Over time sediment accumulates on the ocean floor. Typically this process is gradual and a cross section of the sediment below the seafloor reveals layer upon layer of deposits. By taking cores with different target depths, scientists can make chemical measurements on sediment samples to gain insight into the ocean and climate across timescales ranging from the modern day to hundreds of thousands of years ago.
MulticoreRecoveries
KNR197-3 Multicoring Sites
Multicoring sites relative to water column salinity
We collected multicores from 22 sites at depths between 359 and 3,328 meters below the surface.
In addition to the smaller bottom water samples collected at each coring location, one large volume sample will be taken to be analyzed for radiocarbon. With some tracers, such as the ones listed above under bottom water sampling, relatively small volumes of water are needed to make measurements. However only a small fraction of carbon isotopes are radioactive so a larger volume of water is needed to obtain enough C-14 atoms to make a reliable measurement.
The range in water column salinity suggests the presence of several watermasses. The muticores are distributed across these water masses, so they will provide excellent material for the comparison of our proxies to bottom water chemistry. We will assess whether our proxies accurately record the water masses and the gradients between water masses.
