The Birth, Life, and Death of Lakes with Professor John Richard Saylor

John Richard Saylor, Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Clemson University, provides a fascinating look at lakes and things you didn’t know about them. He provides examples of unique lakes around the world and offers a warning about natural resources and the human tendency to deplete them.

In this session, you’ll learn about:

• The unique circumstances that brought Prof. Saylor to lake research
• Prof. Saylor’s lake research and some fascinating aspects of lakes
• How lakes store carbon dioxide and can cause an explosion of the lake
• What causes thermal stratification of lakes
• What Carolina Bays are and the mystery behind how they were formed
• Subglacial lakes and how chemosynthesis drives lake ecology
• How subglacial lakes were formed and were discovered
• Why glaciers are the “master builder” of lakes
• Several ways that lakes die
• The story of the Aral Sea (which in reality is a lake) and its warning for the Great Salt Lake
• How salt lakes form

Resources and links mentioned in or relevant to this session include:

• Prof. Saylor’s Clemson University profile
• John Richard Saylor’s webpage
• Amazon page for Prof. Saylor’s Book: Lakes: Their Birth, Life and Death