Monday, August 4, 2008

A clue about Gypsum Springs, springs that flow year-round in the frigid Arctic

Gypsum Springs flow year-round, even though the average annual temperature there is around -15 degrees Celsius. That's puzzling. It turns out the chemicals in the water, specifically salts, help keep the water in a liquid state. Okay, but why then, when you measure a spring outlet's temperature, can you get different temperatures that are just a few meters apart, a stone's throw? And where does this water come from? What does it flow through? What happens on its voyage to the surface? Chris McKay, gives a clue in this video to some of the latter questions. Please excuse the poor audio quality the first 10 seconds.