Buliński changeable

Limnological Review 5 (2005) 37–44 

The influence of the shape of Lake Wicko on the variability 

of chosen physical-chemical indices in spatial distribution 

Roman Cieśliński 

University of Gdańsk, Faculty Biology, Geography and Oceanology 

Dmowskiego 16a, 80–952 Gdańsk 

Abstract: The aim of this paper is the determination of the influence of the shape of the basin of a chosen coastal lake, 

i.e. Lake Wicko, on the variability of the obtained values of selected ions in its waters. For these purposes, the 

following physical-chemical indices were chosen: chlorides and bicarbonates. On the basis of the obtained results it 

was observed that the shape of the lake basin, morphometric diversity and location of the watercourse connecting it to 

the sea all influence the variability of the values of the above parameters. 

Key words: shape, basin, lake, spatial arrangement. 

Introduction 

The coastal zone of the Southern Baltic is rich in 

numerous and hydrologically varied water objects. 

They include lakes, which in majority genetically 

belong to coastal lakes (Rosa, 1963). Literature on 

the subject very rarely focuses on lakes of this type 

as objects of hydrological research (Gromadska, 

1956; Szopowski, 1962; Szmidt, 1967; Król, 1967; 

Michalski, Januszkiewicz, 1967; Weber, 1973; Buliński, 

1980), though in recent years there has been 

observed an increased interest with a special 

emphasis on the chemical composition of their 

waters and the dynamics of processes occurring 

within their ba-sins and catchments (Choiński, 

Lange, 1996; Kubiak, 1996; Świderska-BróŜ, 1996; 

Hesse et al., 1996; Choiński et al., 1998; Mudryk, 

2003; Cieśliński., 2000b, 2003a,b,c, 2004). In the 

case of Lake Wicko, no work that would deal with 

only this hydrographic object was found. Some 

mention can only be found in the works by 

Mikulski (1964, 1970), Majewski (1972), 

Choiński (1985) and Jańczak (1997). 

The analysis of the physical-chemical diversity 

of the waters of the coastal zone lakes leads to the 

conclusion that the diversity is very rich and changeable 

in time and geographic space. This is mainly 

related to the interactions that occur on the border 

of two water masses (the sea and land background) 

different in terms of quality and of dynamic 

behaviour, as well as to the meteorological 

situation occurring at a given moment (wind 

direction and speed), hydrological conditions 

(water stages, flows) and hydrodynamic conditions 

(movement in river channels at inlets and outlets). 

At a given moment, as the taking of samples and 

their analysis is a momentary action, while the 

process of quality changes in these objects is 

extremely dynamic. In such a si-tuation, hardly 

ever, the shape of lake basin was taken into 

consideration as the cause of the spatial diversity 

of the concentrations of the basic physical-chemical 

indices. Thus, the main aim of this paper is the 

determination of the influence of the shape of the 

basin of a chosen costal lake, in this case Lake 

Wicko, on the variability of the values of selected 

ions obtained in its waters.

38 


Methods 

The methods of work consisted in a field experiment 

and laboratory analysis of the samples of lake 

water taken on site, performed in the years 2002 

– 2003. This investigation was continued in 2004 

but this paper does not include the results of this 

period. Since the main aim of the work the 

determination of the influence of the shape of the 

lake basin on the variability of the concentrations 

of selected chemical indices, the location of the 

measurement sites on the lake was chosen in such 

a way so as to capture all the characteristic 

features of the shape and morphometric properties 

of this The object. samples were taken from the surface and 

near-bottom layers. All the types of waters were subjected 

to laboratory analysis that covered the 

determination of concentrations chlorides and 

bicarbonates. Chemical analyses were performed 

in the hydrochemical laboratory of the Department 

of Hy-drology of Gdańsk University, in 

compliance with Polish norms. 

The following mathematical indices and 

formulae were also employed in the work in order 

to determine the conditions that result from the 

shape of the basin and that could influence the 

quality of lake waters. 

Shape and main hydrological features 

of the lake 

Lake Wicko belongs to the group of coastal lakes 

formed as a result of the separation of the former 

sea bay from the Baltic Sea by a sandbar. It is 

situated in Słowińskie coast, about 15 km west of 

Ustka (Fig. 1). Its area is 1058.9 ha, length 5.1 km 

and maximum width 3.7 km. The mean and 

maximum depth of this lake is considerably larger 

than of other coastal lakes and is 2.7 m and 6.1 m 

respectively. The lake basin is situated at an 

altitude of 0.2 m, and its volume is about 28.5 

million m 3 of water. The length of shoreline is 

21350 m and its development 1.24. The shape of 

Lake Wicko is irregular, with a clearly formed 

narrowing of 0.7 km of width. Such a 

characteristic element makes it possible to 

distinguish two parts within the lake, i.e. eastern 

part, deeper (up to 5 – 6 m of depth) and western 

part, shallower (to 3 m of depth) and to name 

them Small Wicko (western part) of 2 km of 

width and area of about 350 ha, and Great Wicko 

(eastern part) of 3.7 km of width and area of about 

700 ha. There is a bay in each one, and a natural 

watercourse discharges into the bay of Small Wicko. 

Water outflow from the lake to the Baltic Sea is 

by the natural outlet of the river Głownica of about 

2 km of length and grade of 0.1‰. This watercourse 

is situated in the north-western part of the basin 

and discharges into the sea on the eastern side of Jarosławiec. 

The lake is supplied by several small and 

scarce artificial canals and one larger watercourse 

– the river Klasztorna, whose mean annual flow is 

1.02 m 3 /s, which totals 32.1 million m 3 of water 

supplied to Lake Wicko a year (Mikulski, 1970). 

The area of the lake catchment is 107.7 km 2 and it 

is a direct catchment of the Baltic Sea (Fig. 1). The 

index of water exchange – W w , expressed as the 

ratio of the river inflow to the lake volume is 1.13, 

which indicates that the frequency of a full water 

exchange in the basin is slightly higher than once 

a year and the lake belongs to the group of limnic 

lakes. On the other hand, the water exchange 

index, expressed as the quotient of the catchment 

area and the lake volume (Mikulski, 1964), is 3.8. 

The depth index W g , expressed as the quotient 

mean depth and maximum depth is 0.44, which 

indicates that the shape of the lake basin is close 

to paraboidal basin. The Peucker degree of the 

convexity of the form ( 

E 

3H 

− śr 

Hmax 

= , where 

H 

max 

H śr – mean depth; H max – maximum depth) is 32.8%, 

which indicates salience form of trough. The bottom 

grade ( 

∑ 

h l 

tgα 

= 

P 

, where h – isobath spacing in 

metres; ∑ l – sum of length of isobaths; P – lake 

area) for the whole lake is 0.64 o , and the elongation 

factor expressed as the quotient length to width is 

1.38, which indicates a small elongation and more 

compact geometrical form. The mean effective length 

D + S 

of the lake axis ( D e 

= where D – length; 

2 

S – width), determining the average way of wind 

over water surface, is 4.4 km, and the exposure 

index W o expressed as the quotient lake area and 

mean depth, expressing numerically the 

morphometric predisposition of the lake to wind 

operation and related to it conditions of the

The influence of the shape of Lake Wicko on the variability of chosen physical-chemical indices ... 39 

development of hydrodynamic phenomena, is 

392.2. 

Fig. 1. The catchment of lake Wicko: 1 – lake, 2 – rivers, 3 – the watershed of direct purchase centre of dairy produce, 4 – the watershed 

of total purchase centre of dairy produce, 5 – water gate 

On the basis of the above hydrological and 

morphometric features of the lake and according 

to the division by Pasławski (1975), Lake Wicko 

can be classified as an average lake with some 

features of an active lake. 

Location of measurement sites 

Water samples were collected from the lake at five 

measurement sites. Site 1 was situated in the 

western part of the lake, about 1 km from the canal 

connecting the lake with the sea. Its linear distance 

from the northern part of the basin shoreline is 0.5 

km, and from the Baltic Sea shoreline is 2 km. The 

depth to the lake bottom for this site is 2 m. Site 2 

was also situated in the western part of the lake, in 

the bay into which the river Klasztorna discharges, 

2.1 km from the Wicko canal. Its distance from 

the northern lake shoreline is 1.2 km, from the 

southern about 1 km and from the sea shoreline is 

2.9 km. The depth is about 3 m. Site 3 was 

situated in the narrowing formed by two 

peninsulas located opposite each other. The 

distance of the site from the canal discharging 

water to the sea is 2.5 km, from isobath 0 m about 

300 m, and from the seashore 2.1 km. The depth 

of this site is about 2.5 m. Sites 4 and 5 were 

situated in the eastern part of the lake. Their 

distance from the canal connecting the lake to the 

sea is 4 and 4.3 km respectively. The distances 

from the northern shoreline of the basin are 0.7 

and 2.3 km. The distances to the narrowing of the 

lake are 1.6 and 2.2 km. Their depth is about 6 m 

for site 4, and about 3 m for site 5. In order to fill in 

the measurement network, the next two sites were 

situated on the Baltic Sea (Jarosławiec) and the 

river Klasztorna (Korlino profile) and two sites on 

the Wicko canal (Fig. 2). 

Spatial diversity of lake waters 

The majority of lakes situated in the Polish coastal 

zone remains under direct or indirect influence of 

sea waters. The evaluation of this influence was 

usually performed along a straight line running northsouth. 

On the basis of the literature on the subject

40 


(Cieśliński, 2000a, Murat Ozler, 2002), it was 

established that as chlorides generally increased 

towards the sea shoreline. In contrast to these 

indices, the values of bicarbonates decreased 

towards the sea shoreline. In the case of some 

coastal lakes, the contact of sea and lake waters is 

only possible through a canal or watercourse 

connecting the two objects. The connections are 

often situated in the northern part of the lake. In the 

case of Lake Wicko, the connection is situated in 

the north-western part. Thus, the analysis of the 

variability of concentrations of chosen physicalchemical 

indices should not be limited to the 

north-south line, but should be supplemented by 

the east-west line. 

Fig. 2. Location of measurement site with the batimetric plan: 1 – the sites of taking water and bottom sediments samples, 2 – the site 

of talking water in the sea, 3 – rivers 

On the basis of the obtained results it can be 

assumed that in the spatial distribution of chlorides, 

in all the layers the concentrations are observed to 

decrease from the western part (Small Wicko) 

towards the east (Great Wicko) – Fig. 3. In the 

case of bicarbonates, a similar distribution of 

values as for the remaining indices was observed, 

yet for the surface and near-bottom waters some 

deviations were observed at site 4. There were 

situations when at this site, higher values were 

observed than at site 3, and sometimes even 

higher than at site 2. The cause of such situations 

is the location of the watercourse connecting the 

lake with the sea and also the narrowing in the 

central part of the basin, which hampers the free 

flow of water from one part to another. 

The analysis of the chlorides results along the 

north-south line reveals that for Small Wicko in the 

northern part (site 1) there are higher values than 

in the southern part (site 2), while for Great Wicko


an opposite situation is observed (in the northern 

part – site 4 lower values than in the southern – 

site 5). Site 3, situated in the central part, in the 

narrowing between Small and Great Wicko, 

reaches lower values than site 2, situated south of 

site 3, and higher values than site 4 situated more 

to the north (Fig. 4). The cause of the above 

situation is the easier penetration of waters getting 

into Small Wicko, depth diversity in individual 

parts of the lake basin and local currents. 

Fig. 3. Spatial variability of concentrations of chlorides (A) and bicarbonates (B) in surface waters of Lake Wicko on 25.10.2002. 

In the case of bicarbonates in both parts of the 

lake, concentrations of this index increased towards 

the sea shoreline. However, in the central part (site 

3) lower values were recorded than at site 1 (situated 

more to the north) and higher values than at site 5 

situated more to the south. There were also cases 

when site 4 reached higher values than site 3. 

To conclude, the research parameters reveal 

a small diversity of values in the spatial distribution, 

irrespective of the analysed layer, as well as

42 


generally low values in the basin, which indicates a 

weak influence of sea waters (Fig. 5). The 

influence is only noticeable at sites situated on the 

river Głow-nica (especially in the outlet section), 

which constitutes the only connection of the lake 

with the sea. 

Chlorides [mg/dm 3 ] 

60 

50 

40 

30 

20 

10 

0 

3.07.2002 

25.10.2002 

24.09.2003 

4.12.2003 

1 2 3 4 5 

Number of point 

Fig. 4. Chlorides concentrations in surface waters of Lake Wicko along the north-south line in the western part (sites 1 and 2), 

central (site 3) and eastern (sites 4 and 5) 

Lake Łebsko - point No. 5 



Number of point 



Lake Wicko - point No. 5 

Lake Wicko - point No.4 




0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 

Chlorides [mg/dm3] 

Fig. 5. Comparison of mean chlorides concentrations in surface waters of Lakes Wicko and Łebsko 

Conclusions 

Lake Wicko is a very interesting research object 

and example of a lake of the Polish coastal zone. 

The uniqueness of this lake consists in the fact that 

the diversity of the values of certain physical-chemical 

indices is influenced by the shape of the lake 

basin and location of the watercourse connecting 

the lake with the sea. Due to the fact that the outflow 

from the lake is situated in the north-western part, 

the increase in values of the discussed indices takes 

place along the east-west line (and not from the 

south to the north). The specificity of the lake is also 

manifested in the fact that bicarbonates values also


increase towards the outflow, in contrast to the 

majority of other coastal lakes. A strong influence 

on the distribution of the values of the chosen 

indices is exerted by the shape of the lake, 

especially the considerable narrowing between 

the western and eastern part and the depth diversity 

within the basin. The system observed here is not a 

typical one with increases in the indice values 

towards the sea shoreline (and decrease for 

bicarbonates). Such a system occurs in Wicko only 

in the western part, except for bicarbonates, which 

also rise towards the sea. In the eastern part, due to 

hampered migration, values decrease towards the 

sea, while bicarbonates values rise. The analysis of 

the obtained results reveals that the major influence 

on the distribution of the values of indices in the 

lake basin is played by the central part (site 3 

situated in the narrowing). For chlorides had lower 

values in the central part of the lake than in the 

southern part of Small Wicko, and higher than in 

the northern part of Great Wicko. There were also 

several cases when the values of bicarbonates in 

the northern part of Great Wicko were higher than 

in the central part. All the physical-chemical 

indices used in this work were characterised by 

low concentrations in the whole basin of Lake 

Wicko, and by small diversity in the spatial 

distribution. The evaluation of the results reveals 

that the waters of Lake Wicko remain under a 

weak influence of sea waters, and no rapid 

intrusions of salty waters were observed. This 

confirms the classification of the lake as an average 

lake with no observable dynamic hydrological and 

qualitative changes of waters. 

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morskiej do jezior przybrzeŜnych na przykładzie 

jeziora Gardno, In: Stosunki wodne w zlewniach 

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Choiński A., 1985, Wybrane zagadnienia z limnologii 

fizycznej Polski, UAM, Poznań 

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elektrycznej właściwej wód jeziora Jamno, Rocznik 

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Gdańsk, 19–24. 

Choiński A., Gogołek A., Mrugalski T., 1998, Wieloletnie 

zmiany chemizmu wód jeziora Jamno, In: Zagro- 

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nr 1, Wyd. DJ, Gdańsk, 107–113. 

Cieśliński R., 2000a, Wpływ morza na stan jakości wód 

jeziora Druzno, dysertacja pracy doktorskiej wykonanej 

w Katedrze Hydrologii Uniwersytetu Gdańskiego 

(maszynopis). 

Cieśliński R., 2000b, Zmienność zawartości chlorków 

w wodzie jeziora Druzno, Przegląd Geofizyczny, 

XLV, 3 – 4, 309–319. 

Cieśliński R., 2003a, Zmiany przewodności właściwej 

wody w jeziorach przybrzeŜnych Polski północno – 

zachodniej, w: Śmigielska M. i Słodczyk J. (red.), 

Geograficzne aspekty globalizacji i integracji europejskiej, 

PTG oddział Opole – Uniwersytet Opolski 

Zakład Geografii i Gospodarki Przestrzennej Wydział 

Ekonomiczny, 65–72. 

Cieśliński R., 2003b, Influence of catchment on trends in 

nitrates and phosphates concentrations in waters of 

lake Gardno, Limnological Review, volume 3/2003, 

Institute of Geography of the Jan Kochanowski 

University, Kielce, 41–46. 

Cieśliński R., 2003c, Lake Łebsko in the light of 

current hydrochemical research, Limnological 

Review, volume 3/2003, Institute of Geography of 

the Jan Kochanowski University, Kielce, 47–52. 

Cieśliński R., 2004, Ion composition characteristics of 

interstitial waters of lake Jamno, In: A.T. Jankowski 

& M. Rzętała (eds.), Lakes and artificial water 

reservoirs – functioning, revitalization and 

protection, University of Silesia, Faculty of Earth 

Sciences, Polish Limnological Society, Polish 

Geographical Society – Branch Katowice, 

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jeziora Druzno, Ekologia Polska, Seria A, Tom IV, 

Nr 10, Warszawa, 317–329. 

Heese T., Modzelewski T., Lamparska–KałuŜniacka M., 

1996, Stan sanitarny dorzecza Parsęty i jezior 

przymorskich Jamna i Bukowna, Zeszyty Naukowe 

Wy-działu Budownictwa i InŜynierii Środowiska, 

nr 11, Koszalin, 33–66. 

Jańczak J. (red.), 1997, Atlas jezior Polski, tom II, 

Bogucki Wydawnictwo Naukowe, Poznań. 

Król H., 1967, Hydrologia jeziora Gardno oraz jego zlewni. 

Studia nad zabezpieczeniem Ŝeglowności wejścia do 

przystani rybackiej w Rowach, Prace MJR 

(maszynopis). 

Kubiak J., 1996, Wstępne dane o stopniu zanieczyszczenia 

i chemizmie wód Równiny Białogardzkiej i Koszalińskiej 

części wybrzeŜa Słowińskiego, Zeszyty 

Naukowe Politechniki Koszalińskiej, nr 10, 145–154. 

Majewski A., 1972, Charakterystyka hydrologiczna estuariowych 

wód u polskiego wybrzeŜa, Prace PIHM, 

zeszyt 105 , Warszawa, 3–37. 

Michalski K., Januszkiewicz T., 1967, Stosunki ekologiczne 

jeziora Jamno zanieczyszczonego ściekami

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przemysłowo – miejskimi, Zeszyty Naukowe WSR 

w Szczecinie, nr 26, 157–162. 

Mikulski Z., 1964, Bilans wodny zalewów przybałtyckich, 

Wiad. Sł. Hydr. i Met., z. 59a. 

Mikulski Z., 1970, Wody śródlądowe w strefie brzegowej 

południowego Bałtyku, Prace PIHM, z. 98, Warszawa, 

25–41. 

Mudryk Z. (red.), 2003, Jezioro Gardno, Wyd. Pomorskiej 

Akademii Pedagogicznej w Słupsku. 

Murat Ozler H., 2002, Hydrochemistry and salt-water 

intrusion in the Van aquifer, east Turkey, 

Environmental Geology, Springer Verlag, 1–25. 

Pasławski Z., 1975, Typologia hydrologiczna jezior Pojezierza 

Wielkopolskiego, Przeg. Geofizyczny, t. 20, z. 4. 

Rosa B., 1963, O rozwoju morfologicznym wybrzeŜa 

Polski w świetle dawnych form brzegowych, Studia 

Societatis Scientiarum Torunensis, Sect. C. 

Szmidt K., 1967, Rola morza Bałtyckiego w kształtowaniu 

stosunków hydrograficzych jezior przybrzeŜnych 

ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem jeziora Jamno, Zeszyty 

Geograficzne WSP w Gdańsku, R IX, 47–76. 

Szopowski Z., 1962, Wybrane zagadnienia związane 

z wymianą wód pomiędzy jeziorem Łebsko a morzem, 

Materiały do monografii polskiego brzegu morskiego, 

z. 3, IBW PAN w Gdańsku, PWN, Poznań. 

Świderska – BróŜ M., 1996, Jakość i zmienność wody 

rzeki Parsęty i Radwi oraz jeziora Jamno i Bukowo, 

Zeszyty Naukowe Politechniki Koszalińskiej, nr 10, 

155–173. 

Weber K., 1973, Próba obliczenia bilansu wodnego jeziora 

Łebsko, Wiad. SłuŜby Hydrologiczno – Meteorologicznej, 

IX/XXI, 4/96, Warszawa. 

Streszczenie 

Strefa pobrzeŜy południowego Bałtyku obfituje w liczne 

i zróŜnicowane hydrologicznie obiekty wodne. Wśród 

nich wymienić naleŜy jeziora, które genetycznie w większości 

przypadków stanowią jeziora przybrzeŜne, na których 

obserwuje się dynamicznie zachodzące procesy hydrometeorologiczne, 

które w konsekwencji doprowadzają 

do zmian stęŜeń wielu wskaźników fizyczno-chemicznych. 

Do dnia dzisiejszego nie wykonano jednak badań 

mających na celu stwierdzenie współzaleŜności pomiędzy 

zmianą jakości wód jeziornych, a kształtem niecki. 

Dlatego teŜ celem niniejszej pracy jest określenie wpływu 

kształtu niecki wybranego jeziora przybrzeŜnego tj. 

jeziora Wicko, na zróŜnicowanie uzyskanych wartości 

wybranych jonów w jego wodach tj. chlorków i wodorowęglanów. 

RównieŜ dokonano obliczeń wielu wskaźników 

i elementów morfometrycznych charakteryzujących 

kształt tego jeziora. Na podstawie uzyskanych wyników 

stwierdzono, Ŝe wpływ na zróŜnicowanie wartości 

powyŜszych parametrów ma kształt niecki jeziora, 

zróŜnicowanie morfometryczne oraz lokalizacja cieku 

łączącego je z morzem. Z uwagi na to, Ŝe odpływ z jeziora 

zlokalizowany jest w części północno-zachodniej 

wzrost wartości chlorków odbywa się w układzie wschód 

– zachód (a nie z południa na północ). Specyfiką tego 

jeziora jest to, Ŝe wartości wodorowęglanów równieŜ 

wzrastają w kierunku odpływu w przeciwieństwie do 

większości innych jezior przybrzeŜnych. DuŜy wpływ 

na kształtowanie się wartości wybranych wskaźników 

ma kształt jeziora, a w szczególności dość wąski przesmyk 

między częścią zachodnią a wschodnią oraz zróŜnicowanie 

głębokościowe wewnątrz niecki. Brak tutaj 

jest typowego układu wzrostu wartości chlorków w kierunku 

linii brzegowej morza, a dla wodorowęglanów spadków. 

Układ taki dla Wicka występuje jedynie w części 

zachodniej z wyjątkiem wodorowęglanów, które równieŜ 

wzrastają w kierunku morza. W części wschodniej 

z uwagi na utrudnioną migrację następuje spadek wartości 

chlorków w kierunku morza, zaś dla wodorowęglanów 

ich wzrost. Na zakończenie naleŜy stwierdzić, Ŝe 

wykorzystane w pracy wskaźniki fizyczno – chemiczne 

w wodach jeziora Wicko charakteryzowały się niskimi 

stęŜeniami wartości w całej niecce oraz małe ich zróŜnicowanie 

w układzie przestrzennym. Dokonując oceny 

wyników stwierdzić naleŜy, Ŝe wody jeziora Wicko 

są pod niewielkim wpływem wód morskich, gdzie nie 

zaobserwowano gwałtownych intruzji wód słonych.

Buliński changeable

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