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Salinity level before and after a high tide

Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2018 3:22 pm
by miamianmllvr
Well, I tested salinity with my refractometer in three different estuaries and there were no differences in salinity before and after the king tide on October 9 in Miami. I was kind of disappointed but it was fun using the refractometer. My mom and I looked for news about the King tide and it was reported that it wasn't very big and didn't cause much flooding this year. Then, my mom suggested that maybe that's why my hypothesis was not supported. Even though the salinity levels didn't change, how might my results be useful and who would be interested in them?

Leo :-) :)

Re: Salinity level before and after a high tide

Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2018 6:03 pm
by dcnick96
Hi, Leo. Congrats on completing your data collection. If you have time, how about doing more collections at high tide? They occur twice a day, so there are plenty of opportunities. If you have only 3 samples taken on one day. Something like this should be studied over time. Ideally, during different seasons, but I'm sure you don't have that kind of time. You never know. You might get different results on different days.

In doing your research leading up to your data collection, what did you find out about salinity levels to lead you to believe there would be differences? What would cause those differences?

As far as usefulness. Who would care about salinity in coastal waters? Private homes, companies, city planners, wildlife (on and off land) perhaps? And, once you find out who would be interested, why would difference / no difference be important to them? Would that require some planning on their part or considering relocating elsewhere? These are just a few ideas to make you think about the results and perhaps do some more research now that you have your results.

Feel free to write back with questions. Good luck!

Re: Salinity level before and after a high tide

Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2018 5:49 pm
by miamianmllvr
Thanks, Deanna. I don't have time to take more samples because I have to turn in my board tomorrow but I put in my applications section that I needed to do more testing and maybe test in places that were more flooded. I did take samples before the King tide and after but there were no differences. I think my results would be important because people who build cities could plan where the flooding might be and create better plumbing. Hydrologists would also be interested because it would help predict sea level rise.

Leo