Lab field assignment

Lab field assignment

• 1.
  Lab/Field Study: RenoNV’s Virginia Lake By Brianna Ramirez GEL 103
• 2.
  What is thelab study all about? This study is all about the Virginia Lake and the world around it. The study focuses on three major things: how the virginia lake came to be, the evolution of life happening around and inside the lake, and the geological pieces found around it. I focused on only a small part of the land rather than thole city of Reno, due to work and time constraints. As a result, I was able to gain some good information regarding the wonderful Virginia Lake.
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  What is theVirginia Lake? Well for the most part, Virginia Lake is a giant pool of water that was created in 1938-39 by a group called the Works Progress Administration (WPA). It was built for the sole purpose of providing jobs during the Great Depression. It homes a variety of animals, including geese, ducks and fishes. The surrounding area contains plenty of different plants, while the lake itself holds some interesting fishes.
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  First Evolution: PineTrees One of the first, and most common plants found around the Virginia Lake is the pine tree. This particular species is called the Longleaf Pine, or Pinus Palustris. From what is understood, these trees take about 20 to 30 years to reach maturity. They grow up to 100 ft tall and reach ages above the 100s. Fortunately, the trees in the picture don’t seem to be over 60 ft, so they may still be growing.
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  Second Evolution: SilverMound Artemisia Next plant found around the Virginia Lake is the Silver Mound Artemisia. These shrubs are found in little groups bundled all around the lake. These little plants may also be as common as the Pine trees talked about before. These little shrubs are unique due to their ability to help prevent weeds from growing underneath. These Artemisia serve the purpose of background. They help enhance the plants above and around them by being a darker shaded plant.
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  Third Evolution: ChannelCatfish The last evolution used was the Channel Catfish. These animals were brought in to help the ecosystem of the lake. Many fishermen try to snatch them up These fish have developed in ways to blend in with the lake to avoid being caught. They vary in sizes, but a distinguishable change they may have a more streamlined form, for quicker escapes.
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  First Rock: Sedimentary Thefirst rock I found while exploring the lake, was a very nice looking stone. At first I thought it may have been a metamorphic stone, but as I took a closer inspection, the stone actually had more qualities of that of a chemical sedimentary stone, conglomerate. These rocks are only made with the help of water. As we know, the virginia lake is the biggest source of water near this rock. Chemical sedimentary rocks are shaped and smoothen out by water over time. In turn, this allows me to conclude that this rock was removed from the water after a few years.
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  Second Rock: Igneous Fromthe look of this rock, many would see that the rock has a weird bubbly pattern like Granite and Scoria. Going through the types of rocks there are in Geology, the only type of rock I could think of was an Igneous Rock. However, I don’t believe there were any records of volcanic activity happening in Reno’s past. I can only assume that there may have been some magma deep underground below the lake that may have caused this rock to form.
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  Third Rock: Metamorphic Thelast rock I found around the lake, was this rock, which I believe to be Slate, which is a metamorphic rock. These rocks are only built through immense pressure, extreme heat, or both at the same time. If the Igneous rock was made with magma, then I would believe that this rock was made to be by the same possible magma and the heavy pressure of water brought in to create the lake.
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  Any Unconformities orSteno’s Law? Despite finding plenty of evidence for evolution of certain species, and finding 3 different types of rocks, I was unable to find anything related to either of those things. Since this lake was built about 60 years ago, all and any evidence of unconformities, would be on the bed of the lake. I was able to find an area where digging may have occurred, but the only thing I could tell you about it is that it has a bit of tilting and meshed pieces of rocks.
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  Reference Page Pt.1 Badgett, B. (n.d.). Artemisia. StackPath. https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/foliage/artemisia/silver-mound-care.htm. City of Reno. (n.d.). City of reno. History of Reno | City of Reno. https://www.reno.gov/government/departments/community-development/historic- preservation/history-of-reno. KPS3. (n.d.). Channel Catfish. Nevada department of wildlife. http://www.ndow.org/Species/Fish/Channel_Catfish/. Longleaf pine. National Wildlife Federation. (n.d.). https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Plants-and-Fungi/Longleaf-Pine. National Geographic Society. (2019, September 5). Igneous rocks. National Geographic Society. https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/igneous-rocks/.
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  Reference Page Pt.2 NewtoReno.com. (n.d.). Newtoreno.com. Virginia Lake Park, Reno, Nevada, NV. https://newtoreno.com/virginia-lake-park-reno-nevada.htm. Staff, R. G. J. (2017, December 15). Photos: Vintage reno. Reno Gazette-Journal. https://www.rgj.com/picture-gallery/life/2015/02/09/photos-vintage- reno/22535381/. U.S. Department of the Interior. (n.d.). Sedimentary rocks. National Parks Service. https://www.nps.gov/subjects/geology/sedimentary.htm#:~:text=Sedimentary%20rocks%20are%20formed%20from,and%20cemented% 2C%20forming%20sedimentary%20rock. USGS. (n.d.). What are metamorphic rocks? Geology. https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-are-metamorphic-rocks-0?qt- news_science_products=0#qt-news_science_products.