GEOLOGY CLASS PERFORMS FIELD TESTS AT GULPHA GORGE
Hot Springs, Arkansas – National Park College (NPC) Geology students participated in a project estimating the total annual discharge from Gulpha Creek into Lake Catherine last week.
Pictured left to right are Geology students A, B and C with instructor Dr. George
Maxey using a velocity meter to gather data in Gulpha Creek.
Students collected data at two locations along Gulpha Creek. They collected GPS location, water temperatures, width of stream, average depth of stream and average velocity. Students measured stream flow rates two ways. First, students used a tennis ball and a 33-meter tape to calculate velocity and then compared the data to that collected using a flow rate sensor connected to a Vernier Lab Quest Mini with a computer. They measured stream width using a 33-meter tape and stream depth with a meter stick. They stretched a rope across the stream and used cloth pens to mark off 10 equal increments. At each increment, they collected both stream depth and velocity.
As part of the project, the students were tasked calculating the total discharge for Gulpha Creek that flows into Spencer Bay, which flows into Lake Catherine, and producing an estimate of the amount of water that Gulpha contributes annually to Lake Catherine. The two groups averaged their data and found that an estimated 1,628,137.2 cubic meters of water flowed down Gulpha Creek into Lake Catherine each year. By these calculations, Gulpha Creek contributes about 3.5 percent.
