OS53D-1085:
CAT-scan analysis in scientific drilling: effective routine data acquisition and processing of whole cores, split cores and u-channels

Friday, 19 December 2014
Guillaume St-Onge1, Pierre Francus2, Jacques Labrie1, Quentin Beauvais1, Julie Velle1, David Fortin3, Alan C Mix4, John M Jaeger5, Joseph Stephen Stoner6, Heinrich Bahlburg7, Matthias Forwick8 and Bernd Zolitschka9, (1)Institut des sciences de la mer de Rimouski (ISMER) and GEOTOP, Rimouski, Canada, (2)Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique-Eau Terre Environnement INRS-ETE, Quebec City, QC, Canada, (3)Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, United States, (4)CEOAS, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, United States, (5)Univ Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States, (6)Oregon State Univ, Corvallis, OR, United States, (7)University of Münster, Münster, Germany, (8)University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway, (9)University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
Abstract:
CAT-scan analysis of sediment cores provides a rapid, high-resolution and non destructive method to visualise sedimentary structures, coring-induced artefacts, as well as to derive a continuous downcore CT number profile primarily associated with changes in bulk density. Here, we will briefly overview how we now routinely use CAT-scan analysis for paleoenvironmental and sedimentological purposes. We will present some advances in data processing, as well as a few case studies from lacustrine and marine sedimentary sequences measured using either whole cores, split cores and u-channels in order to highlight the advantages and complementarity of CAT-Scan measurements with other continuous downcore high-resolution physical or magnetic measurements. We will also illustrate how effective data acquisition and processing have now enabled the use of CAT-scan for the continuous interpretation of long drilled sequences from IODP (Exp. 341 – Gulf of Alaska) and ICDP (PASADO – Laguna Potrok Aike, Southern Patagonia) previously hampered by the large number of core sections and derived images.