metalimnionn.
/ˌmɛtəˈlɪmnɪən/, /ˌmɛtəˈlɪmnɪɒn/, U.S. /ˌmɛdəˈlɪmniˌɑn/, /ˌmɛdəˈlɪmniən/ Chiefly Limnology.
The layer of water in a stratified lake which lies beneath the epilimnion and above the hypolimnion, in which the temperature decreases rapidly with depth.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > lake > [noun] > stratification according to temperature
stratification1860
epilimnion1910
hypolimnion1910
microstratification1931
metalimnion1935
mixolimnion1937
monimolimnion1937
1935 P. S. Welch Limnol. ii. iv. 54 The term thermocline was first used by Birge in 1897... Since then, the terms transition zone, mesolimnion, and metalimnion have been proposed.
1941 Ecol. Monogr. 11 38 Computation of mean rates from the available data..is..unfortunately somewhat..questionable... The resulting rates are likely to be the least reliable near the bottom, rather than in the metalimnion.
1957 G. E. Hutchinson Treat. Limnol. I. vii. 428 It is convenient to define the widely used term metalimnion to designate the whole of the region in which the temperature gradient is steep.
1974 Nature 8 Feb. 393/2 In the metalimnion of Lake Kinneret, the photosynthetic, green sulphur bacterium, Chlorobium phaeobacteroides can reach concentrations as high as 107 cells ml−1.
1990 Sciences Nov. 40/1 The diffusion of nutrients from the hypolimnion to the epilimnion can be reduced by thermal stratification—chiefly because of the density barrier at the metalimnion.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1935