Bursik, who often can see the plume from his building on the University at Buffalo's North (Amherst) Campus about 20 miles away.

According to the data the UB researchers gathered, the plume is highest during times of the year when the water temperature is higher than the air temperature, which typically occurs during fall and winter.

Bursik explained that in late autumn, even when the air temperature can fall to about 40 or 30 degrees Fahrenheit, the water still remains quite warm, as high as 60 degrees Fahrenheit, conditions that are ideal for a large, high plume.

During the winter, he continued, the temperature of the water remains at 32 degrees Fahrenheit because it is constantly flowing, but the air temperature will plunge by twenty or thirty degrees or more.

"Those temperatureInstitute Colloquium on April 21. Findings also were presented during the 36th Binghamton Geomorphology Symposium held at UB last October.

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The research was supported by seed funding from UB.

The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive public university, the largest and most comprehensive campus in the State University of New York.

Last reviewed:
By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on
21 Feb 2009
Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.