ORGANIC RESIDUE (FTIR) ANALYSIS OF SEDIMENT SAMPLES FROM SITES T-032118-01 AND T-031618-01, POHAKULOA TRAINING AREA, HAWAI’I COUNTY, HAWAI’I

Sites T-031618-01 and T-032118-01 are located in the high plateau region between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, near a north/south trending portion of Old Saddle Road and about half of a kilometer south-southwest of the Mauna Kea Recreation Area in the Pohakuloa Training Area, Hawai'i County, Hawai'i. The Research Corporation of the University of Hawai'i (RCUH) and the Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit of the Pacific International Center of High Technology Research (PICHTR) submitted 17 sediment samples recovered from excavated pits in pāhoehoe lava flows to PaleoResearch Institute (PRI) for Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis (Table 1). Funding and other support for this project were provided by US Army Garrison, Pohakuloa Training Area. The objective of this FTIR analysis is to test for organic residues, with the purpose of evaluating whether or not the pits compare with known 'ua'u nesting sites on Hawai'i.