gly beautiful. They are crystal clear and have a luscious carpet of green algae on their bottom. The reason these lakes appear so clear is because many of the lakes decomposers are dead (Howells, 1990, p.145). Therefore, materials such as leaves and dead animals cannot be broken down. These materials eventually sink to the bottom instead of going through the natural process of decomposition. In acid lakes decomposition is very slow. "The whole metabolism of the lake is slowed down." (Pearce, 1987, p.67)Canadian Experiment: During this same period of time, the Canadian Department of Fisheries conducted an experiment over eight years dumping sulfuric acid (H2SO4) into an Ontario lake to see the effects of the decrease in the pH over a number of years. At a PH of 5.9 the first organisms, shrimp, began to disappear. The shrimp population began at about seven million, but at the pH of 5.9 they were totally wiped out. Within one year the minnow population was wiped out because it could no longer reproduce itself. At this time the pH was 5.8 and new trout were failing to be produced because the smaller organisms that served as food for them had been eliminated. Without sufficient food the trout did not have enough energy to reproduce. As the pH level reached 5.1 it is noted that the trout population resorted to cannibalism. This was due to the extinction of the minnow, the trout's main food source. By the end of the experiment none of the major species had survived the trials of the acid (Pearce, 1987, p.71).The next experiment conducted by the scientists was to try and bring the lake back to life. They cut the amount of acid present in the water in half in order to stimulate a large-scale cleanup. Soon the minnows began to reproduce again, and the lake eventually "came back to life" to an extent (Pearce, 1987, p. 71). Conclusion: Acid deposition is a major problem in our world today. It causes the death of our lakes, rivers,...
