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

Reservoirs in the southern Pennines have been investigated to determine the ir potential for reconstructing a history of atmospheric pollution. A selec tion procedure has been used to identify sites with the best chance of obta ining a usable sedimentary record prior to sample collection. Five reservoi rs were selected for core collection and sediment analysis using magnetic s usceptibility (chi (lf)), particle size, spheroidal carbonaceous particle ( SCP) analysis and radiometric dating. Analysis reveals that largely undistu rbed sedimentary records exist in the deepest zones of these reservoirs, th us reservoir sediments represent a valuable resource for investigating poll ution histories in the southern Pennines.