ORIGIN OF BOTTOM SEDIMENTS RECOVERED ALONG THE GEOTRAVERSE ARCTIC-2000 IN THE ARCTIC OCEAN (MENDELEEV RISE AREA)

Abstract

The analysis of the data on the geotraverse Arctic-2000 shows that the bottom sediments of the Mendeleev Rise and associated basins are derived from local source. The inference that has been about their relation to ice-rafting is inconsistent with many facts. This argument is also indirectly supported by the absence of rocks typical of Greenland and the Arctic Archipelago in the studied sediments. The composition and texture of large rock fragments and fossil inclusions in them imply that the sediments were derived from the platform-type provenance and the continental nature of the Mendeleev Rise.