100 YEARS OF DIRT.

The photo to the left shows two students, Tyler and Becky, taking soil samples from the bottom of Spectacle Pond. Tyler and Becky are students in the Semester of Environmental Science at the Marine Biological Lab in Woods Hole, MA. They are collecting sediment cores and water samples from ponds around the area. They are testing the effects of acid rain over time in order to determine if there has been an improvement in lake quality since the Clean Air Act passed. Lake quality is determined by pH, alkalinity, temperature and metal content (lead, copper, chromium, zinc and iron). By comparing current data with data from the 80’s and 90’s they can see what sort of changes have occurred over time.

Tyler and Becky showed up at Camp Burgess to test the waters, so Tara and I took these two budding scientists out in the big canoe. Together we all paddled our way across the pond. It took a few tries to get a good sample, but we finally came up with the core seen to the left. Held inside the tube, in chronological order, is over 100 years of sediment!

By: Leia Crosby, Outdoor Education Director