Dataset of Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM) and Sediment Flux with the Loss on Ignition (LOI) obtained from water samples in Hornsund Fjord (Spitsbergen, Svalbard). Most samples are collected in Hansbukta, and since 2021 also in Gåshamna, but infrequent observations from other locations across the Hornsund fjord are available as well. SPM is sampled at various depths across the water column. Since 2021, Sediment Flux is measured 5 m above the sea bottom with one deployment lasting approximately one week. Before 2021, Sediment Flux observations are available above and below the pycnocline. These earlier deployments lasted typically 24 hours. Both SPM and sediment flux water samples (1l) were filtered through Whatman GF/F 0.7 μm filters that had been previously dried for 2 h at 200°C and weighed. If the sediment concentration was high, which was the case especially for the sediment flux measurements, only part of the water sample was filtered. After filtering, the filters were rinsed with fresh water and they were dried for 24 h at 40°C and weighed again to get the dry sediment weight. Finally, all filters were kept in a 550°C oven for 3 h to calculate the fraction of organic material (LOI, loss on ignition).
The dataset consists of two files: one for Suspended Particulate Matter and another for Sediment Flux. The SPM data has the following columns: Station name, Sampling date, Latitude, Longitude, Bottom Depth (m), Sampling depth (m), Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM, mg/l) and Loss on Ignition (LOI, %). The sediment flux data consists of the following columns: Station name, Deployment date, Recovery date, Latitude, Longitude, Bottom depth (m), Sampling depth (m), Sediment accumulation rate (g/m**2/day) and Loss on Ignition (LOI, %). The dates are formatted as YYYY-MM-DD and the coordinates are expressed as decimal degrees. The data are stored as tab-delimited ASCII files with one headerline (column names).