Event Details

Environmental Studies Honors Presentation

Speaker:  Emma Squires ’24

Lakes are an important part of the global carbon cycle. Carbon from the terrestrial landscape washes into lakes where it can be processed and then emitted to the atmosphere, buried in the sediments, or washed downstream. During rain events, dissolved organic carbon (DOC)-enriched water is flushed from upper soil layers into lakes. For my honors project, I found that the lag period between a rain event and when DOC-enriched water entered the study lakes was less than 2 weeks and that average DOC was higher during wet years than dry years. Because climate change will cause increased annual precipitation in the Midwest, this could cause increased DOC in lakes which would lead to increased greenhouse gas release from lakes, creating a positive feedback loop. Furthermore, I found that the relationship between DOC and lake water color was weaker in the deepest layer of lakes.

Refreshments provided.