Rapid and Reproducible Grain Size Measurements of Fine-Grained Sediment: The Sedigraph 5120

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We are requesting funds for a Sedigraph 5120: an x-ray based grain size analyzer. The Sedigraph is the superior tool for measuring the grain size of mud and mica-rich sand, mainly because it is the only tool that makes mass-based measurements (determined from gravitational settling) that are independent of grain shape. This is particularly important when analyzing sediments with an abundance of platy grains (e.g., clay and mica), because platy grains skew grain size measurements towards coarser sizes, and hence, introduce significant errors into the results. For grain size analysis of samples acquired from the west coast of Canada and the Canadian Cordillera, a sedigraph is a necessity because in many areas, sediments have high mica contents and/or high clay fractions.