Sedimentary my dear Watson - The Case of the Studley Silt, February 2011

Decided on a methodology for my research – magnetic fingerprinting. Sounds complicated (and not particularly exciting!) but is simply a way of discover the origin of the sediment in Studley Lake because just as everyone has a unique fingerprint, each grain of sediment has a unique ‘magnetic print’. The River Skell runs directly through Studley Lake, transporting and deposited sediment in the lake. Thus, soil and sediment samples need to be taken from around areas of the River Skell catchment which have different geology and land use. It should then be evident whether the ‘magnetic print’ of any of the samples matches the ‘magnetic print’ of the sediment in Studley Lake, and therefore explaining the presence of sediment in Studley Lake.