Characteristics of Quaternary Deep Sea Sediment in the Sumba Strait based on Grain Size and LoI (Lost on ignition Analysis)

Abstract

This research was conducted in the Sumba Strait, southwest of Sumba East Nusa Tenggara. The Purpose of this study is to determine the depositional facies characteristics of the Quaternary deep sediment. The sample was taken at a depth of 1858 m by gravity core in board of RV Baruna Jaya VII by the geology team of Ekspedisi Widya Nusantara LIPI 2016. The length of the sample was 246 cm. Sedimentology analysis was conducted to measure grain size distribution, organic material and carbonate content in the core. The characteristics of the sediment were dominated by coarse silt, poorly sorted, symmetrical skewness and mesokurtic kurtosis. Generally, the percentage of carbon and carbonate is 20.09% carbon and 9.67% carbonate; it shows that grain size is very influential on organic material in the sediment. The finer the grain of sediment the higher the organic material, which in the sediment results from the grain size analysis indicates the dominant grain size of the fine (Coarse silt).