Rapid determination of the pollen content in lake sediment cores as a tool in paleoenvironmental research
2015
Stolze, Susann
Pollen analysis of lake sediments is a time-consuming technique. The laborious sample preparation hampers quick determination of the pollen content and localization of sediment intervals based on palynological criteria within long sediment cores. This study introduces a quick and almost non-destructive pollen analytical method using smear-slides that allows the preliminary determination of the pollen content of lake sediments. Pollen grains are stained with Calberla’s solution. To test the reliability of the method, the results of the smear-slide technique were compared to those of a standard pollen analysis from the same stratigraphic sequence. The data from both techniques produced largely consistent results. Differences between both data sets reflect the statistical uncertainties associated with the low pollen concentrations in the smear slides and the low pollen counts employed in this technique. Despite these limitations, application of this method during the initial investigation of lake sediments can overcome some of the major challenges of paleoenvironmental research projects. The method can be used to rapidly determine important changes in the pollen stratigraphy, which allows the identification of sediment intervals for further, more detailed proxy analysis and the correlation of sediment cores. Knowledge of the pollen stratigraphy at an early stage of a research project can also assist in the selection of samples for radiocarbon dating. In addition, staining of sediment samples in the field can be used to verify the success of lake coring campaigns by comparing preliminarily determined pollen contents with expected pollen assemblages.
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