Conditions in Morrisson's Quarry

[Kevin R]

Has anyone dove in Morrissons Quarry lately? If so how is the vis? I am hoping it has not turned the milky blue that sometimes follows a achange in weather there.

Thanks

Kevin

[Col.Cluster]

So what is the deal with the quarry? You could not afford the ticket price to the Ocean Wave this Friday??=-)
CC

[Tom R]

ROTFLMAO x 3

[JimC]

Firday night vis was about 5 feet in on top of the thermocline and about 3 to almost nothing as you drop though 30 feet and passed.

Then it got dark.

Then the vis went from bad to backscater and faint glow of buddies light.


Made for an interesting skills dive. :)

[tektom]

Kevin,

The quarry goes milky in August, regular like clockwork and stays so until about October. Something to do with the mineral run-off. Last time I dove there a few weeks ago, the viz improved considerably below 60feet. Above that, it was braille diving. Try it with a couple of basic OW students - really stretches the DM skills :D

[cat]

1. where is it? Is the rock in the area limestone? Is the water (ground or surface) in the area hard as nails?

2. does the appearance of the milky condition happen to coincide with warm weather or with increased amounts of algae on the surface or in the water column?

Inquiring limnologists want to know...

[Doppler]

CAT: I think it has something to do with uric acid causing a break in the water body's nutrient cycle... :)

[Kevin R]

Thanks to all who posted a USEFULL reply.

A group of us are going up tomorrow night to practice skills.

To Tom & CC - I'll see you on Friday.:moon:

Kevin

[Tom R]

Just tomorrow night. or is this one of not so usefull replies. :moon::bunnyear:

Tom

[knives]

Hi kevin,

I want to come and play one of these days....
:) ;)

[Col.Cluster]

Doppler once bubbled...
CAT: I think it has something to do with uric acid causing a break in the water body's nutrient cycle... :)

Would that be great uncle uric per chance?=-)

CC

[Doppler]

Col.Cluster once bubbled...


Would that be great uncle uric per chance?=-)

CC
No, I think Great Uncle was cathetered and bagged long ago!

You realize we're gonna get accuse of hijacking the thread and then someone will come along and split this one off and title is Doppler exchanging silly remarks with DIR advocates!

Actually, with some seriousness, a limnologist buddy of mine -- he specialised in lake acidification studies -- told me that it takes a surprisingly small volume of urine to begin to make subtle changes to the chemistry of a body of water the size of a quarry... he cited some studies of swimming holes in summer and growth of weird plankton...

[Kevin R]

I believe they mined bauxite (sp?) which is later crushed and smelted to produce aluminum. The surrounding cliffs are white as are the piles of tailings. There seems to be some sort of mining still going on in the area from the amount of dump truck traffic in and out of the site, but it is further back from the dive site and out of view.

Vis tonight was about 5-10' at 25'. We don't do much there below 40' since we only use the site for skills practice.

Kevin

[cat]

Didn't know there were any bauxite mines in that neck of the woods - active or otherwise. Hmm.
Ok, more dumb-ass questions.
a. are there any fish there? How about frogs or salamanders? Large invertebrates?
b. anyone know what the pH is?
c. if you take a sample of the water, how quickly does the milky substance settle out?
d. if you add a few drops of vinegar to the water and swirl, does it turn clear again? Any fizzing/evolution of gas?
e. is the water unusually clear (compared to other water bodies in the area) following the period of milkiness?
f. do you get a metallic taste in your mouth while diving in it?

<warning... incoming lecture>

Doppler: what you are describing is likely the result of introducing uric acid (from birds - mammals produce only a bit from the breakdown of nucleic acid metabolism) or urea (the primary waste product of mammals) into a system where nitrogen is the nutrient limiting algal growth (if N is scarce usually only nitrogen-fixing blue-green algae can grow well). Photosynthetic activity by algae can cause the pH of the water to rise rapidly and precipitate out CaCO3 ... and other things. Possibly Al(OH)3, for instance. Hmm. Who owns the quarry and where is it? (roads, etc.?)

And who is your lake-acidification friend? :)

Thanks. Cat <intrigued>

[DivingGal]

a. are there any fish there? How about frogs or salamanders? large invertebrates small fish -- I've never seen anything in the quarry itself larger than about 4". No other critters except for the Morrison's ducks. Larger fish and "wild" critters do exist in the pond/wet lands across the road from the quarry.

b,c,d
can't help you out there

e. is the water unusually clear (compared to other water bodies in the area) following the period of milkiness?
yes

f. do you get a metallic taste in your mouth while diving in it?
never tasted it

Who owns the quarry and where is it? (roads, etc.?)
property is owned by the Morrison Family.

[pufferfish]

I spoke with a buddy of mine who is a geologist and knows the Ottawa area and his answer was limestone in Ottawa and brucite if Wakefield, PQ.

Brucite: a magnesium mineral Mg(OH)2 found in contact-metamorphsed dolimitic limestones and in serpentine.

Anyone know the hardness of brucite? Mohs's scale that is:D

[Doppler]

pufferfish once bubbled...
I spoke with a buddy of mine who is a geologist and knows the Ottawa area and his answer was limestone in Ottawa and brucite if Wakefield, PQ.

Brucite: a magnesium mineral Mg(OH)2 found in contact-metamorphsed dolimitic limestones and in serpentine.

Anyone know the hardness of brucite? Mohs's scale that is:D

Its hardness is 2.5 on the Mohs scale

[Diver Joe]

Myself and Dave Nesbit are doing the quarry at about 6:30pm tomorrow Thur 11th Sep...If anyone's interested in getting a dive in, come on out.

[DivingGal]

Diver Joe once bubbled...
Myself and Dave Nesbit are doing the quarry at about 6:30pm tomorrow Thur 11th Sep...If anyone's interested in getting a dive in, come on out.

Hey as long as the "meeting devils" don't cough up another stupid ... Oh let's meet at 3, just for 15 minutes to hash this out --- and then I don't get out of the meeting until almost 5

I'll be there! You can see my new toys.... wheeeee

[Diver Joe]

Sounds good Diving Gal...see you there.

[Diver Joe]

Dove there last night... Vis is getting a little better...But hey, there's not much to see there anyway's. Clear from about 80ft to bottom. You might want to bring a light along, not much light making it through. Got an hour of Bubble Time, that will hold me until the weekend.

[Diver Joe]

Did the Q agn last night... Same, Vis still Poor

Was still nice to get out and blow a few bubbles.

Hope the oncoming storm does not cancel my dives planned for the weekend... Kingston on Sat and Ducks Dive for Sunday.

If so...looks like it will be the Q agn.

[DivingGal]

Quarry conditions still are "ugly". Viz is still down to a about a meter even at 24 meters.

Ms Evelyn said it had been clearing --- and then the rains came. Sigh.....

[Diver Joe]

Today vis still poor, temp 46F...

50 min BT (Bubble Time) will hold me for a few days....new tanks are on the way...so will be out again next weekend.

[artw]

Anyone know if this is frozen yet ? or too thick to punch through from below?

[Diver Joe]

Anyone know if this is frozen yet ? or too thick to punch through from below?
I have been diving there every weekend... It has been frozen over for about 2 weeks now.

I dove there the weekend before last and we had to suit up then go and break through with our body weight....Then geared up and went in...

You would not stand a chance of breaking thru from underneath and I doubt that you would even manage with body weight at the surface now.

Intend diving there on Sat and we will have a Chain Saw.... Your welcome to join us...say meet there at 10AM.....

I might add that we have been using the Cabin for dressing up/down and with the wood stove...It's very toasty....

Cheers

[DPVDiver]

Steve and I may go, need any caribiners or anything?

[DS1]

too thick to punch through from below?

Like Joe said we had to jump on the ice to get through wich was fully covering the quarry and i tried to come out from under and all it did was bruise my head :)

[Diver Joe]

Show up between 9;30 and 10am...

Don't need anything going on Reel's.


Joe

[artw]

I am not ice diver certified, nor am I overhead trained.
I think I am confined to a pool for a while. unless I can find open water in the river

[Tom R]

I am not ice diver certified, nor am I overhead trained.
I think I am confined to a pool for a while. unless I can find open water in the river


Good Call Dude, wish more people thought like that.

[Under Michael]

OK, so now that we've established some uncommon sense, who teaches overhead training during the winter? We're good to go!!!

[Tom R]

OK, so now that we've established some uncommon sense, who teaches overhead training during the winter? We're good to go!!!


NTD will running an Ice Diving Course 28 Feb with an extra day of Ice Diving hopefully on a wreck on the 29th.

Tom

[Under Michael]

NTD will running an Ice Diving Course 28 Feb with an extra day of Ice Diving hopefully on a wreck on the 29th.

Tom


Thanks for the info Tom. Could you provide a potential course agenda and the name of the certifying agency? Thanks

[DPVDiver]

Don't know if this is the right place, but I can also teach Ice. I am in the Ottawa area, PM me if interested. Diver Joe and I have been thinking of putting some Ice dives together for fun but If any are interesteed in proper training that can be provided aswell.

DPV

[DPVDiver]

4 of us did a long beautiful ice dive yesterday. There are 8 solid inches of ice, great vis, and 38 degree water. Who could ask for more.

[Under Michael]

4 of us did a long beautiful ice dive yesterday. There are 8 solid inches of ice, great vis, and 38 degree water. Who could ask for more.


Where, how long, average depth?
UM

[DPVDiver]

I did 42 min, The others 58. I had an unexpected surprise the previous night when I found my Argon Bottle empty. So I had to go "sans Argon".

We cut our hole over the plane but toured to the boat and Our max depth was around 75 ft. I guess the average was about 40ft. The coolest part was in the shallows, swimming between the ground and the Ice in 3 ft of water.

DPV

[Under Michael]

I did 42 min, The others 58. I had an unexpected surprise the previous night when I found my Argon Bottle empty. So I had to go "sans Argon".

We cut our hole over the plane but toured to the boat and Our max depth was around 75 ft. I guess the average was about 40ft. The coolest part was in the shallows, swimming between the ground and the Ice in 3 ft of water.

DPV


And the water temp?

[artw]

DPVdiver did you guys run a line from the hole to the little wreck?
I am hesitant to take an ice diver course for I feel I can get the same training at Ginny Springs Intro to Cave.

under michael relax. you dont ice dive anyway :P

[DPVDiver]

UM - See Post from this morning, 38 degrees.

Art - If we were ice diving we would have to be properly tethered with safety divers present and line tenders wouldn't we?
:chillin6:

A Ice diver course should teach way more than line management. It is the whole experience from Planning to Hole cutting, to keeping warm and so on.

Having said that, reel management is likely one of the most important skills for any diver to know and it should be learned first on land then on something simple like the connie, then once mastered it can be used in a cave/cavewrn situation. Your diving will benefit immensely from a cave/cavern course.

One thing Ginnie wont teach you is how to run a line in 38 degrees.

DPV



DPVdiver did you guys run a line from the hole to the little wreck?
I am hesitant to take an ice diver course for I feel I can get the same training at Ginny Springs Intro to Cave.

under michael relax. you dont ice dive anyway :P

[Diver Joe]

I think that Cavern and Intro to Cave would be great courses to have and I'm sure that you could apply what you learned to Ice Diving very easily.

Having said that, there are a few things that need carefull consideration when Ice Diving. Same can be said for Wreck Diving and Wreck diving course. You don't "need" a course.... But it might save your bacon.

If I were to decide between the two, I would go for the Intro to Cave myself.

[Tom R]

I think that Cavern and Intro to Cave would be great courses to have and I'm sure that you could apply what you learned to Ice Diving very easily.

Having said that, there are a few things that need carefull consideration when Ice Diving. Same can be said for Wreck Diving and Wreck diving course. You don't "need" a course.... But it might save your bacon.

If I were to decide between the two, I would go for the Intro to Cave myself.


You can always raise the bar and take a GUE Cave 1 course, and get the best training available. A basic ice diver course is conducted with the diver in a harness or tethered therefore running a line is not an option.

[Diver Joe]

Certainly GUE Cave 1 is an excellent course to have and I don't doubt that it's the best. All the Trg Agencies appear to have good programs, all pretty much the same too, I think. I tend to think the difference is in the Knowledge and Experience of your Instructor.

Safe diving to All

[DPVDiver]

Definitely the Instructor makes all the difference!