Today we continued running mixed gas samples through the gas chromatograph (GC). We finished analyzing for carbon dioxide by early afternoon, which meant we could switch the machine over to analyzing for methane. Although many GC machines will analyze for both gases at the same time, this one does not do that well. Kim needed to switch detectors, which required her to install a different connector.
The different connector, called a pigtail, was needed to measure methane in our gas samples. This pigtail (center left in the picture) needs small hands and small wrenches to install.
Finding Methane
We started to analyze for methane from gas samples that Kim collected back in March. When a big peak first popped up on the computer screen, Kim exclaimed: "I knew there was methane emitted in the winter!" She went to Kevo once a month during the winter to collect gas samples. Given the difficulty of collecting samples in wetlands that are cold and frozen, not much work has been done to analyze gases that come off wetlands during winter months. As Kim is finding, there is a methane component in winter gas emissions.
Although the methane peaks being recorded for the samples were not nearly as consistent as the carbon dioxide peaks recorded, I was particularly interested to see a small peak from an initial gas sample when the cap was first put on the collar, then a large peak from the same collar after the cap had been on for 20 minutes. This meant that methane had indeed built up under the cap in the 20 minutes, showing that there was a significant emission of methane from that collar at that particular time.
The small peak on the left is from the T0, or Time 0 gas sample for a collar after the cap is put on. The larger peak on the right is from the T1, or Time 1 sample, taken after the cap has been on the collar for 20 minutes.
This pattern was not at all consistent however. Sometimes the peaks were so small they were barely noticeable, and sometimes there were many small peaks in a row. I also noted a couple of times that the Time 0 peak was much larger than the Time 1 peak, meaning that there was more methane when the cap was first put on than there was after 20 minutes. This did not make sense to me until Kim explained that it is easy to jiggle the collar when you are installing the cap, which "burps" the methane immediately, giving the high initial reading. This essentially becomes an invalid sample – an "oops oh darn" sample. You try to avoid this, but it happens in field science! Kim is really looking forward to getting the laser for fieldwork. As the laser analyzes the gas on the spot, you know right away when you have "burped" the collar, so you can come back a little later to try to get a valid measurement from that collar.
Landscape Lab
While wandering the halls of METLA, I came across a project called the Landscape Lab that ran from 2004-2007. It was a large multi-discipline project, and I think it interested me as it was attempting to quantify the value of natural areas to tourism, and to determine ways to minimize the impacts of tourism on the natural environment.
Poster for the Landscape Lab project. The Finns really do seem to appreciate the natural areas in their country.
Finding this project reinforced my experience so far in Finland that many people use natural areas, see the value in natural areas, and, as this project indicates, actively seek ways to protect natural areas for use and enjoyment into the future.