Diatom frustules of sediment core LV63-41-2

One-centimeter slices of sediment sampled at 2-4 cm intervals were analyzed for diatom abundance, species richness, and species identification. Diatom abundance and taxon identification was performed using an Olympus BX-43 light microscope at 1000x. A total of 213 diatom species were found in 175 samples from the studied sediment. More than 300 diatom frustules were identified to the species level to obtain a special statistical distribution of the diatom assemblages. Sediment samples with very few diatom frustules were enriched using a heavy liquid technique to obtain the required statistical number of specimens. Diatom abundance expressed as the number of frustules per 1 g of dry sediment (fr./g); species richness as the number of species per sample (species/sample), and the percentages of each species in the diatom taxa assemblages were calculated.