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36 Posts |
Posted - 09/15/2012 : 12:19 AM
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curious what affects how intense blue a glacial can be? i'm planning to go to wedgemount lake and noticed recent reports show the lake color is quite dull/grey compared to past 2-3 years ago (or earlier in july this year). i'm guessing some factors are:
-cloud cover
-sunlight (time of day, angle where it hits the water)
-% of glacial deposits vs water (how much water is being melted)
i wonder if there's anything else? what is different about this time of year this year? |
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Van, BC
Canada
2841 Posts |
Posted - 09/15/2012 : 01:04 AM
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Rock flour (from glacier runoff), plus nice bright sun = the best colours.
-Ryan
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Penhold, Alberta
Canada
2032 Posts |
Posted - 09/15/2012 : 03:24 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Ryan.in.yaletown
Rock flour (from glacier runoff), plus nice bright sun = the best colours.
-Ryan
That was my thoughts as well. |
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Burnaby, BC
Canada
1310 Posts |
Posted - 09/15/2012 : 07:21 AM
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Blue isn't so special - oceans are blue. Blue is the wavelength of light least absorbed by water.
The more rock flour a glacial lake has the greener it is, since rock flour absorbs blue more than green.
A lake may look colorless when you're sitting at a location where the reflection angle means a lot of the light you're seeing is being reflected off the surface of the lake, and not light going through the water of the lake. Or when it's cloudy so the light you're seeing is bouncing around a lot so you get more surface reflection than direct sun-lake-eyeball paths. Or there's so much silt and murk that all the colors are being significantly absorbed in the dirty water.
Or something like that  |
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521 Posts |
Posted - 09/15/2012 : 07:51 AM
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There can be other lake colors as well from glacial meltwater. I've seen browns, yellows and even a pinkish purple!
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Van, BC
Canada
2841 Posts |
Posted - 09/15/2012 : 07:59 AM
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Tu is correct - see this pic of Garibaldi Lake in the spring. Lake is more blue (more water from snow melt), and inlet is more turquoise (from glacial runoff) (there were no shadows on the lake at the time):
-Ryan |
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Trail blazin', backcountry bushwackin', pine huntin', photo takin', long winded story teller
3839 Posts |
Posted - 09/15/2012 : 09:17 AM
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| Why is Seton Lake green and Anderson Lake that connects to it the usual blue colour then? |
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521 Posts |
Posted - 09/15/2012 : 11:47 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Wildman
Why is Seton Lake green and Anderson Lake that connects to it the usual blue colour then?
I would tend to think that Whitecap Creek, which is glacial fed, is a major contributor to the sediment in Seton Lake making it appear green. Whitecap Creek feeds in between the 2 lakes. Other creeks could also be responsible. |
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683 Posts |
Posted - 09/15/2012 : 7:29 PM
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| i heard a research group talking about this one day in the mountains, apparently its quite a bit more complex. I suggested its because they put dye in the lakes for tourists. |
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 | Dru
Mountain Grammar Police
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Sardonic sandbagging scoundrel, Cascade Climbers lobotomized spraymeister, space blanket flyer, new millennium vulgarian betaboy and friend to all squids
Climbing, a mountain
Canada
∞ Posts |
Posted - 09/17/2012 : 09:04 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Wildman
Why is Seton Lake green and Anderson Lake that connects to it the usual blue colour then?
Lakes are settling ponds. Sediment concentration thus typically decreases from lake to lake downstream. Same deal in Nahatlatch Lakes. |
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676 Posts |
Posted - 09/17/2012 : 09:39 AM
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^ ^
The size distribution of sediment particles greatly affect the colour as well as the concentration, and naturally the larger particles settle out faster. A chain of small lakes will sometimes show a distinctly different shade in the lakes as you progress down and the silt drops out. |
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9 Posts |
Posted - 09/17/2012 : 09:50 AM
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Slightly off topic....
Top of Harrison Lake earlier this summer...look at the difference between Lillooet River ( still full of crap from the slide at Meager), Harrison Lake proper and Little Harrison Lake...
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Burnaby, BC
Canada
1310 Posts |
Posted - 09/17/2012 : 09:50 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Dru
quote:
Originally posted by Wildman
Why is Seton Lake green and Anderson Lake that connects to it the usual blue colour then?
Lakes are settling ponds. Sediment concentration thus typically decreases from lake to lake downstream. Same deal in Nahatlatch Lakes.
Wrong way!
As for Seton Lake, I think we (humans) made it that color, i.e., dam us. |
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Whistler, BC
Canada
1200 Posts |
Posted - 09/17/2012 : 10:16 AM
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quote:
As for Seton Lake, I think we (humans) made it that color, i.e., dam us.
The water coming through the penstocks from Carpenter/Bridge is heavily silted from Bridge Glacier run-off and that colours the lake. |
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521 Posts |
Posted - 09/17/2012 : 6:47 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by tu
quote:
Originally posted by Dru
quote:
Originally posted by Wildman
Why is Seton Lake green and Anderson Lake that connects to it the usual blue colour then?
Lakes are settling ponds. Sediment concentration thus typically decreases from lake to lake downstream. Same deal in Nahatlatch Lakes.
Wrong way!
As for Seton Lake, I think we (humans) made it that color, i.e., dam us.
As I mentioned previously, Whitecap Creek is the likely culprit coloring Seton Lake. Seton Lake is downstream of Anderson Lake, yet it appears to have a higher concentration of sediment. Looking at a map, there are no significant glacial feeds into Anderson Lake. |
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Burnaby, BC
Canada
1310 Posts |
Posted - 09/17/2012 : 7:16 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by path finder
quote:
Originally posted by tu
Wrong way!
As for Seton Lake, I think we (humans) made it that color, i.e., dam us.
As I mentioned previously, Whitecap Creek is the likely culprit coloring Seton Lake. Seton Lake is downstream of Anderson Lake, yet it appears to have a higher concentration of sediment. Looking at a map, there are no significant glacial feeds into Anderson Lake.
I was just being cute with the 'dam us' comment, i.e., referring to the fact that BC Hydro did indeed dam and redirect glacial-silt-laden water into the Seton Lake Reservoir. Bridge River Power Project.
It was in the news earlier this year, since there are concerns about Bridge Glacier receding faster than expected. |
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322 Posts |
Posted - 09/17/2012 : 8:41 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by msulkers
quote:
As for Seton Lake, I think we (humans) made it that color, i.e., dam us.
The water coming through the penstocks from Carpenter/Bridge is heavily silted from Bridge Glacier run-off and that colours the lake.
The Bridge River project could never be built under today's regulatory environment where very turbid glacial water from Downton and Carpenter was diverted into a tunnel, used for power generation, and was then allowed to pour into a once-pristine Seton Lake with its major salmon population. In addition, since both reservoirs fill and empty every year, sediment left on the banks around both lakes contributes additional sediment to the water. And all this at that time by a PRIVATE, for profit company called the B.C. Electric Company. Of course the B.C. Electric Company was expropriated by WAC Bennett and became B.C. Hydro.
So if we believe that environmental standards are absolute, and therefore won't allow a run of river power project, for example, to deposit more than the tiniest amount of sediment into a river or lake, ESPECIALLY if salmon are affected, why aren't we shutting down the entire Bridge River system? Oh sure, we'd lose about 500 MW of power generation, or about 7% of what B.C. needs every year- but, hey standards are standards!
I'd be willing to forgo my electric toothbrush for the sake of the fish. |
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canine loving, machete-toting bushwhacking lake seeker, Indiana Jones hat-wearing off-road 4x4 guru
Surrey Hole, BC
Canada
6871 Posts |
Posted - 09/17/2012 : 8:44 PM
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| time of year and sun position affects colour reflected |
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676 Posts |
Posted - 09/17/2012 : 8:50 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by firebug60
Slightly off topic....
Top of Harrison Lake earlier this summer...look at the difference between Lillooet River ( still full of crap from the slide at Meager), Harrison Lake proper and Little Harrison Lake...
That is an excellent photo, and shows very well the effect of silt levels and type on water colour.
What makes it stunning, however, is that the murky Lillooet river, full of silt from the Meager slide, has already passed through a significant lake on its way. Meager was an immense slide of particularly fine debris.
Unbelievable, except having seen the slide, the lake, the river upstream and downstream of the lake I do believe it. The river before the Lillooet Lake is finally clearing a bit now in the low water season, I expect it will get muddy again when the rains start.
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521 Posts |
Posted - 09/17/2012 : 9:38 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by tu
quote:
Originally posted by path finder
quote:
Originally posted by tu
Wrong way!
As for Seton Lake, I think we (humans) made it that color, i.e., dam us.
As I mentioned previously, Whitecap Creek is the likely culprit coloring Seton Lake. Seton Lake is downstream of Anderson Lake, yet it appears to have a higher concentration of sediment. Looking at a map, there are no significant glacial feeds into Anderson Lake.
I was just being cute with the 'dam us' comment, i.e., referring to the fact that BC Hydro did indeed dam and redirect glacial-silt-laden water into the Seton Lake Reservoir. Bridge River Power Project.
It was in the news earlier this year, since there are concerns about Bridge Glacier receding faster than expected.
I wasn't aware that water is or has been redirected into Seton Lake. That would explain the large amount of sediment in the lake! |
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322 Posts |
Posted - 09/17/2012 : 9:47 PM
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One of the most beautiful lakes I've ever seen is Tundra Lake in the Stein River watershed; here is a link to a picture of it:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dbsteers/245148927/
But even this picture doesn't do it justice- it has the most amazing and unique blue colour I've ever seen in a mountain lake. |
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Topic |
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What affects the "blueness" of a glacial lake ?
