Palaeoecological Assessment of a New Deep water Channel in the Lower River Test

 
Project description
Palaeoecological Assessment of a New Deep water Channel in the Lower River Test
Natural England (NE) has been asked by Associated British Ports (ABP) to advise on the dredging of a new deep-water channel opposite the Millbrook container terminal at Southampton designed to allow the turning of container vessels. NE have then tasked you to provide an assessment of the palaeoecological and archaeological potential of these sediments and what provisions should be made for their sampling and analysis. In order to complete this assignment you will need to take notice of the additional comments below.
Important Additional Notes
1. The area to be dredged out is from Eling Wharf to Hythe off the western edge of the New Forest. It will be 100-200m wide and to 60m below mean low water level and located entirely within the present estuary (below the mean low water line) and adjacent to the present deep-water channel.
2. The palaeoecological and archaeological potential’ can be taken to include what sediments might reasonably be expected to be encountered and what potential such sediments might have to inform both the scientific community and the public on both the ecological and archaeological history of the area, the relative sea-level history of the estuary and its relationship to regional relative sea-level history. This should highlight any locally, regionally and potentially nationally important palaeoecological questions. Archaeological potential in this context refers to evidence of human activity in the sediments (thing about sea-level history) and through the palaeoecology.
3. The target area will be cored using a wide diameter (10cm) chamber corer which can provide near-continuous cores for analyses.
4. The Assessment Report should include the likely (most probable) sediments or sequence of sediments to be encountered, followed by an assessment of their palaeoecological potential (as described above) and an outline of the analyses that should be undertaken with a justification in each case.
5. At this stage cost is not a consideration but the analyses must be justified, appropriate and feasible.
6. Some provision should be made for determining a chronology and appropriate techniques specified along with palaeoenvironmental justifications and appropriate sedimentary contexts.
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7. The assignment should be structured as a report with a contents page, sub-headings, figures, references and if required appendices. References must be given in full (including to maps and online sources) in a References section at the end but before any Appendices. In the text references must be given as author and date only.
8. The word limit is 2000 words (excluding references and appendices)
9. The relevant literature includes papers or books on the following; the relative sea-level history of Southampton Water and the Solent, the palaeoecology and archaeology of the New Forest and Southampton area. Relevant lectures include Palaeoecology II and references in other lectures to sea-level history.