Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Estimation of grain size variability with micro X-ray fluorescence in laminated lacustrine sediments, Cape Bounty, Canadian High Arctic

  • Original paper
  • Published:
Journal of Paleolimnology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Finely laminated sediment cores from two Arctic lakes were investigated using the Itrax™ Core Scanner that provides micro X-ray fluorescence (μ-XRF) measurements with a spatial resolution of 100 μm. We compared these chemical measurements with standard geochemical methods using, at the macroscopic scale, inductively coupled plasma–atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) and, at the microscopic scale, energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). We also investigated the relationship between the chemical profiles and the grain size of sediments at macro-scale using laser particle-size analysis, and at microscopic scale, using thin section image analysis techniques. Results show a link between grain size and the relative abundance of several elements. Silicon and zirconium are associated with very coarse silt and sand deposits, K and Fe with clay-rich layers, and Ti with silty facies. Four sedimentary facies are characterised based on sedimentary structure and texture, and interpreted in terms of known seasonal hydroclimatic processes. We show that is possible to identify these sedimentary facies using μ-XRF element abundance or ratio variations. The K/Ti ratio is the best marker of the upper varve boundary, and it might be used for varve identification and counting of Cape Bounty sediments in future. More generally, this study demonstrates new applications for paleohydrological reconstructions from laminated sediments.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Blott SJ, Pye K (2001) GRADISTAT: a grain size distribution and statistics package for the analysis of unconsolidated sediments. Earth Surf Proc Land 26:1237–1248

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boyle EA (1983) Chemical accumulation variations under the Peru Current during the past 130,000 years. J Geophys Res 88:7667–7680

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Braun C, Hardy DR, Bradley RS, Retelle MJ (2000) Streamflow and suspended sediment transfer to Lake Sophia, Cornwallis Island, Nunavut, Canada. Arct Antarct Alp Res 32:456–465

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chmelik FB (1967) Electro-osmotic core cutting. Mar Geol 5:321–325

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cockburn JMH, Lamoureux SF (2008a) Hydroclimate controls over seasonal sediment yield in two adjacent High Arctic watersheds. Hydrol Process 22:2013–2027

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cockburn JMH, Lamoureux SF (2008b) Inflow and lake controls on short-term mass accumulation and sedimentary particle size in a High Arctic lake: implications for interpreting varved lacustrine sedimentary records. J Paleolimnol 40:923–942

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen AS (2003) Paleolimnology: the history and evolution of lake systems. Oxford University Press, New York, p 500

    Google Scholar 

  • Croudace IW, Rindby A, Rothwell RG (2006) ITRAX: description and evaluation of a new multi-function X-ray core scanner. Geological Society. Special publications, London, pp 51–63

    Google Scholar 

  • Cuven S, Francus P, Cremer J-F (2007) Protocoles d’utilisation et essais de calibration du scanner de microfluorescence X de type “ITRAX™ Core Scanner”. INRS-ETE, Québec, rapport de recherche N° 954, p 108

  • Dean W, Anderson R, Bradbury JP, Anderson D (2002) A 1500-year record of climatic and environmental change in Elk Lake, Minnesota-I: varve thickness and gray-scale density. J Paleolimnol 27:287–299

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deer WA, Howie RA, Zussman J (1992) An introduction to the rock-forming minerals. Longman Scientific & Technical: Wiley, New York, p 696

    Google Scholar 

  • Dugan H, Lamoureux SF, Lafrenière M, Lewis T (2009) Hydrological and sediment yield response to summer rainfall in a small High Arctic watershed. Hydrol Process 23:1514–1526

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Folk RL, Ward WC (1957) Brazos River bar: a study in the significance of grain size parameters. J Sediment Petrol 27:3–26

    Google Scholar 

  • Francus P (1998) An image-analysis technique to measure grain-size variation in thin sections of soft clastic sediments. Sediment Geol 121:289–298

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Francus P, Asikainen CA (2001) Sub-sampling unconsolidated sediments: a solution for the preparation of undisturbed thin-sections from clay-rich sediments. J Paleolimnol 26:323–326

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Francus P, Nobert (2007) An integrated computer system to acquire, process, measure and store images of laminated sediments. In: 4th Int Limnogeol Congress, Barcelona, 11–14th July

  • Francus P, Bradley RS, Abbott MB, Patridge W, Keimig F (2002) Paleoclimate studies of minerogenic sediments using annually resolved textural parameters. Geophys Res Lett 29:1998. doi:10.1029/2002GL015082

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Francus P, Bradley RS, Lewis T, Abbott MB, Retelle MJ (2008) Limnological and sedimentary processes at Sawtooth Lake, Canadian High Arctic, and their influence on varve formation. J Paleolimnol 40:963–985

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hambley GW, Lamoureux SF (2006) Recent summer climate recorded in complex varved sediments, Nicolay Lake, Cornwall Island, Nunavut, Canada. J Paleolimnol 35:629–640

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harrison JC (1994) Melville Island and adjacent smaller islands, Canadian Arctic Archipelago, District of Franklin, Northwest Territories. Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa, ON, Map: 1:250,000

  • Harrison JC (1995) Melville Island’s salt-based fold belt, Arctic Canada. Natural Resources Canada, Geological Survey of Canada, Bulletin 472, Ottawa, p 331

  • Hodgson DA, Vincent JS, Fyles JG (1984) Quaternary geology of central Melville Island, Northwest Territories. Geological Survey of Canada, Geology of Canada 83–16, p 23

  • Lamoureux SF (1994) Embedding unfrozen lake sediments for thin section preparation. J Paleolimnol 10:141–146

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lamoureux SF (2000) Five centuries of interannual sediment yield and rainfall-induced erosion in the Canadian High Arctic recorded in lacustrine varves. Water Resour Res 36:309–318

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lamoureux SF, Bollmann J (2004) Image acquisition. In: Francus P (ed) Image analysis, sediments and paleoenvironments. Springer, Netherlands, pp 11–34

    Google Scholar 

  • Lamoureux SF, Gilbert R (2004) A 750-yr record of autumn snowfall and temperature variability and winter storminess recorded in the varved sediments of Bear Lake, Devon Island, Arctic Canada. Quat Res 61:134–147

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lamoureux SF, England JH, Sharp MJ, Bush ABG (2001) A varve record of increased ‘Little Ice Age’ rainfall associated with volcanic activity, Arctic Archipelago, Canada. Holocene 11:243–249

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larsen CPS, Pienitz R, Smol JP, Moser KA, Cumming BF, Blais JM, Macdonald GM, Hall RI (1998) Relations between lake morphometry and the presence of laminated lake sediments: A re-examination of Larsen and Macdonald (1993). Quat Sci Rev 17:711–718

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Last WM (2001a) Minerological analysis of lake sediments. In: Last WM, Smol JP (eds) Tracking environmental changes using lake sediments: physical and geochemical methods. Springer, Netherlands, pp 143–188

    Google Scholar 

  • Last WM (2001b) Textural analysis of lake sediments. In: Last WM, Smol JP (eds) Tracking environmental changes using lake sediments: physical and geochemical methods. Springer, Netherlands, pp 41–81

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis T, Gilbert R, Lamoureux SF (2002) Spatial and temporal changes in sedimentary processes at proglacial Bear Lake, Devon Island, Nunavut, Canada. Arct Antarct Alp Res 34:119–129

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loizeau JL, Span D, Coppee V, Dominik J (2001) Evolution of the trophic state of Lake Annecy (eastern France) since the last glaciation as indicated by iron, manganese and phosphorus speciation. J Paleolimnol 25:205–214

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacDonald G, Felzer B, Finney B, Forman S (2000) Holocene lake sediment records of Arctic hydrology. J Paleolimnol 24:1–14

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McDonald DM, Lamoureux SF (2009) Hydroclimatic and channel snowpack controls over suspended sediment and grain size transport in a High Arctic catchment. Earth Surf Proc Land 34:424–436

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Sullivan PE (1983) Annually-laminated lake sediments and the study of Quaternary environmental changes—a review. Quat Sci Rev 1:245–313

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ojala AEK (2004) Application of X-Ray radiography and densitometry in varve analysis. In: Francus P (ed) Image analysis, sediments and paleoenvironments. Springer, Netherlands, pp 187–202

    Google Scholar 

  • Østrem G, Olsen HC (1987) Sedimentation in a Glacier Lake. Geog Ann Series a-Phys Geogr 69:123–138

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rasband WS (1997–2009) ImageJ, US National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. http://rsb.info.nih.gov/ij/,1997-2009

  • Retelle MJ (1986) Stratigraphy and Sedimentology of Coastal Lacustrine Basins, Northeastern Ellesmere Island. N. W. T. Géogr phys Quat 40:117–128

    Google Scholar 

  • Retelle MJ, Child JK (1996) Suspended sediment transport and deposition in a high arctic meromictic lake. J Paleolimnol 16:151–167

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rothwell RG, Hoogakker B, Thomson J, Croudace IW, Frenz M (2006) Turbidite emplacement on the southern Balearic Abyssal Plain (western Mediterranean Sea) during Marine Isotope Stages 1–3: an application of ITRAX XRF scanning of sediment cores to lithostratigraphic analysis In: Rothwell RG (ed.) New techniques in sediment core analysis. Special Publications, Geological Society, London, pp 267

  • Shan HZ, Zhuo SJ, Shen RX, Sheng C (2008) Mineralogical effect correction in wavelength dispersive X-ray florescence analysis of pressed powder pellets. Spectr Act Part B-Atom Spectr 63:612–616

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith ND (1978) Sedimentation processes and patterns in a glacier-fed lake with low sediment input. Can J Earth Sci 15:741–756

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith DG (1992) Vibracoring: recent innovations. J Paleolimnol 7:137–143

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Soreghan MJ, Francus P (2004) Processing backscattered electron digital images of thin sections. In: Francus P (ed) Image analysis, sediments and paleoenvironments. Springer, Netherlands, pp 203–225

    Google Scholar 

  • St-Onge G, Mulder T, Francus P, Long B (2007) Continuous physical properties of cored marine sediments. In: Hillaire-Marcel C, de Vernal A (eds) Developments in Marine Geology. vol 1, Proxies in Late Cenozoic Paleoceanography. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 63–98

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Wolfe BB, Hall RI, Last WM, Edwards TWD, English MC, Karst-Riddoch TL, Paterson A, Palmini R (2006) Reconstruction of multi-century flood histories from oxbow lake sediments, Peace-Athabasca Delta, Canada. Hydrol Process 20:4131–4153

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zolitschka B (1996) Recent sedimentation in a high arctic lake, northern Ellesmere Island, Canada. J Paleolimnol 16:169–186

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Work has been supported by grants of the NSERC (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada) and the Canadian International Polar Year (IPY) program to PF and SL. Logistical support was provided by the Polar Continental Shelf Program, Natural Resources Canada (PCSP). We especially thank Jean-François Crémer, David Fortin, Anna Pienkowski-Furze, Jessica Tomkins, Jackie Cockburn, and the technical team of INRS-ETE for assistance. This is PCSP contribution number # 034-08.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre Eau, Terre et Environnement, Institut national de la Recherche Scientifique, 490 rue de la Couronne, Quebec, QC, G1K 9A9, Canada

    Stéphanie Cuven & Pierre Francus

  2. Department of Geography, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, K7L 3N6, Canada

    Scott F. Lamoureux

Authors
  1. Stéphanie Cuven
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Pierre Francus
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Scott F. Lamoureux
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Stéphanie Cuven or Pierre Francus.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Fig S-1

Correlations between Zr, Ti and K μ-XRF mean values covering the six discrete samples from Fig. 3 and geometric means obtained with the Beckman Coulter LS200 laser diffraction analyser from the ESM Table S-3 (EPS 889 kb)

Supplementary material 2 (XLS 18 kb)

Supplementary material 3 (XLS 16 kb)

Supplementary material 4 (XLS 21 kb)

Supplementary material 5 (XLS 28 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Cuven, S., Francus, P. & Lamoureux, S.F. Estimation of grain size variability with micro X-ray fluorescence in laminated lacustrine sediments, Cape Bounty, Canadian High Arctic. J Paleolimnol 44, 803–817 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-010-9453-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-010-9453-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation