Question #12 Is the Great Divide Basin the only watershed in North America that does not drain into another water system?

This question comes from Corky via messaging here on blogger.


First let's define a watershed. A watershed is any region or area drained by a river, stream or other water system. Watershed can also refer to the dividing line between river drainage systems.

To answer the question at hand.....

No.

There are several Basins that do not empty into other watersheds. Endorheic basins are those that do not have an outflow and so build up water. There are many of these throughout the world (For example the Black Sea in Eur-Asia). Most of these basins are going to occur in an area where a divide watershed is blocked from reaching the ocean or outflow river by natural barriers such as another mountain range or plateau. Most of these systems are going to involve a lake or sink where the water builds up. Many sinks are intermittent meaning they have water in one season and are dry lakes in others. The other features of a sink include being below sea level nd lose water either through evaporation or loss into groundwater or aquifers. These are also sometimes called ephemeral lakes.

On the North American Continent you can find the following basins with these qualities:

Guzman Basin in northern Mexico which drains the Mimbres River from New Mexico.

Willcox Playa in southern Arizona. This is a sink or large dry lake which collects water. Most notably this is an area inhabited by Sandhill Cranes and also has great opportunities for winter birding.

Tulare Lake in California though agricultural demands have dried this lake because its infeeds were diverted for irrigation. Years of record weather that overwhelm flood control tend to bring this basin back to a water filled lake.

Crater Lake in Oregon is sometimes considered a enclosed water system. Though this is not a watershed system with rivers merging to a final lake like the other systems are.

In fact, there are piles of lakes throughout North America that have inflow and no outflow. These include all the following lakes plus many more...
Devils Lake ND
Devil's Lake WI
Little Manitou and Old Wives Lakes in Saskatchewan
Pakowki in Alberta
Lago Enruquillo on Hispanola
Tularosa Basin NM
Zuni Salt Lake NM
And a multitude of others in ND and Manitoba.

There are also the individual locked lakes, Sinks and Valleys within the Great Basin which is different than the Great Divide Basin. The Great Basin includes some well known lakes such as The Great Salt Lake, Groom Dry Lake (Where Area 51 is), Goose Lake (CA), Malheur Lake (OR), Carson Sink NV and others. More about the Great Basin here which is a set of closed basins in close proximity to one another in Nevada, Oregon and Utah.

So what is the Great Divide Basin then?

The Great Divide Basin is in Wyoming and gets the name from being an enclosed basin on the Continental Divide. This area is basically a rectangle enclosed by mountains. Information on the Great Divide Basin.


Hopefully this clears up the idea of what is included in the idea of an enclosed watershed. North America has quite a few of these systems. Some have many inflows and no outflows. Others are simply lakes (like Crater Lake) that have no inflow or outflows.

Question #6 Why doesn't ice cream melt when you fry it?

This is a question I get asked a lot so I figured I would answer it now.

The first thing we need to discuss is freezing temperatures. For water it is 32 F (0 C) but milk is a little different. Due to the fact milk has solids dissolved in it, fats, proteins, etc. the freezing point of milk is 31.028 F or -0.5400 C. A little aside, one of the ways they determine if milk is watered down by a supplier or if the cow producing it is sick is they check the freezing point of the milk. If the freezing point is 32 F (0 C) then there is something wrong with the milk. Back to the ice cream. Ice cream freezes solid at about 5 F (-15 C). Most home freezers keep ice cream at or near this temperature. 

When we think about a scoop of ice cream melting that means that the temperature of that ice cream has raised from whatever temperature it was in the freezer to something between 5 F and 31 F. The higher the temperature the more milk like it is. The trick with fried ice cream is figuring out a way to dunk a scoop of ice cream into 160-190 F (71- 88 C) boiling oil in a fryer. How can we do this without the temperature of the ice cream reaching a point where it will melt?

There are a few things going on with fried ice cream.

First, most establishments that make fried ice cream chill the scoops of ice cream to a temperature that is colder than the ice cream they serve without frying. This gives a few extra degrees before melting starts. Sometimes extra large scoops of ice cream are also used to help have more of a core to keep the ice cream solid.

Second, the pie crust like shell on the ice cream insulates the ice cream from coming into direct contact with the hot oil. (Other possible crusts are tempura batter, corn flakes, nuts, cookie crumbs, tortillas,

Finally, the time that the ball is in the hot oil is just a few seconds. No more is needed because the shell is thin and cooks quickly.


Basically. you have extra cold ice cream in insulation (the crust) dipped in hot oil for an incredibly short period of time. This allows the ice cream to stay solid. If you let your fried ice cream sit too long the heat from the shell will reach the inside and begin to melt the ice cream. This is why fried ice cream is a dessert to eat immediately.