ABSTRACT

A convenient method has been developed for the determination of colors of wet and powdered marine sediments. The colors of the sediments are determined with a simple colorimeter and described in the second CIE 1976 color space (L*a*b* color space). This method can sensitively detect color differences impossible to detect by the naked eye for wet and powdered sediment samples. It generally gives standard deviations of about 3% for replicate determinations of L*a*b* values for powdered samples of brown, dark brown, and greenish gray sediments, and less than 8% for wet black sediments. The color measurement of wet core samples on board the ship can be rapidly performed by this method, which is much more convenient and quantitative than the conventional visual color description using rock color chart. The effects of water content, grain size and oxidation artifact on color of sediments are also discussed.