Recommendations for using core X-ray fluorescence data on basaltic rock as a tool to assess compositional variability

Portable and core-scanning X-ray fluorescence (XRF) instruments have become increasingly utilized in making rapid, non-destructive chemical characterizations with high spatial resolution on a range of materials. Since basaltic cores are often highly fractured and uneven, portable XRF (pXRF) is preferred to conduct discrete chemical analyses. However, in this case, the user must select the location for each analysis, which can lead to biased datasets. Alternatively, XRF core-scanning (XRF-cs) instruments take a series of measurements along a section of core, increasing the number of analyses and, therefore, eliminating some of the bias introduced by discrete analyses conducted with a pXRF. The XRF-cs does, however, still require a flat sampling surface along the core that does not include void spaces, making rigid, vesicular, and often cracked basalts suboptimal targets. We collected 797 XRF-cs measurements on three basaltic cores collected during the International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 396 to evaluate how effectively an XRF core scanner can build large, chemically representative datasets. We developed a method for filtering XRF-cs measurements and calibrated the data using discrete calibrated pXRF analyses and compared the XRF-cs data to pXRF and conventional bulk-rock data using various immobile (e.g., Al, Ti, Zr, Ni, Mn, Zn) and mobile (e.g., K, Ca, Sr) elements. The comparison between datasets shows that (1) the XRF-cs data reproduce trends observed by pXRF and conventional bulk-rock data at both the regional scale and the core scale, and (2) in some cases, the higher spatial resolution of the XRF-cs data reveals geochemical variations that are otherwise obscured using discrete analyses. The workflow outlined by this study can be used to select samples for future studies by efficiently providing reliable geochemical data for characterizing new and legacy hard-rock cores.