We continued our work from the previous year's trip on the anchialine pond studies.
Anchialine ponds are land-locked, mixohaline (brackish) bodies of water that are located close to shorelines and connected to the sea only through underground caves, tunnels or fissures.
Our chemistry and biological data from last year were preliminary and we needed more sensitive measurements since nutrient levels were lower than we had expected (ppb). In addition, the nutrient levels fluctuate due to tidal influences. We, therefore, determined not only to do sampling over a spatial grid from near the coast to inland areas where the groundwater would be the pool's major constituent, but also to sample a few ponds at regular time intervals over a 25 hour period (a diel study).
Director Sheila Frankel coordinating the duties of the students.
Students doing nutrient analysis in the forground and doing filtering for biology samples in the background (with University of Southern Maine's Professor Lisa Moore, PhD '96).
Janet Chuang, our TA extraordinaire.
The University of Hawaii's Professor Kaeo Duarte (PhD '02) and MIT's Professor Harry Hemond (PhD '77) reviewing data on a laptop.
You can even do chemistry on the beach.
Instructor Donald Frankel (PhD, '74) taking a breather.