Water temperature and some water quality in Lake Toba, a tropical volcanic lake

In 2014, 2018 and 2021, we measured the vertical distributions of several water quality indicators in Lake Toba, a representative large tropical lake. This lake has a north basin (NB) and south basin (SB), connected by a strait. Similar water temperature profiles were observed in both basins, showing increasing trends. Shoaling of hypolimnetic DO (dissolved oxygen)-deficient waters was clearly observed in both basins except in the period from 2018 to 2021 during which the zero DO layer deepened in the SB. In 2014 and 2018, the middle-layer maximums (or minimums) of DO were found in the NB while the SB showed a monotonously downward decreasing tendency. Middle-layer minimums of electric conductivity adjusted to 25 degrees C (EC25) corresponded to the middle-layer DO maximums in the NB; significantly negative correlations between DO and EC25 were found in both basins. Based on horizontal distributions of EC25, water quality difference between the basins using satellite imagery and gradual change in the DO-EC25 relation, we consider the flow of hypolimnetic water from SB to NB and/or influence of worse water quality near the bottom of the strait with reference to the different behaviors of DO and EC25.

Automated summary

In this study, we measured the vertical distributions of water quality indicators in Lake Toba and observed increasing water temperature profiles. Shoaling of hypolimnetic DO-deficient waters was observed in both basins, except during a specific period in the south basin where the zero DO layer deepened. The study found that the minimums of electric conductivity (EC25) corresponded to the maximums of DO in the north basin, and there were significant negative correlations between DO and EC25 in both basins. The results suggest the flow of hypolimnetic water from the south basin to the north basin and the influence of worse water quality near the bottom of the strait on the behavior of DO and EC25.