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Distribution Patterns of Heavy Minerals in Siberian Rivers, the Laptev Sea and the Eastern Arctic Ocean: An Approach to Identify Sources, Transport and Pathways of Terrigenous Matter

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Land-Ocean Systems in the Siberian Arctic

Abstract

Heavy minerals of sediments from the rivers draining into the Laptev Sea, the Laptev Sea shelf, the central Arctic Ocean and additional potential source areas were investigated to identify transport pathways of terrigenous matter. The western part of the Laptev Sea is dominated by clinopyroxene, delivered by the river Khatanga, which derived from the sheet basalt complexes of the Taimyr Peninsula, and from Severnaya Zemlya. The eastern part of the Laptev Sea is characterized by very high amounts of amphibole, supplied by the rivers Lena and Yana from the Siberian hinterland and/or the erosion products from Kotelny Island. Orthopyroxene, present on the whole Laptev Sea shelf but not found elsewhere in comparable amounts in the study area, seems to be characteristic for this region. This heavy mineral composition is indicative for a Laptev Sea source and can be found in the sediments of the central Arctic Ocean. Sediment input from the western Arctic via the Beaufort Gyre is indicated by the occurrence of detrital carbonate and significant amounts of opaque minerals.

The clay assemblages of sea-ice sediments and clay mineral assemblages of underlying surface sediments of the central Arctic Ocean reveal different patterns due to winnowing processes of clay particles after release. Heavy minerals may fill the gap as indicator for sediment supply by sea ice in surface sediments from the sources up to the Fram Strait.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Alfred-Wegener-Institut für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Postfach 120161, D 27568, Bremerhaven, Germany

    M. Behrends

  2. Alfred-Wegener-Institut für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Forschungsstelle Potsdam, Telegrafenberg A43, D 14473, Potsdam, Germany

    E. Hoops

  3. GEOMAR Forschungszentrum für marine Geowissenschaften, Wischhofstrasse 1-3, D 24148, Kiel, Germany

    B. Peregovich

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  1. M. Behrends
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  2. E. Hoops
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  3. B. Peregovich
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. GEOMAR Forschungszentrum für marine Geowissenschaften, Wischhofstraße 1-3, D-24148, Kiel, Germany

    Heidemarie Kassens  & Henning A. Bauch  & 

  2. State Research Center of Russian Federation, the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, 38, Bering Str, 199397, St. Petersburg, Russia

    Igor A. Dmitrenko  & Leonid A. Timokhov  & 

  3. Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 903 Koyukuk Dr., P. O. Box 757320, 99775-7320, Fairbanks, AK, USA

    Hajo Eicken

  4. Alfred-Wegener-Institut für Polar- und Meeresforschung Forschungsstelle Potsdam, Telegraphenberg A 43, D-14473, Potsdam, Germany

    Hans-Wolfgang Hubberten  & Martin Melles  & 

  5. Alfred-Wegener-Institut für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Postfach 120161, D-27515, Bremerhaven, Germany

    Jörn Thiede

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Behrends, M., Hoops, E., Peregovich, B. (1999). Distribution Patterns of Heavy Minerals in Siberian Rivers, the Laptev Sea and the Eastern Arctic Ocean: An Approach to Identify Sources, Transport and Pathways of Terrigenous Matter. In: Kassens, H., et al. Land-Ocean Systems in the Siberian Arctic. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-60134-7_24

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-60134-7_24

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