Comparative lithological characteristics of modern sediments of the Kara and Pechora Seas

• Main Authors: Chickiryov I. V., Ulyantsev A. S., Nikiforov S. L., Sorokhtin N. O., Ananiev R. A., Dmitrevsky N. N., Libina N. V., Kovalev G. A.
• Format: Article
• Language: Russian
• Published: Murmansk State Technical University 2020-04-01
• Series: Vestnik MGTU
• Subjects: литология; донные осадки; рельеф; карское море; печорское море; lithology; bottom sediments; landscape; kara sea; pechora sea
• Online Access: http://vestnik.mstu.edu.ru/show-eng.shtml?art=2056

Global climate warming and increased anthropogenic pressure on the Arctic shelf contribute to the development of thermoabrasive processes along the coast of the western sector of the Russian Arctic.Comprehensive geophysical, hydroacoustic, geological-geomorphological, and hydrophysical scientific studies were carried out within the Kara and Pechora Seas in June – July 2019, during the 41st cruise of the R/V Akademik Nikolai Strakhov.To test modern sediments, bottom grabbers and shock tube were used. The sampling points were selected based on the materials of continuous seismic profiling and bathymetric bottom survey.As a result of the studies, mapping of the relief and modern sediments within the Kara and Pechora Seas has been carried out and it has been found that the Pechora basin is characterized by various types of sediments and deposits (pelitic mud, aleurite-pelitic mud, clay, silt, sand, moraine deposits), and the Kara Sea is mainly inhabited by thin sediments (pelitic mud). A small amount of sand and siltstone among the bottom sediments of the Kara basin should be associated with an insignificant introduction of terrigenousclastic material from the continent and its deep water. The wide distribution in the southern and central parts of the Pechora Sea of psammiticfacies is due to its shallow water, intensive supply of a large amount of sand-silty material by river flow, processes of solifluction and thermal abrasion of the coasts. In 2020, the next flight of the R/V Akademik Nikolai Strakhov is planned to continue the study of the upper sedimentary stratum and topography of the seabed of the western sector of the Russian Arctic. The purpose of the study is to substantiate the most likely scenario for the development of changes in the natural environment on the shelf, associated primarily with a reduction in the area of ice cover.