TURNOVER, SPRING

A physical phenomenon that may take place in a lake or similar body of water during the early spring, most frequently in lakes located in temperate zones where the winter temperatures are low enough to result in freezing of the lake surface. The sequence of events leading to spring overturn include: (1) the melting of ice cover; (2) the warming of surface waters; (3) density changes in surface waters producing convection currents from top to bottom; (4) circulation of the total water volume by wind action; and (5) vertical temperature equality. The overturn results in a uniformity of the physical and chemical properties of the entire water mass. Also referred to as Spring Overturn. Also see Fall Overturn.