Winter mixing of Lake Geneva waters becomes clearer
A better understanding of the winter mixing of the waters of Lake Geneva
Keystone-SDA
Vertical mixing is not the only driving force behind the winter renewal of Lake Geneva's deep waters. Strong currents from the Little Lake basin and the Great Lake shoreline can also cause complete mixing, according to a study.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA
Français
fr
Le brassage hivernal des eaux du Léman mieux compris
Original
Check out our selection of newsletters. Subscribe here.
Winter mixing of the waters is essential to the maintenance of Lake Geneva’s ecosystems, said the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) in a press release on Monday. During exceptionally cold winters, extensive vertical mixing – known as complete mixing – takes place, characterised by a uniform temperature from the surface to the bottom.
This process was traditionally seen as the only way to ensure the renewal of deep waters. But according to the authors of this study published in the journal Water Resources Research, strong currents generated by the two-basin structure, the Great Lake to the east and the Little Lake to the west, can also cause renewal of the deepest layers.
Translated from French by DeepL/ts
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
Popular Stories
More
Life & Aging
Zurich: how the world capital of housing shortages is tackling the problem
Is your place of origin, your Heimatort, important to you?
Every Swiss citizen has a Heimatort, a place of origin, but many have never visited theirs. What’s your relationship with your Heimatort? What does it mean to you?
In Switzerland more people are being referred to electrical therapies or psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. Are there similar approaches where you live?
Pope was a person full of respect: Swiss president
This content was published on
Swiss president Karin Keller-Sutter, who is attending the funeral of Pope Francis, says the pontiff was always full of respect.
Ex-sect member sentenced in Zurich for sexual abuse
This content was published on
Zurich District Court has sentenced a former member of the globally active sect "Children of God" to a partial prison sentence.
SNB chairman does not rule out slowdown in Swiss growth
This content was published on
Martin Schlegel, chairman of the Swiss National Bank (SNB), does not rule out a weakening of the Swiss economy in light of the tariff dispute.
Swiss NGOs abroad to receive 10% less federal funding
This content was published on
In 2025 and 2026, Swiss NGOs will have 10% less federal funding available for international cooperation than in the previous two-year period.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.