By
Prof. A. Balasubramanian
University of Mysore
(24-7-2015)

When we see a beautiful lake in any location, we remember it forever. Some locations are popular
because of the existence of a large lake in it. Tourists are attracted due to lakes which have boating,
swimming and a good landscape around. You may be aware that a lake is a large body of natural water
collected in a depression. It differs from a pond/ tank due to its larger size, presence of biotic life and
many other ecological factors. Though a reservoir is similar to a lake, it comprises less habitat and is
mostly man-made.

On our Earth, a body of water is considered a lake when it is inland, not part of the ocean, is larger and
deeper than a pond. The presence of a lake, in any region, greatly influences the life of the people living
adjacent to it. Lakes are helpful in controlling weather and local climate. Lakes are helpful for creating
irrigation facilities and recreation. In some places, lakes are good sources for water supply for drinking.

Lakes occupy about 1.8 % of the earth’s surface. About 280 000 cu.km of water exists on earth in the
form of lakes. This is 0.19% of the total volume of water in the hydrosphere. There are about 304-
million standing water bodies worldwide, 91 percent are 1 hectare (2.5 acres) or less in area. Small lakes
are much more numerous than big lakes: in terms of area, one-third of the world's standing water is
represented by lakes. Streams of watershed are the feeding sources to lakes. There are more than 110
000 lakes covering larger than 1 sq.km area in the globe. Besides several million lakes covering less than
1 sq.km area are also present. In addition, about 800 000 artificial lakes and reservoirs are also present in
different parts of the world. There are several type, kinds and categories of lakes in the world. Lakes are
classified on the basis of various categories/factors. This documentary highlights the types of lakes.

Every lake, is unique in terms of its size, morphometry, water availability, water chemistry, physics,
hydrology and biology. Lakes are good refuge for enormous variety of flora and fauna.

Majority of the lakes on earth are freshwater lakes and most of them lie in the Northern Hemisphere.
More than 60% of the world’s lakes are in Canada due to its deranged drainage system.

Finland is known as the land of thousand lakes comprising 187 888 out of which 60000 are large in
dimensions. The Minnesota of the US is known as the land of ten thousand lakes.

Lakes differ in their size from small ones to very large ones covering thousands of sq.km area. The depth
may be ranging from a few metres to more than 100m.

The largest lake by area is the Caspian sea. The deepest lake is the Lake Baikal in Siberia.

Lake Baikal, which is 25-30 million years old, is deepening at a faster rate than it is being filled by
erosion and may be destined over millions of years to become attached to the global ocean.

The Red Sea, for example, is thought to have originated as a rift valley lake.

Lake basins are formed due to endogenous geological processes like tectonism and volcanism and
exogenous activities like landslides, glaciation, solution, river and wind action. The major role played by
lakes and reservoirs is the regulation of stream flow. Some lakes lie at an elevated portions of the earth,

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and others are far below the sea level. Lake Titicaca, in South America, is 3,812 metres above mean sea
level.

The Dead Sea, located between Israel and Jordan, lies about 400 metres below mean sea level. Lake
Eyre, the largest lake in Australia, is at about 16 metres below mean sea level.

The formation of lakes, their physic-chemical conditions and their biotic life are studied under the subject
limnology.

Limnology is the scientific study of in-land waters (both saline and fresh), specifically lakes, ponds and
rivers (both natural and manmade), including their biological, physical, chemical, and hydrological
aspects.

Every lake is characterized by

a) its basin, which is the depression holding the water
b) Its maximum depth of water
c) Its volume of water
d) Its surface area
e) Rate of Infow and outflow of water
f) Quality of water
g) Total dissolved load of nutrients and sediments
h) Biotic species and their density

A lake’s watershed refers to the catchment zone. The landuse and landcover of the catchment zone have a
great role to play in the pollutant load of the lakes. Some lakes are artificial lakes and are constructed for
hydro-electric power generation, aestetic purposes, recreational purposes, industrial use, agricultural use
or domestic water supply.

When there are more number of lakes, people have a tendency to classify them. Classification helps us to
understand and visualize the relationships and helps us to communicate.

The simplest classification is based on the dimension of a lake. Whether a lake is small, big or very large.

There are several type, kinds and categories of lakes in the world.
Lakes are classified on the basis of
a) Origin
b) Trophic levels
c) Mixing of water.
d) Nature of Inflow-outflow.

Based on origin, lakes are classified into:

a) Tectonic lakes
b) Lakes formed due to landslides
c) Salt lakes
d) Oxbow lakes
e) Crater lakes
f) Sinkhole lakes
g) Lakes formed due to erosion
h) Kettle lake
i) Artificial lake
j) Fjord lake

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Tectonic lakes are formed due to tectonic uplift of a mountain range. These actions can create bowl-
shaped depressions that accumulate water and form lakes. The most notable examples are probably the
Great Lakes of North America.

Next comes the Lakes formed due to landslides: Lakes are also formed due to landslides or land
subsidence. Eg. The Sun Lakes of Washington.

Salt lakes are formed when there is no natural outlet or where the water evaporates to contain more salt
content it it. Examples of salt lakes include the Great Salt Lake, the Aral Sea and the Dead Sea.

Oxbow lakes are Small, crescent-shaped lakes formed along the meandering river courses. The slow-
moving river forms a sinuous horseshoe bend like water body which is detached from the river through
a narrow neck. This forms a bow-shaped lake.

Crater lakes are formed due to volcanic craters and calderas. An example is the Crater Lake in Oregon.

Sinkhole lakes come into existence as a result of sinkhole activity. Example: Lake Jackson in Florida,
USA,

Lakes are also formed due to erosion:

Glacial lakes are formed due to melting of glacier, like a kettle lake.

Next comes, Artificial lake: A lake is also created by flooding land behind a dam. It is normally called as
an impoundment or reservoir. Typical example is the Hirakud Dam in India.

Fjord lake: A lake in a glacially eroded valley that has been eroded below sea level.

Classification based trophic levels:

This classification is based on the productivity of the lakes or some might say on the relative nutrient
richness of the lake. Trophic level states a Water body’s Ability To Support Plants, Fish, and Wildlife.
The richness in nutrient level is called as Productivity. It is the basis for the trophic concept of
classification. The lake water is also reflected in this parameter as nutrient poor means super clear water
in lakes and nutrient rich means very poor water clarity in lakes.

There are Four Water Chemistry Parameters used to Determine the Trophic State. They are:
a) Chlorophyll — is the dominant green pigment found in most algae (the microscopic plant-
like organisms living in a water body). Chlorophyll enables algae to use sunlight to make
food.
b) Phosphorus — is a nutrient necessary for the growth of algae and aquatic plants. It’s found
in many forms in water body sediments and dissolved in the water.
c) Nitrogen — is also a nutrient necessary for the growth of algae and aquatic plants. When
total nitrogen is in low supply , low biological productivity can be expected. Like
phosphorus, nitrogen can be a limiting nutrient.
d) Water clarity — refers to the clearness or transparency of water.

Lakes are classified into 8 categories as:

a) Oligotrophic lakes
b) Mesotrophic

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 c) Eutrophic and
d) Dystrophic lakes
e) Acidotrophic lakes
f) Alkalitrophic lakes
g) Argillotrophic lakes
h) Siderotrophic lakes.

Oligotrophic lakes are characterized by the following features:

a) Very low concentrations of those nutrients required for plant growth
b) Low productivity
c) small populations of phytoplankton, the zooplankton, the attached algae, the macrophytes
(aquatic weeds), the bacteria, and the fish.
d) very little consumption of oxygen
e) good water clarity (a deep Secchi disk reading, averaging about 10 meters or 33 feet)
f) few suspended algae
g) low chlorophyll readings (average about 1.7 mg/m3)
h) Sandy or rocky bottom.

Oligotrophic lakes have

a) nice clean water,
b) no weed problems and
c) poor fishing.
d) deep with cold water.
They seldom exist in populated areas. When the population is high, there will be heavy use of
chemicals. That tends to eventually shift these lakes out of the oligotrophic category.

Let us see the extreme end type, Eutrophic lakes:

These are in contrast to the oligotrophic lakes.

They are
a) rich in plant nutrients and hence,
b) their productivity is high.
c) produce high numbers of phytoplankton (suspended algae)
d) poor Secchi disk readings (average about 2.5 meters or 8.0 feet).
e) high numbers of zooplankton and minnows and other small fish that feed on the zooplankton.
f) Contain considerable amount of organic sediments.
g) Depletion of oxygen from the lower depths of these lakes.
h) Chlorophyll concentrations averaging about 14 mg/m3 or higher.
i) Phosphorus concentration averages something over 80 mg/m3.

Eutrophic lakes are often relatively shallow and often have weed beds.

The weed beds are common because of the availability of nutrients and light to the shallow portions of
these lakes, but also because the accumulated organic sediments provide the "soil" for their roots.

Fishing is often quite good in eutrophic lakes.

After all, as the oligotrophic lake ages, it gradually accumulates nutrients and sediments, and moves
toward and eventually into the eutrophic stage.

4
This natural eutrophication process commonly takes thousands of years and involves both the physical
filling of the lake and chemical enrichment of the lake water.

Mesotrophic lakes:

The mesotrophic lake is intermediate in most characteristics between the oligotrophic and eutrophic
stages.

Production of the plankton is intermediate so we have some organic sediment accumulating and some loss
of oxygen in the lower waters.
The oxygen may not be entirely depleted except near the bottom (the relative depth of the lake has a
bearing on this).

Let us compare some of these parameters:

Total Phosphorus Chlorophyll a Secchi Disk

(mg/m3) (mg/m3) Depth (m)
Oligotrophic 8 1.7 9.9
Mesotrophic 26.7 4.7 4.2
Eutrophic 84.4 14.3 2.45

Oligotrophic and eutrophic represent the ends and mesotrophic is somewhere in the middle of the trophic
continuum of productivity.

As the eutrophic lakes continue to age and accumulate nutrients and sediments, some characteristics reach
their extreme levels and the lakes become really bad. These lakes are categorized as hypereutrophic.

Such lakes are often relatively shallow lakes with much accumulated organic sediment. They have
extensive, dense weed beds and often accumulations of filamentous algae. Their water clarity is poor with
Secchi disk depths usually less than 0.5 meter (about 1.6 feet).

The phosphorus concentration is high, often above 100 mg/m3 and the chlorophyll may be over 50
mg/m3. Thus, the hypereutrophic lake represents the extreme ranges for the eutrophic lake shown here.

It is obvious to say that these lakes are not very desirable for human enjoyment.
Hypereutrophic lakes are often subjected to many human activities. Such activities are those that add
nutrients to the water entering the lake from the watershed. These activities include poorly located and
poorly functioning septic systems, industrial effluents, urban runoff and some agricultural practices that
fail to control nutrient runoff.

Next comes, the Dystrophic Lakes:

In the trophic level based classification of lakes, the level changes from oligotrophic through eutrophic
largely due to result of the production and accumulation of organic matter. The organic matter is
generated within the lake as a result of inorganic nutrients supplied largely from the watershed.

The dystrophic lakes are developed from the accumulation of organic matter derived from outside the
lake.

In this case, the watershed is often forested and there is an input of organic acids (e.g. humic acids) from
the breakdown of leaves and evergreen needles.

5
This is followed by a series of processes resulting in a lake having low in pH (acid) in water and often
has moderately colored (yellow/brown) water.

These lakes are poor in plankton production and have sparse fish populations largely because of the acid
conditions and have low nutrient concentrations.

The other type are very simple types.

Acidotrophic lakes show low production with low P and N, but pH<5.5
Alkalitrophic lakes show high production with high calcium
Argillotrophic lakes show low production with high clay turbidity
Siderotrophic lakes show low production with high iron.

Classification based on mixing cycles of water:

The next system of classification is based on the extent to which the water is mixed and the number of
times during the year. It is also based on water circulation pattern in a year. This is commonly refered to
as "Turn-over cycle of the lake”.

In many lake basins the water has notable patterns of circulation. This circulation is mostly a vertical
mixing of the water. It has been called an "over-turn" or "turn-over" of the lake.

The circulation or mixing is usually wind driven and is facilitated when the lake has a uniform (or near
uniform) temperature from top to bottom. Since we refer to these periods of water exchange as periods of
mixing, limnologists have used the noun mixis and the adjective mictic in a classification system.

As we discussed in the previous article (Riparian February 1996) on lake classification schemes, lakes
don't always behave in a consistent pattern.

Because mixing is a function of temperature and wind, we have large annual variations that dictate when
and if the water of a lake mixes.

The types of lakes which belong to this category are:

a) Amixis,
b) Holomixis and
c) Meromixis.

Amixis lakes are characterized by a lack of mixing: some lakes never circulate.
These amictic lakes are usually ice covered throughout the year.
These lakes are under the polar ice caps (at the North and South Poles of our globe) or high mountain
lakes where the temperature is mostly below freezing.

Next come Holomixis lakes: They show full mixing. This is typical situation where the winds mix the
"whole" lake water once or more annually.

The third type is Meromixis lake: These show partial or incomplete mixing. Some lakes have one or
more periods of annual mixing.

6
The force of the wind mixes the water of the lake. Once uniform density is reached, strong winds can mix
the lake from top to bottom in most of our lakes, unless they are unusually deep. This period of mixing is
often call the "over-turn".

Nutrients from the lower water are brought to the upper surface. Similarly oxygen is brought from the
surface to the lower depths.

After the overturn, for a week or two, there will be uniform temperature, oxygen, nutrients etc. from top
to bottom.

The Sun continues to warm the surface of the water and the winds begin to lessen in intensity, most of
heat is absorbed in the first few centimeters, the surface water temperature increases and becomes lighter
and "floats" on the more dense water below.
This heating of the surface water continues and eventually forms an upper layer of warm water. It acts as
a layer of insulation, absorbing the heat from the sun and preventing the lower water from getting any
heat. We call this layer as epilimnion (epi - on top, limnion - layer).
Below the epilimnion, the temperature of the water drops rapidly for about 2 meters (6-7 feet) and then
remains about the same to the bottom.
This middle layer is called as metalimnion (meta - middle, limnion - layer) and it is about two meters
thick with rapidly decreasing temperature and increasing density.

Below the metalimnion we have the cold, much more dense layer called hypolimnion (hypo - below,
limnio - layer).

In a deep lake, the hypolimnion can be a very large volume, a large percent of the lake, and the reverse is
true in a shallow lake.

Lets look at the holomictic lakes, those lakes that mix entirely at least during one period a year.

We have four types of holomictic lakes :

a) Oligomictic lakes.
b) Polymictic lakes
c) Monomictic lakes
d) Dimictic lakes

In Oligomictic lakes - mixing is unusual, irregular and of short duration, these lakes are relative few
in number and are mostly tropical.

The Polymictic lakes have many periods of mixing annually, even ap- proaching continuous mixing
and are influenced more by daily temperature changes than seasonal.

Monomictic lakes Mono means one, so these lakes have one regular period of mixing during the year.
Warm monomictic lakes are usually those sub-tropical lakes that have a long summer and a short winter.
They are stratified most of the year and then for a short period in the winter the stratification breaks down
and the lakes can mix.

Let us see the dimictic lakes:

Di means two. The Dimictic lakes show mixing twice a year , both in the spring and in the fall. This
category covers the lakes in the temperate zones of our globe and includes the majority of our lakes.

Let us see the Oligomictic lakes.

7
 These lakes are usually located in the tropics and have poor (oligo) mixing.
The mixing is irregular, or sporadic and usually of short duration.
These lakes are usually warm throughout, but the surface waters are even warmer, creating some
stratification.
Only occasional, and maybe rare, cooling of the surface waters allow any chance of mixing.

Then comes, Polymictic lakes.

As the word signifies, Poly means many. These are the lakes which show many mixing periods even to
the extent that they are mixed nearly continuously throughout the year. These lakes are often small,
shallow and in tropical or at least warmer climates or at higher altitudes. The temperature changes are
often influenced more by cooling of the surface at night and warming during the day.

Meromixus lakes:

Meromictic lakes would probably be typical dimictic lakes;

Their periods of mixing usually are incomplete.
These lakes, over time, have developed a deep layer of water that has a much greater amount of material
in solution than does the upper waters. These solutes, substances in solution, cause these lower waters to
have a greater density that resists mixing the same as density differences caused by temperature. Thus
when temperature of the water is uniform from top to bottom, we still have a density gradient that limits
the normal mixing only to the depth where the currents encounter this dense lower layer. The
concentration of substances in the lower depths accumulate usually over an extended time.

Lakes may have one natural outflow in the form of a river or stream, which maintain a lakes's average
level by allowing the drainage of excess water. Some may not have an outlet but lose water solely by
evaporation or underground seepage or both. They are termed endorheic lakes.

Endorheic lakes are almost terminal or closed lakes. A lake which has no significant outflow, either
through rivers or underground diffusion. Any water within an endorheic basin leaves the system only
through evaporation or seepage. Examples are, Lake Eyre in central Australia and the Aral Sea in central
Asia.

Another type is the Ephemeral lake: A seasonal lake that exists as a body of water during only part of the
year.

The Intermittent lake is one lake with no water during a part of the year.
The last category is Shrunken lake. This is closely related to former lakes. A shrunken lake is one which
has drastically decreased in size over geological time.
Lake Agassiz, which once covered much of central North America, is a good example of a shrunken lake.

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