Large shallow lakes, like Lake St. Clair in the Great Lakes region, are often assumed to be well mixed. But this assumption has consequences for predicting downstream nutrient loads, particularly when this assumption is incorrect. Lake St. Clair is a small shallow lake upstream of Lake Erie. Understanding nutrient dynamics in this lake is critical for predicting nutrient loads to Lake Erie where high nutrient loads have led to recurring algal blooms.
In a new paper co-authored by Lake Futures researchers Serghei Bocaniov and Philippe Van Cappellen, along with Donald Scavia, this assumption is challenged to explore how small shallow lakes influence downstream nutrient loading.
