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Hudson River Plume Unit Entrance

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Human Impact

Adventures

Problem

Investigation

Explanation

Scuba Team

Journal

Watersheds transport hundreds of gallons of freshwater from the land to the sea. As the freshwater moves over the land, it is able to pick up and carry many items with it.

Have you ever wondered what happens when this freshwater meets the saltwater of the ocean?

How does your watershed impact the ocean?

Click to make this graphic a pop up

•Watershed Dynamics

Learn more about watersheds click here

The Hudson River Watershedis the area of land in green.

This area of land drains freshwater from the highest elevation points, one example is the Adirondack Mountains, to the lowest elevation point, the Hudson Bay.

The Hudson Bay then flows into the Atlantic Ocean.

Hmm….

When the water flows down the Hudson River and into the bay, what happens to all of that freshwater? Hi, I’m Scuba Hugh!

Behind me is a map of the Hudson River Estuary. Use the brushes and colors on the left to show what you think happens to the freshwater as it enters the ocean.

Press the reset button to erase your work and start again. Print your freshwater map using the “Print” button.

Have Fun!

I changed some of the wording

As the freshwater enters the salty ocean a freshwater river plume is created. The easiest way to describe a river plume is to start with of a plume of smoke.

What characteristics does this plume of

smoke have?

Graphic of plume going straight up

What would happen if there was a strong wind? How would that affect

the plume?

Graphic of plume of smoke being affected by wind.

So a plume of smoke could be described as:

*an area containing the same type of particles.*all the particles tend to move together in the same direction.*they stay closer together at the origin and then spread apart as they move away.*the particles of smoke tend to rise within the surrounding air

These characteristics can also describe a freshwater river plume.

This is the Hudson River Plume.

It is an area of freshwater that has entered the Atlantic Ocean from the Hudson River Watershed.

Learn more on how to read SST maps click here

This is a Sea Surface Temperature (SST) Map. It shows the temperature of the ocean surface.

Depending on wind direction and speed, the plume can travel in different directions and for

varying distances

Compare the model you

painted to the actual pictures of the Hudson

River Plume?

How is your painting similar?

How is it different?

Why do you think the river plume continues to stay together as it flows out into the bay and ocean?

If you look at the SST image, you can see that the river plume is warmer than the ocean, so temperature could be a factor.

The river plume is flowing from a watershed containing freshwater and moving into a salty ocean, so salinity could be another factor.

What characteristic do you think temperature and salinity determine

in a body of water?

Picture here of the density tank from the video

If you don’t know… Scuba Hugh will provide a HINT

Roll over with the answer DENSITY

Learn more about density click here

Using what you have just learned, put these three bodies of water in order with the least

dense on top:

bay waterriver water

ocean water

Once you have the correct answer, write in your journal why it happens this way.

So now you know..

The river plume stays together because it is fresh warm water which has a different density than the ocean water.

New

Jersey

More on the characteristics of the plume and to play a game

How would you track a river plume if you did not have access to satellite images?

Describe your method in detail remembering to discuss what characteristics you will look for and how you will measure and track them.

Learn what scientists’ do.

When rain water flows into the Hudson River, it carries with it dissolved substances and sediment from the land.

Looking at the land within the Hudson River Watershed, identify and describe all the ways it is being used by humans.

To discover more about Hudson River click here.

Examine the two different maps of the Hudson River Watershed. Is there a correlation between the two?

Brian’s watershed overlay

After noticing the different types of land use surrounding

the rivers within the watershed, what types of substances do you think

might flow into the river’s water?

Watershed overlay image

Who in this watershed is impacting the health of the ocean?Explain in detail how that is happening.

Dog poop pile

Soap suds

Have you finished changing the oil in

the car yet?

I am going to win the “Best Green Lawn” contest this year!

Ant saying,

“Whew! That stinks!”

Pouring oil down stormdrain

That dog poop will disappear in

a few days. I don’t have to

pick it up.

Girl walking away from poop pile.

What is an example of a pollution source near you that could be running into a river or stream?

Pollution solution

Pollution carried by

the warm freshwater river plume can impact marine life off the New

Jersey coast.

Click here to discover how water carries pollution: Discover Water

If conditions exist to keep pollutants in shallow bays, it can

create dead zones.

So how does that happen?

Fertilizers help plants grow. Farmers use fertilizers frequently. When it rains, the fertilizer can flow into the river.

Drawing of algae

1. Excess nutrients nitrogen and phosphoruscause algae to grow and multiply quickly!

2. As the algae die, they are consumed by bacteria.

3. The bacteria use up almost all the oxygen in the water, leaving very little for all the other marine life!

The Hypoxic Chain of Events Discovery: Dead zones

Discovery: NJ Dead zones

Explanation

Now let’s put this all together.

•A watershed is an area of land that drains and carries water toward the ocean.

•The Hudson River watershed flows into the bay and ocean creating a plume.

•This plume of water is full of fresh warm water that moves along the surface of the bay and ocean.

•The Hudson River plume also carries many different pollutants within it that where added throughout the watershed.

•These pollutants can cause damage to the ocean environment

Explanation

So, let’s look at the original question. What can you conclude from the information you have learned?

How does your watershed impact the ocean?