Crampton Lake NEON - United States of America

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Basic Information
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Site Name
Crampton Lake NEON
Short name
CRAM
Country
United States of America
Web Address
https://www.neonscience.org/field-sites/cram
Site Manager
Peter Weishampel
Site Description
Crampton Lake (CRAM) is an aquatic NEON field site located in northern Wisconsin in Vilas County near the town of Land O' Lakes at the Wisconsin/Michigan border. The site is managed and hosted by The University of Notre Dame Environmental Research Center (UNDERC). Crampton Lake is a clearwater lake with a watershed of roughly 0.6 km2 (148 acres). It has an average depth of 4.6 m (15 ft.) and maximum depth of 19 m (62 ft.). The surface area of Crampton Lake is 0.25 km2 (61 acres). CRAM is surrounded by boggy mixed hardwood/conifer forests and is located in one of the most lake-abundant regions of the United States. CRAM is located within the Great Lakes Domain (D05), which includes northern Ohio, Michigan, northern Wisconsin, and parts of Indiana and Illinois. D05 also includes three terrestrial sites and one additional aquatic site.
Last modified
2025-09-17 13:44:31

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General Characteristics and Status
Site Status
Operational
Year Established
2015
Observed properties
Affiliation and Network Specific Information
Affiliation
GERI✔This site is a verified "GERI" member.
NEON✔ (CRAM)This site is a verified "NEON" member.
Photos
Snow at Crampton Lake
Snow at Crampton Lake
Buoy
Buoy
Geographic
View in site map
Centroid/Representative Coordinates

Latitude: 46.21111 Longitude: -89.47825

Size
ca. 100.00ha
Elevation (average)
509.00msl
Elevation (min)
501.00msl
Elevation (max)
538.00msl
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Site information [.json]

Centroid/representative coordinates [.shp] [.kml] [.geojson]
GEO-BON Biome
Fresh water lakes
Biome
Fresh Water Lakes
Ecosystem Type
Lakes
Fresh Water Lakes
Air Temperature: Average Annual
4.30°C
Precipitation Annual
794.00mm
Geology
The geology of Crampton is closely correlated with glaciation largely from the Laurentide Ice Sheet dating back 18,000 years. The bedrock materials that make up the geological formations of this site are migmatite, amphibolite and quartzofeldspathic gneiss [8]. Additionally, Crampton Lake is part of the White Mountain Plutonic-Volcanic Succession.
Vegetation
The Crampton Lake site is a part of the Northern Mesic Forest Ecosystem. It is considered a woody wetland, containing bogs, and sits within mixed deciduous/coniferous forests. Dominant vegetation types that surround the shores of CRAM include sugar maple (Acer saccharum), red maple (Acer rubrum), American beech (Fagus grandifolia), eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), paper birch (Betula papyrifera), aspen (populus tremuloides), and balsam fir (Abies balsamea).
Soils
The soils surrounding Crampton Lake are loamy, sandy and well-drained with moderate permeability rates. The taxonomic soil class for most of the site is Alfic Oxyaquic Fragiorthods. The official soil series that classifies the soils surrounding CRAM is known as the Gogebic Soil Series, named after Gogebic County, Michigan, which is due north of the CRAM site. The soils are sandy outwashes resulting from intense historic glaciation of this entire region. Soils at Crampton Lake have diminished capacity for cation exchange, which leads to acidification and, in turn, to the development of peat bogs, a characteristic feature surrounding the site.
Hydrology
Crampton Lake is a seepage lake, with no significant surface water inlet or outlet. It is primarily rain-fed, with some contribution from groundwater. There is a small, slowly flowing inlet from a bog on the northeast edge.

Crampton is generally completely ice covered from about late November until late March. It stratifies annually a few weeks after ice off. The mean depth of the metalimnion is roughly 4 to 9 meters. The lake destratifies in early November. Average secchi depth is around 4.5 meters.
Site Type
Platform
Design of Experimentation
mainly experimentation
Scale of Experimentation
catchment scale
Design of Observation
mainly observation
Scale of Observation
entire catchment
Permanent Power Supply
Yes
Accessible All Year
Yes
Permanent Operation
Yes