Palaeoecology Research Unit, UCL Environmental Change Research Centre
Abstract
In September 1983 the Royal Society launched a 500000 GBP
research programme funded jointly by the Central Electricity
Generating Board and the National Coal Board to investigate
mechanisms of surface water acidification in Norway, Sweden,
and the United Kingdom. The Management Committee of the
programme identified palaeolimnology as a key area of
research and we were invited to submit an integrated
proposal that was aimed not only at tracing acidification
history at important sites but also at evaluating alternative
hypotheses for lake acidification in each of the three
countries. We were also encouraged to use as wide a range
of techniques as possible. The programme approved by the
Management Committee initially in June 1984 and finally in
December 1984 is summarised in the following pages. A number
of projects began on October 1st 1984 and all remaining
projects are scheduled to begin on April 1st 1985. The
programme will be completed by September 1988 when the final
results will be presented at an open discussion meeting
