Michelle McKeown: Crawford Lake and the marking of human impact on nature

Crawford Lake has a unique ability to record annual layers of sediment with clarity.

Nestled in the heart of southern Ontario, Canada, Crawford Lake is a tranquil body of water with an extraordinary secret: it preserves history with uncanny precision. 

Its deep, undisturbed waters have acted like a natural time capsule, trapping layers of sediment year after year, each recording a snapshot of the environment at the time of deposition.