Geochemical and sedimentological record of core KOT-3 from obtained from the alluvial plain of the Kotychi Lagoon (Peloponnese, Greece)

In April 2011, the sediment core KOT-3 (37°59,752N /21°18,133E, Fig.2) was retrieved on the alluvial plain at the eastern shore of the Kotychi Lagoon using a high-precision rod-operated piston corer (Usinger-System). With a total length of 980 cm KOT-3 comprises 10 segments each approximately one meter in length. The sediments in the uppermost centimeter of each core segment might be disturbed during the coring process, which introduces gaps to the sedimentary sequence. Further, a sand layer in KOT-3 at depth from 85 to 123 cm could not be recovered.
The core was scanned at 1 cm resolution for major elements with an Avaatech X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) core scanner, the data is displayed as element counts per seconds (cps).
The concentrations of total nitrogen (TN), total organic carbon (TOC) and inorganic carbon (IC) were determined on 86 dried, grinded and homogenized samples through combustion in an elemental analyzer (Euro EA, Elementanalyzer).
The grain size distribution of the sediments <2 mm was determined using a laser-particle-analyzer (Mastersizer 2000, Malvern). 78 samples (~0.5 g) were taken and successively treated with Hydrogen Peroxide until all organics were removed.