Nondestructive density determination on marine sediment cores from gamma-ray attenuation measurements

We describe an improved nondestructive technique for density measurement based on gamma-ray absorption that permits construction of high-resolution density profiles of marine sediment cores. The system is capable of resolving vertical density variations with a spatial resolution of 4 mm and absolute accuracy of +/-1%. Comparison with conventional density determination on samples confirms the absolute accuracy. In addition to standard vertical profiling, a core rotation option is included to measure density as a function of rotation angle. This allows the quantification of the variability of density within a layer and detection of inhomogenities like ice-rafted debris or biogenic structures.