Pond Pollen in Orlando, Florida
March 06, 2011
Photographer: Dolores A. Russo; Delores's Website
Summary Author: Dolores A. Russo; Jim Foster
The photo above shows a layer of pollen covering a small pond in Disney World, Orlando, Florida. In sunny central and southern Florida, tree pollen is in the air in mid February to about mid March -- much of the pollen this time of year is pine and sweet gum. When it settles to the bottom of this watery environment, it will form a distinct veneer that, when sampled in years to come, will give paleoclimatologists knowledge of what the climate may have been like in this particular area. Similarly, by obtaining deeper cores of this pond's sediment, it can be ascertained what the conditions were like here hundreds or thousands of years ago. Analyzing the sampled pollen indicates the type and abundance of vegetation that was prevalent when the pollen layer was deposited. Because the outer wall of a pollen grain is extremely resistant, it is possible to retrieve pollen spores that were laid down millions of years ago. Photo taken on February 19, 2011.
Photo details: Camera Maker: NIKON CORPORATION; Camera Model: NIKON D70s; Lens: 28.0-80.0 mm f/3.5-5.6; Focal Length: 28.0mm (35mm equivalent: 42mm); Aperture: f/11.0; Exposure Time: 0.020 s (1/50); ISO equiv: 400; Exposure Bias: none; Metering Mode: Matrix; Exposure: aperture priority (semi-auto); White Balance: Auto; Light Source: Unknown; Flash Fired: No; Orientation: Normal; Color Space: Adobe RGB (1998).