Results of bulk sediment X-ray diffraction analysis and quantification of mineral phases based on the RockJock and on the QUAX quantitative analysis

The data matrix was reduced to 9 and 6 variables respectively by excluding minerals with low weight% and by grouping into larger groups, such as the alkali and plagioclase feldspars.

Because of its potential dual origins calcite was placed outside of the sum. We initially hypothesized that a combination of regional bedrock outcrops and transport associated with drift-ice, meltwater plumes, and bottom currents would result in 6 clusters defined by "similar" mineral compositions. The hypothesis was tested by use of a fuzzy k-mean clustering algorithm and key minerals were identified by step-wise Discriminant Function Analysis.