Lithological and geochemical typification of surface bottom sediments in the Kara Sea

Abstract

The Kara Sea is part of the Western Arctic shelf of Eurasia. The deposition of sediments in this shallow sea is largely determined by solid runoff from two great Siberian rivers (the Yenisei and Ob) and the glacial periods when the sea area repeatedly (during the Quaternary) dried up and was covered by continental glaciers. The rise of the World Ocean due to Holocene warming resulted in a significant expansion of the sea area to the south and complete degradation of the ice sheet. In this article, new data on the geochemical composition of the surface (0- to 2-cm) layer of sea-bottom sediments are considered, which reflects the spatial distribution of marine sediments during the maximum sea level. Cluster analysis of the variance for 24 chemical elements reveals sediment chemotypes, and critical analysis of their relationship with lithotypes is performed. The presented data have been collected on cruises of the R/V Akademik Boris Petrov in 2000, 2001, and 2003 and the R/V Akademik Mstislav Keldysh in 2015.