Week Eightitude

What happened this week? Lots! I used Monday to work on getting 3D fluorescence curves for Zn and dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and to see if I could create standard curves for these two using the Fluoromax (a spectrofluorometer). I used Tuesday to run some tests of different NH4 concentrations with different DOC concentrations. I got the same results that I had gotten last week with my preliminary tests. That is, with higher DOC concentrations, the standard curves got lower slopes, but higher y-intercepts. On Wednesday, I did the same thing I did on Tuesday, but with Zn instead of NH4. The results from Wednesday were much more complicated; with any DOC at all in the sample, the standard curve suddenly becomes nonlinear. Very strange. I was talking to Joe and he suggested we look at some absorption data and see if that gives us any clue as to why the Zn tests turned out that way. On Thursday, I ran NH4 standard curves at different temperatures; the results showed that at temperatures ranging between 4 - 20 degrees celsius, there's basically no difference in fluorescence values. On Friday, I did the same thing, but with Zn; my standard curve didn't come out right, so I plan on redoing that experiment on Monday.

Kaiten sushi - deliciousness! But so worrisome when a good dish passes you by. Will it ever come back again???