Rosetta Project

SWATCH SUBMARINE

The SWATCH Loch Ness Submarine played a vital role in one of the most important scientific projects ever carried out on Loch Ness. In 1994, it was used to inspect and photograph equipment 200 metres below the surface where The Rosetta Project, recovered six-metre-long sediment cores from the loch bed. These cores are like time capsules, preserving a record of the loch's history stretching back around 10,000 years to the end of the last Ice Age.
To collect the cores, Adrian Shine designed and built a special machine, now on display in The Search for Truth area of the Loch Ness Experience. Once lowered to the loch bed, large suction anchors drew the machine firmly into place while a powerful one ton salvage lift bag system pulled a sampling tube deep into the sediment through wires and pulleys. Compressed air then brought the machine to the surface rather spectacularly!
The sediment cores have given scientists an extraordinary insight into how Loch Ness has changed over thousands of years, revealing evidence of changing climates, forests, wildlife, early farming and even the impact of modern pollution.

CORE SAMPLER

Deep beneath the turbulent surface of Loch Ness, layers of sediment drift gently into an undisturbed ‘time capsule’ building up over thousands of years. These layers are the pages of a history book, preserving clues about the changing environment since the last Ice Age.
In 1994, the Rosetta Project retrieved six-metre-long sediment cores from the bottom of the loch. Scientists study tiny fossils, pollen, volcanic ash and other materials trapped in the sediment to discover how the landscape and climate have changed over time.
The evidence shows:
•    The end of the Ice Age – Blue-grey clay was left behind as the glaciers melted.
•    Tiny diatoms – These microscopic plants reveal changes in water temperature, nutrients and water quality.
•    The first forests – Pollen shows how birch trees were followed by hazel, oak and, around 8,000 years ago, the great Caledonian pine forest.
•    Early wildlife –The forests were home to beavers, wolves and bears.
•    The first farmers – Cereal pollen marks the arrival of farming as trees were cleared for crops.
•    Bronze Age change – Around 3,000 years ago, farms were suddenly abandoned, possibly because volcanic eruptions in Iceland changed the climate.
•    Floods and storms – Each flood left a new layer of sand, plants and fine clay on the loch bed.
•    The modern world – Pollution from industry, farming and sewage can be seen in the sediments, along with radioactive traces from nuclear testing in 1963 and the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.
The most recent layers also tell a more positive story. Some pollution has reduced in recent decades, proving that protecting the environment really does make a difference. The bottom of Loch Ness is more than mud—it's a remarkable archive of Scotland's natural and human history.