misleading photos

[breakingnews]

What are these photos? Aerial perspectives of a river system?













No, sir. They are closeups of the disgusting algae buildup along the edge of a local wharf. Is this a normal thing? I have no idea. All I know is that the mass is pretty solid, though I don't know if you could step on it.

[duck_duck]

I wonder if it comes alive at night and snatches people off of the wharf and eats them.

[TheMercenary]

Phosphates, fertilizers, pollutants, common on the nations waterways.

[Elspode]

Interesting how the laws of fluid dynamics work much the same at vastly different scales, though.

[HungLikeJesus]

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

Phosphates, fertilizers, pollutants, common on the nations waterways.

Yes, but you could turn this into ethanol and save some corn for eating.

[King]

It's called eutrophication. Too much fertiliser is spread on fields, and when it rains, the nutrients of the fertiliser are washed away (leaching). They are carried into rivers and lakes and promote algal growth. It's usually nitrogen that's the main problem, I think. This means that light can't reach the plants at the bottom of the river/lake, and so they die. Also, there is so much algae growing that it has to compete for space, and so some dies and falls to the bottom. All the dead plant matter means lots of food for bacteria, which thrive, and then take up all the oxygen in the water, and eventually the rest of the life in the water dies, along with animals that rely on it for food. It's a huge ecological problem, and it can take years to redress the balance.

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by King

It's called eutrophication. Too much fertiliser is spread on fields, and when it rains, the nutrients of the fertiliser are washed away (leaching). They are carried into rivers and lakes and promote algal growth. It's usually nitrogen that's the main problem, I think. This means that light can't reach the plants at the bottom of the river/lake, and so they die. Also, there is so much algae growing that it has to compete for space, and so some dies and falls to the bottom. All the dead plant matter means lots of food for bacteria, which thrive, and then take up all the oxygen in the water, and eventually the rest of the life in the water dies, along with animals that rely on it for food. It's a huge ecological problem, and it can take years to redress the balance.

We have two large ponds in our neighborhood. We had a similar problem. We ended up hiring a group called The Pond Doctors who came up and sprayed some EPA approved stuff that killed off the alge and now are ponds are much healthier. The fish are thriving.

[King]

It's good that you were able to sort that out so quickly. My biology teacher told us about a lake at York University, where they tried to introduce a bunch of new plant species, and algae just took over. He said it took about twenty years to fix.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Not to worry, global warming will melt the ice and spawn horrendous storms that will flush the rivers clean.... except for the houses and stuff.

Oh, and the other places the rivers and ponds will dry up, killing the algae.

Nice pics, bn.

[Rkstein]

What is so bad about algae? It is in the fungus family but it is a living thing too. And if I am not mistaking it hardens over time and doesnt even cause sickness. ::shrug::