New approaches for automated data processing of annually laminated sediments

Abstract. Laminated sediments, like evaporites and biogenic lake sediments, provide high-resolution paleo-climate records. Yet detection and counting of laminae causes still problems because sedimentary structures are often disturbed. In the past laminated rocks often were analysed manually - a tedious and subjective work. The present study describes four automated approaches for lamina detection based on 1d grey-scale vectors. Best results are obtained with a newly developed algorithm, called Adaptive Template Method (ATM) in combination with the Hilbert transform. ATM improves the signal to noise ratio of the grey-value signal. Its basic idea is to extract first a characteristic waveform, the template, which describes the typical grey-value variation transverse to the laminae. This is a kind of "template learning" process, which in practice is done by an appropriate averaging method. This template is in a second step used for processing the whole sample. One calculates the overlap of the template with the actual signal, the grey-value variation along the core, as function of position in core direction. This method generates a new signal with maxima at positions, where the template optimally matches the original signal. The new time-series is called AT-transform. It is smoother than the initial data sequence. High frequency noise and local trend effects are suppressed. Afterwards, the AT-transform can be analysed with the Hilbert transformation for extracting phase information. The data processing methods are tested both on artificial data sequences and on a seasonally laminated sedimentary record of the Oligocene Baruth Maar (Germany). Although ATM is no panacea for highly disturbed signals, our comparison with other approaches shows that it provides the best results. The combination of ATM and the Hilbert transform allows to detect clearly long-term oscillations in the sedimentation patterns and thus cycles in climatic variations.