Thermal Regime and Water Balance of Two Tropical High-Mountain Lakes in the Nevado de Toluca Volcano, Mexico

High-mountain lakes are unique ecosystems with very few examples at tropical latitudes for experimentation. A two-year, high-frequency meteorological and water-column dataset from the crater of Nevado de Toluca volcano, in Mexico, an altitude about 4200 m above sea level, allowed study temporal changes thermal structure, water balance Lakes El Sol La Luna, separated by 500 a lava dome. Annual fluctuations level calculations annual variability showed that accumulated almost four times less rainfall than expected. Furthermore, temperature measured depth 15 cm bottom sediments Lake revealed unexpected warming during cold season. Estimated heat fluxes through lake were 0.3 W m−2 winter 0.1 rest year. Although hydrometeorological regime high-mountain remains relatively poorly understood, our results significantly improve understanding these complex processes stratification mixing ecosystems.