[Insert Figure 5 about here]
Figure 5 : Inter-annual temperature variations of 8 selected
typical large lakes from Europe. Please note that LWST is plotted on
different scales for each lake.
3.3. Ice-free line for Eurasian lakes
Significant variability (S.D. = 187.9 days) exist among Eurasian lakes
with respect to the duration of the ice-free period, which can last
between 24 and 365 days (Figure 6). At the continental scale, ice-free
duration had a clear latitudinal pattern that matched the air
temperature distribution. Lakes located in the boreal and tundra biomes,
along with some lakes located at high elevation, exhibited short
durations of ice-free period (24 to 168 days). Conversely, with the
exception of those located at high elevation, lakes in the tropics were
generally ice-free during the whole year. In general, lakes in the
Tibetan Plateau had shorter ice-free durations compared to lakes located
at lower elevation but at the same latitude. Everything else being the
same, lakes with a large water volume generally had a longer ice-free
duration than smaller lakes.