Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T15:37:13.237Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Limnology of Garrow Lake, NWT, Canada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 October 2009

M. Dickman  and
M. Ouellet
M. Dickman
Affiliation:
Biological Sciences Department, Brock University, St Catherines, Ontario, L2S 3A1Canada
M. Ouellet
Affiliation:
Universite du Quebec, Ste Foy, Quebec, G1V 4C7Canada
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Garrow Lake (area 418 ha, greatest depth 47 m), Little Cornwallis Island, NWT, Canada, is the northernmost recorded hypersaline meromictic lake, Covered 11 months annually with ice up to 2.4 m thick and internally stratified, its waters at 20 m reach temperatures of 9.1°C from solar heating throughout the year. Salinity varies from less than 0.01% at the surface to over 75% at the bottom. Isostatic uplift isolated the lake from the sea about 3000 BP. Isotope dating indicates that the bottom water has been unmixed for nearly 2500 years. An advancing permafrost wedge appears to have forced brine from pores in rock strata below the watershed into a talik (chimney) in the lake centre. From November 1981 the lake has received approximately 100 tonnes/hr of mine tailings rich in lead and zinc. Dissolved oxygen introduced along with the slurry may be important in reducing anaerobic photosynthetic bacteria. Biotic diversity is low. Only one vertebrate, Myoxocephalus quadricornis (four-horned sculpin), occurs in the lake. The zooplankton consists of only one species, Limnocalanus macruras; phytoplankton includes 51 taxa dominated by flagellates.

Type
Articles
Information
Polar Record , Volume 23 , Issue 146 , May 1987 , pp. 531 - 549
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1987

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, G. C. 1958. Some limnological features of a shallow meromictic lake. Limnological Oceanography 3: 51–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Andrews, J. T. and Others. 1971. Comparison of elevations of archaeological sites and calculated sea levels in Arctic Canada. Arctic 24: 210–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bradbury, J. P. and Winter, T. C. 1976. A real distribution and stratigraphy of diatoms in the sediments of Lake Sallie, Minnesota. Ecology 57: 1005–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
B. C. Research. 1978. Polaris Mine aquatic environmental studies, 1977. Unpublished report for COMINCO. Vancouver, B. C. Research.Google Scholar
B. C. Research. 1981. Polaris Mine aquatic studies 1980: Garrozv Lake, Pullen Strait. Unpublished report. Vancouver, B. C. Research.Google Scholar
Cleve-Euler, A. 1951–1955. Die Diatomeen von Schweden und Finnland. Kunglia svenska velenskapsakademen avhandlingar 5, 2(1); 4(1); 4(5); 5(4).Google Scholar
Culver, D. A. 1975. Physical, chemical and biological factors in the initiation and destruction of biogenic meromixis in a soft-water lake. Verhandlungen der Intemationalen Vereinigung für Limnologie 19(2): 776–83.Google Scholar
Dickman, M. 1985. Seasonal succession and microlamina formation in a meromictic lake displaying varved sediments. Sedimentology 32: 109–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dickman, M. and Artuz, I. 1979. Mass mortality of photosynthetic bacteria as a mechanism for dark lamina formation in sediments of the Black Sea. Nature 275: 191–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duthie, H. C. and Mannada Rani, R. G. 1967. Diatom assemblages from pleistocene interglacial beds at Toronto, Ontario. Canadian Journal of Botany 45: 2249–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duthie, H. C. and Screenivasa, M. R. 1972. The distribution of diatoms on the superficial sediments of Lake Ontario. Proceedings of the 15th Conference of the Great Lakes Research. International Association of the Great Lakes Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor: 45–52.Google Scholar
Edmonson, W. T. 1963. Pacific coast and Great Basin. In Frey, D. G. (editor). Limnology in North America. University of Wisconsin Press: 371–92.Google Scholar
Fallis, B. W. and Harbicht, S. M. 1980. A preliminary study of the limnology and biology of Garrow Lake, N.W.T. Western Region, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Technical Report, 89pp.Google Scholar
Findlay, D. L. and Kling, H. J. 1979. A species list and pictorial reference to the phytoplankton of central and northern Canada. Parts I and II. Fisheries and Marine Science Manuscript Report No 1503. 619pp.Google Scholar
Foged, N. 1970. The diatomaceous flora in a post-glacial Kieselguhr deposit in southwestern Norway. In Gerloff, J. and Cholnoky, B. J. (editors). Diawmaceae 11. B. J. Verlag, J. Cramer: 169–201.Google Scholar
Fortescue, J. A. C. and Others. 1984. pH patterns in lakes north of Lake Superior. Ontario Geological Survey Open File Report 53, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Toronto, Canada.Google Scholar
Goldman, C. R. and Others. 1967. Two Antarctic desert lakes. Limnology and Oceanography 12: 295–310.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hattersley-Smith, G. and Others. 1970. Density stratified lakes in northern Ellesmere Island. Nature 225: 55–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heywood, R. B. 1977. Anatarctic freshwater ecosystems: review and synthesis, Adaptations within Antarctic ecosystems. Proceedings of the Third SCAR Symposium on Antarctic biology. (Edited by Llano, D. A..) Washington, DC, Smithsonian Institution: 801–28.Google Scholar
Hoare, R. A. and Others. 1964. Lake Bonney, Taylor Valley, Antarctica: a natural solar energy trap. Nature 202: 886–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hustedt, F. 1930–1937. Die Kieselalgen von Deutschland, Osterreich und der Schweiz. Rabenhorst's Kryplogamen-Flora 7(1): 1–920; 7(2): 1–736.Google Scholar
Hustedt, F. 1942. In Das Phytoplankton der Süsswassers. Die Binnengewasser 16(2):Google Scholar
Hutchinson, G. E. 1957. A treatise on limnology. Vol 1. New York, New York, Wiley.Google Scholar
Johnson, N. B. and Likens, G. E. 1967. Steady-rate thermal gradient in the sediments of a meromictic lake. Journal of Geophysical Research 72(2): 3049–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Judge, A. S. 1973. Unpublished temperature data for Polaris Mine, COMINCO Ltd, Little Cornwallis Island, N.W.T. Energy Mines and Resources, Canada. Earth Physics Branch, 1 Observatory Crescent, Ottawa, K1A 0YA Canada.Google Scholar
Kalff, J. and Welch, H. E. 1974. Phytoplankton production in Char Lake, a natural polar lake, and in Meretta Lake, a polluted polar lake, Cornwallis Island, Northwest Territories. Journal of Fisheries Research Board of Canada 31: 621–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kalff, J. and Others. 1972. Pigment cycles in two high arctic Canadian lakes. Verhandlungen der Internationalen Vereinigung für Limnologie 18: 250–56.Google Scholar
Kerr, J. W. 1977a. Cornwallis fold belt and the mechanism of basement uplift. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 14: 1374–1401.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kerr, J. W. 1977b. Cornwallis lead-zinc district, Mississippi Valley-type deposits controlled by stratigraphy and tectonics. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 14: 1402–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Khakimov, Kh. R. 1957. Voprosy teorii i praktiki iskusstvennogo zamorzhivaniya gruntov. Moscow, Izdatel'stvo Akademii Nauk SSSR. [Artificial freezing of soils: theory and practice.J Jerusalem, Israel Program for Scientific Translations, 1966].Google Scholar
Kovio, L. K. and Ritchie, J. C. 1978. Modern diatom assemblages from lake sediments in the boreal-arctic transition range near the Mackenzie Delta, N.W.T., Canada. Canadian Journal of Botany 56: 1010–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lachenbruch, A. H. and Marshall, B. V. 1969. Heat flow in the Arctic. In Proceedings of the US Naval Arctic Research Laboratory dedication symposium, Fairbanks, Alaska, 9–12 April 1969. Arctic 22: 300–311.Google Scholar
Likens, G. E. 1967. Some chemical characteristics of meromictic lakes in North America. In Jackson, D. F. (editor). Some aspects of meromixis: transactions of the Symposium on Meromictic Lakes held at Fayetteville, N.Y., Green Lakes. Syracuse University, NY: 17–40.Google Scholar
Lind, O. T. 1974. Handbook of common methods in limnology. C. V. Mosby.Google Scholar
Livingstone, D. A. and Others. 1958. Effects of an arctic environment on the origin and development of freshwater lakes. Limnology and Oceanography 3: 192–214.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Matsuyama, M. 1973. Changes in the limnological features of a meromictic Lake Suigetsu during the years 1926–1967. Journal of the Oceanographical Society of Japan 29: 131–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McLaren, I. A. 1963. Effects of temperature on growth of zooplankton and the adaptive value of vertical migration. Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada 20: 685–727.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Menzies, J. 1981. Freezing fronts and their possible influence upon processes of subglacial erosion and deposition. Annals of Glaciology 2: 52–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Misener, A. D. 1955. Heat flow and depth of permafrost at Resolute, Cornwallis Island, N.W.T., Canada. Transactions of the American Geophysical Union 36: 1055–60.Google Scholar
Moore, J. W. 1979. Factors influencing the diversity, species composition and abundance of phytoplankton in twenty-one arctic and subarctic lakes. International Review ges. Hydrobiol. 64: 485–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moore, J. W. and Others. 1979. Algal and invertebrate communities in three subarctic lakes receiving mine wastes. Water Research 13: 1193–1202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Osnitskaya, L. K. 1965. On the physiology of the photoautotrophic purple bacteria from Lake Beloye. In Oppenheimer, (editor). Symposium on Marine Microbiology. C. C. Thomas, USA.Google Scholar
Page, P. and Others. 1984. Isotopic analysis (180, 13C, 14C,) of two meromictic lakes in the Canadian arctic archipelago. Limnology and Oceanography 29: 564–573.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Page, P. and Others. Isotopic composition and origin of lacustrine brines in the arctic. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. In press.Google Scholar
Patrick, R. and Reimer, C. W. 1966. The diatoms of the United States I. Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia. Monograph 13. 688pp.Google Scholar
Patrick, R. and Reimer, C. W. 1972. The diatoms of the United States II, part 1. Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia. Monograph 7. 13: 1–21.Google Scholar
Por, R. D. 1969. Limnology of the heliothermal Solar Lake on the coast of Sinai (Gulf of Elat). Verhandlungen der Internationalen Vereinigung fur Limnologie 17(2): 1031–34.Google Scholar
Prescott, G. W. 1962. Algae of the western Great Lakes Area. Dubuque, Wm. C. Brown.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ragotzkie, R. A. and Likens, G. E. 1964. The heat balance of two antarctic lakes. Limnology and Oceanography 9: 412–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rigler, F. H. 1978. Limnology in the high arctic: a case study of Char Lake. Verhandlungen der Internationalen Vereinigung fur Limnologie 20: 127–40.Google Scholar
Riley, J. P. and Skirrow, G. 1965. Chemical oceanography. London, Academic Press.Google Scholar
Ritchie, J. C. and Others. 1976. The modern and late Pleistocene vegetation of the Cambell-Dolomite Upland near Inuvik, North West Territories, Canada. American Quarterly Society National Conference, Abstract no IV.Google Scholar
Stewart, K. M. and Platford, R. F. 1986. Hypersaline gradients in two Canadian high Arctic lakes. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Science 43(9): 1795–1803.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sorokin, Y. I. 1970. Interrelations between sulfur and carbon turnover in meromictic lakes. Archives Hydrobiologiques 66: 391–446.Google Scholar
Sorokin, Y. I. and Kadota, H. (editors). 1972. Techniques for the assessment of microbial production and decomposition in fresh waters. International Biological Handbook No 23. Oxford, Blackwell Scientific Publications.Google Scholar
Takahashi, M. and Ichimura, S. 1970. Photosynthetic properties and growth of sulfur bacteria in lakes. Limnology and Oceanography 15: 929–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thorsteinsson, R. 1959. Cornwallis and Little Cornwallis Islands, District of Franklin, Northwest Territories. Geological Survey of Canada. Memoir 294.Google Scholar
Thorsteinsson, R. and Kerr, J. W. 1968. Cornwallis Island and adjacent smaller islands, Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Geological Survey of Canada. Paper 67–64.Google Scholar
Truper, H. G. and Genovese, S. 1968. Characterization of photosynthetic sulfur bacteria causing red water in Lake Faro (Messina, Sicily). Limnology and Oceanography 13: 225–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Welch, H. E. 1974. Metabolic rates of arctic lakes. Limnology and Oceanography 19: 65–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wright, S. W. and Burton, H. R. 1981. The biology of antarctic saline lakes—a review. Hydrobiologia 82: 319–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar