Bruce, Nice thought and I thought of that as well, but I have the inlet dam marked and a few other places marked and I haven't lost an inch since we got the cold weather. I also have the spot where I keep open with the areator marked and that also shows no sign of water loss.
I found some other interesting things about hte ice and whats happening with snow onthe pond. If you move the snow over to the sides of the pond to provide an open area, You actually cause the sides to drop lover and the center to bow up. The sides then form holes in areas where there is gas trapped and then the pressure of the ice moving down causes the water to push up through these gas holes. Thus you then see fresh water flowing up onto the surface of the ice. Once the weight of the snow has been bouyed up the water stops runing through the holes to the surface and then seals back over.
I had observed these holes in previous years but did not understand them or what was going on until I went back to my physics books and did a few experiments.
Ahhh always learning with the pond, and twice as fast in the winter!!!!!!
