Geochemical and mineralogical composition of grab and core sediments from Inle Lake (Southern Shan State, Myanmar)

Lake sediments were sampled in March 2014 in 16 locations selected so as to cover the whole lake area. At each lake site, grab sediment samples were collected with a stainless-steel, Ponar type sampler; in addition, at 5 stations, sediment cores were collected with a sampler prototype (handmade), which ensures careful recovery of the sediment-water interface. Cores ranged from 55 to 85 cm in length and were cut into 5 cm slices on the same day of collection. The mineralogical analyses were carried out by X-ray Powder Diffractometry (XRD) performed both on natural samples, and on treated samples to identify the clay minerals, using the standard procedure of ethylene-glycol saturation followed by heating at 550°C for the identification of the swelling clay minerals. Mineralogical results are expressed in %. The chemical composition (major and trace elements) was analysed by "Near Total" Digestion ICP/MS (Code UT-4M) at the Activation Laboratory, Canada. Analysed elements include Ca, Mg, Na, K, Al, Fe, P, S, Ti (in %), and Sr, Ba, Rb, Li, Rb, Cs, Mn, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Mo, V, Zn, W, Tl, Bi, Sn, As, Sb, Ag, Au, Sc, Ti, Y, Zr, Nb, La, Ce, Hf, Ta, U, Th (in mg/kg). The dataset includes 6 tables: Grab samples (16 locations, approx. depth 0-10 cm) Core 2 (UTM Long. 47Q 0283122 Lat. 2280515, depth 5-80 cm) Core 3-1 (UTM Long. 47Q 0282707 Lat. 2276910, depth 5-55 cm) Core 4-2 (UTM Long. 47Q 0281190 Lat. 2269152, depth 5-75 cm) Core 4-3 (UTM Long. 47Q 0282356 Lat. 2268878, depth 5-60 cm) Core 6 (UTM Long. 47Q 0282396 Lat. 2265350, depth 5-85 cm