RECENT THERMAL REGIME OF LAKE ATOMIC (Semipalatinsk test site)
D.E. Ayunov1, A.D. Duchkov1, S.A. Kazantsev1, V.V. Romanenko2, S.B. Subbotin2
1A.A. Trofimuk Institute of Petroleum Geology and Geophysics, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, pr. Akademika Koptyuga 3, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia
2Institute of Radiation Safety and Ecology of the National Nuclear Center, ul. Krasnoarmeiskaya 2, Kurchatov, 071100, Republic of Kazakhstan
Keywords: Underground nuclear explosion, Lake Chagan (Atomic), temperature measurements in lake water column, distribution of temperature and mineralization, meromictic lakes, Semipalatinsk test site
Abstract
We present results of the first research into the thermal regime of the water column of man-made Lake Atomic (Semipalatinsk test site) performed in 2013-2015. The temperature data have shown a two-layer stratification of the water column. In the upper layer (0-30 m) there are significant yearly temperature variations caused by seasonal climatic changes and wind-wave mixing. In the lower layer (30-80 m) there is a stable nonlinear temperature distribution. This lake can be classified as meromictic, whose upper layer consists of weakly mineralized «light» water and lower one, of highly mineralized «heavy» water. This stratification prevents seasonal mixing of waters of the entire column (from surface to bottom).
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