Geochemistry of sediments of the Holocene transgressive sequences of the Kara Sea

Abstract

Holocene sequences of the Russian Arctic shelf seas are controlled by a combination of three main factors: deglaciation of the Late Pleistocene Barents–Kara ice sheet, global sea-level rise, and river runoff from Eurasia. Sedimentation in the Kara Sea is mainly defined by two latter factors. The lithological, grainsize, mineralogical, and micropaleontological compositions of the Holocene sequences of this basin have been widely studied, but only a few works report geochemical data. This paper considers comprehensive geochemical data on two cores from the Yenisei transect obtained during cruise of the R/V Akademik Petrov in 2000. Both the cores were dated by radiocarbon accelerator mass spectrometric method (AMS ¹⁴C) and analyzed using XRF and ICP MS methods. The study revealed and described differences in their chemical composition, which are caused by different facies settings of accumulation, their grain size composition, and influence of river run-off.