Memari et al. (2025) Quantifying the Impact of Groundwater on Ice Formation in the Great Lakes

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: Water Resources Research
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-09-01
• Authors: Saeed Memari, Eric J. Anderson, Mantha S. Phanikumar, Andrew D. Gronewold
• DOI: 10.1029/2025wr040581

Research Groups

Not specified in the provided text.

Short Summary

This study investigates the impact of subsurface groundwater flux on ice formation and thermal stratification in Lakes Michigan and Huron, finding that moderate groundwater inputs generally promote thicker and longer-lasting ice by enhancing water column stability.

Objective

• To evaluate how spatially and temporally variable groundwater flux affects ice formation and the thermal structure of Lakes Michigan and Huron.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Lakes Michigan and Huron (Great Lakes).
• Temporal Scale: Winters of 2014, 2015, and 2016.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Coupled hydrodynamic-ice model.
• Data sources: Observed ice concentration maps and temperature profiles.

Main Results

• Groundwater flux enhances ice thickness during cold winters by strengthening water column stability, limiting vertical mixing, and insulating the surface layer.
• Moderate increases in groundwater flux intensify stratification and prolong the duration of ice concentration.
• Extreme groundwater flux (1000x) disrupts stability and leads to a reduction in ice thickness.
• The influence of groundwater is more pronounced in coastal regions than in offshore zones.

Contributions

• Identifies the significant role of subsurface hydrology in modulating ice dynamics and stratification in large freshwater systems.
• Underscores the necessity of incorporating groundwater flux into coupled modeling frameworks to improve the accuracy of ice dynamics and water column predictions.

Funding

Not specified in the provided text.

Citation

@article{Memari2025Quantifying,
  author = {Memari, Saeed and Anderson, Eric J. and Phanikumar, Mantha S. and Gronewold, Andrew D.},
  title = {Quantifying the Impact of Groundwater on Ice Formation in the Great Lakes},
  journal = {Water Resources Research},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.1029/2025wr040581},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1029/2025wr040581}
}