The image above shows some of the gear we have made and used for more that 12 years in sampling benthoic sediments in shallow lakes then analyzing the core for diatom populations. Diatom populations provide insights into distant past environmental conditions.
We began the process associated with a community request in 2003 for the Experiential Science 11 class to explore the reasons Cowley Lake had dropped almost a meter over a three year period. One strategy the class explored was to examine core sediments taken from shallow reaches of the lake to see if there were layers of terrestrial vegetation indicating the lake had been lower in the past. This in-turn lead to many other associated studies: A bathometric survey of the lake, water quality studies at different seasons including DO, turbidity, pH, nitrates in solution and conductivity have been systemically conducted over an eleven year
We began the process associated with a community request in 2003 to explore the reasons Cowley Lake had dropped almost a meter over a three year period. One strategy was to examine core sediments taken from shallow reaches of the lake to see if there were layers of terrestrial vegetation indicating the lake had been lower in the past. Cowley lake had been a river at the early stages of deglaciation following the last ice age then became a lake following a rerouting of the drainage from the southern lakes. . We wanted to extract a core from 4 to 5 meters of sediment to be able to study this period from the last ice age. We wanted to develop a process that allowed us to sample when the lake was frozen.
Construction and materials.
three sections of 2 inch galvanized EMT
2 inch male and female black pipe couplings
three 1 inch by 6 foot black pipe
one 6 inch section of 3 inch black pipe
three 12 inch sections of 1 1/2 inch black pipe
three 8 inch sections of 5/16 round bar
three 2" ratchet straps,
three 40 inch sections of 3/8 static line for anchors
three sections 60 inches of 1/2 inch tubular webbing for prussic knots
We began the process associated with a community request in 2003 for the Experiential Science 11 class to explore the reasons Cowley Lake had dropped almost a meter over a three year period. One strategy the class explored was to examine core sediments taken from shallow reaches of the lake to see if there were layers of terrestrial vegetation indicating the lake had been lower in the past. This in-turn lead to many other associated studies: A bathometric survey of the lake, water quality studies at different seasons including DO, turbidity, pH, nitrates in solution and conductivity have been systemically conducted over an eleven year
We began the process associated with a community request in 2003 to explore the reasons Cowley Lake had dropped almost a meter over a three year period. One strategy was to examine core sediments taken from shallow reaches of the lake to see if there were layers of terrestrial vegetation indicating the lake had been lower in the past. Cowley lake had been a river at the early stages of deglaciation following the last ice age then became a lake following a rerouting of the drainage from the southern lakes. . We wanted to extract a core from 4 to 5 meters of sediment to be able to study this period from the last ice age. We wanted to develop a process that allowed us to sample when the lake was frozen.
Construction and materials.
three sections of 2 inch galvanized EMT
2 inch male and female black pipe couplings
three 1 inch by 6 foot black pipe
one 6 inch section of 3 inch black pipe
three 12 inch sections of 1 1/2 inch black pipe
three 8 inch sections of 5/16 round bar
three 2" ratchet straps,
three 40 inch sections of 3/8 static line for anchors
three sections 60 inches of 1/2 inch tubular webbing for prussic knots
- Weld the female 2 inc coupling on the ends of two of the EMT pipes
- Weld the male 2 in couplings on one pie with the female coupling and the other on the pipe with no coupling.
- drill and tap the 1 1/2 pipes near one end for 5/16 bolts, cut the ends of these pipes at about 60 degrees
- make a tripod head using the 4 in pipe and weld, on at about 30 degrees, the 1 1/2 pipe sections,
- the 1' black pipe should slide into the 1 1/2 pipe and be held in place by the 5/16 bolts
- This can assembled and disassembled to be moved to the sample site