Today is the first day of our two week journey through out the North Eastern United States. We departed from the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey in Galloway, New Jersey and headed for Rickett's Glen State Park in Pennsylvania.
My classmate Avery and I getting ready to leave for our trip.
On our way to Rickett's Glen, we stopped to discuss Lake Jean in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. Lake Jean is of interest because it suffers from low pH levels. The Ecological Society of America explains, "pH is a scale that measures how acidic or basic a chemical is and ranges from 0-14 with 7 being neutral, below 7 acidic, and above 7 basic. The chart below may better explain the concept.
Typically, water that has a pH reading of 0 to 6.9 is acidic while water with a pH of 7.1 to 14 is basic or alkaline. In 2003, a Biologist Report from the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commision revealed that the pH level in Lake Jean was a disturbing 4.3. This recording makes Pennsylvania have some of the most acidic rain in the country.
The leading cause of this unusual pH level is acid deposition, or more commonly known as acid rain. The Chart below shows that similarly to the water of Lake Jean, the pH level of rainfall in Pennsylvania is also about 4.3.
Chart 2 shows that a healthy rainfall in Pennsylvania would be around 5.5. A pH level of 4.3 may not seem that different from a level of 5.5, a change of one whole number in the pH equals a tenfold change in the amount of acidity.
The acid deposition that is disrupting Lake Jean's pH levels can be attributed to the large amount of fossil fuels, such as coal or gasoline, that are burned. When fossil fuels are burned, they release large amounts of sulfur and nitrogen. When these pollutants are mixed with moisture from the clouds and sunlight, sulfuric and nitric acid are formed.
There pollutants being present in the rain makes it acidic. Chart 3 may help in understanding the formation of acid rain.
Given that Pennsylvania is the fourth leading coal producing state and provides nearly 42,000 direct and indirect jobs, it is safe to say that the pollution from this industry is not disappearing anytime soon.
Coupled with their reliance on coal, Pennsylvania is also reliant on petroleum, using 242.6 million barrels in 2010. Pennsylvania's s dependency on burning fossil fuels is certainly not helping to end the acid rain problem of Lake Jean. We finally made it to to Rickett's Glen and started on our hike.
Each of the white marks shown in the picture above indicates a waterfall being present. As you can see, there are quite a few! This trail has over 20 water falls, all varying in size.
My classmate Avery and I at one of the falls.
The tallest water fall on our hike, and a psychotic man walking on a fallen tree over the falls.
My classmates and I in a nook underneath one of the falls.
While hiking, we noticed that soil erosion was present along the trail. There are five factors that contribute to soil erosion.
While hiking, we noticed that soil erosion was present along the trail. There are five factors that contribute to soil erosion.
- Anthropogenics: Soil erosion is a naturally occuring process. However, since humans have become involved, soil erosion has increased at a rate of 10 to 15 times. The leading cause of man-made erosion is agriculture with construction and mining coming in at second and third.
- Hydraulic: The different types of flow that come from different forms of water contribute to soil erosion. Rain, floods, and subsurface water are some water sources that contribute.
- Wind: Wind is capable of moving soil long distances. The strength of winds determines how much this can factor into soil erosion.
- Biotic: The soil itself has physical features that can contribute to soil erosion.
5. Climate
Through out of hike, we also saw deer exclusion sites. White-tail deer are over populated in the North East and their grazing can be detrimental. The goal of the exclusion sites in Rickett's Glen is to see what vegetation in that area would be like without the presence of deer grazing.
We concluded our hike and headed back to our camp site.
Cites used in this post:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15993162/ns/us_news-environment/t/humans-said-have-huge-impact-erosion/
http://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/420/420-254/420-254.html
http://www.esa.org/education_diversity/pdfDocs/aciddeposition.pdf
http://www.fishandboat.com/images/fisheries/afm/2003/4_06-12jean.htm
http://www.fish.state.pa.us/anglerboater/2001/jf2001/wpollbas.htm
http://www.fish.state.pa.us/anglerboater/2001/jf2001/wpollbas.htm
http://www.pacoalassn.com/images/stories/coaldatabook2011draftrev7.pdf
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