Penetration of solar radiation through ice and snow covering northern
lakes produces a gravity current between regions with varying depths.
This baroclinic current is a dominant physical process in winter becau
se ice cover insulates lakes from the usual turbulence sources such as
breaking surface waves and near-surface shear produced by the wind. T
he current forms a directed circulation from the littoral zone to the
centre of the lake that is an important distribution mechanism for nut
rients and other chemical and biological constituents. Heat transporte
d by the current degrades the ice cover and makes surface travel hazar
dous. The thinning of the ice cover is most severe at the inlet to iso
lated bays with mean depths that differ significantly from the lake. A
t the mouth of a bay, the gravity current takes the form of a two-laye
r flow with inflow to the bay occurring near the surface. The lower la
yer has the largest temperature gradients and is dominated by a succes
sion of progressive internal bores which decrease in amplitude overnig
ht and with increasing cloud cover. The repetition of the bores occurs
very close to the period of the uninodal barotropic seiche which sugg
ests that the internal bores are forced by the surface seiche.