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On the laboratory procedure for processing unconsolidated sediment samples to concentrate subfossil seed and other plant macroremains

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Abstract

Macrofossil analysis is becoming increasingly used as an approach to vegetation history in late Quaternary palaeoenvironmental studies. Macrofossils can be recovered from many terrestrial and lacustrine settings. Although the laboratory techniques are straightforward and are described in outline in several textbooks, the practical details of the extraction procedure are not widely available. This paper provides a detailed breakdown of the steps involved in extracting macroremains from unconsolidated (non-lithified) Quaternary sediments, with reasons for the various steps and practical details of how the extraction is accomplished. It is intended as a “how-to” laboratory manual for students and researchers undertaking macrofossil analysis.

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Acknowledgements

My thanks to the many graduate students who have worked in the Quaternary Environments Laboratory through the years, most recently Simon Robinson and Grant Zazula, whose comments and questions have helped to refine this procedure. This paper also benefited from the constructive comments of two anonymous reviewers.

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  1. Curator, Quaternary Environments, Royal Alberta Museum, 12845-102nd Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta, T5N 0M6, Canada

    Alwynne B. Beaudoin

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  1. Alwynne B. Beaudoin
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Correspondence to Alwynne B. Beaudoin.

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Beaudoin, A.B. On the laboratory procedure for processing unconsolidated sediment samples to concentrate subfossil seed and other plant macroremains. J Paleolimnol 37, 301–308 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-006-9031-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-006-9031-8

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