Physical properties

We use our multi-sensor core loggers to measure physical properties of the sediment cores. Amongst these, we measure density and porosity, magnetic susceptibility ("how sensitive do the sediments react on magnetization?"), and p-wave velocity ("how fast does sound travel through the sediments?"). Furthermore, we take core photographs at a resolution of 10 to 20 scan lines per millimeter. In addition, we can detect the colour spectrum of the sediment even more precisely using another specialized camera.

Physical properties are strongly depending on the chemical and mineralogical composition of the sediments. Variations in physical properties, therefore, can often be interpreted as changes in the paleoenvironmental conditions that affect the composition of the sediment during its deposition. 

The information that is obtained through non-destructive physical properties measurements can in a first step be used to correlate cores to each other. Anomalies in density and magnetic susceptibility are often found in cores taken from the same geographical area.

In a second step, these measurements can be used for the reconstruction of paleoclimate conditions. For example, physical properties measured on the long cores of the Lake El'gygytgyn deep drilling project can be used to determine different lithologies which in turn reflect different paleoclimate conditions (Article).