Myself (left) and my collaborators on Rostherne Mere (Prof Melanie Leng, Dr Dave Ryves and Dr Chris Vane). |
I have recently moved to the University of Nottingham to
begin phase II of my PhD research. This is going to involve learning lots of
geochemistry techniques in order to improve methods for understanding past
environments and climate.
Rowing out to the sampling sites on Rostherne Mere |
My project on the Meres involves collecting the sediments
that are accumulating in the lake and trying to better understand what
environmental information we can extract from the organic geochemistry.
I want to be able to assess the different sources of organic
matter, whether from aquatic productivity (due to past pollution for example
from human sewage that has entered the lakes in the past) or from increased
erosion of the soils that surround the lakes due to changes in farming or land
management. The sediments have been accumulating for 12000 years, but for now I
am focussing on the last few hundred years to see if human impact is recorded
in the sediments especially since the Industrial Revolution c. 250 years ago. Rostherne Mere |
Understanding past pollution and how lakes respond is
important for conservation and protecting our environment.
By Jack Lacey, @JackHLacey(BGS funded student at the University of Nottingham)
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