Complex interactions between meteorological parameters and the thermal regime of two tropical, high altitude crater lakes (Nevado de Toluca, Mexico)

María Del Refugio Barba-López; Anatoliy Filonov; Javier Alcocer; Lydia Ladah; Iryna Tereshchenko

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145310

Complex interactions between meteorological parameters and the thermal regime of two tropical, high altitude crater lakes (Nevado de Toluca, Mexico)

Sci Total Environ. 2021 Jun 1:771:145310. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145310. Epub 2021 Jan 21.

Authors

María Del Refugio Barba-López¹, Anatoliy Filonov², Javier Alcocer³, Lydia Ladah⁴, Iryna Tereshchenko²

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Marine Sciences and Limnology, UNAM, Exterior Circuit S/N, University City, Delegación Coyoacán CP 04510, Mexico.
² University of Guadalajara, Department of Physics, Blvd. Marcelino García Barragán 1421, Guadalajara, CP 44430, Jalisco, Mexico.
³ Grupo de Investigación en Limnología Tropical, FES Iztacala, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico.
⁴ Dept. of Biological Oceanography, CICESE, Centro de Investigación Científica y Educación Superior de Ensenada, Carretera Ensenada-Tijuana 3918, Zona Playitas, CP 22860 Ensenada, BC, Mexico. Electronic address: lladah@cicese.mx.

PMID: 33545478
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145310

Abstract

Using long-term time series of meteorological and water-column parameters, the dynamics of two lakes separated by about 500 m from each other by a central lava dome, located at 4207 m above sea level in the volcano crater of Nevado de Toluca, Mexico were explored. Because of the strong wind-forcing previously measured on the volcano slope and the proximity of the lakes, wind-mixing was expected, with similar dynamics in both lakes. However, the meteorological parameters in the crater were significantly different than on the slope of the volcano, due to the dome and the high walls of the crater, which weakened wind speeds, modified wind direction, and reduced exposure to solar radiation by almost 20% in the crater compared to on the volcano slope. The rate and depth of thermal penetration into each lake differed by an order of magnitude, related with differential insolation due to crater wall shading, along with differences in transparency, most likely due to differential algal growth and suspended matter. At times, rapid surface cooling occurred during periods of reduced insolation and calm winds, leading to strong vertical convection and the formation of a characteristic step profile in the water column rather than the predicted wind mixing. These results are important for interdisciplinary studies of these and other alpine lakes and, in particular for biophysical coupling in these unique hydrological systems.

Keywords: Crater lakes; Instrumental measurements of water temperature and meteorological parameters; Mexico; Nevado de Toluca volcano; The sun and the moon lakes.