Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Capabilities

By Quaternary Research Facility

The Quaternary Lab Facility has expertise, tools, and equipment to carry out lake and peatland sediment coring, core processing and archival storage. This includes a variety of coring systems and platforms, core processing space, tools, and equipment, and walk-in cold room. 

The lab is also designed for high-volume sample pre-treatments for subsequent analyses in other laboratories such as radiocarbon and radiogeneic geochronology, stable isotope geochemistry, sedimentology, and paleoecological analyses. 

 

Field Equipment

Media
scientists in winter clothes and safety gear examine a percussion piston coring system situated on a frozen lake
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Lake sediment coring : A percussion piston coring system is used for >20-m water depth and can obtain up to 20-m of sediment core

 

Media
two photos of ice coring work on a frozen lake: a hand holds a filled coring tube upright and another core laid horizontally
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Lake sediment coring : Manual piston coring is used for lakes <20-m water depth and can obtain up to 15-20m sediment core.

 

Media
an array tubes containing lake coring samples to be processed
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Field collection: One productive coring trip provides >50-m of sediment for analyses and curation. The Quaternary Lab currently stores ~150-m of soft sediment cores collected between 2005 and 2025.

 

 

Lab Equipment

Media
lab bench with core undergoing magnetic susceptibility measurements
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Whole core magnetic susceptibility measurements: Measurements of whole core magnetic susceptibility provide a general stratigraphic profile of sediment layer compositions.

 

 

Media
core photo stand used in the Quaternary Lab Facility
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Sediment core photography stand: Every split sediment core is photographed to document color, structure and stratigraphy.

 

Media
segmented sediment core from Lake Lucille in Alaska, split into 9 columns, numbered D2 through D10
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Sediment core photography: Photography of split sediment cores is calibrated for color/light.

 

Media
closeup of a 20-centimeter-long section of sediment core showing holes where samples have been removed.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Sediment core sampling: A 25-cm section of a lake sediment core with continuous volumetric samples removed (1 cm3). The remaining cavities are filled with closed cell to preserve the core structures for future work.

 

 

Media
work area in the USGS Quaternary Lab Facility showing core on table
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Sediment core cold storage and sampling area: Lab bench space for core sampling outside of the walk-in cold strorage room.

 

 

Media
a 1-meter long side-by-side section of core showing sediment layers
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Lake sediment core: A freshly opened lake core from Alaska with continuous sediment layers that get older from the top of the core to the bottom. 

 

 

Media
three high-precision micro-balances covered with plastic sit on laboratory table
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
High-precision micro-balances 

 

 

Media
two dissecting microscopes on table with counting device
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Dissecting microcopes.

 

 

Related

Scientists approaching snow monitoring station in located in a mountainous meadow

How Much Snow for Colorado River Flow?

Historic lows in Colorado River reservoirs emphasize the critical role of snowpack. This research further refines understanding of precipitation in the Colorado River Basin, a critical water resource.
By
Ecosystems Land Change Science Program, Water Availability and Use Science Program, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center
How Much Snow for Colorado River Flow?

How Much Snow for Colorado River Flow?

Historic lows in Colorado River reservoirs emphasize the critical role of snowpack. This research further refines understanding of precipitation in the Colorado River Basin, a critical water resource.
Learn More
Scientist prepares to go sample Alaskan lake

Past Perspectives of Water in the West

In the intermountain west, seasonal precipitation extremes, combined with population growth, are creating new challenges for the management of water resources, ecosystems, and geologic hazards. This research contributes a comprehensive long-term context for a deeper understanding of past hydrologic variability, including the magnitude and frequency of drought and flood extremes and ecosystem...
By
Ecosystems Land Change Science Program, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center
Past Perspectives of Water in the West

Past Perspectives of Water in the West

In the intermountain west, seasonal precipitation extremes, combined with population growth, are creating new challenges for the management of water resources, ecosystems, and geologic hazards. This research contributes a comprehensive long-term context for a deeper understanding of past hydrologic variability, including the magnitude and frequency of drought and flood extremes and ecosystem...
Learn More

Related

Scientists approaching snow monitoring station in located in a mountainous meadow

How Much Snow for Colorado River Flow?

Historic lows in Colorado River reservoirs emphasize the critical role of snowpack. This research further refines understanding of precipitation in the Colorado River Basin, a critical water resource.
By
Ecosystems Land Change Science Program, Water Availability and Use Science Program, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center
How Much Snow for Colorado River Flow?

How Much Snow for Colorado River Flow?

Historic lows in Colorado River reservoirs emphasize the critical role of snowpack. This research further refines understanding of precipitation in the Colorado River Basin, a critical water resource.
Learn More
Scientist prepares to go sample Alaskan lake

Past Perspectives of Water in the West

In the intermountain west, seasonal precipitation extremes, combined with population growth, are creating new challenges for the management of water resources, ecosystems, and geologic hazards. This research contributes a comprehensive long-term context for a deeper understanding of past hydrologic variability, including the magnitude and frequency of drought and flood extremes and ecosystem...
By
Ecosystems Land Change Science Program, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center
Past Perspectives of Water in the West

Past Perspectives of Water in the West

In the intermountain west, seasonal precipitation extremes, combined with population growth, are creating new challenges for the management of water resources, ecosystems, and geologic hazards. This research contributes a comprehensive long-term context for a deeper understanding of past hydrologic variability, including the magnitude and frequency of drought and flood extremes and ecosystem...
Learn More
Was this page helpful?