Formation of Vertical Thermal Structure in Lakes in Northwestern Russia and Finland

Vertical distribution of average annual temperature of water in lakes in the period of maximum water heating is analyzed as a function of zonal climatic factors and lake morphometry. Regression analysis is applied to hydrometeorological data on water temperature measurements at standard horizons made from 1958 to 1989 in 58 lakes in northwester Russia and eight lakes in Finland. The temperature of the top five-meter layer is found to depend mainly on the latitude. The major factors at a depth of 10 and lower are the lake morphometry and river water inflow.