Palaeoenvironmental implications derived from a piston core from east lobe Bonney, Taylor Valley, Antarctica

A 270 cm long sediment sequence was recovered with a piston corer from east lobe Bonney Taylor Valley Antarctica and characterized according to its sedimentological mineralogical and geochemical properties It is the first record of such length recovered from east lobe Bonney The sediment core is mainly composed of halite crystals of different sizes water and a relatively low and stable proportion of elastic particles Although the sediment surface was probably disturbed by the coring process and absence or low contents of organic material or carbonates hampers the establishment of a robust chronology by radiocarbon dating the core probably contains at least several hundred years of information about the history of the lake and the Bonney basin Variations in halite crystal sizes and amount as well as variations in the composition of elastic material can be related to past lake level changes and evaporation cycles.