Buda, Micaela2020-04-302020-04-302020-04-30https://hdl.handle.net/11299/212843Environmental Science, SCSECritical processes that shape our environment can be attributed to the Big Lake, a fond epithet for Lake Superior that embodies the nature of the world’s largest freshwater lake. The large lake drains an area of 128,000 km2 across two countries and has a humid continental climate with cold, snowy winters. Thus, snow plays an important role in the hydrology of the Lake Superior watershed. The lake, in turn, also controls hydrological dynamics on the landscape by producing lake-effect snow and rain. The overall goal of this study was to investigate how Lake Superior controls the spatial variability of snow and rain on land. We used geochemical tracers of precipitation and snow to ultimately help us to trace water through the watershed and gain further insight into how the watershed works. We hypothesized that snow and rain samples will be heavier closest to the lake due to the rainout effect.enUndergraduate Research Opportunities ProgramUniversity of Minnesota DuluthSwenson College of Science and EngineeringDepartment of Earth and Environmental SciencesPresentation