Welcome to the Castle Lake Limnology Lab homepage. This site lists selected publications written about Castle Lake, describes the research and data conducted, and includes a detailed overview of the Castle Lake food web. There is also an extensive photo gallery which provides a more visual representation of the scenery and biota of the region.

This lake is well studied, and with its long-term dataset which dates back to 1959, Castle Lake is one of the best documented lakes in the world!

Castle Lake Geography

Castle Lake and the Limnological Research Laboratory is located southwest of Mt. Shasta City in the Shasta/Trinity National Forest of northern California.

Satellite Image of Castle Lake

Castle Lake was formed during the Pleistocene Era over 10,000 years ago when much of North America was covered with glaciers. A glacier carved out the basin in which Castle Lake lies today. Castle Lake is a typical glacier 'cirque' lake. Cirque is a French word meaning semicircle or amphitheater. Cirque lakes are the deepest against the steep rock wall--also known as the cirque face-- where the glacier did most of the eroding. The northeastern shore of the lake is a terminal moraine of boulders and gravel that form a natural dam.

The rock composition within the Castle Lake basin is generally very poor in the essential plant nutrients nitrogen and phosphorus, which partially explains the great clarity of Castle Lake and why it is only moderately productive.

Against the cirque face of Castle Lake, the waters are up to 110 feet deep (35 M). At the other end of the lake is the outlet where the lake's depth ranges from 10 to 15 feet (3 to 5 M).


Castle Lake in the News

Thu, 2008-01-31 10:32 — dwaetjen

Tom Stienstra, who writes the Outdoors section of the San Francisco Chronicle, recently wrote an piece about the Mt Shasta vicinity, focusing on Castle Lake. Castle Lake is a great place for ice fishing, which the Limnology 151 class does each spring during the class fieldtrip.

The science done at the Limnology Lab it to help conserve the lakes pristine beauty, so it can continue to be featured as a prime destination for outdoor enthusiasts.

Link to SF Chronicle Article

Mt. Shasta headwaters research urged

Fri, 2007-12-07 13:12 — dwaetjen

Mt. Shasta News – 12/5/07
By Paul Boerger, staff writer

Ecologist and researcher René Henery of UC Davis presented an overview of the Mt. Shasta region watershed last week, emphasizing the need for research on the headwaters area.

Henery's “mantra,” which he frequently repeated during the Nov. 28 talk at the Flying Lotus in Mount Shasta, was that to fully comprehend the headwaters complex relationship to the area and the use of the water elsewhere - such as the flows that go to more southern parts of California - researchers need to look at the broad interrelationships of the rivers, 14,162 foot Mt. Shasta and its glaciers, and habitats.

“This is a very special place with a wealth of natural resources,” Henery said. “These are natural resources essential to the State of California. Natural resources nobody knows much about. This is a system that is poorly understood.”

http://www.mtshastanews.com/articles/2007/12/05/news/area_news/02headwat...

Images from the Castle Lake Reunion

Mon, 2007-07-23 13:34 — dwaetjen

Castle Lake Students

>> View Images from the Castle Lake 50 year Reunion.

To navigate to this album, first click on the "Photo Gallery" link to the right. Then click on "The Research Station" followed by "Castle Lake 50 Year Reunion".

Photos of the Castle Lake 50 Year Reunion are being collected on this site. If you have photos to add, please Contact Us and we'll provide the necessary instructions to add your images.

Other Reunion Photos on the Web

Ken Osborn: http://www.flickr.com/photos/misterken/sets/72157600976459663/
Dale Mead: http://www.flickr.com/photos/damead/sets/72157600976593433/
Christian Thomas: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AZOWTFs1YsWLsw
Earl Byron: http://www.flickr.com/gp/10883455@N08/85u8L6

Reunion Story in the UCDavis CA&ES News Bulletin

Mon, 2007-06-25 08:48 — dwaetjen

Please see the story on the Castle Lake Limnological Research Station on the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CA&ES) website: http://caes.ucdavis.edu/NewsEvents/News/WebNews/jun_castle.htm

Charles Goldman and John Stumbos worked closely with Michelle Immel, a student intern in our Communications Unit, to develop the story.

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