Geochemistry of ODP Leg 124 sediments

This data report tabulates results of X-ray fluorescence analysis of sediments from three sites drilled during Ocean Drilling Program Leg 124. Two of these sites were drilled in the abyssal plain of the Celebes (767) and Sulu (768) seas, in water depths of 4905 and 4385 m, respectively. The seismic records at these sites reveal a sedimentary section that appears complete enough to obtain a good stratigraphic history of the basins, one of the main drilling objectives at these sites.
Site 769 is located on the southeast flank of the Cagayan Ridge in 3644 m of water. The Cagayan Ridge is 120 km wide and it is covered locally by reef carbonates and Quaternary volcanic rocks. Drilling at this site was designed to establish the Neogene evolution of the restricted paleoenvironment of the Sulu Sea in a position that has been protected from terrigenous turbidite input.
These sediments record major changes in depositional processes and provenance of sediment that reflect the tectonic and paleoceanographic history of these western Pacific basins.