Modeling the plume from the exhalant siphon of the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha)
Loading...
Date
1997
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The Ohio State University
Abstract
The zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha, was first observed in the Great Lakes in 1988. The environmental and economic impacts of these mussels have become staggering. Zebra mussels eat phytoplankton living in the water column. Of special interest to scientists is the zebra mussel's rate of food consumption. Currently, there is some question about the height and trajectory of the excrement from the mussel -- information necessary for determining where in the water column nutrients are supplied to the phytoplankton. A single juvenile zebra mussel was mechanically modeled to scale. In still water, it produced a laminar and linear jet similar to plumes observed from live mussels. Time constraints prevented us from modeling the mussel in a current, but this is a good first step towards an accurate zebra mussel model.