Establishing the sediment stratigraphy of reservoirs in the southern Pennines, UK

Abstract

Reservoirs in the southern Pennines have been investigated to determine their potential for reconstructing a history of atmospheric pollution. A selection procedure has been used to identify sites with the best chance of obtaining a usable sedimentary record prior to sample collection. Five reservoirs were selected for core collection and sediment analysis using magnetic susceptibility (%i f ), particle size, spheroidal carbonaceous particle (SCP) analysis and radiometric dating. Analysis reveals that largely undisturbed sedimentary records exist in the deepest zones of these reservoirs, thus reservoir sediments represent a valuable resource for investigating pollution histories in the southern Pennines.Key words reservoirs; southern Pennines; sediment stratigraphy; particle size; magnetic susceptibility; spheroidal carbonaceous particles Etablissement de la stratigraphie sédimentaire de réservoirs des Pennines du Sud, Royaume UniRésumé Des réservoirs des Pennines du Sud ont été étudiés pour déterminer leur potentiel dans la reconstitution de l'histoire de la pollution atmosphérique. Une procédure de sélection a été utilisée pour identifier les sites qui présentent les meilleures chances d'obtenir un enregistrement sédimentaire utilisable, avant la prise d'échantillons. Cinq réservoirs ont été choisis pour recueillir des échantillons par carottage et analyser les sédiments du point de vue de la susceptibilité magnétique (Xif), de la taille des particules, des particules spéroïdes carbonées et de la datation radiométrique. L'analyse montre que des profils sédimentaires particulièrement bien conservés se trouvent dans les zones les plus profondes de ces réservoirs, constituant ainsi une ressource pertinente pour étudier l'histoire de la pollution dans les Pennines du Sud.

Long-term sediment yield in Crombie Reservoir catchment, Angus; and its regional significance within the Midland Valley of Scotland

“…4(c)) was additionally undertaken on a selection of samples using a Bartington MS2B susceptibility sensor, measuring the "magnetizability" of the composite materials (Dearing, 1994). The magnetism being measured is derived predominantly from primary and secondary minerals eroded from the catchment and magnetic particulates deposited from the atmosphere, the majority of which are the product of industrial processes and transport emissions (Thompson & Oldfield, 1986;Shotbolt et al, 2001). Gedye et al (2000) illustrate that identification of a magnetic fire signal is also possible, thus enabling the reconstruction of fire events within a sedimentary record.…”

The Suitability of a South Pennine (UK) Reservoir as an Archive of Recent Environmental Change

“…Anderson et al (1988) suggested that records of atmospheric air pollution in the reservoir sediments of the southern Pennines would be limited by the availability of undisturbed sediment, and regular drawdown of the water level during the summer months may be a significant factor in the reworking and disturbance of sediments. However, Shotbolt et al (2000Shotbolt et al ( , 2001 demonstrated that with careful site selection, it is possible to obtain sediment cores which have been subject to minimal stratigraphic disturbance. This study aims to assess the use of a reservoir for reconstructing recent changes in vegetation composition and industrial air pollution deposition in the south Pennines by comparing the sediment record (palynology and geochemistry) of a south Pennine reservoir (March Haigh, Figure 1) with both an undisturbed profile taken from the blanket peat within its catchment, and the modelled regional record of industrial SO 2 air pollution deposition.…”

Diatoms as indicators of ecological change in freshwater reservoirs of South East Queensland

“…These fluctuations have the potential to disrupt the sediment record (Shotbolt et al 2001) by resuspending and transporting sediment previously deposited in the reservoir (Effler and Matthews 2004) in addition to transporting sediment into the reservoir from the catchment. Despite these concerns, paleolimnological techniques have been successfully used in reservoirs to: determine changes in diatom communities since construction (Donar et al 1996); to provide information on historic water quality changes (Dixit et al 1999, Tremblay et al 2001, Costa-Boddeker et al 2012, Fontana et al 2014, Winston et al 2014; and to identify historic changes in hydrodynamics (Tibby 2001, Liu et al 2012).…”