Particle reworking in Great Lakes sediments

Pollen grain distributions and radioactive fallout horizons observed in sediment cores collected over the past decade have served as tracers of sediment reworking and burial rates for both the marine and lacustrine environments. Errors associated with the analysis of these cores, attributable to biogenic sediment reworking and shipboard handling, have necessitated the development of more precise techniques to measure sediment transport rates. The authors utilize a rare earth element tracer technique, which takes advantage of the high neutron-capture cross-section of samarium oxide, and neutron activation analysis, to trace the burial and lateral transport rates of surficial sediments in the littoral (SCUBA diver depths) and profundal (manned submersible depths) of the Great Lakes