DOI: 10.5285/3d37a409-c1e2-4c25-bdbc-fe495ccff653
title: Sedimentological data (grain size data, wet bulk density, foraminifera and magnetic susceptibility) for core LC12 sediment record from Blaso, a large, epishelf lake, NW Greenland in July-Aug 2017

description: The dataset comprises multi-proxy analyses sediment core, LC12, extracted from Blaso, a large, epishelf lake on the margin of 79 degrees N Ice Shelf, NW Greenland in July-August 2017. The data are used to constrain ice shelf dynamics over the last ~8500 calibrated years before present (cal. years B.P., where present is A.D. 1950). 2 m-long sediment cores were recovered with a UWITEC KOL 'Kolbenlot' percussion piston corer to a total sediment depth of 5.24 m. Core LC12 collected from: 90 m water depth; 79.5948 degrees N, 22.44233 degrees E. LC12 sediment records consist of physical properties (magnetic susceptibility, wet bulk density), foraminifera and grain-size data. This project was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) through Standard Grant NE/N011228/1. We thank the Alfred Wegner Institute, and particularly Angelika Humbert and Hicham Rafiq, for their significant logistic support through the iGRIFF project. Additional support was provided from Station Nord (Jorgen Skafte), Nordland Air, Air Greenland and the Joint Arctic Command. Naalakkersuisut, Government of Greenland, provided Scientific Survey (VU-00121) and Export (046/2017) licences for this work.
description: A 2 m-long sediment core was recovered with a UWITEC KOL 'Kolbenlot' percussion piston corer to a total sediment depth of 5.24 m (LC12) in Blaso (LC12: 90 m water depth; 79.5948 degrees N, 22.44233 degrees E). Physical properties (magnetic susceptibility, wet bulk density) were measured on whole core using a GEOTEK multi-sensor core logger (MSCL) at the Department of Geography, Durham University, to characterise lithological properties and infer the depositional environment(s). Core sections were then split, described and sub-sampled. 1-cm thick sediment slices were taken every 10-20 cm. Grain-size analyses was performed on core LC12 using a Beckman Coulter LS 13 320 Laser Diffraction particle size analyser. Prior to analysis sediment samples were treated with 20 percent hydrogen peroxide to digest the organic material. A total of 6 (LC7) samples were processed for foraminiferal analysis to reconstruct the environmental conditions in Blaso. Sample volume varied between 0.5 and 5 ml (cm3) depending on average foraminiferal concentration (estimated based on initial scanning of samples). The variation in sample size was designed to allow ~300 to 500 specimens to be counted from all samples. Once extracted samples were soaked in deionized water for several hours to help disaggregate the sediment. Samples were then washed through a 500 micrometer and 63 micrometer mesh sieve to concentrate the foraminifera. The material collected on the 63 μm mesh sieve were retained for foraminiferal analysis. Foraminifera were identified and counted from the wet residue under a binocular microscope.
description: UWITEC KOL 'Kolbenlot' percussion piston corer GEOTEK multi-sensor core logger Binocular microscope Beckman Coulter LS 13 320 Laser Diffraction particle size analyser