Lab Exam 4 Flashcards
(48 cards)
What does a secchi disk measure and how is it used?
It measures tubidity. You lower the secchi disk into the water until you can’t see it and take a measurement. Then you bring it up until you can just make it out and then you record the measurement. Then you calculate out the measurements to get your secchi transparency and depth of euphotic zone
What causes hardness? What is the difference between total hardness and calcium hardness?
Hardness is caused by the dissolution of minerals containing calcium and magnesium. Total hardness is calcium AND magnesium where calcium hardness just measures calcium content.
Compare turbidity, nutrients, and TDS of the water at Rabbit Trail quarry pond and Rush Creek. Which has higher Turbidity, nutrients, and TDS
Rush creek has higher turbidity and nutrients due to run off and fertilizer from farms in the area. The Quarry would be higher in Total Dissolved Solids due to the fact that groundwater is surrounded by sandstone rock and since it is a sitting pond, all it does is dissolve those rocks.
What was quarried at Rabbit Trail Quarry?
Sandstone-for the quartz sand
What is dissolved oxygen and why is it important?
Dissolved oxygen is the amount of 02 dissolved in the water. D.O. can tell us the health of a body of water. Moderate to high level is healthy with varied populations, while a low D.O. level means a polluted stream with fewer species which are less desirable.
What did we use to obtain a water sample from the Fox River?
Kemmerer Sampler
How do you measure D.O.
Using a hach field kit
Explain how an increase in nutrients in a body of water can result in a decrease in dissolved oxygen.
Increased nutrients can cause an algae bloom. When the algae die, the decomposition of the algae can cause a decrease in D.O. which then affects fish and other animal life and recreational and domestic use
What is the name of the Glacial Lake that once covered this area of the state?
Glacial Lake Oshkosh
We discussed 3 types of glacial deposits on the field trip- Glacial till, glacial lake sediments, and glacial outwash. Be able to describe these sediments in terms of their dominant grain size and sorting.
Glacial Till: deposited directly by glaciers, not sorted by wind or water; poorly sorted; clay-gravel size
Glacial Outwash: deposited by running water from a melting glacier; moderately sorted; sand-gravel size
Glacial Lake Sediment: deposited on a lake bottom after being transported by glacial meltwater river- Well sorted; clay-silt size.
Explain why the Oshkosh Area is so flat
Because of the glacial lake that was once here
What type of glacial sediments are underneath the landfill? Why was the landfill sited on these deposits?
Lake Clay; because clay has a low permeability making it hard to contaminate groundwater, etc.
what are the 2 sources of D.O. in surface water
Photosynthesis and diffusion from the atmosphere
Describe the course of the creek (straight or meandering at both stops.
The course of the creek meanders
Based on your analysis of the Fox River water, know the source of each of the following dissolved chemicals and know their relative abundances
1) Total Hardness
2) Calcium Hardness
3) Nitrogen
4) Phosphorus
5) Chloride
Abundance from Most- Least
Total Hardness (calcium and Magnesium-dolomite rock)
Calcium Hardness (calcium-dolomite rock)
Chloride (Road salt)
Nitrogen (fertilizer, farmers fields)
Phosphorous (fertilizers, farmers fields)
Consider the turbidity and nutrient content of Rush Creek—are they high or low?
Both were turbid, stop 2 moreso. There are high nutrients in the water due to runoff.
In what ways might the house at stop 2 affect water quality in Rush Creek
It could have septic problems and fertilizer run off
How does temperature affect dissolved oxygen?
Dissolved gases are more soluble in cold water. As temp decreases, the amount of oxygen that water can hold increases
What is turbidity and how is it related to the depth at which plants can grow?
Turbidity is the amount of suspended solids in a body of water. If water is turbid, depth of light penetration decreases causing a decrease in depth of the zone of plant growth.
What is a titration used for? Explain how it works.
Titration determines chemical concentration by measuring the volume of a titrant solution that is required to change the color of the sample. First you take a sample of a desired size in a Erlenmeyer flask, then you pump the mechanism to get the automatic burette to zero and then begin dripping the titration into the sample. You do this until it turns the desired color and take a reading of how much solution you added to the sample.
Describe the bottom sediment found at the bottom of the Fox River
dark brown, fine grained, leaves and organic matter
What type of glacial sediment did we see in the drumlins?
Horicon till
How is D.O. depleted?
respiration of organisms and decomposition of organic matter
Describe how wetlands affect the amount of sediment and nutrients in water
Water slows in wetlands, deposits its load in the wetland allowing water quality to improve. This is important for agriculture. It decreases the turbidity of water leaving the wetland. Summer: wetlands take in nutrients. Fall: Nutrients go into the system. Spring: Nutrients are flushed out.
