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About the Flume
The flume was the source of most of our lab data, when we were not out in the field. Through the flume we were able to study discharge, dams, sediment, and many other things. Our flume was created by two attached pieces of half-tubing, with adjustable sloping.
Groundwater Testing
During our groundwater testing lab, we utilized full pipes filled with different particle sizes of sediment to test the effect of pore size on porosity. We continuously poured water into the blocked pipe until full, then released the pipe and collected 10 seconds of water flow. This allowed us to compare how much discharge arrived from the different sediment sizes.
Flow Rate Lab
During our first field trip to the Pedlar River, we started by measuring the width of the stream then proceeded to measure the depth of the stream every 6 inches. To find our velocity we took orange peels and released them into the stream for a distance of 10 feet and recorded the time it took for the peel to cross the distance. All three of these values helped us to calculate our average stream discharge.
Effect of discharge on velocity lab
This lab required 3 consistent measurements in order to determine the relationship between the discharge and velocity of a stream. We split into 4 teams, each with a separate location along our flume. For every flow rate from our hose, each team recorded the depth and width of the stream at their location, as well as the discharge of the stream over 10 seconds. By averaging our data, we were able to determine the relationship between the two variables.
Flow Lab
Using Indian ink on our flume we observed the different types of flows a river can produce. One was laminar flow which was when the water would flow in a straight line, while another was turbulent flow which was when the water flowed in a swirl pattern. We observed that the differences in flows came from the point at which the Indian ink was released. Specifically, how close to the bottom of the river it was released from.
Dam Impact Lab
Through a demonstration from Professor Duckworth, we were able to determine sediment and velocity effects when a dam is placed within a stream. When the dam is placed, velocity slows right above the dam where the water pools. Right at the top of the slowed section, sediement begins to build up due to lack of flow. This sediment begins to fill up the resevoir, with a slight space directly next to the dam, due to the lack of turbulent flow.
Dam Removal Impact Lab
During this lab, we were able to witness headward erosion. After sediment build up behind the dam, there is a steep slope right next to the upstream side of the dam. When the dam is removed, the stream begins to move backwards, due to the phenomina of headward erosion that causes the stream to flatten itself out. This is because of the push and pull of stream flow, where the steeper the slope, the higher the velocity, which erodes the slope, and deposits the sediment elsewhere. This deposition creates a steeper slope elsewhere, which commences the erosion process once more, until the stream has flattened itself out.
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