The Thermal Regime of South Bay, Manitoulin Island

Abstract

The thermal regime of South Bay is described from records collected from 1953 to 1962 with thermometers, thermographs, and bathythermographs, the last being cast at 11 stations along the bay and one in Lake Huron. Warming begins in April and thermal stratification is established in June. Shallow areas warm more rapidly than deep in the spring and cool more quickly in autumn. The boundary between the epilimnion and the thermocline becomes sharper as summer advances but the transition from thermocline to hypolimnion remains gradual. The average seasonal trend of surface temperatures is a sine function with a maximum of 66 F in mid August and a minimum of 34 F in late March, though values outside this range occur frequently. At 180 ft the maximum of 47 F is attained in November. At the lake and outermost bay stations there is a temperature slump in June and July which may be due to an upwelling in the lake. Evidence of an exchange of water between the lake and bay is seen in vertical temperature sections and water movements Variations in epilimnial temperatures are correlated with those of the air temperature, but variations in epilimnial and hypolimnial temperatures appear to be unrelated. Finally, literature describing the influence of temperature on the year class strength of smallmouth bass, the distribution of lake trout, the growth of yellow perch, and the life history of Pontoporeia in South Bay is reviewed.