Question Monroe County, MI - Great Sulfur Spring
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I want to dive it. The smell will be temporary.
But fortune and glory...
The allure of this particular potential dive sight is the prospect of exploring a possibly virgin karst window close to home.
I've gotten ahold of my adventure wagon(pull cart), so that solves the transportation issue, as the gate to the preserve has been locked and they don't seem to allow driveable access anyway.
I'm still trying to better answer 2 questions:
1. To what extent will a single 20 minute dive here be likely to damage gear, and which gear and materials? E.g. I can tolerate a couple hundred dollar regulator service fee for the experience. But if it permanently damaged my drysuit, that would be upsetting and not worth the reward.
2. What are likely health effects, if any? According to the water analysis Bacterial and Archaeal Phylogenetic Diversity of a Cold Sulfur-Rich Spring on the Shoreline of Lake Erie, Michigan - PMC there is high sulfate SO4^2- which is likely to have an acute laxative effect if one swallows too much water, which doesn't strike me as a huge concern(bring some toilet paper and shovel along).
I'm more worried about, and ignorant of, the chemistry of hydrogen sulfide H2S. I see there is some amount of sulfide present(half the formula). I also see there is diatomic hydrogen, but I don't know if that necessarily means there's hydrogen sulfide present and, if there is, what concentration would start to be harmful. According to the study, the smell seems to be attributed to SO4^2- I.e. unpleasant and smelly but not very harmful.
Any help or forward to experts would be appreciated.
I've gotten ahold of my adventure wagon(pull cart), so that solves the transportation issue, as the gate to the preserve has been locked and they don't seem to allow driveable access anyway.
I'm still trying to better answer 2 questions:
1. To what extent will a single 20 minute dive here be likely to damage gear, and which gear and materials? E.g. I can tolerate a couple hundred dollar regulator service fee for the experience. But if it permanently damaged my drysuit, that would be upsetting and not worth the reward.
2. What are likely health effects, if any? According to the water analysis Bacterial and Archaeal Phylogenetic Diversity of a Cold Sulfur-Rich Spring on the Shoreline of Lake Erie, Michigan - PMC there is high sulfate SO4^2- which is likely to have an acute laxative effect if one swallows too much water, which doesn't strike me as a huge concern(bring some toilet paper and shovel along).
I'm more worried about, and ignorant of, the chemistry of hydrogen sulfide H2S. I see there is some amount of sulfide present(half the formula). I also see there is diatomic hydrogen, but I don't know if that necessarily means there's hydrogen sulfide present and, if there is, what concentration would start to be harmful. According to the study, the smell seems to be attributed to SO4^2- I.e. unpleasant and smelly but not very harmful.
Any help or forward to experts would be appreciated.
Attempted some amateur chemistry: Even assuming ALL the sulfide(0.0312 miliMolar) was forming Hydrogen Sulfide H2S, I'm coming up with a concentration well below (1/20th) the safe exposure limit. I'd like to get a chemist to confirm, but it appears Hydrogen Sulfide would not be a concern.
Here's a thread on it. You'll have a stench problem and need a servicing. You'd really want to get a chemical test on the water first and see how saturated it is.
You were right... 0 out of 10. I do not recommend this dive site.
How much actual physical damage to gear is yet to be assessed. I suspect, and hope, more stench than actual damage. The water itself didn't smell particularly bad to me today--unlike during my first visit and scope a few weeks ago--so perhaps my sinus wasn't as clear today.
What really surprised me--and not in a good way-- is that the white-floored, shallow 1ft deep area surrounding the deeper spring hole does not have a solid floor as I previously thought. I took one step out with 100 lbs of steel back plate and twin set and sunk past my knee into black silty muck. And then the smell really hit.
After the disappointing shock wore off I realized I'd have to change tactics. I fully inflated my wing and dry suit and After a minute of wrestling my leg free from the black muck I decided I'd try floating out on my back. After kicking up a lot of that silt I realize that the tanks were dragging too much and switched to my belly, And finally made it into the deep area... And that's when I realized I didn't have either of my lights on my person(I always forget something critical. Last time it was the fins
). I alligator crawled my way back toward the shore, flopped myself through the muck trying not to get both arms stuck in the mud as I transitioned to solid shore line, grabbed the lights and then did it all again.Back in the deep area, this time with all my gear, I had now stirred up a considerable amount of mucky silt. I gradually descended to 20 ft while swimming the perimeter of the circular drop off. It went deeper. According to a water quality study it goes to at least 33 ft.
No real issues underwater other than realizing that when I am diving solo(now for the second time) I have no courage whatsoever. This really surprises me, because I usually pride myself on my ability to multi-day hike, camp, and dry cave alone without issue. Anyway, after less than 10 nerve-racking minutes of staring at the dark hole that went deeper than I was willing to go alone I decided that I didn't really care what's down there after all. I surfaced and gathered up my stinky gear in my roll cart and started trudging the good mile back to the parking area.
Still attempting to clean the smell off of gear and am hopeful there will be no lasting damage.
Now that I'm back safe in my cozy Hobbit hole my previous cowardice is nowhere to be seen and I find myself wondering what really is down there at the bottom of that stink hole.
Another question is what is all that muck doing there. I generally think of freshwater springs as flushing themselves clean of fine silt to expose solid rock along calcite deposits, which is what the white-floored shallow area at first appeared to me to be.
All other water channels in the area are frozen solid but the spring pool itself remains 55° year-round and both times I've gone out there there's been a plethora of birds(Canada geese, mute swans, various ducks, etc) enjoying a swim in that relatively warmer water.
My leading theory is that the muck is thousands of years of bird droppings that can't fully decompose in the cold, deoxygenated spring water.
Maybe somebody with a underwater drone can take it down there and check it out. I don't want to have to go through this again. I did take some video. Will post a link when I get it uploaded.
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