Vertical Entrainment Into the Epilimnia of Stratified Lakes

Results of testing a one‐dimensional model of entrainment into stratified fluids on several morphologically different lakes in the temperate zone suggest that the growth of volume of the epilimnion of a stratified lake is correlated with mean stability over the period of growth. Mean depth seems the most important morphometrical parameter governing the magnitude of entrainment: the greater the mean depth, the greater the entrainment. The upper and lower limits of entrainment for any given lake may be important considerations in interpreting budget studies of heat and chemicals in the epilimnion. Entrainment may regulate primary production in some stratified lakes.