Sediment cores were collected onboard the CCGS Amundsen during ArcticNet cruise 0502 (2005) using a box corer, penetrating the seafloor to a maximum of 50 cm. Samples were stored in a freezer (- 20 °C) onboard the Amundsen until the end of the cruise, then shipped to the Freshwater Institute (FWI), where they were maintained in storage at - 20 °C. Subsamples were processed at the University of Victoria Marine Micropaleontology Laboratory in October-November 2010. A gentle version of the standard palynological protocol was applied to oven-dried samples of known volume. Steps are as follows: (1) add 10 % hydrochloric acid in room temperature; (2) sieve with distilled water through a 120 micrometre and a 15 micrometre nitex mesh, retaining the fraction in between; (3) add 48% hydrofluoric acid in room temperature for 2-4 days followed by 20 minutes in 10 % hydrochloric acid; (4) sieve through precise 15 micrometre mesh with gentle sonication for 10-60 seconds. The final residue of samples was placed in sealed storage vials and stored in + 4 °C. Aliquots of residue were mounted in glycerine jelly on microscopic slides with cover slips. Dinoflagellate cysts are studied primarily with Zeiss Standard 20 microscope under bright-field oil-immersion and 500X and 1000X magnifications. At least 300 dinoflagellate cysts species and cyst types will be identified on each slide together with pollen, freshwater algae and other palynomorphs.

In November 2006 3 shorts sediment cores from 3 fjord ecosystems located along Labrador's East coast, have been sampled from CCGS Amundsen. In August 2008 4 lakes in Saglek fjord area have been sampled. Data about the properties of the water column and short sediment cores have been taken. In November 2009, a ~8m long piston-core and a ~80cm long gravity-core have been taken in the Nachvak fjord from the CCGS Amundsen. In addition, surface sediment samples were taken through box-cores in the Nachvak, Saglek, Okak and Anaktalak fjords.The cores have been analyzed for various physical and chemical properties, such as sediment density, magnetic susceptibility and contaminant levels. The biostratigraphic analyses involved sediment sub-sampling at 1-2 cm intervals to determine changes in the composition and concentration of fossil diatoms and dinocysts throughout the marine cores, only diatoms for the lacustrine cores. The chronology of each core has been established based on AMS-14C dates on marine shells preserved within the sediments and on the radioactive decay of the 210Pb in the sediments. The surface sediment sampled in the fjord will be used to document the modern dinocyst assemblages in the area to allow more precise past climatic reconstructions.