INCORPORATION OF HIGH RESOLUTION WHOLE CORE CT SCANNING WITH CONTINUOUS XRF SCANNING TOWARDS BROAD APPLICATIONS IN THE COLORADO PLATEAU CORING PROJECT

The Petrified Forest National Park of the Colorado Plateau is composed of Triassic sedimentary rocks, which remain a key component in our understanding of the surrounding region’s paleontology and paleoclimatology. About 850m of core from the Moenkopi and Chinle Formations were recovered as part of the Colorado Plateau Coring Project (CPCP-1). These cores were taken from rocks that were formed as a part of largely fluviolacustrine systems and are composed of mudstones, sandstones, and conglomerates. (Olsen et al., 2018)

Here, we present results from two datasets produced from nondestructive scanning techniques: 1) A recently generated continuous x-ray fluorescence (XRF) dataset (Tibbits et al., 2024), which provides major and trace element compositional information; and 2) a recently re-processed computed tomography (CT) dataset (Chang et al., 2023), which provides detailed 3D imaging of the core’s interior. Initial observations from CT scans present small burrows less than 1 cm that were previously unrecorded, and we utilize the Dragonfly software platform to analyze their physical properties in greater detail. We aim to use these datasets in tandem to determine if there are any trends linking geochemical and sedimentary fabrics, including paleosols and the type and degree of bioturbation present. We expect this integrated dataset to be of significant value in both the CPCP research ecosystem, including paleoclimatology, paleomagnetism, and modern hydrogeology, as well as the broader geological community.

Olsen, P.E., et al. (2018). Scientific Drilling. 24. 15-40.

Tibbits, D.M., et al. (2024). Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 56, No. 5.

Chang, C., et al. (2023). AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts. Vol. 2023. MR41B-077.