Preparation techniques for concentrating pollen from marine sediments and other sediments with low pollen density

Abstract

Abstract A procedure that modifies standard preparation techniques was developed to concentrate pollen and spores from intractable sediments. These modifications include sieving samples suspended in 0.001 M sodium pyrophasphate through 7ìm nylon screens prior to and following chemical treatments. If siliceous sediments require reprocessing with hydroflouric acid (HF), samples are sieved through 7 ìm screens between HF treatments, using sodium pyrophosphate as a suspension. Samples with large amounts of undigested, fine‐grained organic matter are slowly oxidized with a sodium chlorate mixture. Continuously monitored use of these techniques produces statistically‐significant sums of pollen from sediments which otherwise would be of little value to palynologists.