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

A relaxing holiday in a hot, exotic country…or a week in Yorkshire collecting soil samples in the mud and rain – I know which I’d prefer!!! Travelled around the River Skell catchment to collect my 44 soil samples and removed the 8 sediment samplers – as would be expected a larger amount of sediment had collected further down the river where the material was being transported. Also collected sediment samples from the water bodies in the Fountains Abbey and Studley site.

Just returned from Lancaster University where I’ve spent a week and a half preparing and analysing my samples. For the magnetic fingerprinting technique, several tests were conducted on all the samples (the tests were magnetic susceptibility, Anhysteric Remenance Magentisation (ARM), and Isothermic Remenance Magnetisation (IRM)). The samples were then dried, weighed, burnt (to remove the organic matter) and then weighed again to determine the mineral to organic matter ratio in each sample. For the isotope analysis preparation a selection of 25 samples which were representative of the catchment were chosen, dried and then ground to a fine powder although the equipment that is used will take a few weeks before the results are ready.

The search for clues continues next month.