Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 09/06/2013 - 14:00

Hi Mr. Taterka - I was looking at your photos from Lake Toolik and I also read about the effects of thawing permafrost. I was wondering, does the sunlight have any effect on the water in the lake? I know that it is not frozen but I was curious if there was a change in the release of carbon dioxide even though the water is not frozen.

Christine Mountain

Anonymous

Christine -
Sunlight has a huge effect on the lake. It controls the growth of microbes which digest dissolved carbon and produce CO2, and of course the growth of plants and algae too. There's a lot of work going on to learn about the effect of sun on growth rates in the lake, and trying to relate that to production of CO2.
- Mr. T