thumb|upright=1.275|McGinnis Lake is a meromictic lake within the [[Petroglyphs Provincial Park.]]

thumb|[[Lac Pavin in France is a meromictic crater lake.]]

A meromictic lake is a lake which has layers of water that do not intermix. However, human influence can lead to cultural meromixis occurring. The increased use of road salt as a deicing strategy, particularly in northern latitude regions, can disturb the natural mixing cycles in lakes by inhibiting mixing. As salt is flushed into aquatic systems at high concentrations in late winter/early spring, it accumulates in the deepest layer of lakes leading to incomplete mixing.

Stratification in meromictic lakes can be either endogenic or ectogenic. Endogenic means the patterns seen in the lake are caused by internal events, such as organic matter accumulating in the sediments and decaying, whereas ectogenic means the patterns seen are caused by external causes, like an intrusion of saltwater settling in the hypolimnion, preventing it from mixing. In the following decades after this disaster, active research and management has been done to mitigate gas buildup in the future through the Nyos Organ Pipes Program (NOPP). The NOPP program placed large organ pipes into Lake Nyos, to reach the monimolimnion where harmful dissolved gases built up, that allow for gas release to the atmosphere, effectively degassing the monimolimnion.

While it is mainly lakes that are meromictic, the world's largest meromictic basin is the Black Sea. The deep waters below do not mix with the upper layers that receive oxygen from the atmosphere. As a result, over 90% of the deeper Black Sea volume is anoxic water. The Caspian Sea is anoxic below . The Baltic Sea is persistently stratified, with dense, highly saline water comprising the bottom layer, and large areas of hypoxic sediments (see Baltic Sea hypoxia).

thumb|Strandvatnet in [[Nordland down to the left; only a small isthmus separates the lake from Ofotfjord.]]

thumb| is the largest and deepest lake in [[France]]

thumb|[[Green Lake (New York)|Green Lake is a meromictic lake near Syracuse, New York.]]

thumb|upright|[[Sunfish Lake (Ontario)|Sunfish Lake is a meromictic lake near Waterloo, Ontario.]]

thumb|[[Soda Lakes|Big Soda Lake is a meromictic lake in a volcanic crater near Fallon, Nevada]]

thumb|Soapy foam on the shore of [[Soap Lake in Washington]]

List of meromictic lakes

thumb|Lake Pakasaivo, a meromictic lake in [[Muonio, Finland]]

There are meromictic lakes all over the world. The distribution appears to be clustered, but this may be due to incomplete investigations. Depending on the exact definition of "meromictic", the ratio between meromictic and holomictic lakes worldwide is around 1:1000.

Asia

  • Lake Shira in the Republic of Khakassia, Russia
  • Keracut Beach Lake, Penang National Park, northwest Penang island, Malaysia
  • Jellyfish Lake, on Eil Malk in Palau
  • Zigetangcuo Lake, a crenogenic lake in Nagqu, Tibet, China. It is the meromictic lake located at the highest altitude.
  • Blackcat Lake near Dorset, Ontario, in Frost Centre
  • Crawford Lake near Milton, Ontario
  • <!--Sandy Lake ambiguous-->Picard Lake<!--see ref--> near Lakehurst, Ontario
  • Mahoney Lake in the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
  • McGinnis Lake in Petroglyphs Provincial Park, Ontario
  • Pink Lake in Gatineau Park, Quebec
  • Powell Lake in the town of Powell River, British Columbia
  • Teapot Lake, Heart Lake Conservation Area, Brampton, Ontario. See also Heart Lake (Ontario)
  • Central America
  • Lake Atitlán, endorheic lake in the department of Sololá, Guatemala
  • United States
  • Ballston Lake, north northwest of Albany, New York
  • Big Soda Lake, Nevada
  • Canyon Lake near Big Bay, Michigan
  • Chapel Lake, in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, near Munising, Michigan
  • "Density Stratification", part of an educational website Water on the Web operated by the University of Minnesota, Duluth. Retrieved 11-March-2007.
  • Lake Fidler revived
  • photo-outing.com review over Pantai Kerachut with Memomictic lake