Scientific publications

This paper presents the results of numerical modeling of plankton dynamics during the thermal bar event in the Selenga shallow-water area of Lake Baikal. It has been discovered that phytoplankton concentrations in the shallow waters increase with the temperature rise, and the local maximum is shifted shoreward relative to the thermal bar front. Simulations have shown that the downslope flows caused by thermobaric instability facilitate phytoplankton expansion to the deeper part of the lake. The zooplankton distributions simulated by numerical experiments had a spatially monotonic growth profile directed towards the shore. This is due to the temperature conditions of the water environment: the higher the water temperature, the higher the zooplankton biomass. An important finding of this work is an assessment of effect of wind on the space-time structure of plankton concentrations for the bottom topography of the Selenga shallow waters of Lake Baikal. Modeling has demonstrated that wind-induced currents lead to mixing and settlement of phytoplankton biomass. This study revealed that the westerly winds acting oppositely to the movement of the thermal bar tend to slow down the horizontal expansion of phytoplankton and zooplankton to the central part of Lake Baikal.