Seneca Lake Research Paper

Introduction: The eleven Finger Lakes were created from ancient rivers that originated from Canada that flowed across the western part of New York. A wide chain of comparatively fragile rocks lay east and west where the Ontario and Mohawk valleys are now. The tributaries from Canada “cut down faster and captured, or ‘beheaded,’ the rocks” because they were much more fragile. This erosion developed the depressions that initiated the Ontario and Mohawk valleys (Fairchild, 165). When the last glacier retreated approximately around 10,000 years ago, it left debris, which blocked the southwestward flow of these rivers. With nowhere for the water to go, the water from the glaciers occupied the depressions creating the Finger Lakes (fingerlakesmuseum,
Seneca lake has only frozen over only 9 recorded times and provides an optimal habitat for Lake Trout making it an ideal spot for fishing.Seneca’s water temperature stays reasonably constant throughout the seasons. This creates a microclimate of cool, stable air making Seneca and the surrounding area land perfect for agriculture (Conheady, 1).
Since then the region has stayed basically the same as we see it today.
The rock surface under the lake is buried deeply. Geophysical studies in both Watkins Glen and Geneva show that a wide mass of glacial deposits fills the rock valley which forms Seneca Lake. There are as much as 150-200 meters in each basin of glacial-lake sediments. This entire mass was in place by 12,000 years ago. At the same time, deltas have been built at several different locations along the shore and a large amount of stream deposits have been poured in to form both the alluvial fans (Halfman, 5).
One of Seneca’s most notable resources is salt, despite being a freshwater lake. Salt deposits lay embedded thousands of feet underneath the bedrock of the lake. This deposit is so enormous it stretches from Albany to parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Southern Canada, and all of Michigan (Conheady,
To increase are understanding of Seneca Lake’s biotic and abiotic characteristics we studied the plankton composition, water chemistry, the temperature to depth relationship, and the sediment piston core of the lake.

Methods:
Plankton:
First we boarded the William Scandling, which is a 65-foot steel hulled research vessel. It uses a 200-horse power GM diesel that drives the single screw as well a generator to provide electrical power. We then took two samples of water using an 83 micron mesh size plankton net. The first sample we took was in shallow edge of the lake and the second sample was taken in the center where the water is deeper. We then took 10 drops of sample recorded the number of different species on a slide under a microscope.
Water Samples:
We gathered and analyzed water samples from different depths from different depths. This was recorded by using a system of bottles attached to a winch. A stopper at each of end of the bottles are pulled back and attached to a closing mechanism. The cable was lowered to the proper depth then a messenger was sent down the cable to trigger the closing mechanism and the enclosed sample then was returned to the surface.
Sediment Piston