A study of the two ponds published in Limnology & Oceanography by Cornell University, reveals surprising and complex mechanisms for how carbon dioxide and methane in ponds are built up, stored and released. The researchers found that Texas Hollow, while only a little over 1 meter deeper than Mud Pond, emitted more than twice the amount of carbon dioxide. They also examined how the ponds’ stratification – the extent to which the water forms layers of different temperatures – impacts methane emissions, finding that the ponds’ slight differences in depth and light led to unexpected results, with nearly twice as much methane bubbling up from the sediments of Mud Pond than Texas Hollow.
