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Hidden beneath the surface
The Washington Post ^ | 6-20-23 | Sarah Kaplan , Simon Ducroquet , Bonnie Jo Mount , Frank Hulley-Jones and Emily Wright

Posted on 07/05/2023 5:21:42 PM PDT by AirForceVet1988

Locals used to say that Crawford Lake was bottomless. Its waters ran deeper than people could reach. Anything that dropped into the basin, it seemed, would fall till the end of time.

Yet when scientists finally looked into the lake’s murky depths, they found not a void, but a mirror. Each line is a sediment layer.

2020

2010

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Locals used to say that Crawford Lake was bottomless. Its waters ran deeper than people could reach. Anything that dropped into the basin, it seemed, would fall till the end of time.

Yet when scientists finally looked into the lake’s murky depths, they found not a void, but a mirror.

For centuries beyond memory, Crawford Lake has quietly absorbed signs of change from the surface world.

Whatever fell into the water would drift down to the lake floor. Specks of soot, Crop pollen, Logging debris.

There, it was permanently preserved in layers of mud.

Digging into these sediments, scientists have uncovered a record of more than a thousand years of history. It shows — perhaps more than any other place on Earth — that humans have transformed the planet’s chemistry and climate at a pace never seen before.

These changes are so fundamental, many scientists believe they mark a new chapter in geologic time: The Anthropocene.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: anthropocene; canada; environment; lake
What an awesome place to pull core samples from. Much more promising than Oak Island has been so far.
1 posted on 07/05/2023 5:21:42 PM PDT by AirForceVet1988
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To: AirForceVet1988
Interesting. But the tone of the article is 100% Gaia earthy-crunchy.

2 posted on 07/05/2023 5:37:03 PM PDT by Governor Dinwiddie (LORD, grant thy people grace to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil.)
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To: Governor Dinwiddie

Not sure what earthy-crunchy means, but I haven’t got any problem with Gaia. The Earth is a wonderful place that I’d like to see more of before it’s gone.


3 posted on 07/05/2023 5:55:48 PM PDT by AirForceVet1988 ("As the pattern gets more intricate and subtle, being swept along is no longer enough.")
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To: Governor Dinwiddie

Seemed interesting, but the artsy gimmicks and the Gaia worship kept me from getting very far into the article.


4 posted on 07/05/2023 6:10:58 PM PDT by Cincinnatus.45-70 (What do DemocRats enjoy more than a truckload of dead babies? Unloading them with a pitchfork!)
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To: AirForceVet1988
An aerial view of Crawford Lake in Canada. Layers of sediment at its bottom hold a record of more than a thousand years of history.


5 posted on 07/05/2023 6:16:50 PM PDT by texas booster (Join FreeRepublic's Folding@Home team (Team # 36120) Cure Alzheimer's!)
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To: Cincinnatus.45-70

Gaia worship ?


6 posted on 07/05/2023 6:18:13 PM PDT by AirForceVet1988 ("As the pattern gets more intricate and subtle, being swept along is no longer enough.")
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To: Governor Dinwiddie
Crawford Lake developed thousands of years ago, as water filled a sinkhole in the limestone cliffs of Southern Ontario.


7 posted on 07/05/2023 6:19:09 PM PDT by texas booster (Join FreeRepublic's Folding@Home team (Team # 36120) Cure Alzheimer's!)
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To: texas booster

Looks like any number of Kettle Lakes left over from the last glacial episode some 15,000 years ago. All of which have been getting filled in with sediment over that time period.

We used to play at one as a kid. It was peat bog all around the edge and you could never get to the actual water as we would get too scared we would fall through the floating peat. We’d take a stick and when it poked all the way through the peat and into the water below we knew we were getting close.

Went back to it a few summers ago after being away for 30 years and you could walk a lot farther out on top of the lake. I suppose in another 100 years the peat will completely cover the water.


8 posted on 07/05/2023 6:26:10 PM PDT by 21twelve (Ever Vigilant. Never Fearful.)
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To: AirForceVet1988

So, how deep is it actually?
Tried to read the article but the source freezes up my antique cell phone.


9 posted on 07/05/2023 6:44:05 PM PDT by sjmjax
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To: AirForceVet1988

I think quite a few FReepers have had boating accidents there in which firearms were lost.


10 posted on 07/05/2023 6:46:45 PM PDT by NEMDF
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To: AirForceVet1988
"The Earth is a wonderful place that I’d like to see more of before it’s gone."

I don't know your age but not to worry. You will see as much of earth as your travels take you before you are gone.

11 posted on 07/05/2023 6:49:03 PM PDT by mosaicwolf
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To: 21twelve
I had not heard of these lakes called kettle lakes. Even marrying a Minnesota babe, I hadn't heard of these. Neat.

A kettle lake, kettle pond, kettle hole or pothole is a depression or hole in an outwash plain formed by retreating glaciers or draining floodwaters. The kettles are formed as a result of blocks of dead ice left behind by retreating glaciers, which become surrounded by sediment deposited by meltwater streams as there is increased friction. The ice becomes buried in the sediment and when the ice melts, a depression is left called a kettle hole, creating a dimpled appearance on the outwash plain.

Lakes often fill these kettles; these are called kettle hole lakes. Another source is the sudden drainage of an ice-dammed lake. When the block melts, the hole it leaves behind is a kettle. As the ice melts, ramparts can form around the edge of the kettle hole. The lakes that fill these holes are seldom more than 10 m (33 ft) deep and eventually fill with sediment. In acid conditions, a kettle bog may form but in alkaline conditions, it will be kettle peatland. Kettle lakes are found in all glacial areas.

12 posted on 07/05/2023 7:03:02 PM PDT by texas booster (Join FreeRepublic's Folding@Home team (Team # 36120) Cure Alzheimer's!)
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To: AirForceVet1988

https://www.anthropocene-curriculum.org/the-geological-anthropocene/site/crawford-lake#


13 posted on 07/05/2023 7:10:14 PM PDT by smokingfrog ( sleep with one eye open (<o> --- )
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To: texas booster

I read some of the article (the formatting was difficult). I guess what makes this “bottomless” lake (78’ deep!) special somehow is that the bottom sediments are “fed” a constant stream of air from the porous limestone below it. (Not sure how that works.) They said it was beneficial to keep the sediment layers from decaying. But then I would think that the air would bring modern-day contaminants into the sediments?

The article was just a fluff piece with no science behind it. I imagine that they take samples and have all sorts of data regarding pesticides, heavy metals, etc. Of course an ash layer 30 feet deep and 6000 years ago (or whatever) would indicate a large volcanic eruption which resulted in more “climate change” than we’ll ever do.

Or - even 200 years ago. 1815, “The Year without Summer” due to the eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia.


14 posted on 07/05/2023 11:16:53 PM PDT by 21twelve (Ever Vigilant. Never Fearful.)
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To: sjmjax

It was difficult to read on a PC due to the format. This “bottomless” lake was 78’ deep IIRC.


15 posted on 07/05/2023 11:18:18 PM PDT by 21twelve (Ever Vigilant. Never Fearful.)
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To: AirForceVet1988

It took 5 people to write this story? Why ??


16 posted on 07/06/2023 4:39:54 AM PDT by Russ (I )
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To: AirForceVet1988

Go hug a tree and get back to us.


17 posted on 07/06/2023 4:41:38 AM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn...)
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To: AirForceVet1988

This is a deep topic.


18 posted on 07/06/2023 4:43:19 AM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn...)
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