monimolimnion

English

WOTD – 25 April 2018

Etymology

Pink Lake, a meromictic lake in Gatineau Park, Quebec, Canada. The monimolimnion at the bottom of the lake has no oxygen, and it is thought that some prehistoric species may thrive there.

From Ancient Greek μόνιμος (mónimos, “stable, permanent”) + -limnion (from Ancient Greek λῐ́μνη (límnē, “lake”) + -ion (suffix indicating a state or condition)), first appearing in the writings of British ecologist George Evelyn Hutchinson (1903–1991).^[1]

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌmɒ.nɪ.mə(ʊ)ˈlɪm.nɪ.ən/
- Audio (Southern England): (file)
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˌmɑ.ni.məˈlim.ni.ən/, /-moʊ-/
Hyphenation: mo‧ni‧mo‧limn‧i‧on

Noun

monimolimnion (plural monimolimnions or monimolimnia)

The lower, dense stratum of a meromictic lake (one with permanently stratified layers) that does not mix with the waters above. [from 1930s]
- 1969, Roger Y[ates] Anderson, Douglas W. Kirkland, “Paleoecology of the Rita Blanca Lake Area”, in Roger Y. Anderson, Douglas W. Kirkland, editors, Paleoecology of an Early Pleistocene Lake on the High Plains of Texas (Geological Society of America; memoir 113), [Boulder, Colo.]: Geological Society of America, →OCLC, part IV (Synthesis), page 146:
  Mermomictic^{[sic – meaning meromictic]} lakes may have an extremely high calcium carbonate content in the monimolimnion.
- 1979, S. Golubić, J. Schneider, “Carbonate Dissolution”, in P. A. Trudinger, D. J. Swaine, editors, Biogeochemical Cycling of Mineral-forming Elements (Studies in Environmental Science; 3), Amsterdam: Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 122:
  The resulting pH-drop causes a dissolution of carbonate material which has been biogenically precipitated in the epilimnion. This carbonate is recycled to the surface waters during the autumn and winter circulation and can be transported through the outflowing rivers to the oceans. A similar situation exists in temporary or permanently stratified waters of freshwater, brackish and marine environments. Examples of such environments are the monimolimnions of meromictic lakes, the Baltic Sea […] and Norwegan fjords where a high CO₂ input is maintained by vigorous degradation of organic matter.
- 1985, Roger Y[ates] Anderson, Walter E. Dean, J. Platt Bradbury, David Love, “Introduction”, in Meromictic Lakes and Varved Lake Sediments in North America (U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin; 1607), Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 4, column 2:
  The higher salinity of the monimolimnion, and therefore the greater density, prevents wind-driven mixing. The cause of meromixis in Green Lake is the inflow of saline ground-water springs below a depth of about 20 m.
- 1979, T. Koussouris, A. Diapoulis, “Unusual Characteristics in a Meromictic Lake in Greece”, in Θαλασσογραφικα [Thalassografika, Thalassographica], Athens: Institouton Ōkeanographikōn kai Alieutikōn Ereunōn [Institute of Oceanographic and Fisheries Research], →OCLC, page 80; reprinted in P. Adrian [et al.], editor, Toxicological and Environmental Chemistry, volumes 20–21 (Environmental Pollution and Its Impact on Life in the Mediterranean Region 1987), New York, N.Y.: Gordon and Breach Science Publishers, 1989 May, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 310:
  The monimolimnion is not a static state but is subject to change, depending mainly on the weather conditions, because of basin's shallowness and the almost stable temperature of the spring waters.
- 2010, C. Vonrohden et al., “Evidence for Double Diffusion in Temperate Meromictic Lakes”, in Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, volume 14, number 4, Göttingen, Germany: Copernicus GmbH, pages 667–674; quoted in “Hydrology [University of Heidelberg: Evidence for Double Diffusion in Temperate Meromictic Lakes]”, in Q. Ashton Acton, editor, Issues in Earth Sciences, Geology, and Geophysics, 2011 edition, Atlanta, Ga.: ScholarlyEditions, 2012, →ISBN, page 3297:
  The steps develop in the upper part of the monimolimnion, when in autumn cooling mixolimnion temperatures have dropped below temperatures of the underlying monimolimnion.
- 2016, Gerald A. Cole, Paul E. Weihe, “The Major Ions in Inland Waters”, in Textbook of Limnology, 5th edition, Long Grove, Ill.: Waveland Press, →ISBN, page 322:
  Hypolimnia of stratified eutrophic lakes or the monimolimnia of meromictic lakes may contain appreciable quantities of the very soluble gas H₂S.
- 2017, Martin Schultze, Bertram Boehrer, Katrin Wendt-Potthoff, Javier Sánchez-España, Devin Castendyk, “Meromictic Pit Lakes: Case Studies from Spain, Germany and Canada and General Aspects of Management and Modelling”, in Ramesh D. Gulati, Egor S. Zadereev, Andrei G. Degermendzhi, editors, Ecology of Meromictic Lakes (Ecological Studies; 228), Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature, →DOI, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 251:
  Due to the density differences between acidic bottom waters in the mine void, groundwater seepage and river water, stable, chemically distinct layers formed and persisted in two of the local depressions (marked as XN3 and XP4 […]). Here, we focus on site XP4 since disappearance and reformation of the monimolimnion happened only at this site, while the thin monimolimnion at XN3 disappeared for good after the flood.

Coordinate terms

Derived terms

monimolimnic

Related terms

Translations

lower, dense stratum of a meromictic lake

References

^ “monimolimnion”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.