Bog Dive Question

[Diver-Down]

Hey just a quick question for anyone that may have experience with this. I'm interested in scuba diving a quaking bog that's forming over a glacial pond to see some of the underwater changes occurring there. The bog is encroaching an a fairly large open water pond/small lake and I'm just curious if there are any special gear considerations (ie damage/malfunction) I need to be concerned with due to the water acidity/bog characteristics. I know this is an unusual question but I thought I'd sound it here in case anyone else has had experience diving one of these (or if you're a water biologist) and could save me any headaches. I've already considered the penetrative and entanglement aspects even though I don't plan to swim under the peat layer, but I'm really unsure of the water chemistry or any other special considerations. Thanks in advance for the input!

 

[DaleC]

Sorry I can't help but I'm curious about the dive. Sounds interesting. Hope you can take some pics to share here.

 

[newmanl]

Diver-Down,

The pH of the bog water will not likely be lower, or more acidic, than about 3 to 3.5 or so - there's usually a natural buffering system that prevents the pH from going lower in these types of systems/habitats. Even at that low a pH, your gear will be fine. I've personally used gear in the Rio Negro, a large blackwater river in the Amazon basin with a pH of about 3.5 (lowest we recored), with no negative effects. Just rinse your gear afterwards like it should be after any dive.

Good luck with the exploration!

Lee

 

[Luku]

To recap, you're basically asking if the water will destroy your gear? The answer is no, it will not. Unless your diving in lava. Then be careful.

Fire Diving it's the best!!!

 

[Doc]

...scuba diving a quaking bog that's forming over a glacial pond...

That one that we skied through at the bottom of [-]Cliff's Ridge[/-] Marquette Mountain?

Kinda' almost like this....



Dress warmly!

 

[aquaregia]

That's amazing.