Three Lakes Association Interns

• Main Authors: Plus Finch, Creek Watershed Maps, Lauren Elbert, Samantha Fox
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Finch; Finch Creek; Carbonic acid
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.577.9611; http://3lakes.com/downloads/hsreports/2005SeasonalProfilesinTorchLake.pdf

As part of a project to build a predictive water quality model for Torch Lake, Three Lakes Association (TLA) volunteers and high school summer interns, measured dissolved oxygen, pH, temperature, and specific conductivity at 15 depths of Torch Lake’s north and south deep basins each month from August 2004 to September 2005. These measurements were made with the aid of sensors and a data logger in a Hydrolab Quanta. The seasonal variation of these measured values will used as part of a new predictive model (Lake 2K), a mathematical simulation of the phosphorus levels in Torch Lake. Oxygen concentrations ranged from about 8 mg/L (ppm) to 16 ppm in the top 5 meters of the north deep basin and from 10 mg/L to 14 ppm in the top 5.5 meters of the south deep basin. There was no evidence of anaerobic conditions near the bottom of the lake at either the north or south deep basin where the seasonal variation ranged from 8 to 10 ppm through the year, which provides evidence that sediment-bound phosphorus is not released from the sediment into the water column through an anoxic process. Temperature proved to be rather predictable. During the summer months, the surface water was warmer and colder during the winter months. Below the thermocline, the water was consistently cold, due to the lack of sun’s warmth. The pH also is consistent near the bottom. However, in the thermocline, it changes with the number of CO2 consuming plankton. CO2, when dissolved in water, creates carbonic acid, H2CO3. Therefore, when it is taken out, it is more basic, yielding the higher pH levels in the summer months when plankton numbers are at their highest. Lastly, specific conductivity, also the measure of impurities, was generally the same throughout. This shows that Torch is well mixed and clean from top to bottom. Finally, there is a section on the Finch Creek watershed showing its extent and land use.