A microwave digestion technique for the extraction of fossil diatoms from coastal lake and swamp sediments |
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| Authors: | JF Parr KH Taffs CM Lane |
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| Institution: | (1) Centre for Geoarchaeology and Palaeoenvironmental Research, School of Environmental Science and Management, Southern Cross University, P.O. Box 157, Lismore, NSW 2480, Australia;(2) Institute of Antarctic and Southern Ocean Studies (IASOS), University of Tasmania, GPO Box 252-80, Hobart Tasmania, 7001, Australia |
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| Abstract: | This study provides an introduction to a microwave digestion technique for the extraction of fossil diatoms from sediments. The microwave technique is compared with the standard diatom extraction technique of Battarbee (Diatom analysis. In: Berglund B.E. (ed.), Handbook of Holocene Palaeoecology and Palaeohydrology. John Wiley and Sons) that uses a combination of dilute hydrochloric acid and hydrogen peroxide and the advantages and disadvantages of their use are discussed. The results suggest that the microwave technique is fast, inexpensive and most importantly produces replicable fossil diatom assemblage data. Small samples sizes are used (0.3 g) for the microwave method thus lower quantities of chemicals are required (6 ml), which significantly decreases the cost of sample processing. Our results show that the microwave digestion technique is a viable alternative that will produce similar results within a shorter period of time. |
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| Keywords: | Diatom Methods Microwave digestion Sediments |
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