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Staff and students from the Earth Sciences Department at the City of Stoke-on-Trent Sixth Form College have taken part in fieldwork at Ainsdale for several years. Surveys were based on transects running directly inland from the high water mark. Each team was separated from adjacent teams by about 50 metres. Teams were allocated code letters A, B, C, etc. or 1, 2, 3, etc.
All the data collected between 1996 and 2000 is available for download below, but please note:
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The precise locations of teams A, B, C, etc. is not the same for each year |
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The quality of the data has been limited by the equipment available and student's ability to recognise plants and follow procedures correctly. |
Despite this, the data is comprehensive and can be easily used by anyone wanting to analyse the dune system, look for zoning, habitats, etc.
There were minor variations in the data collected each year but generally files are divided into main two types: topographical and vegetation data. For some years the data is limited.
To download any of the files below, RIGHT CLICK the hyperlink, select the option "Save target as", then enter the drive, folder, etc. into which you want to save the data. All the data is in Excel 97 format.
| 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 |
| Vegetation | Vegetation | Vegetation | Vegetation | Vegetation |
| Topography | Topography | Topography |
In 1999 further data was collected on the sediments forming the dunes to investigate grain sizes, composition, pH, etc. The associated files appear below.
Calcium Carbonate Content - the percentage weight loss is the percentage of the sand composed of CaCO3 Samples of sand were repeatedly bathed in dilute HCl acid until all reaction stopped. Dune sands are made from broken shell fragments composed of CaCO3 in addition to other mineral grains, e.g. quartz. Older dunes should in theory have suffered more chemical weathering by reaction with rainwater. They should therefore have a lower CaCO3 content.
Moisture Content - samples from slacks should have a higher moisture content.
Organic & Moisture Content - samples from older dunes and from slacks should have higher organic and water contents
The following files contain sieving analyses of various samples along Transect 4 with statistical calculations and graphs. The files are named by there segment number.
| 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 4 | 5 | 6 |
| 7 | 8 | 12 |