XRF Analysis of Lacustrine Sediment from Linnévatnet, Svalbard.

• Main Author: Strand, Sarah M.
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: Tufts University. Digital Collections and Archives.
• Subjects: Sedimentation and deposition.; Lake sediments.; Sedimentation analysis > Measurement > Technological innovations.; Tufts University. Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences.; Svalbard (Norway); Arctic; Svalbard; Norway; Linnévatnet; Spitsbergen
• Online Access: https://dl.tufts.edu/catalog/tufts:sd.0000102

Abstract: Linnévatnet, Western Spitsbergen, Svalbard is a proglacial lake with varved sediment. Given pronounced Arctic warming in recent decades, Linnévatnet is a suitable location for paleoclimate studies based on lacustrine sediment. Previous analyses of sediment from Linné have been based in varve counting and thickness; this thesis investigates the data yielded by a new long core technique: XRF spectrometry with a COX Itrax Corescanner. XRF elemental signatures depicted prominent laminations and bands at the top of a transect of three cores taken across the southern end of the lake. Calcium and iron exhibited the strongest correlation with varves at the top of the cores, indicating their potential use as paleoclimate proxies. Laminations thin down-core, so a higher resolution XRF scan than was completed in this study would be needed to accurately distinguish deeper varves via their elemental composition.