Data report: X-ray fluorescence scanning of sediment cores, IODP Expedition 390/393 Site U1560, South Atlantic Transect

International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expeditions 390C, 395E, 390, and 393 recovered
deepwater sediments from the western flank of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge in the South Atlantic
Ocean along the South Atlantic Transect (SAT) at ~31°S. Collectively, these expeditions recovered
~2 km of sediment cores that have the potential to capture key features of Cenozoic climate
change. In this report, we show semiquantitative bulk elemental results from X-ray fluorescence
(XRF) scanning of the sediment cores from IODP Site U1560 recovered during Expeditions 395E
and 393. The oceanic basement at this site is ~15 My old, making it the second youngest of the
SAT sites located west of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Here, XRF data are compared with pass-through
magnetic susceptibility and natural gamma radiation of the sediment cores, measured aboard
JOIDES Resolution. The resulting trends and correlations highlight elemental variations through
time, mainly reflecting lithologic and compositional differences.
At Site U1560, Ca counts reflect the occurrence of nannofossil ooze, which is the dominant lithol-
ogy for the whole site. In the Miocene-aged Lithologic Units IE–IA from 140 to 50 m core com-
posite depth below seafloor (CCSF), several high-intensity spikes of detrital elements (i.e., Fe, Ti,
Al, Si, and Zr) correspond to intervals of clay-rich nannofossil ooze. Detrital elemental counts in
the entire Pliocene record (50 to ~25 m CCSF) are the lowest. A sharp shift is observed at the
Pliocene/Pleistocene boundary at ~25 m CCSF, with the uppermost Pleistocene record showing
high-frequency and high-intensity variations in siliciclastic elements, which correlates well with
the pass-through magnetic susceptibility.