"Hibernated Lake" "Development of Thermal Structure and Ice Cover of Mountain Lakes in Changing Climate Conditions " MIROS£AW SZUMNY, BOGDAN G¡DEK University of Silesia in Katowice, Faculty of Earth Sciences Department of Geomorphology, ul. Bêdziñska 60, 41-200 Sosnowiec e-mail: mszumny@poczta.wp.pl, bogdan.gadek@gmail.com Ice Michael My Tatra mountains

Description popularizing the research project

High in the Tatra Mountains winter comes earlier than in the lowlands. Once we hear "It has snowed in the mountains", we instantly know that autumn is irrevocably over. In spite of the fact the news usually comes unexpectedly, the nature somehow has already managed to get ready for winter. Mountain animals: marmots and bears are already hibernating till spring. Their organisms, programmed for weeks-long undisturbed hibernation, have difficulty tolerating undue wake-ups or premature spring. Their neighbours - Tatra lakes also do hibernate, as soon as the temperature drops below 0°C and the ice covers their surface. Life pulsing in the depths slows down and migrates closer to the bottom, where the temperature of water will enable its survival until the spring melt. The surface of a frozen lake sprinkled with snow seems to be perfectly still. Until spring, when warm winds will bring the life back there.
Year by year and century by century, such a rest-activity cycle organized the life of nature in the Tatra Mountains and fascinated researchers. Biologists calculated that a marmot's heart, when it hibernates, slows down from 130 to 15 beats per minute. The body temperature of bears drops from 36 to 30°C during the deepest stage of their sleep. Life parameters of the water body of a mountain lake are just as important as the condition and the population of Tatra mammals. Dormant lakes, just like hibernating animals, are affected by climate changes and other factors which their winter sleep depends on. Although measurements of temperature of water at different depths have been conducted in mountain lakes for 200 years, they still do hide many secrets beneath the still surface. It takes many years of regular measurements to describe changes in the temperature of lakes and link them with global climate changes. It is not easy. In winter, mountains protect their secrets more jealously than in summer. Paths buried under a few meters of snow, avalanche risk and steep ascents guard mountain lakes well. "It has snowed in the mountains" - for geomorphologists it means that the season of hard work has just started.

Abstract

The main goal of the works is to show influence of climate, which is changing in time and space, on thermal structure of lakes in the Tatra mountains, included they morphometric and hydrological features and influence of snow cover. Research into the thermal structure of lakes and ice phenomenon in the Tatra mountains has lasted for 200 years. Despite that, there are still missing long series of data, which would help show relations between climate, snow cover, thermal structure and ice cover of lake. It is because of hard weather, area conditions and ava-lanche threat in winter in the Tatra mountains. The subject of the project is included in the long term research of the Department of Geomorphology and it is connected with current direction of international study into contemporary cryosphere. This doctoral studies are part of work-shops: " Methods of testing snow, ice and water temperature in polar and mountainous envi-ronment" which are financially supported by Earth Sciences Department and led by Dr. Bogdan G±dek. The field works started in 2014 and they concern measurements of thermal structure of lakes, thickness of ice and snow cover in winter. The research does not require big funds. The obtained results should let us verify our hypothesis: winter structure and ice cover of a lake are the most sensitive and susceptible to changes in the air temperature and snowfalls in winter.

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