Wu, L;
Wilson, D;
Wang, R;
Yin, X;
Chen, Z;
Xiao, W;
Huang, M;
(2020)
Evaluating Zr/Rb ratios from XRF scanning as an indicator of grain-size variations of glaciomarine sediments in the Southern Ocean.
Earth and Space Science Open Archive (ESSOAr): Washington, D.C., USA.
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Abstract
The ln(Zr/Rb) count ratio derived from X-ray fluorescence (XRF) core scanning holds potential as a high-resolution tracer for grain-size variations of glaciomarine sediments. To evaluate this approach, we conducted high-resolution grain-size measurements, together with Rb and Zr measurements by XRF core scanning and Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS), on a series of sediment cores from different regions of the Southern Ocean. We find that downcore changes of the ln(Zr/Rb) count ratio from XRF core scanning are consistent with Zr/Rb concentration ratios derived from ICP-MS analyses, even though Rb and Zr counts deviate significantly from concentrations due to specimen and matrix effects. The ln(Zr/Rb) count ratio displays discrepancies with the bulk mean grain-size, but correlates well with the mean grain-size of the sediment fractions that do not include unsorted coarse IRD (i.e. IRD-corrected mean grain-size). These observations are supported by evidence from a grain-size separation experiment, which indicates that Zr and Rb are concentrated in different grain-size fractions. Consistent with its lack of sensitivity to coarse grain-size fractions, the ln(Zr/Rb) ratio records similar trends to the sortable silt percent (SS%) and sortable silt mean (SSM) grain-size. Universal gradients exist in plots of ln(Zr/Rb) versus SS% (34.1), and ln(Zr/Rb) versus SSM (12.7), such that the ln(Zr/Rb) ratio provides a convenient way to estimate the magnitude of changes in SS% and SSM. Overall, our results support the use of the ln(Zr/Rb) ratio as an indicator of bottom current strength in cases where the sediment is current-sorted.
| Type: | Working / discussion paper |
|---|---|
| Title: | Evaluating Zr/Rb ratios from XRF scanning as an indicator of grain-size variations of glaciomarine sediments in the Southern Ocean |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1002/essoar.10503919.1 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1002/essoar.10503919.1 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the version of record. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Earth Sciences |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10113286 |
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