SEDIMENTATION IN LINNÉVATNET, SVALBARD: EVALUATION OF MODERN PROCESSES USING SEDIMENT TRAPS

Linnévatnet is a High Arctic glacier-fed lake in Svalbard in which past climatic characteristics are recorded in laminated lake sediments that likely span the past 9,000 years. The laminae are comprised of annual couplets which consist of two distinct seasonal layers, a summer and a winter. Previous studies in similar proglacial lakes throughout the Arctic and alpine regions have determined that varves indicate weather and climate influences in the catchment area.

Svalbard Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU), funded by the National Science Foundation, has studied glaciers, melt-water streams, and sedimentation in lakes in relation to climate change. One purpose of the program is to calibrate the lamination stratigraphy of Linnévatnet cores by interpreting annual sediment trap stratigraphy with annual records of meteorology, glacier, melt-water stream, and lake conditions. Since 2003 the sedimentation of Linnévatnet has been analyzed using sediment traps deployed yearly and seasonally. The traps were deployed at five locations in the lake both proximal and distal to the major inlet. Depending on the water depth at each location two to five traps were attached to a mooring line. In the previous studies, trap stratigraphy, composition and grain size were evaluated to compare sedimentation records with local weather data and other watershed parameters.

This present study is a continuation of the project and focuses on the modern processes of sedimentation in Linnévatnet to determine if there is a relationship between sedimentation and climate-weather variables. This study will compile all available data from the five years of the REU project to date to provide a complete record of sediment trap stratigraphy, grain size, and weather data. Laminae in the past five years of core stratigraphy from the sediment cores will be analyzed to compare the relationship between five years of trap accumulation, sediment deposition, and meteorological data.