Application of the QDa-Md method of environmental discrimination to particle size analyses of fine sediments by pipette and SediGraph methods: a comparative study

The results of particle size analyses by the low-technology pipette method and by the modern SediGraph, of a suite of fine lacustrine bottom sediment samples, are compared. Good correlations between the two data sets are observed, although the SediGraph consistently indicates finer grain sizes and better sorting of distributions. The QDa-Md method of environmental discrimination, originally established on the basis of traditional methods of size analysis, is found to be sufficiently versatile to accommodate the SediGraph data into the appropriate trend envelopes, despite the considerable differences in derived grain size parameters.