1. Attend South Milton Ley and obtain 6 sediment cores from 3 different areas of
the ley to investigate the impact of discharges from the sewage treatment
works (STW).
2. From each of the 3 locations, extrude one master core at appropriate intervals
and describe its stratigraphy.
3. From each of the 3 locations, measure the dry weight and organic matter
content of selected levels of the master core.
4. Date the master core from each of the 3 locations to provide a chronology of
the ley sediments using radiometric dating methods and/or spheroidal
carbonaceous particles (SCPs).
5. Analyse the diatom assemblages in five to ten samples from selected depths
of each master core.
6. Apply a diatom-phosphorus transfer function to the diatom assemblages of
each master core to reconstruct total phosphorus concentrations and in turn
determine the nutrient loading history of the ley.
7. Produce a summary report of the findings
