Green Lake (New York) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Green Lake |
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Deadman's Point in May; a "marl reef" is visible in the water.
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 Green Lake
Location in New York
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| Location | Onondaga County, New York |
| Coordinates | 43°03′00″N 75°57′58″W / 43.05°N 75.966°W |
| Lake type | Meromictic |
| Primary inflows | Lake Brook |
| Primary outflows | Lake Brook |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Max. length | .7 mi (1.1 km) |
| Max. width | .15 mi (0.24 km) |
| Surface area | 65 acres (0.26 km2) |
| Average depth | 65 feet (20 m) |
| Max. depth | 195 feet (59 m) |
| Water volume | 7,235,900 m3 (5,866.2 acre⋅ft) |
| Shore length1 | 1.8 mi (2.9 km) |
| 1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure. | |
Green Lake is a very special lake found in Green Lakes State Park in Onondaga County, New York. It's located about 9 miles (14 km) east of the city of Syracuse. Green Lake is the larger of the two lakes in the park; the smaller one is called Round Lake.
Both Green Lake and Round Lake are known as "meromictic" lakes. This means their top and bottom waters do not mix, even with the seasons. Meromictic lakes are quite rare. Scientists study them a lot because their deep sediments can hold clues about Earth's history going back thousands of years. Also, the deep parts of these lakes can have very low oxygen and high sulfur, which creates unique conditions.
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What Makes Green Lake Unique?
Green Lake is surprisingly deep for its size, reaching a maximum depth of 195 feet (59 meters). Deep lakes often look blue because blue light can travel furthest through water. However, Green Lake also gets its greenish color from tiny particles dissolved in its water.
Because it's so deep and has salty water at the bottom, Green Lake is meromictic. Unlike most lakes that mix their waters from top to bottom each year, Green Lake's cold, dense bottom water stays separate from the warmer, shallower water. This means that anything that sinks to the bottom stays there and hardly decays. Because the water doesn't mix, the lake always looks clear and calm, like a mirror. This makes it a beautiful spot for photography.
The lake was formed by melting glaciers during the last Ice Age in North America. Its water is rich in calcium and sulfate. This comes from groundwater flowing through rocks that contain a lot of gypsum. The native Onondaga tribe, who first lived in this area, thought the lake was sacred.
Fishing in Green Lake
If you like fishing, you can find several types of fish in Green Lake. These include rainbow trout, pumpkinseed sunfish, and brook trout. You can only fish from rental boats or from the shore.
A Look Back: Green Lake's History
Fayetteville Green Lake (FGL), as it's sometimes called, was the very first lake in North America to be identified as meromictic. It's also the most studied meromictic lake in the world, with records going all the way back to 1839.
A scientist named Lardner Vanuxem was the first to study Green Lake in 1839. He even called it "Lake Sodom" because of the sulfur smell in its deeper waters, which was known by 1849. Scientists believe Green Lake formed as a "plunge pool." This means it was created at the bottom of a huge waterfall formed by retreating glaciers during the Ice Age. This explains why it's so deep compared to its surface area.
Today, Green Lake is part of Green Lakes State Park. Since 1933, a lot of sand has been added to the north shore to create a swimming area for visitors.
The Science of Green Lake's Water
Green Lake's water is divided into two main layers. The top layer, called the mixolimnion, has oxygen. The deeper layer, called the monimolimnion, has very little oxygen and a lot of sulfur. This separation happens because a lot of groundwater flows into the deeper part of the lake. This groundwater is rich in dissolved solids like calcium, magnesium, and sulfate, making the bottom water much denser.
Around 18 to 20 meters (about 60-65 feet) deep, there's a clear boundary called a "chemocline." Below this line, the water has no oxygen and is full of sulfur. Right at this boundary, you can often see a thick layer of purple sulfur bacteria. These bacteria make the water look pink! They thrive in the oxygen-free water and use the sulfur from the deeper parts to make their own food.
The lake's unique greenish color comes from the dissolved solids in the groundwater. These particles scatter sunlight, giving the water its distinct hue. Sometimes, the lake experiences "whiting events." This is when tiny white particles of calcite form in the water, often around a type of bacteria called Synechococcus. This calcite precipitation happens all year round and forms a hard, white crust around the lake's edges. It also covers branches and other things that fall into the water. A famous example is Dead Man's Point, which is a large rock formation covered in this carbonate crust.
Green Lake's Importance to Science
Scientists believe that studying Green Lake can help us understand what ancient oceans might have been like. For example, during times like the Precambrian era or during major mass extinction events, the deep parts of the oceans might have had no oxygen and a lot of sulfur, similar to Green Lake.
By studying the chemicals, isotopes, and living things in Green Lake today, scientists can learn about Earth's past environments. Many scientific studies happen at Green Lake every year. For instance, recent work by Lee Kump from Penn State University has been shown on TV shows like Nova: scienceNOW, National Geographic, and BBC. This research connects Green Lake's conditions to the end-Permian mass extinction, a huge event where many species disappeared from Earth.
