Coring of laminated lake sediments for pigment and mineral magnetic analyses, Søndre Strømfjord, southern West Greenland

Abstract

Lake sediments are natural archives that provide longterm records of past changes in climate-catchment processes as well as changes in biological communities in lakes. The thousands of lakes in West Greenland are poorly studied but ideally suited to palaeoclimate and lake-catchment interaction projects because of the minimal level of anthropogenic impact and their tight links to regional climate. In 1999, therefore, activity in the Kangerlussuaq / Søndre Strømfjord area (Fig. 1) continued with both a summer limnological sampling programme (Brodersen & Anderson 2000, this volume) and a late winter to early spring expedition to retrieve sediment cores from lakes at the head of the fjord. In our previous coring trips along Søndre Strømfjord we identified a number of lakes with laminated sediments (Anderson & Bennike 1997; Anderson et al. 1999). Initially, it was thought that these finely resolved laminated sediments were restricted to lakes with permanently stratified water columns (meromictic lakes). However, it appears that lakes with laminated sediments are more widespread in West Greenland that hitherto thought.