Tsic Lake Lab Report

The purpose of this experiment was to take the temperature, pH, secchi disk reading and to collect water samples to calculate the TSI, dissolved oxygen levels and phosphorus and nitrogen levels. These were all collected to determine whether or not the body of water sampled is experiencing turnover, which trophic state it falls into and the nutrient levels. The data included in this report is from the collective data that was collected during the experiment. The data included is presented in table or graph form, along with explanations of the results. Being able to calculate the TSI or determine if a lake is in turnover is useful in helping to determine the properties of the lake, such as if it has high or low plant growth or if it will have

Using the trophic state index, the weight of biomass can be determined (Carlson, 1976). The trophic status of a lake will help determine the nutrition and growth of a lake. There are three classifications: oligotrophic, mesotrophic and eutrophic (Carlson, 1976). A eutrophic lake has a high nutrient content and high plant growth, a mesotrophic is in the middle, and an oligotrophic lake has a low nutrient content and low plant growth (Carlson, 1976). Performing this lab and being able to determine the trophic status of the lake will allow for determination of how productive the lake

Looking at the shallow area, it can be seen that it has a TSI of 70.7, a nitrogen level of 0.2 and a phosphorus level of 0.01. This data can be found in Table 1. In Graph 1 (Temperature vs. Depth), there is a large temperature increase at a depth of 1.5 meters, reading at 23.7 degrees Celsius. The temperatures at the other four depths measured are fairly similar to each other, being read at 21.7-22.1 degrees Celsius. When looking at Graph 2 (Dissolved Oxygen vs. Depth), it shows that the shallowest area sampled, 0.5 meters has the lowest percentage at 77.4%. After that, the percentages go to 79.8, 80.3, 80.6 and 79.7