27 May 2004 - "Beach Experiment"

Joined: 23 Mar 2004 Posts: 84

As of May 27, the Lena River at Zhigansk is almost completely covered in ice. But Mikhael Suslov, the captain of the ship we use for sampling, says that the ice will breakup in the next two days and that the level of the river will rise 30 feet. When that happens, all of the “beach” area in the photo below will be covered in water.

We were talking about what might be causing the river to rise so much. One of the possibilities that we discussed was that the melting of the ice on the river might be responsible for the rise in the water level. What is your prediction or hypothesis?

Here’s an experiment that you can do at home to test the hypothesis that the melting of the river ice is causing the rise in the water level.

Materials: Clear plastic cup (Salisbury kids, you can find these cups in the closet with the Arctic Ocean poster on it), water, a permanent marking pen (A Sharpie type marker is the best)

1.) Fill a clear plastic cup about half full of water, then put it in the freezer.

2.) The next day (or after the water freezes), knock the ice out of the cup (but keep it).

3.) Fill your clear plastic cup about half full of water.

4.) Put the block of ice back into the cup (so that it is floating in the water)

5.) On the side of the cup mark where the water level is.

6.) Let the ice melt and then compare the water level before the ice melted to the water level after the ice melted.

Based on the hypothesis that the melting of ice in the river is causing the river level to rise, the water level in the cup should rise when the ice melts.

So what was your result? And what does this teach you about the cause of the water rising in the Lena River?