(CAZB Home Page | CAZB Site Pictures | Favorite Pictures)
We'd like to take you on a few tours with us as we go about our ground-water, surface-water and aquatic-biology sampling.
Click here for
a larger photo of the hookup to the ground-water field camper. (194K jpeg
file)
Water from the well is routed from the hosebib through teflon lines into the ground-water field camper, through a manifold inside the camper where it is directed to the water chamber for field parameters, then to the sampling chamber.
Click here
for a larger view of the hookup to the ground-water field camper. (129K jpeg
file)
A closeup of the domestic well connected to the NAWQA sampling tubing.The blue pressurized water-holding tank is to the right of the wellhead.
Click
here for a larger photo showing field analytical instruments in the field
camper. (129K .gif file)
Henry is tracking field parameter readings of temperature, pH, specific conductance, dissolved oxygen, and turbidity. The various meters to measure the above listed parameters have probes sealed in the water chamber to Henry's right. He is noting the readings on the field notes clipped to the cabinet door.
Click here for
a larger photo of the sampling chamber. (129K jpeg file)
A plastic cover keeps the sampling area free from airborne contaminants. Hands are gloved to keep any skin oils, etc. from contacting the water sample. Each bottled sample is sent to the lab for analyses.
Click here
for a larger photo of the radon collection process.
Water collected for radon measurements is collected at the well head
through a diaphragm designed to keep the water sample from coming in contact
with air. The sample is protected from light.
Click here for
a larger photo showing well drilling in process. (129K gif file)
The U.S. Geological Survey drill crew works on projects throughout the U.S.
Click
here for a larger photo showing of the water-column samples being collected
in a wadeable stream. (129K .gif file)
Joe is at the Charleston site on the San Pedro River. He has a tag line across the stream and is collecting water samples, being careful to collect water at the same rate as the stream flow.
Click here
for a photo showing the base and boom apparatus used to collect samples or gather
field measurements from an unwadeable stream from a bridge or other spanning
structure. (194K jpeg file)
Click
here for a larger photo of a car on a cableway used to collect samples or
gather field measurements from an unwadeable stream with no spanning structure.
(194K jpeg file).
Dave is preparing the cable car to collect samples at the Salt River. The cable car is suspended on a cable which spans the river. He is adjusting the D-77 sampler. The sampler is a painted brass weight with room for a collection bottle. It is lowered into the river by the cable. The white crate behind Dave holds the collection bottles, and the dissolved-oxygen meter and probe.
Click here for a larger
photo showing using the DO meter within the stream. (129K .gif file)
Dave and Joe (in stream) are at the Charleston site. As Joe takes dissolved-oxygen and temperature readings, he reads the meter values to Dave, who writes the field notes.
Click
here for a larger photo of the cone splitter, used to divide the collected
water sample into separate bottles for various analytical test (194k jpeg
file).
Dave is pouring the collected water from a three-liter bottle into the cone splitter. This is in the surface-water field camper.
Click here
for a larger photo of one of the field parameter measurements: the pH measurement
(194k jpeg file).
After calibration of the instrument, Dave takes three pH measurements. Here, the pH of the sample is 7.89, and temperature is 15.9 degrees Celsius.
Click
here for a larger photo of the filtration equipment in the field camper
used to prepare samples for the dissolved organic compounds/suspended organic
compounds (DOC/SOC) lab tests (194k jpeg file).
The steel filter has a silver filter sheet inside. Filtrate is collected in the amber-colored glass bottles and sent for DOC analysis. The silver filter which has collected the suspended material are sent to the lab for SOC analysis.
Click here
for a larger photo of the alkalinity titration equipment in the field camper.
(194K jpeg file)
The water sample is slowly acidified with sulfuric acid, which is dispensed from the tube on the left. The water sample is in the beaker to the right of the black pH meter. Dave is tracking the pH and amount of added acid on field notes, and the change in pH per change in units of added acid are noted.
Click here
for a larger photo showing algal sampling. (129K .gif file)
Joe, the CAZB biologist, is "scrubbing" a rock of the algae collected on its surface. The algae is collected, preserved, and sent to a laboratory for identification.
Click here
for a larger photo showing benthic invertebrate sampling. (129K .gif file)
Ken, Julie, and Joe collect algae, and aquatic insects. The algae collection is described above. The aquatic insects are collected from submerged rocks, cobbles, and gravel into a large net, which is emptied into a composited collection bucket. The insects are also preserved and sent to a laboratory for identification.
Click
here for a larger photo showing electroshocking for fish. (129K .gif
file)
Julie, Henry, and Karen (l. to r.) are using the electroshocking equipment to sample the fish within the stream. Karen is wearing the "shocker," Henry and Julie are using nets to gather the stunned fish as they float by. The three scientists are wearing neoprene waders and rubber gloves.
Click
here for a larger photo of a green sunfish before it is measured and weighed
prior to release. (195K jpeg file)
Karen will measure the total and standard lengths (measurement including tail and measurement of body only-no tail) of the fish using a measuring board, use a scale to determine the weight of the fish, inspect the fish for abnormalities, and release the fish back into the stream.
The CAZB sites vary in elevation, vegetation conditions, and type and extent of human alteration. Here are photographs of some of our ground-water and surface-water sites. Click on the ground-water basin or surface-water site to see a photograph of the area.
(194K jpeg file)
The drill rig mast is up as the sun rises.
(194K .gif file)
The drill crew (l. to r.): Dave, Dorrie, Dawn, member of drill crew,
Henry, member of drill crew.
(194K jpeg file) Karen
is downloading temperature and conductivity data from the probes at one
of the surface-water and aquatic biology sites.
(194K jpeg file)
Getting the picture is important for use as locational information,
in reports, for talks and displays, and on the Web. Gail, the CAZB project
chief, gets a day out of the office documenting the day's work on the San
Pedro.
(129K jpeg file) Work's done.
Sunset in southeast Arizona by the San Pedro River.
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