Lake Suigetsu

Question 1

What is a varve?

Answer 1

The visual banding that is representative of time

Question 2

What interval of time does one varve represent?

Answer 2

One Year

Question 3

How many years of deposition are represented in the varve deposits of Lake Suigetsu?

Answer 3

70,000 years

Question 4

How thick are
the deposits?

Answer 4

0.7mm thick

Question 5

What are the three environmental conditions that have led to such good preservation of the varves in
Lake Suigetsu?

Answer 5

1. The surrounding mountains block the wind and prevent wind
2. No rivers directly feed the lake
3. It is deep enough that the bottom lacks oxygen, critters can’t disturb it

Question 6

The deposits serve as a global standard reference time scale for Carbon 14 dating.

Question 7

What organic
matter is used within the varved sediments to establish this reference time scale?

Answer 7

Fossilized leaves

Question 8

What other environmental phenomenon are recorded within the varved sediments in Lake Suigetsu?

Answer 8

Earthquakes and floods from layer thickness, climate changes from the fossils, volcanic ash from color