Lake Tanganyika: The Model

1. Lake Tanganyika, located in the Rift Valley of East Africa, is the second deepest lake in the world. TERC is using its three-dimensional hydrodynamic model, Si3D, to understand the motions of Lake Tanganyika and their effect on the biology, and compare the results to data that have been collected there by researchers from the University of Wisconsin.

2. This is being undertaken to understand the impact that climate change will have on biological processes in the lake's nearshore areas. Like Lake Tahoe, Lake Tanganyika is affected by large "upwellings" of cold, nutrient rich water. With climate change this is expected to change, and may affect the productivity of both lakes. The modeling will also provide an additional lake "fly-through" for TERC's Science Center.

3. Collaborators include Dr. Peter McIntyre and his team at the Center for Limnology at the University of Wisconsin, and Dr. Francisco Rueda and his team at the University of Granada, Spain.