Current Research
A Baseline Limnology Study of Star Lake,
a Non-acidic Lake in the Northwestern Adirondacks.
Tenth Annual Conference on the Adirondacks of the
Adirondack Research Consortium to be held at the Hotel Saranac
at Saranac Lake, May 28-29, 2003.
James M.Wolfe (presenter),
Elizabeth Addison, Mark
Brulotte, Catherine Constantine,
Russell Estes, William Hutchings, Sonya
Marthai, Jody
Ostroski, Elizabeth
Schuessler, Andrea
Smith, Emily Ulery.
Department of Biology,
Houghton College, Houghton, N.Y. 14744.
A baseline limnology study of Star Lake
adjacent to Houghton’s Star Lake campus was performed from
September 2001 to April 2003.
Star Lake is one of a select group of Adirondack lakes
which are alkaline (pH = 7.4) and supports a significant
population of trout. In
addition, the
hamlet of Star lake depends on the lake as a source for its
municipal water supply.
The lake has no surface outlets or inlets and has a reported
retention time of 2.69 years. Maximum depth is 20 m with a volume of 5,300,000 cubic
meters. The
shoreline (7.40 km) is owned by private landowners.
The lake was stratified in September 2001 and 2002 with a
thermocline at 9 meters and low oxygen levels in the hypolimnion.
Alkalinity (10 mg/L calcium carbonate) and hardness (as
15 mg/L calcium carbonate) values reflect the contribution of
groundwater through adjacent calcareous sands.
Good water clarity (Secchi depths of 4-7 m) and low
amounts of phytoplankton reflect the excellent water quality.
Phosphorus and fecal coliform readings also indicate an
oligotrophic status.
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