User:Emilycalvin/sandbox

Week 3: Evaluating an Article

Article for evaluation = Water Column

• The information in the article is all relevant to the article topic however in limited detail.
• More information on the different zones could be included in the article and what defines them. It also briefly discussed that the water column is used in environmental studies but didn't suggest how, so more information could also be introduced here. The article fails to mention how the water column differs across different bodies of water and so these could be added as subsections.
• The article is neutral as there is no clear evidence to suggest bias with this subject, however only one citation is used throughout the article and so this needs to be improved.
• A question on defining the different zones was added to the talk page.

Week 4: Article Selection

Water column: (assigned)

See as above for comments on the article.

Potential Sources and Information:

Class discussion

Question 3: Does it matter who writes Wikipedia articles?

No, as long as they use relevant and reliable information thats referenced correctly. However, when an article can have more than one perspective it is important that the writer realises this and takes all points of view into account when writing the article therefore the writer needs to have an unbiased frame of mind.

Peer review

Eggball2333's article on the Phosphorous cycle and Eutrophication was evaluated on their talk page.

The main points in the review were:

• Certain re-wording suggestions .
• To split the two topics and do them separately as the phosphorous cycle doesn't always lead to eutrophication.
• It would also be useful to include some examples for how phosphorous is recycled.
• no bias was detected

Davidsma's article on Tempestites was evaluated on their talk page.

The main points in the review were:

• Certain re-wording suggestions
• The article was very in depth but certain points could be expanded on such as the mentioning of "gutter casts"
• really good overview of how they can be used in modern day climate science
• good, obvious structure
• no bias detected

Reflective Essay:

Critiquing Articles:

Through critiquing other articles I saw just how much effort authors put in to writing their articles. What I didn't realise was how if the reader feels theres is an issue with the article they can refer to the talk page to see if other readers have felt the same and if not, they can then inform the author to make the appropriate changes. This is something I often saw being used when I was critiquing articles which I feel is a great way to expand on information already out there and is something I didn't know existed prior to this assignment. I decided to critique the Water Column article as its an area of environmental science that I feel I have a strong background in and so it would be something I would enjoy reading. However, the article only comprised of one section and in limited detail with only one reference and so I decided to assign myself the article as I feel there was significant room for improvement.

Summarising My Contributions:

Focussing on the water quality article, I started by gathering information from relevant sources and then using this I divided the article into sections to make it easier for the reader to follow. By inputing a load of new information I was able to include multiple new references, mainly from textbooks I have read prior to the assignment, improving on the use of only one single reference prior to my inputs. I was also able to hyperlink multiple other articles in my additions, enabling the reader to see how the article and the water column relates to the wider picture of the Earth system. I also added in a section highlighting how the water column is likely to be affected by climate change as this is an ever pressing issue and its important that the general public gather an understanding of the true scale of the problem and how it will impact even the deepest parts of the ocean.

Peer Review:

In terms of the peer review, most of the articles produced by the class that I observed were very in depth and showed a deep understanding of the chosen topic, especially Davidsma's article on Tempestites. There were a number of re-wording suggestions I made to the two peer reviews I carried out, but these were only minor. Some of the articles I looked at could have benefited from expanding on certain points to better explain the process or example being described, especially for readers without prior background knowledge in these areas. Another suggestion I made for the first article I peer reviewed was to introduce a better and more obvious structure so that it would be easier for the reader to understand and follow the body of the text if the sections were to be expanded. I did not receive any peer reviews on my own article, however I understand the importance of looking at a piece of work with a fresh set of eyes, especially seeing as my peers in this class have relevant background knowledge in my subject area, and so I would have taken all comments into consideration and made the appropriate adjustments.

Feedback:

I did not receive feedback from any other editors, however If I had, I would have taken their comments on board and I would have made the appropriate adjustments to my article.

Wikipedia Generally:

Throughout this assignment I have learnt just how easy it is for anyone to contribute to an information page on Wikipedia and how it has reiterated the fact that not everything on this website should be taken as fact, something thats drilled into us from a young age. The assignment has however, highlighted just how much work goes into writing even the smallest addition to an article on Wikipedia, and indicates the real passion towards the subject area that the authors of these wikipedia pages must have in order to be able to write such in depth pieces. This assignment has differed from those previously written as part of my degree, as it made me develop my knowledge on a topic where there's little collective information already available. The option to make the edits to my article public, will hopefully mean that general members of the public can learn more about the water column in the future and this is something that usually doesn't occur from just writing essays and can maybe inspire more research to be carried out within this subject area.

My Article: Water Column

Original text:

A water column is a conceptual column of water from the surface of a sea, river or lake to the bottom sediment. Descriptively, the deep sea water column is divided into five parts—pelagic zones (from Greek πέλαγος (pélagos), 'open sea')—from the surface to below the floor, as follows: epipelagic, from the surface to 200 meters below the surface; mesopelagic, from 200 to 1000 meters below the surface; bathypelagic, from 1000 to 4000 meters below the surface; abyssopelagic, from 4000 meters below the surface to the level sea floor; hadopelagic, depressions and crevices below the level sea floor.

The concept of water column is useful since many aquatic phenomena are explained by the incomplete vertical mixing of chemical, physical or biological parameters. For example, when studying the metabolism of benthic organisms, it is the specific bottom layer concentration of available chemicals in the water column that is meaningful, rather than the average value of those chemicals throughout the water column.

Water columns are used chiefly for environmental studies evaluating the stratification or mixing of the thermal or chemically stratified layers in a lake, stream or ocean: for example, by wind-induced currents. Some of the common parameters analyzed in the water column are pH, turbidity, temperature, hydrostatic pressure, salinity, total dissolved solids, various pesticides, pathogens and a wide variety of chemicals and biota.

The term water column is also commonly used in scuba diving to describe the vertical space through which divers ascend and descend.

My edits:

Introduction:

The 5 main zones of the water column.

A water column is the term used to describe a vertical column of water from the surface of a sea, river or lake to the bottom sediment, and may reach depths of up to 11km at the Mariana Trench. The water column concept encompasses the variations in the physical, chemical and biological water components that are the key drivers behind many of the aquatic phenomena that thousands of species so heavily rely on. Water columns are used chiefly for environmental studies evaluating the stratification or mixing of the thermal or chemically stratified layers in a lake, stream or ocean. Some of the common parameters analyzed in the water column are pH, turbidity, temperature, hydrostatic pressure, salinity, total dissolved solids, various pesticides, pathogens and a wide variety of chemicals and biota. Each of these properties varies with depth in the water column and these variations along with certain ecological characteristics cause the column to be split into 5 main sections:

1. Epipelagic - from the surface to 200m
2. Mesopelagic - 200-1000m below the surface
3. Bathypelagic - 1000-4000m below the surface
4. Abyssopelagic - 4000m to the sea floor
5. Hadopelagic - depressions that extend below the seas floor

Physical Properties

Temperature

Temperature is one of the most important physical parameters of the water column that scientists measure. The temperature profile of the water column constantly changes with depth, this known as the thermocline and is a result of the high specific heat capacity of the water that causes it to heat and cool very slowly. This is mainly evident within the oceans but is also seen within lakes and other large water bodies. The Sun's energy is readily absorbed at the surface of the water and as a result this surface warms. Even though there is a very large cooling action taking place at these surfaces in the form of evaporation, the overall heating effect of the suns energy is still dominant. The amount of the Sun's energy that is absorbed by the water body varies by latitude as well as the season as this effects the intensity and duration of the Sun's exposure, this results in variations within water temperature across the globe.

The first 500m of the water column is known as the mixed layer or the epipelagic zone and it's this section which is closest to the surface and receives the most energy. This results in it being the warmest part of the water column. Beyond this, is the thermocline layer which extends to just beyond 1000m in depth. This is where we see the least amount of temperature change with depth and this layer acts to separate the warm waters of the surface from the colder deep bottom waters of the ocean.

Pressure

In comparison to the variability of the rate of temperature decrease with depth, there is a relatively uniform relationship between pressure and depth that is for every 10m increase in depth, the pressure increases by 14.5 psi. It's this aspect of the water columns profile that can be particularly dangerous to scuba divers if they descend or ascend to quickly as it can result in decompression sickness and nitrogen narcosis.

Density

The variations with density of the water column are a product of two factors; temperature and salinity. Density increases at a uniform rate against salinity but decreases almost exponentially with increases in temperature. Therefore, cold salty waters have the highest densities and thus sink to the bottom of the oceans, this variation of density with depth is often referred to as the Halocline. It's this change in density that results in the upwelling and downwelling of the oceans, a crucial process that provides many ocean species with the nutrients required for survival.