Special Studies

After ICD is complete, the researcher may choose to subject sediment samples to some of the following analyses. Some of these procedures are conducted within the Core Laboratory, some have stages conducted there, and some take place entirely within other labs.

Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)

Basic preparation
Subsampling
Freeze drying
Storage

Geochemical analyses
Scanning XRF (X-ray fluorescence)
Carbon coulometry
Loss-on-ignition (LOI)
Elemental analysis (EA, CNS)
Carbonate isotope prep
Organic matter isotope prep
Biogenic silica

Sedimentology and mineralogy
Grain size
X-ray diffraction
Scanning electron microscopy (SEM)
X-radiography
Thin sections
Image analysis

Floral and faunal components
Charcoal counting (sieve method)
Charcoal quantification (chemical method)
Charcoal and macrofossil picking
Pollen processing
    pollen prep flow chart
    quantitative pollen spike
Diatom preparation
Ostracode picking

Dating and magnetics
AMS radiocarbon dating
²¹⁰Pb dating
U-channel magnetometry

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Core image: Hvitarvatn, Iceland
updated January 30, 2007