EESS talk on "Invasion of the Killer Quaggas: Coming to a Lake Near You?"
Event details
| Date | 05.03.2019 |
| Hour | 12:15 › 13:00 |
| Speaker | Dr Cary D. Troy, Associate professor, Hydraulic and Hydrologic Engineering, Purdue University, Lyles School of Civil Engineering, USA - is an Associate Professor at Purdue University whose research focuses on the physics of large lakes, particularly Lake Michigan. Dr. Troy’s research interests range from turbulence and mixing to long-term coastline evolution, and Dr. Troy’s lab conducts laboratory experiments, field observations and numerical modeling in a quest to understand these processes. Dr. Troy obtained his B.S. from the University of Illinois, and completed his M.S. and Ph.D. at Stanford University, where he studied internal waves in the Environmental Fluid Mechanics Laboratory. Dr. Troy also teaches numerous undergraduate and graduate courses on a wide range of topics including elementary and environmental fluid mechanics, basic water engineering, coastal engineering, transport and mixing in surface waters, and physical limnology. |
| Location | |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
Abstract:
This talk explores the impacts of invasive quagga mussels in Lake Michigan (USA), and highlights the importance of understanding turbulent mixing in quantifying their effect on aquatic ecosystems. The quagga mussel (dreissena bugensis), native to the Dneiper River in Ukraine, first arrived in the Laurentian Great Lakes in 1989, most likely arriving as a stowaway in cargo ship ballast water. By 1998, quagga mussels had spread to Lake Michigan, and lake ecosystem will likely never be the same. The density of quagga mussels in Lake Michigan now exceeds 105 mussels/m2 on much of the lake bottom, and with each mussel filtering ~2 liters of water per day to feed, the effects on the ecosystem have been dramatic for almost all trophic levels of the food web. A key ingredient to the impact of invasive quagga mussels is the role that turbulent mixing plays in the delivery of material to the lake bed. This is particularly true in the deeper waters of very large lakes, where turbulence is weak. When water column turbulence is weak, quagga mussels suffer from a delivery limitation, which limits their impact; conversely, periods of energetic mixing allow mussels to clear the water column effectively. Recent measurements by our team have quantified turbulent mixing in the deep waters of Lake Michigan, and these measurements show profound seasonal difference in turbulent mixing, with important consequences for the seasonality of mussel impacts. The results also highlight important differences between the mixing of very large lakes such as Lake Michigan and other large lakes over the world. Meanwhile, the spread of quagga mussels worldwide continues unabated, leaving citizens, lake managers, and scientists around the world wondering: is our lake next?
This talk explores the impacts of invasive quagga mussels in Lake Michigan (USA), and highlights the importance of understanding turbulent mixing in quantifying their effect on aquatic ecosystems. The quagga mussel (dreissena bugensis), native to the Dneiper River in Ukraine, first arrived in the Laurentian Great Lakes in 1989, most likely arriving as a stowaway in cargo ship ballast water. By 1998, quagga mussels had spread to Lake Michigan, and lake ecosystem will likely never be the same. The density of quagga mussels in Lake Michigan now exceeds 105 mussels/m2 on much of the lake bottom, and with each mussel filtering ~2 liters of water per day to feed, the effects on the ecosystem have been dramatic for almost all trophic levels of the food web. A key ingredient to the impact of invasive quagga mussels is the role that turbulent mixing plays in the delivery of material to the lake bed. This is particularly true in the deeper waters of very large lakes, where turbulence is weak. When water column turbulence is weak, quagga mussels suffer from a delivery limitation, which limits their impact; conversely, periods of energetic mixing allow mussels to clear the water column effectively. Recent measurements by our team have quantified turbulent mixing in the deep waters of Lake Michigan, and these measurements show profound seasonal difference in turbulent mixing, with important consequences for the seasonality of mussel impacts. The results also highlight important differences between the mixing of very large lakes such as Lake Michigan and other large lakes over the world. Meanwhile, the spread of quagga mussels worldwide continues unabated, leaving citizens, lake managers, and scientists around the world wondering: is our lake next?
Practical information
- General public
- Free
- This event is internal
Organizer
- EESS - IIE
Contact
- Prof. Johny A. Wüest, APHYS