Interpretation of laminated sediments from glacier-fed lakes, northwest Spitsbergen

Lithostratigraphy and magnetic susceptibility have been used to correlate cores within a series of glacier-fed lakes in northwest Spitsbergen. Variations in downcore laminated couplet thickness within in downcore laminated couplet thickness within these sediments are presented, compared with meteorological records and dated using 210 Pb methods. If the couplets are assumed to be annual, then a close relationship between thickness and temperature variation should be visible. However, results of the dating experiments indicate that two to three laminated couplets may be formed annually, as a result of turbidity currents triggered independently of temperature and glacier size fluctuations