Geology topics

Research about Williams Lake

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including Williams Lake.

13 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2010

Evaluation of the energy budget method of determining evaporation at Williams Lake, Minnesota, using alternative instrumentation and study approaches

Best estimates of evaporation at Williams Lake, north central Minnesota, were determined by the energy budget method using optimum sensors and optimum placement of sensors. These best estimates are compared with estimates derived from using substitute data to determine the effect of using less accurate sensors, simpler methods, or remotely measured data. Calculations were made for approximately biweekly periods during five open water seasons. For most of the data substitutions that affected the Bowen ratio, new values of evaporation differed little from best estimates. The three data substitution methods that caused the largest deviations from the best evaporation estimates were (1) using changes in the daily average surface water temperature as an indicator of the lake heat storage term, (2) using shortwave radiation, air temperature, and atmospheric vapor pressure data from a site 110 km away, and (3) using an analog surface water temperature probe. Recalculations based on these data substitutions resulted in differences from the best estimates as much as 89%, 21%, and 10%, respectively. The data substitution method that provided evaporation values that most closely matched the best estimates was measurement of the lake heat storage term at one location in the lake, rather than at 16 locations. Evaporation values resulting from this substitution method usually were within 2% of the best estimates.

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USGS2010

Evaluation of 11 equations for determining evaporation for a small lake in the North Central United States

Eleven equations for calculating evaporation were compared with evaporation determined by the energy budget method for Williams Lake, Minnesota. Data were obtained from instruments on a raft, on land near the lake, and at a weather station 60 km south of the lake. The comparisons were based on monthly values for the open-water periods of 5 years, a total of 22 months. A modified DeBruin-Keijman, Priestley-Taylor, and a modified Penman equation resulted in monthly evaporation values that agreed most closely with energy budget values. To use these equations, net radiation, air temperature, wind speed, and relative humidity need to be measured near the lake. In addition, thermal surveys need to be made to determine change in heat stored in the lake. If data from distant climate stations are the only data available, and they include solar radiation, the Jensen-Haise and Makkink equations resulted in monthly evaporation values that agreed reasonably well with energy budget values.

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USGS2003

Characterization of lake water and ground water movement in the littoral zone of Williams Lake, a closed-basin lake in North central Minnesota

Williams Lake, Minnesota is a closed‐basin lake that is a flow‐through system with respect to ground water. Ground‐water input represents half of the annual water input and most of the chemical input to the lake. Chemical budgets indicate that the lake is a sink for calcium, yet surficial sediments contain little calcium carbonate. Sediment pore‐water samplers (peepers) were used to characterize solute fluxes at the lake‐water–ground‐water interface in the littoral zone and resolve the apparent disparity between the chemical budget and sediment data. Pore‐water depth profiles of the stable isotopes δ 18 O and δ 2 H were non‐linear where ground water seeped into the lake, with a sharp transition from lake‐water values to ground‐water values in the top 10 cm of sediment. These data indicate that advective inflow to the lake is the primary mechanism for solute flux from ground water. Linear interstitial velocities determined from δ 2 H profiles (316 to 528 cm/yr) were consistent with velocities determined independently from water budget data and sediment porosity (366 cm/yr). Stable isotope profiles were generally linear where water flowed out of the lake into ground water. However, calcium profiles were not linear in the same area and varied in response to input of calcium carbonate from the littoral zone and subsequent dissolution. The comparison of pore‐water calcium profiles to pore‐water stable isotope profiles indicate calcium is not conservative. Based on the previous understanding that 40–50 % of the calcium in Williams Lake is retained, the pore‐water profiles indicate aquatic plants in the littoral zone are recycling the retained portion of calcium. The difference between the pore‐water depth profiles of calcium and δ 18 O and δ 2 H demonstrate the importance of using stable isotopes to evaluate flow direction and source through the lake‐water–ground‐water interface and evaluate mechanisms controlling the chemical balance of lakes.

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USGS1997

Hydrological and chemical estimates of the water balance of a closed-basin lake in north central Minnesota

Chemical mass balances for sodium, magnesium, chloride, dissolved organic carbon, and oxygen 18 were used to estimate groundwater seepage to and from Williams Lake, Minnesota, over a 15-month period, from April 1991 through June 1992. Groundwater seepage to the lake and seepage from the lake to groundwater were determined independently using a flow net approach using data from water table wells installed as part of the study. Hydrogeological analysis indicated groundwater seepage to the lake accounted for 74% of annual water input to the lake; the remainder came from atmospheric precipitation, as determined from a gage in the watershed and from nearby National Weather Service gages. Seepage from the lake accounted for 69% of annual water losses from the lake; the remainder was removed by evaporation, as determined by the energy budget method. Calculated annual water loss exceeded calculated annual water gain, and this imbalance was double the value of the independently measured decrease in lake volume. Seepage to the lake determined from oxygen 18 was larger (79% of annual water input) than that determined from the flow net approach and made the difference between calculated annual water gain and loss consistent with the independently measured decrease in lake volume. Although the net difference between volume of seepage to the lake and volume of seepage from the lake was 1% of average lake volume, movement of water into and out of the lake by seepage represented an annual exchange of groundwater with the lake equal to 26–27% of lake volume. Estimates of seepage to the lake from sodium, magnesium, chloride, and dissolved organic carbon did not agree with the values determined from flow net approach or oxygen 18. These results indicated the importance of using a combination of hydrogeological and chemical approaches to define volume of seepage to and from Williams Lake and identify uncertainties in chemical fluxes.

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USGS1988

Climatic data for Williams Lake, Hubbard County, Minnesota, 1986

Research on the hydrology of Williams Lake, north-central Minnesota includes study of evaporation. Presented here are those climatic data needed for energy-budget and mass-transfer studies, including: water-surface temperature, dry-bulb and wet-bulb air temperatures, wind speed, precipitation, and solar and atmospheric radiation. Some calculated values necessary for these studies, such as vapor pressure and Bowen ratio numbers, also are presented. Data are collected at raft and land stations.

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USGS1988

Climatic data for Williams Lake, Hubbard County, Minnesota, 1982

Research on the hydrology of Williams Lake, north-central Minnesota includes study of evaporation. Those climatic data needed for energy budget and mass transfer studies are presented , including: water surface temperature, dry-bulb and wet-bulb air temperatures, wind speed, precipitation, and solar and atmospheric radiation. Some calculated values necessary for these studies are also presented, such as vapor pressure and Bowen-ratio values. Data are collected at raft and land stations.

Minnesota↗

USGS1987

Climatic data for Williams Lake, Hubbard County, Minnesota, 1985

Minnesota↗

USGS1986

Climatic data for Williams Lake, Hubbard County, Minnesota, 1984

Minnesota↗

USGS1985

Fishery survey and related limnological conditions of Williams Lake, Hubbard County, Minnesota

Bluegill ( Lepomis macrochirus ), pumpkinseed sunfish ( Lepomis gibbosus ), largemouth bass ( Micropterus salmoides ), yellow perch ( Perca flavescens ) rock bass ( Amploplites rupestris ), black crappie ( Pomozis nigromaculatus ), and northern pike ( Esox lucius ) were found in Williams Lake, Hubbard County, Minnesota, during a fishery survey of the lake in late August 1982. The most abundant fish were the bluegills. These fish live in the large littoral zone of the lake; this zone underlies 55% of the surface area of the lake. The most ubiquitous benthic invertebrate in the littoral zone ( amphipods ) and the most abundant benthic invertebrate ( chironomid larvae ) were major food sources for the bluegill. Other organisms found in the stomach contents of fish collected in this survey were zooplankton, gastropods, Diptera larvae, odonates, terrestrial insects, and other fish. Daphnia were the only zooplankters of a diverse plankton community that were found in stomach contents. The abundance of fish other than bluegill was typical for a system in which northern pike is the major predator.

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USGS1984

Sinking of volcanic ash in uncompacted sediment in Williams Lake, Washington

Volcanic ash from the eruption of Mount St. Helens on 18 May 1980 fell into Williams Lake in eastern Washington and was temporarily suspended at the sediment-water interface. After several months of compaction, the ash layer broke up and sank into lower density uncompacted lake sediment. Stratigraphic time displacements of several hundred years and a failure to recognize discontinuous ash layers in sediment cores are possible consequences of this process.

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USGS1984

Climatic data for Williams Lake, Hubbard County, Minnesota, 1983

Research on the hydrology of Williams Lake, north-central Minnesota includes study of evaporation. Presented here are those climatic data needed for energy-budget and mass-transfer studies,including: water-surface temperature, dry-bulb and wet-bulb air temperatures, wind speed, precipitation, and solar radiation. Data are collected at raft and land stations.

Minnesota↗

USGS1981

Limnological and geochemical survey of Williams Lake, Hubbard County, Minnesota

A limnological and geochemical survey of Williams Lake, Minnesota, was made in 1979 to provide an initial interpretive description of the lake and the contiguous ground-water system. This survey was made as part of a continuing research program related to the investigation of the interaction of lakes and their contiguous ground-water systems at Williams Lake, Minnesota, as well as other sites within the continental United States. During 1979, Williams Lake was dimictic, and the lake had high optical transparency; light penetrated to the lakebed throughout most of the lake. Aquatic macrophytes were present along the western shore and in the southern bay of the lake. Although the lake had clinograde-oxygen distributions during part of this survey, anaerobic conditions were not observed. The lake is moderately fertile with respect to its total phosphorus content. Nutrient data indicate phosphorus limits phytoplankton biomass levels in Williams Lake. Blue-green algae were the dominant group of the phytoplankton community and copepods were the dominant group of the zooplankton community when the lake was thermally stratified during the open-water season. Diatoms and rotifers were dominant when the lake was isothermal in the autumn. Calcium and bicarbonate represent more than 90 percent of the dissolved constituents in Williams Lake and the contiguous ground-water system. Major mineralogical constituents of the lake sediments are quartz, dolomite, and calcite. Marl is present only in the littoral zone of the lake. Organic sediments in the lake consist of loose organic floe and gyttja.

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USGS1980

Hydrologic setting of Williams Lake, Hubbard County, Minnesota

The hydrology and geology of Williams Lake watershed was studied to evaluate the accuracy of various methods used to determine precipitation and evaporation in lake water-balance studies and to define a lake and ground-water system according to approaches suggested by theoretical modeling studies. Regression analysis between estimated and measured precipitation at the lake showed that the accuracy of regionalization techniques is dependent on the closeness of the data network to the lake. For individual storms, the average-value method was found to be better than either the weighted average or isohyetal methods of determining precipitation, but it was least accurate in estimating 14-day average precipitation. The amount of evaporation calculated by the mass-transfer method ranged from 2 to 7 inches per month from July to October 1978, depending on the method used to determine the mass-transfer coefficient. Test drilling indicated that 30 to 150 feet of sand and gravel overlies till in the Williams Lake watershed. A sand lens about 50 feet thick occurs within the till. The configuration of the water table and vertical-head gradients measured from July to December 1978 indicate that ground water moves into the lake from the south and east and moves from the lake into the ground-water reservoir to the west. Preliminary numerical models indicate that the sand lens within the till is effectively isolated from the flow system interacting with the lake and that both inseepage and outseepage were about 1.4 inches from mid-July to mid-October 1978. When estimated as a residual in a water balance, ground water showed a net outseepage only of 1.47 inches.

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