Abstract
Sub-fossil diatoms represent an important archive of past environmental change in both terrestrial and marine settings. In recent years the isotopic analysis of diatom frustules has developed into an important area of paleo-environmental research. The extraction and concentration of diatoms from marine and lake sediments has proven difficult, particularly in silica rich samples. Here we present a new method for the rapid extraction of diatom frustules from lacustrine sediment using flow cytometry. This new technique produces samples suitable for geochemical and isotope-based research with a high degree of purity over a much shorter time frame than existing techniques, hours rather than days.
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Acknowledgments
Chris Caseldine, Pete Langdon, Naomi Holmes and Gareth Thompson are thanked for the use of sediment samples from Baularvallavatn. The Geography drawing office at Exeter are also thanked for their assistance in drafting the figures. Sarah Davies and Jason Jordan are thanked for their insights into diatom analysis and assistance with identification. Finally Sue Franklin, Angela Elliot, Charlotte Cook, Doris Allen and Malcolm Young are thanked for their help in the lab.
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Tennant, R.K., Jones, R.T., Love, J. et al. A new flow cytometry method enabling rapid purification of diatoms from silica-rich lacustrine sediments. J Paleolimnol 49, 305–309 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-012-9659-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-012-9659-5