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.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
En. E. Asadulin, A. Yu. Miroshnikov, and V. I. Velichkin, “Geochemical signature of bottom sediments in the mixing zones of Ob and Yenisei waters with Kara Sea Water,” Geochem. Int. 51 (12), 1005–1018 (2013).
En. E. Asadulin, A. Yu. Miroshnikov, A. A. Usacheva, and V. I. Velichkin, “Geochemical recognition of terrigeneous material from the Ob and Yenisei rivers in bottom sediments of the eastern part of the Kara Sea,” Dokl. Earth Sci. 461, 270–273 (2015).
H. A. Bauch, H. Kassens, H. Erlenkeuser, T. Mueller-Lupp, Ye. I. Polyakova, and E. Taldenkova, “Depositional environment of the Laptev Sea (Arctic Siberia) during the Holocene,” Boreas 28 (1), 194–204 (1999).
V. V. Gordeev, B. Beeskow, and V. Rachold, “Geochemistry of the Ob and Yenisey estuaries,” Ber. Polarforsch. 565, (2007).
V. I. Gurevich, Recent Sedimentogenesis and Environment of the Arctic Shelf of Western Eurasia (Norsk Polarinstitut, Oslo, 1995).
V. A. Kosheleva, and D. S. Yashin, Bottom Sediments of the Arctic Seas (VNIIOkeanologiya, St. Petersburg, 1999) [in Russian].
M. A. Levitan, T. A. Husid, V. M. Kuptsov, N. V. Politov, and G. A. Pavlova, “Types of Upper Quaternary sequences of the Kara Sea,” Oceanology 5, 776–788 (1994).
M. A. Levitan, I. A. Andreeva, M. V. Bourtman, and L. S. Smirnova “Heavy minerals in upper Quaternary sediments of the Northern and eastern Kara Sea,” Ber. Polarforsch. 300, 214–227 (1999).
M. A. Levitan, M. Arnold, M. V. Burtman, E. V. Ivanova, and M. M. Marina, “On the Holocene sedimentation history of the eastern Kara Sea,” Oceanology 4, 577–582 (2000).
M. A. Levitan, M. V. Bourtman, L. L. Demina, V. V. Krupskaya, E. M. Sedykh, and M. Yu. Chudetsky, “History of Holocene sedimentation in the southern Kara Sea,” Lithol. Miner. Resour. 39 (6), 566–579 (2004).
M. A. Levitan, Yu. A. Lavrushin, and R. Stein, Reviews on Sedimentation History in the Arctic Ocean and Subarctic Seas during the Last 130 ka (GEOS, Moscow, 2007) [in Russian].
M. A. Levitan, I. A. Roshchina, and A. V. Tolmacheva, “Geochemical features of sediments on the continental slope of the Weddell Sea and their paleoceanographic interpretation,” Lithol. Miner. Resour. 43 (2), 111–124 (2008).
M. A. Levitan, K. V. Syromyatnikov, I. A. Roshchina, and R. Stein, “Relationships between the color and chemical composition of Quaternary bottom sediments from the southern part of the Mendeleev Rise and the continental slope of the East Siberian Sea,” Geochem. Int. 52 (3), 215–228 (2014).
L. Polyak, M. Levitan, V. Gataullin, T. Khusid, V. Mikhailov, and V. Mukhina, “The impact of glaciation, riverdischarge and sea-level change on Late Quaternary environments in the southwestern Kara Sea,” Int. J. Earth Sci. 89, 550–562 (2000).
L. Polyak, M. Levitan, T. Khusid, L. Merklin, and V. Mukhina, “Variations in the influence of riverine discharge on the Kara Sea during the last deglaciation and Holocene,” Global Planet. Change 32 (4), 291–309 (2002).
A. B. Ronov, A. A. Migdisov, and A. A. Yaroshevsky, Chemical Structure of the Earth’s Crust and Geochemical Balance of Major Elements (Nauka, Moscow, 1990) [in Russian].
F. Schoster and R. Stein, “Major and minor elements in surface sediments of Ob and Yenisey estuaries and the adjacent Kara Sea,” Ber. Polarforsch. 300, 196–207 (1999).
E. S. Shelekhova, Extended Abstract of Candidate’s Dissertation in Geology and Mineralogy (Inst. Okeanol., Moscow, 1998) [in Russian].
E. R. Sholkovitz and R. Szymczak, “The estuarine chemistry of rare earth elements: Comparison of the Amazon, Fly, Sepik and Gulf of Papua systems,” Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 179, 299–309 (2000).
R. Stein and O. Stepanets, “The German–Russian Project on Siberian River Run-off (SIRRO): Scientific Cruise Report of the Kara-Sea expedition “SIRRO 2000” of RV “Boris Petrov” and first results,” Ber. Polarforsch. 393, (2001).
R. Stein, F. Niessen, K. Dittmers, M. Levitan, F. Schoster, J. Simstich, T. Steinke, and O. Stepanets, “Siberian river run-off and Late Quaternary glaciation in the southern Kara Sea,” Polar Res. 21 (2), 315–322 (2002).
R. Stein, K. Fahl, M. Schreck, G. Knorr, F. Niessen, M. Forwick, C. Gebhardt, L. Jensen, M. Kaminski, A. Kopf, J. Matthiessen, W. Jokat, and G. Lohmann, “Evidence for ice-free summers in the late Miocene central Arctic Ocean,” Nature Communications, (2016). doi 10.1038/ncomms11148
A. Stepanova, E. Taldenkova, and H. A. Bauch, “Ostracod paleoecology and environmental change in the Laptev and Kara seas (Siberian Arctic) during the last 18000 years,” Boreas, (2012). doi 10.1111/j.1502-3885.2012.00254.x
J. I. Svendsen, H. Alexanderson, V. I. Astakhov, I. Demidov, J. A. Dowdeswell, S. Funder, V. Gataullin, M. Henriksen, Ch. Hjort, M. Houmark-Nielsen, H. W. Hubberten, Ó. Ingólfsson, M. Jakobsson, K. H. Kjær, E. Larsen, et al., “Late Quaternary ice sheet history of northern Eurasia,” Quatern. Sci. Rev. 23, 1229–1271 (2004).
G. A. Tarasov, I. A. Pogodina, V. B. Khasankaev, N. A. Kukina, and M. V. Mityaeva, Sedimentation on Glacial Shelves (KNTs RAN, Apatity, 2000) [in Russian].
S. R. Taylor, and S. M. McLennan, The Continental Crust: its Composition and Evolution (Blackwell, Oxford, 1985).
Ya. E. Yudovich and M. P. Ketris, Principles of Lithochemistry (St. Petersburg, Nauka, 2000) [in Russian].
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Original Russian Text © K.V. Syromyatnikov, M.A. Levitan, T.G. Kuzmina, E.S. Toropchenova, A.V. Zhilkina, 2017, published in Geokhimiya, 2017, No. 6, pp. 479–496.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Syromyatnikov, K.V., Levitan, M.A., Kuzmina, T.G. et al. Geochemistry of sediments of the Holocene transgressive sequences of the Kara Sea. Geochem. Int. 55, 503–520 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1134/S001670291706009X
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S001670291706009X