…and from geomorphology to sedimentology and chronology. Chris has chosen to complete his MSc. degree on a part-time basis over two years. During this time he has also worked in the labs at Royal Holloway as an research assistant, gaining additional valuable work experience, some of which he has taken forward into this dissertation project. Enjoy his contribution!
Name: Chris Francis
MSc Dissertation Title: Sedimentology of a new deep water core from Llangorse, South Wales, helping refine the timing of deglaciation.
Techniques: Thin-section micromorphology, tephrochronology, sedimentology, standard physical parameters.
About: My main interest is studying environmental change at high-resolution with robust chronologies during the Late Glacial and Dimlington. Palmer et al. (2008) previously studied the site and created a chronology for ice wastage since the LGM using annually laminated sediments (varves) from a core taken near the medieval Crannog situated near the north shore of the lake. However, this sequence was incomplete with Late Glacial Interstadial and Loch Lomond stadial deposits seemingly missing. The varve chronology was also floating. This study aims to improve on this work using new cores taken from the southern trough of the lake, which are thought may contain a complete sequence since the LGM. A chronology will be constructed using tephra and the varved sediments while palaeoenvironmental information will be gleaned from the macro and micro-scale sedimentology and the physical parameters. This will help improve our understanding of the pattern and timing of ice wastage at Llangorse.
Figure 1. Example of thin section slide from Llangorse – scan of surface
Figure 2. Varved sediments at the site
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