Grain-size and mineral composition of the upper layer of sediments of the Barents Sea

Abstract

The paper presents data from grain size and mineralogical analyzes of surface bottom sediment samples obtained on several cruises of the R/V Akademik Mstislav Keldysh (2016–2018) from different parts of the Barents Sea. Pebble and gravel material is found in surface sediments in the form of impurities scattered throughout the sea. Such a chaotic distribution pattern is apparently associated with ice separation. Coarse material is most common in the Barents Sea off the coast of the Kola Peninsula, off the coast of Novaya Zemlya, Spitsbergen, where it accumulates due to coastal abrasion. In addition, a fraction >1 mm is widespread at depths where fine fractions are stirred and leached. The most common sediments in coastal shallow water are sands. Sands (0.1–1 mm) are widespread in the southern and southeastern regions of the sea, in the region of the Pechora polygon, the Kaninsky shallow water, the Kola Peninsula, and in the northwest, off the coast of Svalbard. With increasing depth, the sands are replaced by mixed sediments with a low admixture of pelite. Pelitic sediments are prevalent in the central part of the sea. Precipitation with a pelitic fraction (<0.01 mm) of more than 50% occupy about 70% of the Barents Sea. They are widespread in deep-sea hollows and trenches, as well as in the numerous fiords of the North Island of Novaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land. Surface sediments have a predominantly terrigenous composition; only at the border with the Norwegian Sea the proportion of biogenic material increases. The mineral composition of sediments is dominated by quartz and feldspars, clay minerals are mainly represented by illite, smectite and kaolinite.