668 TANSEY AND FLIERMANS 



G + gentamicin sulfate and Yp Ss + penicillin G + gentamicin sulfate, 

 as previously described. 



RESULTS 



Results of isolations from water samples are summarized in 

 Table 1. Water seimples from thermal and nonthermal effluents did 

 not contain significant numbers of CFU's of thermophilic and 

 therm otolerant fungi. The few colonies that grew are attributed to 

 spores present in the surface foams accidentally collected as the 

 sample tube was plunged into the water. 



Aspergillus fumigatus and Dactylaria gallopava were isolated 

 from most of the foam samples taken from thermal effluents 

 (Table 2). No fungi were isolated from foam from the hottest water 

 (66°C) nor from foam on Steel Creek (31.5°C), which had not 

 received hot water for 9 years. Foam on hot water is quite hot; for 

 example, at a depth of 1 cm in a 3-cm-deep pile of foam 30 cm in 

 diameter and on 61°C water, the temperature was 52°C. The amount 

 of foEim required to produce 1 ml of liquid varied greatly from 

 sample to sample. In some cases 10 cc of foam yielded 1 ml of liquid; 

 in others ~50 cc were required. Microscopic examination of 

 condensed foam revealed that samples taken from the surface of 

 thermal effluents contained high concentrations of species of algae, 

 fungi, protozoa, and invertebrates that cannot grow at the tempera- 

 ture of the subtending water. Many of these organisms were 

 apparently healthy (e.g., normally pigmented algae, motile protozoa, 

 and intact cytoplasm). 



Foam was formed when wind caused waves to lap against the 

 shore. The wind also pushed foam into piles commonly 3 to 5 cm 

 deep and then up onto the shore and the vegetation. Foam 

 frequently formed nearly continuous piles along the edge of parts of 

 Ponds 2, 4, 5, and C, extending for several hundred meters. Foam 

 also accumulated at places where obstructions (riprap, fallen trees, 

 etc.) in canals and ponds caught small patches. On the rapidly 

 flowing canals, foam formed at places where turbulence occurred, 

 e.g., along edges, below spillways, and at obstructions. 



The results of plating samples other than water or foam are 

 summarized in Table 3. Except for the hottest sediments, most 

 samples yielded thermophilic and thermotolerant fungi. Qualitatively 

 and quantitatively, samples from thermal effluents did not differ 

 significantly from samples from nonthermal sites or from sun-heated 

 soils (Tansey and Jack, 1976), with one major exception— 



{Text continues on page 686.) 



