AN INTRODUCTION TO THE LIMNOLOGY OF ROODEPLAAT DAM

Abstract

A two-year limnological survey between 1973 and 1975 showed that the Roodeplaat Dam is a warm monomictic impoundment which has stable thermal stratification during summer. Oxygen supersaturation of the surface waters and anaerobic conditions in the hypolimnion were encountered during summer. Water transparency was seasonal and related to existing phytoplankton populations and allochthonously-introduced clay material. Chemical stratification during summer was prominent and appeared to be caused not only by mineralization processes in the hypolimnion, but also by dilution in the surface layers during summer flooding. Because of the morphometry of the impoundment and the fact that sewage effluents are discharged into the major inflow, considerable horizontal variation in most chemical and biological characteristics was found. On the basis of the nutrient content of the waters and the magnitude of the phytoplankton populations observed, Roodeplaat Dam may be classified as a highly eutrophic water body.