Dilute lakes, herein defined as having an electrical conductivity ≤25 µS cm⁻¹, are considered valuable culturally, as water and recreational resources; biologically, as unique ecosystems; and scientifically, as sentinels of climate change. However, research and interest has been spread over many disciplines focusing on various issues, making hydrologic comparisons somewhat difficult. Here, 15 dilute lakes are subdivided into lake subtypes based on the dominant hydrologic input and output using annual water balance data. Dilute conditions occur in lakes dominated by all hydrologic inputs (precipitation, surface inflow, and groundwater) and outputs (evaporation, surface outflow, and groundwater), though not all possible input/output combinations produce dilute conditions. Of the nine possible hydrologic lake subtypes (three input by three output fluxes), dilute conditions have been reported in six lake subtypes, not just the traditional seepage and drainage lakes typically suggested in the literature. When annual water balance data are plotted on a “Piper-type” graph, these six hydrologic lake subtypes are grouped into three hydrologic clusters emphasizing specific hydrologic landscape characteristics and limiting conditions hydrology may impose on naturally dilute lakes. Implications of such a classification system and possible future research questions are discussed.

中文翻译：

---

稀薄湖泊的水文分类

稀释色淀，此处定义为电导率≤25 µS cm ^-1，在文化上被认为是宝贵的水和娱乐资源；在生物学上，作为独特的生态系统；在科学上，作为气候变化的哨兵。然而，研究和兴趣已经分散到许多专注于各种问题的学科，使得水文比较有些困难。在这里，使用年度水平衡数据，根据占主导地位的水文输入和输出，将 15 个稀释湖泊细分为湖泊亚型。稀释条件出现在以所有水文输入（降水、地表流入和地下水）和输出（蒸发、地表流出和地下水）为主的湖泊中，尽管并非所有可能的输入/输出组合都会产生稀释条件。在九个可能的水文湖泊亚型中（三个输入，三个输出通量），在六个湖泊亚型中报告了稀释条件，不仅仅是文献中通常提到的传统渗漏湖和排水湖。当年度水平衡数据绘制在“派珀型”图上时，这六个水文湖泊亚型被分为三个水文集群，强调特定的水文景观特征和水文可能对自然稀释湖泊施加的限制条件。讨论了这种分类系统的含义和未来可能的研究问题.