A comparative study between loss on ignition and total carbon analysis on Late Glacial sediments from Atteköps mosse, southwestern Sweden, and their tentative correlation with the GRIP event stratigraphy

Abstract: Popular abstract: In this study, several sediment core from Atteköps mosse, southwestern Sweden, were investigated with respect to lithostratigraphy, loss on ignition analysis, grain size distribution, magnetic susceptibility, total carbon analysis and 14C dating. The first part of the study foccuses on a detailed analysis of the above mentioned sediment parameters. The results revealed a characteristic pattern with several dominantly minerogenic units separated by units with high organic content. These alternations very likely reflect changing climatic conditions and their impact on the former lake and its catchment, The available radiocarbon dates, comparisons with an earlier, unpublished investigation of Atteköps mosse and correlations with other published sited from southwestern Sweden imply that the investigated sequence was deposited during the Late Glacial and the early Holocene. By correlating the distinct lithological changes to the GRIP event stratigraphy, and assuming that climatic changes in southern Sweden and on Greenland occured more or less synchronous, a tentative chronology for the sequence in Atteköps mosse could be established. Based on the chronological framework, the Late Glacial and early Holocene environmental development of the site is discussed. The second part of the study deals with a comparison between orgaic and carbonate content determinations based on loss on ignition and step-wise total carbon analysis, and a correlation to grain-size. Although loss on ignition can generally be regarded as an accurate measure of the organic matter content of a sediment, the amount of the fine fraction in the sediments is a limiting factor for an absolute organic carbon determination and influences directly the correction factor. The same holds true for carbonate content determinations based on loss on ignition. In order to provide accurate organic and carbonate content determinations for a sediment, loss on ignition data must be corroborated by standard total carbon analysis.